Liking NGE -> liking mecha anime?

[ran1]

Otaku no Video has those elemsents as well. It critiques and subverts Otaku sensiblities by depicting a story of Otakus, showing their highs and lows, and then splicing actual live action film into the mix making for an interesting audience [read: Otaku] distancing effect.

Evangelion is more intellectual and subtextual though, and EoE solidifies as such an "anti-anime", however, so I do agree, I wouldn't say that it's the first, though.

[Dr. Nick]

And most of you need to watch actual good shit. Like Victory Gundam (twice as depressing as EoE, but oh so good in a delicious villain)

Victory isn't really a good entry point to the franchise, because it takes place in the early UC and is over 50 episodes long. Besides, it's full of Tomino's trade-mark weirdness, which can be offputting for many. Personally, I think the entry point to Universal Century should be the original MSG, either the series or the compilation movies. Or you can just watch this summary. It's funny because it's accurate.

mostly UC stuff that isn't OVAs.

But but but 0080.

Why are you all watching Super Robot animes if you like NGE? Watch real robot shit like [...]

Come on, don't be such a factionalist. There are plenty of great super robot shows too: Gunbuster, Giant Robo, Big O, Gurren Lagann...

[Taekmkm]

Come on, don't be such a factionalist. There are plenty of great super robot shows too: Gunbuster, Giant Robo, Big O, Gurren Lagann...

My point is, NGE is more on the side of showing "Hey, piloting giant robots isn't all that cracked up to be!" and most Super Robot shows do the exact opposite message. You see more relation to Amuro to Shinji refusing and being traumatized by their actions, while pilots like Noriko and Kamina tell you robots are the only way of life.

But but but 0080.

That's why I said mostly. 0080 and so far Unicorn look to be on the good side, but everything else like 0083 are the shit in character development and plot. I do have issues with 08th team, mostly because of the terribad sudden shift in the Shiro/Ayane romance and the mostworthless last episode since Kare Kano.

Victory isn't really a good entry point to the franchise, because it takes place in the early UC and is over 50 episodes long. Besides, it's full of Tomino's trade-mark weirdness, which can be offputting for many.

Despite its deepness into the UC Timeline, it's about 50 years away from anything relevant that happened so it's pretty good for a stand-alone approach. And that tomino quirkness is in any one of his shows (Massacre of little children/women, bitch-slapping everyone, etc.)

[Eva 02]

I'd have to concur as the mecha aspect of Eva seems to be 'dumped' to appeal to a greater audience, that Anno focused more on what ^ said. The first time around it didn't feel like a giant robot anime, my first watch through was more like watching a drama than sci-fi. That may be because I don't particularly have a penchant for giant robo animes, bubblegum crisis and mobile suit gundam being the only ones I even bothered watching more than a few episodes of. Eva liking doesn't neccissarily lead to Mecha Anime, my case personifing such.

[Taekmkm]

More like the extremely pretty character designs are what led to the broader appeal. The EVA's are quite "ugly" in comparison to what was popular (samurai face-plate Gundams and others like Baldios, transforming Valkyries, Mazinger Z, etc.)

[Eva 02]

Now that I think of it, it was the look of the Evas that got me intetested. I was still a n00b to anime; groomed on Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue, Princess Mononoke etc... and had bad expiriences with Gundam and Big O!. It was the dark and almost evil look of the 'protagonistic' robots that stood out in my Giant Robo disdaining mind. I agree that they are not typical designs compared to the look of the cool robots of gundam, but its success lies in the breath or fresh air, as it were. It almost seems common that eva fans are attracted to a broader range of genres compared to the amount of giant robo fans who don't even like eva. I've come across a lot of those.

[supershinjiasukashipper]

If we go by some ideas of Anno's true, nonfanwanked intent and message with this show, Evangelion is supposed to be the first anti-anime. A subversive piece of work towards the mecha subgenre and the Otaku subculture.

Hmmm, good point.

[nyugvo6]

I love Eva, as we all do here, and try to stay away from any kind of mecha anime. I don't like the concept of hueg rowbutts beating each other on 2 legs generally. Eva is huge alien vs huge alien berserk stuff.

from the 'mecha genre' I saw:
-TTGL most of my friends liked it and said it's really funny so I tried it, and enjoyed it all the way, and loved the FLCL type of animation
-Gunbuster, Diebuster. I was researching other Gainax animes, gave these a try, and wasn't so amused...
-Code Geass. A friend of mine recommended it, said it's more about the characters than mechas, but way too much robots for me... at least these were rolling on wheels, not running on foot.

tl;tr: I don't like mecha animes.

[ran1]

Evangelion is often liked because of its depth-- and a few mecha series do have quite a bit of psychological and philosophical merit.

Mecha has always had some underlying psychological elements to it, IMO, just by nature of piloting a robot, which is sort of like a gross mutated "metal suit" or extension of oneself.

Bokurano, TTGL, Gunbuster, and GiTS [Not sure if entirely 'mecha' but there are mechas in it] all have psychological merit, and hell, even RahXephon and its muddled plot has a degree of depth to it that you don't see in the conventional hack and slash action adventures or high school shoujos.

But in that regard, all anime have the potential to be psychological-- Just look at Haruhi-- though I'm not crazy about its psychological nature, its not bad.

[AVman9]

I really don't love or hate mech anime. If the series is entertaining, I can dig it. I find some Gundam stuff beyond boring, but I ended up liking Full Metal Panic. I was never really happy how the mech genre is so universally used. As soon as you throw some robots in: BAM! Its now nothing but mech anime.

[The Fourth Evangelion]

I'm mostly a mecha-anime watcher. You guys just should go ahead and watch RahXephon and Eureka Seven. Those series are really great.
I've seen quite some others as well, and I like Gun/Diebuster and TTGL of course, but I always search for new series, until I've watched the best in their genre, so no Getter Robo stuff for me.

Currently watching Escaflowne, it's certainly worth the watch.

[Flyvapnet]

I don't like "mecha" at all, but I put up with it for the sake of any interesting characters who may appear in the corresponding anime/games/manga. That's why I liked Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann - until, that is, they'd drag out their big war machines. Fortunately, there were characters such as Ritona Yoko and Soryu Asuka Langley (and others as well) whose dynamic personalities and exemplary valor more than offset the mandatory "mecha" scenes.

See, I think a really-big war machine should look like this:


Please click on the image to view its full size.

Or, perhaps, this:



Or this:



But with "mecha" we get something more like this:



Machines with faces! Whee! All right, I know there are people who take this very seriously and I don't want to insult anyone - too much. But believe me, I just can't get fully on board when machines have built-in faces.

Is this war-machines-with-faces phenomenon some Japanese cultural thing, which Westerners like me just fail to appreciate? That's probably what it is. Well, whatever it is, I find it off-putting. But that's just me!



=^..^=

[Dr. Nick]

You should just have posted one of those "western mech design vs eastern mech design" macros. They're more effective trolling instruments because their logical fallacies are much subtler.

[Flyvapnet]

Yes, of course! I'll rush right out and do that, Dr. Nick. After all, I have nothing but respect for flamers. Also, I'm so sorry to have posted the wrong point of view here. Had I known you'd resort to flaming I'd surely have made an acceptable albeit disingenuous post in praise of "mecha" instead. Or not.



=^..^=

[Dr. Nick]

Your post comes off trollish mostly because of its sweeping generalizations and cherry-picked examples. I like Martian tripods too, but calling Japanese robots non-warmachine-like because of their built-in faces is just silly, because faces on robots is a universal design feature. I'm not saying there are no culture-specific design differences, but there's hardly any dichotomy here. Many iconic western robot(ic) warmachines have faces: Battletech's Atlas, Big Guy, Iron Man, Terminator, Iron Giant. Many iconic Japanese war-bots don't have faces: practically all valkyries and Gundam grunts, Ideon, most Brains and Overmen...

Perhaps I can better point out the silliness of your examples by turning the whole case around:

See, I think a really-big war machine should look like this:







But with "western robots" we get something more like this:

[URL=http://img704.imageshack.us/i/karakuri1.jpg/][/URL]

Uploaded with [URL=http://imageshack.us]ImageShack.us[/URL]

Machines with faces! Whee! All right, I know there are people who take this very seriously and I don't want to insult anyone - too much. But believe me, I just can't get fully on board when machines have built-in faces.

[Mr. Tines]

There are other cultural factors that are probably at work here -- a samurai's helmet would have a fierce demon mask whereas a knight might well just have an iron bucket with slits in to see through. The expectation that a ferocious warrior would show a ferocious face could easily carry over into the aesthetics of fictional power armour.

[Raiden]

Definitely - "NO".
I am big Eva fan and mecha-anime hater.

[Dark doom]

I'm the same, I watched Gundam wing and Gundam 00 strate after EoE but I didn't make the same connection that i did with EVA.

The only other mecha anime that's ever had that same feel to me is TTGL, and even then there'd still something missing.....................Of cause!
I know what it is now!
Rei!

[child of Lilith]

I don’t have anything against other mecha anime. That is unless the show is just about the robots and nothing else. If that’s the case, then the show isn’t really worth watching. I need more then big robots fighting each other to hold my interest.