Mecha anime pet peeves...

[bluepencil]

YMMV. We're supposed to adopt a certain suspension of disbelief about the whole rationale of such things. However, sometimes there are things just just break that impression of credibility, mostly in the Real Robot genre.

http://4chanarchive.org/images/m/1338426/1206416875783.jpg
That has got to be the most retarded mecha idea I have even seen. It takes everything about a portable gun and makes it a hundred percent more difficult! You fuckers couldn't mount it on a fucking TANK? Hauling that shit around removes the dubious mobility advantage of mobile suits in the first place! I get 'relaxed physics', and power sources with output way out proportion to their size, but... why is it that these awesum weapons are never mounted on something with a bigger sensor pack and dedicated ECM/ECCM? Am I supposed to believe in puny shoulder-mounted sensors? Perhaps so, but...

Arrgh.

Ground-to-orbit rifle? Oh fuck you. I could have entire arrays of the damn thing to swat ships out of the sky if I didn't have to worry about power feed, lack of armor, and keeping it mobile. Or I could just have a BO-... okay no. Keep calm. Remember the genre...

Military intelligence may be an oxymoron, but sometimes logic just flies out the window and not in an awesome 'Go Beyond The Impossible' way. Post those designs here, please. Super Robots get a blanket pass, and older anime may be excused simply for not knowing any better.



edit:
Oh god, it's actually a torpedo launcher. What.

 

[trevelyan1983]

Much of 00 is made of fail, as far as I'm concerned. But then, this is from the people who gave us Gundam Yaoi and Gundam Peacefag/Gundam Emo Destiny. I shouldn't expect any better than that, so it's my own fault for doing so.

I mean, they recycle their own work a lot. I get that. It's part of the price of creating anime to a schedule. But couldn't they go back and dust off something suitably awesome like After War? Or am I going to have to accept that Gundam and Zeta were the zenith, eclipsing all else?

<s>Nah, screw that. I'll defect to SRW OG. Between that and ZOE, I'm set.</s>

 

[FinalMax]

I take into account that Sunrise has still got some excess fail left over from that whole G Gundam crap. Best control scheme for a Gundam, but the story wasn't worth shit. Gurren Lagann is only slightly above it, but that's only because that was clearly meant to be Super Robot.

As it stands, I see Gundam 00 as a Hybrid Robot show. Similar to Evangelion and Code Geass R2. This gives us some more leeway on the whole "not enough realism" angle, despite the fact IT'S A GIANT FUCKING ROBOT ANIME! It is a useless gesture to complain about realism in something like this. Though I will say that seeing the Trans-Am system made me say one thing to myself. "This Gundam of mine is burning red?"

Gundam SEED did the one thing the original Gundam didn't do: avoid turning the protagonist into a complete asshole. Seriously, the reason why Char is more awesome than Amuro is because Amuro became the original poster child for whiny, emo bitches. We can most definitely say it was because he wasn't getting any from the ladies back in the One Year War. Gundam SEED at least used male logic to prevent the whiny asshole situation by insuring the hero got laid before the emo could take over. SEED Destiny was just fanwanking on the part of the producers more than anything, so that's why it failed on a level that can only be called epic.

 

[Shaderic]

Well, if giant robot anime has you put off, I recomend Dai Gaurd.
To quote TV tropes: It's a real robot in super robot series.
Sure, it get's a little out there later, but consider in the first episode, they basicaly highjack the robot and use it to clear debris, rather than fight the giant monster from another dimension. Of course, then there's the drill in episode two. ^_^
One guys response? "Cool!" and the others? "It's a drill. Why did you give us a giant drill?"

Plus, all the payment and lawsuits you'd think would be assosciated with this sorta thing, actually are present in this anime. They get sued for the debris, (which used to be cars), and the company almost fires them for using their billboard... as a giant scoop to clear away debris. :snigger:

I realize this is probably not the best thing to point out in a thread for pet peeves, but Dai Gaurd does make me feel better about my problems with giant robot anime.

 

[A Curious Stranger]

I take into account that Sunrise has still got some excess fail left over from that whole G Gundam crap. Best control scheme for a Gundam, but the story wasn't worth shit. Gurren Lagann is only slightly above it, but that's only because that was clearly meant to be Super Robot.

As it stands, I see Gundam 00 as a Hybrid Robot show. Similar to Evangelion and Code Geass R2. This gives us some more leeway on the whole "not enough realism" angle, despite the fact IT'S A GIANT FUCKING ROBOT ANIME! It is a useless gesture to complain about realism in something like this. Though I will say that seeing the Trans-Am system made me say one thing to myself. "This Gundam of mine is burning red?"

Gundam SEED did the one thing the original Gundam didn't do: avoid turning the protagonist into a complete asshole. Seriously, the reason why Char is more awesome than Amuro is because Amuro became the original poster child for whiny, emo bitches. We can most definitely say it was because he wasn't getting any from the ladies back in the One Year War. Gundam SEED at least used male logic to prevent the whiny asshole situation by insuring the hero got laid before the emo could take over. SEED Destiny was just fanwanking on the part of the producers more than anything, so that's why it failed on a level that can only be called epic.

What? Amuro wasn't whiny. Sure he was a total bitch in the beginning, but the guy manned up upon realizing just how fucked everyone would be if he didn't do anything. And of course there was the Bright Slap. By the end of the series, he really came through for everyone.

You should cut the guy some slack. His mother pretty much disowned him for a while because he killed a man in front of her, his dad became a brain-damaged idiot who died from falling from some stairs, he lost his first crush because of the Black Tri-Stars, and he killed the girl he loved because she decided to protect his enemy.

And Amuro was getting some in the actual novel. He and Sayla were lovers.

 

[Shikaze]

That has got to be the most retarded mecha idea I have even seen. It takes everything about a portable gun and makes it a hundred percent more difficult! You fuckers couldn't mount it on a fucking TANK? Hauling that shit around removes the dubious mobility advantage of mobile suits in the first place! I get 'relaxed physics', and power sources with output way out proportion to their size, but... why is it that these awesum weapons are never mounted on something with a bigger sensor pack and dedicated ECM/ECCM? Am I supposed to believe in puny shoulder-mounted sensors? Perhaps so, but...

Arrgh.

Ground-to-orbit rifle? Oh fuck you. I could have entire arrays of the damn thing to swat ships out of the sky if I didn't have to worry about power feed, lack of armor, and keeping it mobile. Or I could just have a BO-... okay no. Keep calm. Remember the genre...

I'd say, because the usual definition of Giant Robot would be better defined as Giant Android ? After all, very few series don't have their mechas humanoid. That being said, about 00, the thing that ticked me off in the first season about the ground-to-space gun is that it's a wonder nobody detected them. If only because the BIG-ASS PINK RAY OF DOOM would have been visible for a few hundred miles around.

That being said, having just seen episode 17 of the season two, am I the only one thinking that the producers must have seen Getter Robo Armageddon just before producing that ?

The other thing that tends to make me RAAAAAGGGEEEE, be it Super or Real is security. When you build a MULTI-BILLION yens/dollars/whatever robots, you should at least make sure the first retard around can't take it for a spin, damnit !

 

[biigoh]

I have to wonder when the 4chan linked here will time out....

 

[bluepencil]

Gundam SEED did the one thing the original Gundam didn't do: avoid turning the protagonist into a complete asshole. Seriously, the reason why Char is more awesome than Amuro is because Amuro became the original poster child for whiny, emo bitches

What? SEED?! Are we even looking at the same series? Kira "Jesus" Yamato and his 'replacement' Shinn "Whackjob" Asuka?

In any case, it was the 1970s, man! It was okay to cry back then. It was a gritty war drama, and whoever doesn't cry after having his entire way of life destroyed and being used as a weapon (ref: being the only Newtype the EFF knew of) while your friends die one after the other in front of your eyes... is an unfeeling asshat. This seems even more unrealistic to me. Teenagers should act like teenagers.

What people forget is that the modern teen mecha hero is supposed to grow out of it, as Amuro did. He was the archetype. Before him, heroes were totally hotblooded, to the point of it becoming trite and boring. There was actual character development there, which is set aside now in favor of broody fangirl fodder - leading up Shinji as the ur-example of that sort of protagonist. The original Gundam series was aimed towards a primarily male audience, yaoi didn't even really 'exist' yet. Have you really watched the original series through or are you speaking from a mimetic background? In one year, Amuro turned from a withdrawn geek into a badass killing machine. At the end of it, he never so much as gave off a whine, referring to the situation (being sent off to kill or die) as being 'too familiar' and comfortable.

This keen focus is what actually made Frau Bow decide to give up her crush on him; he was starting to frighten her. Through Zeta and up to Char's Counter-attack, Amuro never really grew comfortable with civilian life. Only Haro remained of his life before his sixteenth year (he made his fortune designing toy Haros). Afterwards, all people saw was the Newtype ace pilot... that was his life. It was tragic, in a way, as all Newtypes end up living such bleak unhappy lives. All of them.

 

[A Curious Stranger]

Even if you look at it from a mimetic point, which is no way to judge characters, "Jewfro" Amuro comes up top against Cagalli is crying" Kira.

 

[locke69]

I have to wonder when the 4chan linked here will time out....

Its an archive, it won't time out.

As for my pet peeves on this, I need to dig through my IRC logs. I think Light02, myself, and a few others had this discussion already.

 

[Watashiwa]

Gekigan PUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[toraneko]

Mecha anime pet peeves?

For me, it's the Rocket Punch.

I don't care how much of a time-honored Super Robot tradition it is. It's fucking retarded to fling a body part at someone out of any reason less than sheer desperation.

 

[PCHeintz72]

Mecha anime pet peeves?

For me, it's the Rocket Punch.

I don't care how much of a time-honored Super Robot tradition it is. It's fucking retarded to fling a body part at someone out of any reason less than sheer desperation.

Here here... ditto for drills.

 

[Colossus]

<s>Ha. Fools. Wait 'till you see the knuckle mounted drill rocket punch.</s>

 

[biigoh]

I think I've seen that somewhere in the arcades back in the 90s/00s... ^_^;

Rocket Punch with Knuckle-Drills...

 

[trevelyan1983]

Someone's been playing Super Robot Wars. The knuckle-mounted drill rocket punch is one of Thrudgelmir's basic attacks.

 

[marthf1]

In the defense of the drills, that was kind of the -whole point- of the series.

 

[grant]

Worst peeve, the constant rules that the type of mecha used by the protagonist somehow must
A. eclipses far more conventional (and sane) armored units used by armies
B. Shows no damage at all from bombs, torpedoes, missiles, or indeed any kind of weapon (including every one designed for destroying armored targets) unless it comes out of another mecha (unless the weapon is a laser, where a direct hit will mean that a leg comes off).
C. If mecha are the mainstay of an army, the protagonists mecha will be a highly advanced machine several decades ahead of current models.
D. Display the ability to work as well on Earth as it does in outer space.

 

[roting_CORPSE]

Worst peeve, the constant rules that the type of mecha used by the protagonist somehow must
A. eclipses far more conventional (and sane) armored units used by armies
B. Shows no damage at all from bombs, torpedoes, missiles, or indeed any kind of weapon (including every one designed for destroying armored targets) unless it comes out of another mecha (unless the weapon is a laser, where a direct hit will mean that a leg comes off).
C. If mecha are the mainstay of an army, the protagonists mecha will be a highly advanced machine several decades ahead of current models.
D. Display the ability to work as well on Earth as it does in outer space.

this ^

which is why I like the UC ova's they dont have much (or any) of those listed.

 

[Draculthemad]

Scratching my head here.
The picture linked here isnt a ground to orbit rifle, but a torpedo-gun...

Is it just me or is that even worse?

edit: just noticed bps eidt.

 

[Ordo]

Mech anime, where the laws of physics and common sense must give way to awesome.

You know what I'd like to see, a U.C. mobile suit (Not an over powered Gundam) designed by the Imperium of man during the Great Crusade. I'm just curious how that'd look and what it's use on the battlefield would be.

 

[A Curious Stranger]

Mech anime, where the laws of physics and common sense must give way to awesome.

You know what I'd like to see, a U.C. mobile suit (Not an over powered Gundam) designed by the Imperium of man during the Great Crusade. I'm just curious how that'd look and what it's use on the battlefield would be.

It would be nimble as fuck but ugly as shit.

It would probably look like some of the weird mobile armors/mobile suits Zeon first came up with when they could have just stuck with the Zaku II or mass-producing the Dom.

 

[Ordo]

Actually after re-reading BP's original post I think I have a great idea for the next gundam series. it's not UC but we're using their rules, logic, and limitations as far as mobil suits go. Our protagonist consist of Space Colonies and the very few fledgling colonies on the inner planets, fighting against an oppressive earth regime.

The Earth forces are using BP's logic in the design of their weaponary. They have an advantage in human resources, and have previously created a stock pile of munitions and equipment. They do not have a lot of raw material to build new equipment as earths natural resources are nearly depleted. Their only sources is the asteroid belt which leaves them in a lurch if the colonies start raiding supply convoy's

The colonies have mobile suits (a natural evolution of space based construction units), and plenty of raw materials with their access to Mars, Mercury and Venus. They are defending at first, so they have home court advantage, and their Military commanders are slightly more creative in their approch to problem solving and are unlikely to piss away the lives of their soldiers to satisfy ego.

Our story follows a wolf pack of Mobile suit pilots and the strike force they're apart of as they do missions for the United Colony Alliance (U.C.A.) Obviously we take the point of a fresh faced recruit straight from the academy and watch he or she grow into a badass during the long bloody war.

Any ways back to the original topic

I personally just get tired of all the children who aren't even old enough to shave piloting weapons of mass destruction. I don't mind fresh face recruits who learn the true horrors of war as they live them. I'd pay good money to see a mecha anime series that focuses on a grizzled veteran coming out of retirment to show those young pups how to fight.

 

[Nikas_Zekeval]

It should be noted that the Ground to Orbit Rifle, like the 'Torpedo cannon' do not represent that mech's regular configuration in the series.

That particular design is heavy weapon specialist in it's 'standard' configuration, but in concept the mecha is like a modern jet fighter. It carries few (if any) internal weapons, but can mount a variety of external weapons to tailor it for the mission. In addition the organization that built it is not a nation-state AFAICT, they have a very limited number of mecha so instead of building a dedicated specialist they set their heavy weapon/sniper platform up so it can be used to fill that role the few times it is needed, and be a main combatant the rest of the time.

 

[marthf1]

Then there is 90% of such series' staying within the solar system, or just being there, given all the physics & reality bending they are doing.

About the super mobile suits - that is probably the point. Even with plot twisting, a 15-year-old with no experience would survive a whole war. It is aimed at teenagers or younger, so the protagonist is usually their age. Then there is the unique mecha to appeal to their individuality or something & make the innumerable deaths just a number. Ah yes, individuality. One would think it would appeal to the Western mindset.... Also, it is super advanced to show innate superiority. Etcetera, etcetera. Oh yeah, there is also the often popular anti-war issue.

Honestly, you probably could write a book about all of this.