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wordsandrobots · 10 days ago

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I suppose Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is not bad in the ways The Witch From Mercury was.

OK, I'm well aware that's an incendiary statement and I apologise, but 1) it's true and 2) I mean exactly what I say. My dislike of G-Witch was rooted primarily in the story being a shoddy mess, flying on moment-to-moment emotion rather than thematic coherency or the basic competency required to structure a long-form piece of media. That aggravated me, quite out of proportion to what would, had it been executed well, have been a rather tepid – if sweetly rendered – love story-slash-family drama.

And I want to be upfront about that not being the kind of criticism I have for GQuuuuuuX. Where G-Witch was full of meandering dead-ends and invocations of ideas it had no interest in exploring, this new show is aggressively tight. We don't faff around with side characters or get diverted into areas that never tie into the main plot, and there are no dangling threads left at the end. It's all very neat and tidy.

Neat, tidy, and thoroughly, depressingly boring.

The elephant in the room is that I'm not actually a Gundam fan, merely an Iron-Blooded Orphans fan who got curious about the franchise his favourite anime came attached to. I'm certainly not a Universal Century Gundam Fan. I have considerable respect for the first three Gundam series plus movie directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, but it's tempered by an overall lack of enjoyment. I just don't like the original version of Gundam very much. Even setting aside the actual flaws – erratic pacing, persistent sexism, racist dog-whistling baked into central premises – there's nothing in the generational conflict, psychedelic metaphors and horrors of war (TM) to particularly interest me.

Which means I am definitively not the intended audience for Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, the latest and most oddly named entry in the franchise, a show that appears to operate on the underlying assumption one considers the 1979 Gundam anime and its timeline to hold intrinsic importance.

It's literally a what-if where the Principality of Zeon defeated the Earth Federation rather than vise versa. Not an alternative universe in the way Gundam usually does them, only repeating the outlines of imagery and themes. An actual honest to goodness multiverse-evoking AU, where the most obvious thrill is playing spot-the-difference and the spectre of this not being 'real' hangs over proceedings.

[The basic emptiness of your standard multiverse – that there are canonical versions of the characters to care about to the exclusion of all variants – has few solutions when executed within the boundaries of pre-existing media. Into the Spider Verse offers the nearest analogue to what GQuuuuuuX attempts, as it firmly focuses on the 'other' Spider-Man, powering through by insisting he is the main character regardless of any meta-rankings available to the audience. If no 'prime' timeline is acknowledged (and anything resembling one is scrupulously avoided) then the problem becomes moot.]

[The key word in that aside is 'attempts'.]

[By which I mean –

This has stopped being an aside. By which I mean, we are nominally meant to focus on new characters, or characters so ill-defined in the original version, these iterations might as well be someone else entirely. Machu, Nyaan, Shuji, Challia Bull, Xavier, and even to some extent Kycilia Zabi are distinct enough that it should be easy to consider this story theirs alone.

However, the thing – the thing, the core of the matter – is that GQuuuuuuX has no interest in shutting up about its predecessor. It looks at the looming shadow of the source material and whole-heartedly embraces it.

This is not done haphazardly. The cameos work. But the work they are performing is in large part to make a comparison to Mobile Suit Gundam. It's like the mechanical design: different enough to smack of potential and individuality, but ultimately in service of recreating the old more than producing something genuinely new.

This is Machu's story in the sense of following her journey from jumping into the GQuuuuuuX's cockpit to beating up the giant ghost of Gundams past and chilling on a beach with her MAV (I still don't know if it's a power move or cowardice to never have defined the acronym). But I'm hard pressed to consider the show truly committed to being about her, or about Nyaan, who experiences the bulk of the requisite emotional wrangling.

They are there, at the centre of the action, with an arc defined on their terms, navigating awkward teenager emotions like 'falling for the same guy' and 'running away to commit war-crimes for a would-be genocidal dictator because you didn't know how to apologise to your only friend'. Yet in the end, every challenge thrown at them boils down to '1979 intruded into their timeline and shit got weird'. Because of course it's actually a story about Shuji, revealed to be the central macguffin around whim events have been turning. A mysterious weirdo huffing far too much spray-paint and serving as a talisman of Machu and Nyaan's desire to escape a mundane world of death and taxes, he possess a connection to the Gundam (the 1979 Gundam, not the GQuuuuuuX mobile suit that gets top billing, or the Red Gundam we initially assume he's speaking for). This turns out to be because he's a traveller from another dimension, who has been chasing a comatose, world-hopping Lalah Sune. Everyone fights about it. It's very climactic.

Oh, no, right. This is *actually* a story about Lalah Sune, isn't it?

Isn't it?

It's…

Let me start over.

Machu is a bored 17-year-old , chafing at the confines of a mundane, career-focused life on one of the Side 6 colonies. She encounters a refugee named Nyaan, a delivery girl for the black market fleeing bullying cops, and together they are drawn into both an illegal fighting ring and political intrigue involving the rulers of the triumphant Zeon. These events lead Machu and Nyaan to meet Shuji, a weirdo hermit boy with a pet robot who imagines his mobile suit can talk to him and has access to a fantastical cosmic phenomenon dubbed the Kira-Kira.

Machu is able to join him in this altered space thanks to hijacking the GQuuuuuuX and becomes infatuated with him/it as a result. This puts tension on her burgeoning relationship with Nyaan, who she begins to view as a rival for Shuji's affections. At the same time, Shuji's desire to reach Earth (supposedly at the behest of the red Gundam) becomes a shared daydream between the girls, representing escape from their various daily problems. Things reach boiling point when Nyaan proves a far more capable pilot for the GQuuuuuuX and falls head over heels for the Kira-Kira, which Machu interprets as her stealing away Shuji and Machu's own 'special' connection to him.

Events with the conspiracy plot then run out of control, causing everyone to be scattered, with Shuji disappearing up a dimensional whatsit because he had an emotional reaction to Nyaan asking him to come with her and the girls getting drawn into rival factions within Zeon. Nyaan, suffering from rejection and guilt over Shuji vanishing, allows herself to be conscripted for the chance to Kira-Kira hard enough to get him back. Machu, meanwhile, encounters a semi-sympathetic authority figure who allows her to roam free in order to track down the source of various weird phenomena affecting this universe. In the course of doing so, she uncovers hints of the tragedy that lies behind Shuji's mission. Armed with this knowledge, she rushes to confront her friends, arriving in time to stop Nyaan from doing something appalling. This allows Nyaan to embrace her relationship with Machu when given a choice between that and assuaging her guilt, and the pair team up to prevent Shuji from likewise committing a terrible act. In the end, Machu faces off against Shuji's gigantic extra-dimensional mecha, refusing to allow him to go through with a plan that is sensible on the surface but involves a sacrifice Machu will not stand for –

[Wait. Hold on. Hey, so I know Yōji Enokido wrote for Star Driver and I can think of far worse things to crib from, but this is a little bit on the nose, don't you think? And not even an unequivocal endorsement of polyamory to top things off…]

Anyway, Machu is able to show Shuji he's allowed his mission to override his true feelings, Shuji declares his love for Machu, they kiss, things resolve peacefully, the Good Princess ascends to the throne of Zeon owing to the Evil Queen dying in the final battle, and Machu and Nyaan retire to a beach on Earth, finally achieving their dream of freedom, with Machu confident that while Shuji has disappeared again, they'll reunite someday.

What you may have noticed about the above summary is that this largely avoids things of the nature of 'tying off a dangling plot-hook from a 45-year-old anime'. It's self-contained, consistent with itself, and unconcerned with what we might consider 'fannish' questions, such as resolving issues of canon or 'lore'. You could easily do this story without any Gundam trappings whatsoever, if you wanted.

Being a recently-turned 38-year-old who has engaged with a not-inconsiderable amount of comparable media, I personally find Shuji's declaration that he has 'never met anyone like' Machu rings utterly hollow. There are hundreds of similar tales, dealing with exactly these kinds of emotional stakes. It's very far from original. But if we allow that originality is not a pre-eminent virtue, we should judge the execution on its own merits.

Here is where we run into the major problem plaguing GQuuuuuuX, as a series. That plot summary? I would barely be exaggerating if I told you the show delivers the adventure in an identically brisk fashion. We get all the pieces needed for the beats to function, but absolutely not one jot more. There is only just enough runtime awarded to the arcs of the central characters for their actions to follow from their personalities and circumstances. Beyond that, the space available in this twelve episode run is devoted to something else entirely.

Namely: Golly gee, look! We did a Gundam AU!

There is a forty-five minute prologue to GQuuuuuuX detailing the events of MSG if Char Aznable – resident charismatic schemer and comical hat-wearer – had gotten his hands on the Gundam. Since including this wholesale in the episodic version (there is a cinematic cut of the early episodes) would have meant releasing the series with the actual main cast vestigial in their own introduction, the flashback was made the entire second episode instead. This is what might be considered 'a bold move', thoroughly kills the forward momentum not half an hour in, but I do appreciate the bluntness of the approach, revealing as it is of the creative priorities for this show.

Because I don't think there's a solid argument for so extensive a flashback being at all necessary. We need to know several pieces of key information contained within, namely that Challia Bull (who Char manoeuvrers to his death in the original timeline) is now Char's protege and co-conspirator on a plan to remove the Zeon leadership; that Char's use of the Gundam tipped the scales in Zeon's favour during the war; and that Char disappeared towards the war's end, when a confrontation with his estranged sister Artesia was interrupted by a massive version of the Kira-Kira effect, later dubbed a 'Zeknova'. That's not a lot. Certainly, I would say, not forty-five minutes' worth of context.

No, the joy here is in the redux. It's in going over events from Mobile Suit Gundam, imagining how they might play out differently if the starting conditions suffered an alteration. The Gundam gets painted red! The Federation never develops GMs! Gihren and Kycilia Zabi survive the war! Dozle still doesn't! New variants of the Guncannon! Artesia gets to drive one! Solomon is nearly dropped on Granada! Char never meets Lalah –

We'll…

We'll come back to that.

It's all lovingly rendered, with a keen eye for when to replicate the artistic choices of the original and when to adjust them. It understands that MSG is frequently quite beautiful and why. It is also the place we can most clearly say, in a derogatory fashion, that this is just Universal Century fanfic.

If the point is just to ask 'what if', what then is the value of that exercise?

To an extent, I suppose there doesn't have to be any beyond the fun of playing with familiar toys. I'm a fanfic writer myself. I'd go so far as applauding anyone taking a corporation's money to put their fix-it on the big screen. That's extremely funny. There is a niche, broader than it probably should be but present nonetheless, for 'official fanfic', allowing creative people to stack up their favourite bricks and make a bunch of in-jokes on the company dime. I'm disinclined to be too dismissive of this as an exercise, if only because throwing that particular rock risks getting glass everywhere.

Even so… is it unreasonable to ask for more? In-jokes are an occasional treat but hardly a meal on their own and nobody likes to be thought of as a clapping seal, satisfied merely with gleeful recognition. Mobile Suit Gundam is, above all else, a show with something to say. There's plenty of scope here for a conversation with its messages, infusing the delirious rearrangement with concrete meaning.

Since GQuuuuuuX concludes with a battle between our new heroes and a monstrously gigantic version of the original 'white devil' Gundam, Machu convincing Shuji to stop blindly following what he erroneously thinks is the only way to do right by an avatar of the original show, we must consider the possibility that the message is about escaping the weight of 'Gundam' as a concept and forging something new. That's a trivial read, isn't it? And if it is the correct one, then let me be the first to say: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

No, but seriously: are you fucking kidding? Did anyone actually imagine doing it this way was how you sell that kind of meta-commentary? Like I already said, GQuuuuuuX, as a product, loves the shadow cast by Tomino's Gundam. It wants to marry that shadow! GQuuuuuuX and MSG, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Sure, this show thinks the original Gundam is kind of sinister and wants to position Machu as a 'true' newtype, correcting Shuji and Char's overbearing attitudes. At a narrative level, I see how you could get to reading this as a commentary on growing beyond one's roots, or a tale about the interplay between younger and older generations, using Gundam iconography as a stand-in for the old guard.

But as a finished product, GQuuuuuuX name-drops, with considerable fanfare, Gates Capa, Zeta Gundam's most 'he sure was there' cyber-newtype. It hinges a not inconsiderable amount on the audience being aware of who Artesia/Sayla Mass is, why we care when Char realises he’s fighting his sister, and that it can be considered an improvement if she takes his place as a leader of Zeon. It fully expects you to know the major beats of MSG and how clever it is at subverting them.

I'm not expecting a total rejection of Gundam here. That would be ridiculous. Reclaiming what is best from the past while not allowing it to dominate the future is a perfectly fine sentiment. I still find it laughable to suggest a series that devotes an entire episode and a half to doing over the original in miniature and absolutely hammers the audience with shot-for-shot recreations of Famous Gundam Moments (TM) can convincingly communicate such a message. That's preaching abstinence while running a brewery. You don't get to make your entire pitch 'roll up, roll up, see the amazing Gundam 0079 AU', then pivot to 'well we ought to consider how best to navigate the legacy of long-standing media properties in a way that allows them to remain fresh and vibrant while honouring the legacy of previous works'. Get real. You name-dropped Gates Capa.

Actually, the whole incident with the Titans is quite illustrative. This serves as the third in a series of asides with different Clan Battle mobile teams, each acting as a prefigurative mirror to the main characters. Ex-Federal Forces pilot Shiiko Sugai throws her life away trying to conclude a grudge from the war, abandoning connections of the present in a way that parallels Shuji's attempts to do the same. The demobbed Black Tri-Stars, down a member since Mash went into politics, are as disgruntled with their lot as Nyaan and showcase Zeon using people up and spitting them out, the very peril she risks to bring Shuji back from the Other Side. And Deux, the weird cyber-newtype dog-girl Gates is here to babysit, alludes to Machu's growing partnership with the GQuuuuuux by seeing herself as the heart of the giant Psycho Gundam. Only freakish and weird and definitely hitting someone's kink square on the head.

Ah, yes. The Psycho Gundam. Used as an over-powered monster of the week, an excuse to up-end the status quo so everybody can get off Side 6 and go do useful plot-furthering things, and never mentioned again.

I raised my eyebrows when this episode aired because if you know anything about the first three Gundam series, you'll know that's not how the Psycho Gundam works, as a narrative device. Far from being an one-off monster, it is a foe with a deeply personal connection to the protagonist(s), via its poor, doomed pilots. It's a fully-formed dark reflection of what newtypes can or should be, the girls within compelled to do battle by a twisted version of the 'fight for what you love' ethic that defines Lalah Sune, the OG newtype of whom they are lesser copies.

…we're getting there, I promise.

The Psycho Gundam has weight to it, in its original context. An illustration of everything that can go wrong with sending young people to war, of their exploitation by establishment forces and potential for killing on a massive scale. Also it makes an excellent monster, because it's flipping huge and evil-looking, pitching familiar design cues over the edge into 'this is going to eat you alive'. Like so many things in GQuuuuuux, introducing it as a 'world-ending' twist is a good choice.

Yet the result is weightless. I can draw the parallel with Machu, but there's no sense in which the show itself goes out of its way to do so. The Psycho Gundam arrives… blows up down-town Side 6 to try and kill Kycilia… then gets exploded by Challia. Machu and Deux never interact in any meaningful way. Gates is swatted like a bug and the Titans play no further role. So why bother? Why expend precious minutes setting this up? Even if they were genuinely going for a parallel, it's not an important one. The previous two ClanBat teams are considerably more significant in that regard. This is just – well, it's just because. It's they gave us money, let's redo all the classics. It's imagery alone, separate from what that imagery originally meant.

Literally all that is required of the episode the Psycho Gundam appears in is to propel Machu and Nyaan on to the next stage of the plot. This does the job, but the fan-pleasing inclusion adds nothing concrete because it could have been anything. A meteor strike, a police raid, Machu's mum finding out what's been going on. I'm not asking why they went with a callback instead; that much is plain, see above, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. What I'm trying to point out is that if you separate the iconography from its meaning, you reduce its presence to an empty signifier.

The Psycho Gundam as a version of how Kycilia uses Nyaan? As an mirror of Shuji's situation? As Machu and the GQuuuuuux's evil twin?

Nah, no time, we need to hit the fanservice quota then quick-pressé the next few character beats because – I cannot stress this enough – we spent animation budget on a Gates Capa cameo. The plot is speed-run in precise proportion to the amount of space waffled away on for-the-sake-of-itself references, and the result is… is …

All right. Fine. Fine! I guess I can't keep avoiding it for another three thousand words.

The death of Lalah Sune is the load-bearing tragedy of Mobile Suit Gundam. The long shadow within the long shadow that is Gundam's history. Killing off this girl to further the development of the boys in her orbit is as core a component to the whole thing as you could hope to find. Naturally, therefore, GQuuuuuux's AU is ultimately revealed to rest on a version of Lalah as well.

Who may in fact be the 'real' Lalah.

Except she isn't. At all. Because this show doesn't seem to understand Lalah Sune or her death as anything other than an icon of the franchise.

Lalah could have been the herald of a new age. She and fellow teen-pilot Amuro Ray could have been friends, lovers, soul-mates. She could have shown Char a healthy way forward. Only, of course, she and Amuro meet too late, when they're already trapped on opposing sides in the war.

She is the one to confront Amuro with the moral question of why do you fight? Lalah can answer this: she fights to protect the man she loves, who saved her from the ill-defined circumstances of her past. Unlike Amuro who has to be press-ganged and cajoled into battle, Lalah has a purpose, right from the start. By her assessment, this is the more natural state. You fight to defend what you care about, the people or homeland in your heart. Anything else is, by implication, inhuman.

This message sinks in. By the end of MSG, Amuro has passed through trying to take out the Zabi family in order to stop the war and moved on to using his psychic abilities to guide his crew-mates – his friends, his home – to safety. Newtypes should not be aimless weapons, fired by whoever can pull their strings, but protectors, keeping each other from harm. This is the optimism Amuro embraces, contra Char's more cynical claim that war is necessary to bring out newtype strength. The final argument places Lalah and Amuro in one corner and Char, the other, as pay-off for Lalah's despair over finding herself fighting someone who should be her ally.

It's not a particularly nuanced debate. It doesn't particularly need to be. Things continue in much this vein until Char's Counter Attack, where Amuro is still berating his long-time rival for being a cynical sod with no faith in humanity. The extent to which the story – or indeed the author – agrees with him is interesting to map, but I want to focus on Lalah herself. In outline, she is a somewhat worrisome concept. A magical Indian girl attuned to things beyond the material world, hypnotically beautiful and devoted to her handsome blonde captain? This could easily be a recipe for disaster, especially given her role is to die for Char and to traumatise Amuro. Tomino has a long list of sacrificial female characters to his name, hardly counterbalanced by his equally free-handed killing of male characters, and he's frequently quite dodgy on race too (looking at you, Turn A Gundam).

The thing about Lalah, though, is that she is important. Her significance isn't earned merely from the act of providing Amuro a moral compass with which to navigate his newtype status; it is built up over a solid seven episode block prior to her death, painting a picture of a girl who is at odds with mundane reality but far from a naïve waif. She states outright in her first episode that she's aware Char only took her under his wing because of her extra-sensory perception. She allows him to throw her into the war extremely fast, struggles with controlling remote attack drones under combat conditions, and experiences first hand how quick Zeon soldiers are to defer to newtypes when it comes to undertaking dangerous missions. Once she finds her bearings – plus confidence in Char's presence alongside her – she quickly racks up a body-count comparable to Amuro's. We see, in effect, her undergo a compressed version of the conditions that brought the protagonist of the show to the point where his reaction speed is outpacing the Gundam's.

It's an intriguing parallel, particularly because it happens on Char's direct orders. Yes, Lalah adores him. But he's accelerating her development for his own ends – and I think we're meant to recognise that Lalah knows this, going along with it because she loves him anyway.

Perhaps that's a stretch. Perhaps I'm misreading the cues. Despite what it might appear, I come into these things expecting I will be proved wrong at some point. I'm talking about fiction written in another language, from another culture, 46 years after the fact. There's no guarantee my interpretation is what was intended.

Still, a tension undoubtedly exists within Char and Lalah's relationship. Kycilia thinks meeting Lalah made him believe in newtypes. We know Amuro played a roll in this too, but Lalah is clearly a key part of his motivation shifting to wanting to build a future for newtypes. In his arrogance, he appoints himself as judge of who is allowed into that future and how it should be shaped. Lalah lets him dictate her life, yet after her death she stands at odds with him on this. Even before then, when he defers to her authority in the battle against the Gundam, she orders him to put on a spacesuit, implicitly criticising his assumption that he can always bring back his mobile suit in one piece. Obviously she does this because she loves him. It is nonetheless push back against his high-handed attitude.

How much you feel any of this counts within the broader tropes, I don't know. It's still important to map the contours of the way Lalah is presented to us. Quite apart from anything else, the show tells us it's Amuro she's star-crossed with, not Char. Amuro is the one she laments did not come to her sooner, who she is horrified to find herself fighting. And that's Char's fault, in major part.

Saying 'Lalah loves Char and dies to protect him' is therefore a very incomplete description of what happens during the penultimate battle of Mobile Suit Gundam, as plot threads that have been percolating throughout the show crash together. Amuro and Lalah's powers project them into liminal space, allowing them to gain a total understanding of each other. Char, blinkered by the here and now, arrives to attack Amuro, ordering Lalah to 'stop fooling around with him'. Sayla flies inadvisedly close, trying to get Char to see sense, prompting him to swing at her fighter and Lalah to hold him back from accidentally killing his sister. Amuro, enraged, takes advantage of this opening to attack Char. And just as our boy is about to skewer the red-clothed bastard right in the Gelgoog, Lalah moves her mobile armour into his path, the beam-sabre vaporising her cockpit.

As much as fate or destiny has a hand in everyone coming to this deadly pass, the tragedy plays out through their decisions. Nobody is passive. They act according to their natures and their instincts, and Lalah transcends her death (in one of the most beautifully animated sequences in all of Gundam), showing just how far newtypes can really go. Thereafter, she continues to haunt the narrative(s) as both guilty burden and guiding light.

She is fascinating. A real Gordian Knot of Gundam's strengths and weaknesses. If you were to, say, imagine an alternate take on MSG, it might be an interesting exercise to consider how a character like her would have developed free of Char's influence. Would she be doomed to suffer under other poisoned saviours? Or could she break out on her own, a blooming flower of empathic possibility rather than a doomed, dying swan? I think, were I to attempt this exercise, she and Sayla would be the characters I'd most want to explore, beyond their roles in the existing narrative.

Thus I can only conclude GQuuuuuux was written to spite me, personally.

The first version of Lalah we meet is native to Machu's timeline: one who never met Char. Six years after the conclusion of the war, she is still on Earth, working at a brothel (I enjoyed watching The Origin and even I despair over having to hand it to that production, but it wasn't this crass). Not only that, she's stuck in a refrain of Someday My Prince Will Come, her psychic powers allowing her to see a rescue that never happened. The entirety of her characterisation is despair over not having met Char. You know, the guy who in the original version is 1) the reason she dies and 2) emblematic of the other side of the debate from 'newtypes should not be weapons'. I'm not saying it's wrong to read Lalah as in love with Char, but to reduce her to it, entirely?

That's extremely dull. And makes me think several key components of MSG flew over somebody's head. Especially since GQuuuuuux's next move is to reveal a *second* version of Lalah, frozen in time inside her mobile armour at the bottom of the ocean.

You see, in a putative 'true original' version of the events in MSG, it was Char who died in the fight with Amuro, not Lalah. Stricken with grief, OG!Lalah used her phenomenal cosmic power to create an alternate timeline where that didn't happen. Only, unfortunately, Char dying in a battle with Amuro is apparently a multiversal constant, so she kept witnessing it and kept freaking out over it and creating new universes in an attempt to save him. On and on this went, until she arrived in the GQuuuuuux version of events, where Char got the Gundam and never met her, and she could accept the latter if it meant he kept on living. Unfortunately, Quacks!Char cottoned on to her manipulation of the timeline, decided he didn't like it, and tricked Kycilia into building a huge dimensional gateway through which to punt the intrusion, actively rejecting the version that allowed him to survive because, I don't know, he's a contrary muppet who shouldn't be left in charge of a milk-float, let alone the future of humanity.

Meanwhile Shuji, who cares about Lalah for reasons never established but strongly implied to be linked to some version of Amuro (by which I mean they got the original voice actor back in for a couple of lines, which is a – shall we say – loaded decision given recent events), has been following behind OG!Lalah and mercy-killing iterations of her so she doesn't have to go through the grief explosion trauma any more. Something something endless cycle of tragedy and oh my stars and muses where do I even begin with this bollocks?

First of all, my instinctive reaction of 'newtypes don't work like that' is valid only insofar as the actual original Gundam series never raise the concept of alternate universes or going back in time to alter the past. Yes, Amuro thinks newtypes will be able to control time and Lalah can see time, but this is used to establish a perspective far beyond the limited, earth-bound ambitions of the Zabis and the Federation elites. There's never any sense in which time-bending is the point. Rather it represents everything everybody could be doing if they weren't killing each other for the sake of greed and hatred. But OK, fine, newtypes can create universes now. Whatever.

Second of all – remember everything I spelled out a few paragraphs ago about how Char bears a greater deal of responsiblity for what happens in MSG, how his intervention actively prevents Amuro and Lalah from meeting under constructive circumstances? Well, all of that! I get why you'd latch on to 'Lalah loves Char' as a defining part of her character. It is. But there's so much more there! Yet the thing these wazzocks took from that is 'oh I bet her powers would run out of control if Char had died instead'? 'Wouldn't it be awful if she kept trying to save Char and it kept failing?' 'What it it was fate, huh?' 'What then?'

That. Is. Not. The. Part. Where. Fate. Plays. A. Role. In. Mobile. Suit. Gundam. If anything, if we are going to talk about terrible fate, Char is an agent of it against Lalah. Which, OK, very clever, he gets to do that again by rejecting her Poly-Anna present. Only the net result is still this:

We're now meant to read MSG as the solution to this hypothetical problem.

Right? That's the implication, that after Machu stops Shuji and OG!Lalah wakes up and is for once allowed to move on peacefully, she goes back and dies in Char's place so events can play out as they are 'supposed to'. Lalah's entire purpose, textually, as a person, is reduced to saving Char. Not dying because that blonde numbskull couldn't get over himself for five minutes and accept that maybe he couldn't beat the fifteen-year-old nuclear bomb. Not dying when a split-second of rage on Amuro's part finally bears horrible consequences after forty episodes of him tantruming his way across the battlefield. Not dying to show how thoroughly fucked up it is that multiple world powers gladly feed their children in meat-grinders.

No, Lalah Sune dies making sure the events of 0079 go the way they were meant to. And also I guess Shuji gets to stop playing the most depressing game of transcendental whack-a-mole.

Hoo-flipping-ray.

I have been grappling with this farrago for several weeks, because I could see where this was going from the exact second Quacks!Lalah started talking about how Char was always fated to die. And I hate it. I hate it because of its complete inability to articulate anything about Lalah Sune as a concept.

Is it saying something about how Gundam's history looms large over its present, how each iteration is a the warped child of its predecessors, how we need to be willing to let the kids stand on their own two feet and not put them down for their own good?

Maybe. Probably. Perhaps.

I don't think it's doing any of those things especially well, because, as discussed, it's pressing 'skip' on all the cutscenes to get to more continuity porn.

Equally: I don't care.

I don't care! This is insipid. Pointless! Frankly insulting to what it's supposedly paying homage. They included a re-animation of the fight where Lalah dies, as illustration for this faux-original version of events, and all the important dialogue has been cut out. We get none of the voice lines or character exchanges through which the actual original version conveys the meaning of what's happening. I honestly think that fairly adequately sums up everything wrong with GQuuuuuuX.

Images, shorn of substance. Like the Psycho Gundam. Like Lalah. This isn't a conversation with the work on which it's riffing. A conversation would require some acknowledgement of what the work actually said. GQuuuuuuX prefers to mute MSG's voice and do its own thing.

Apparently, newtypes are defined by their suffering and having the strength to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps now. Funny. I thought that was the Red Comet's line. Seem to remember the other two parts of MSG's Catastrophe Throuple taking issue with it. Well, who cares. Look at the Gundam! It's gotten huge and turned totally white because it's known as the White Devil! You get it, yeah? Don't you? That's meta-commentary, that is.

I am bored by this show. I was bored before I began watching it and nothing it had to offer elevated my opinion off the floor. I could do more work to talk about the things I think it did well. The art style, the mecha design, the opening sequence. Or I could go on more rants about its read on UC canon, such as how it imputes maternal instinct in Kycilia Zabi of all people, for the sake of a cheap inversion of Char's infamous 'she could have been a mother to me' line. I have decided, however, that I simply cannot be bothered.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuux has a solid grasp on plotting and how to tell a story focused on a particular goal. It conveys its message of the Kids Are Alright with cut-throat directness. It simply cannot afford to do anything else because it is otherwise swamped with a boatload of surface-level impressions of an extremely well-directed anime that I am sure had a big impact on the authors of this complete misunderstanding of what Mobile Suit Gundam was talking about. Or perhaps they got it and I didn't, in which case I dislike the Universal Century even more than I thought.

What I know for sure is the frustration I felt overThe Witch From Mercury's terrible plotting ultimately stemmed from how much potential that show had. It threw out so many ideas, so fast, it positively sizzled with possibility. The net result was a hot mess, but at least it was hot.

In comparison, this conflux of all-consuming veneration for past images, warmed-over teenage angst narratives, and bargain-basement fanfic concepts lands with the vim and vigour of a wet fart.

Let us never speak of it again.

#gundam #gquuuuuuux #was no one going to tell me I kept hyphenating that when I shouldn't?#in which I am terribly mean to an anime I didn't enjoy #I didn't even touch on them using Sayla like a damn fig-leaf to cover their leaps of fix-it logic #'look what they did to my girl'#and it's a picture of blank space #spoilers #this is a review #I really wish it wasn't #but there's no getting around it #I am posting this because frankly I am fed up trying to grapple with my thoughts #on something that doesn't induce any thoughts worth grappling with

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gremoria411 · 1 month ago

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This post is a (very late) follow up to this ask by @wordsandrobots , regarding design lineages in Gundam (specifically Gundam 00). This post discusses the Gundam’s Virtue, Seravee and Raphael (plus their complimentary and variant units)

And then we get to Virtue. I love the virtue line, because it is the other anti-traitor celestial being suit. But instead of having a sword that can pull double-duty as an anti-GN weapon, it just is full of systems so busted that they only ever work once, because then there just wouldn’t be a plot. I’m also gonna quickly preface this by saying that the Virtue is the one where I know the least about its side units. The Virtue itself initially seems to be the heavy weapons Gundam - it is noticeably bulky, with heavy armour and it mounts several large GN Cannons in addition to its handheld GN Bazooka. It is armed with beam sabers, but I think it uses them approximately twice in the entire series. A heavy Gundam that leverages its weight of fire to its advantage, the Hammer to the Dynames and Exia’s Sclapel (and I suppose the Kyrios’ throwing knife). Then Tieria Panics and reveals the existence of Nadleeh, the unit hidden behind Virtue’s layers of armour. Nadleeh is primarily a vector for the Trial System, which essentially allows it to remotely override any other machine connected to the Celestial Being supercomputer Veda - I.E. an enemy Gundam (it’s also incredibly bish). This is also one of the reasons why Tieria is such an ass for the early parts of the series - he doesn’t trust any of these “inferior humans” and it’s his job to keep watch for such a of betrayal, particularly from the pilot of the other anti-traitor Gundam Exia, Setsuna. The Nadleeh also had a set of optional equipment designed to extend the range of the trial system, the Nadleeh Akwos, which has a sword with a Gundam face. Moving on, the Virtue Physical was an optional set of equipment for the Virtue designed primarily for ballistic use, since beam weaponry was at that time unique to celestial being. Due to its focus on physical attacks, it was able to devote more of its particle output towards defensive purposes, and was for this reason preferred by CB engineers. Honestly, it’s an perfectly good alternate equipment set for virtue that wasn’t seen in the anime for whatever reason, but it’s focus is still on long-range, since this allows it quickly be re-equipped if necessary to counter traitors. The Virtue’s immediate predecessor was the second-generation Gundam Plutone. I honestly don’t know a great deal about it (I’ve yet to read 00P), but my general view of it is that it is to the Virtue what the Astraea is to the other three Gundam’s - it tested critical systems and was a general “proof-of-concept”. It possessed an early version of the GN Field, GN Composite Armour, a GN Condenser and a core fighter for recovery of the meister and GN Drive. It kinda feels like a proto-heavy weapons Gundam? The Virtue’s immediate successor is the Seravee, which is honestly one of those suits I could probably write an entire mini-essay on. The Virtue was the subject of three near-capture/destruction events during celestial being’s early operations, as such Seravee appears to be designed to utterly crush any subsequent attempts. it’s visually similar to the Virtue and fights in a similar way, leveraging heavy weapons to its advantage. However, it incorporates six beam sabers and four hidden arms with which to use them, making it no slouch at melee combat. It’s later further upgraded with even more cannons and particle condensers, so it’s even more effective in combat. I really like how it’s essentially being “buffed” by the particle condensers, allowing it to shine in its role. The Seravee also incorporates the Seraphim Gundam, an unmanned attack unit remotely controlled by Tieria, which form the Seravee’s backpack, second face and several of its guns. The Seraphim is essentially a lighter Nadleeh that’s designed to work in concert with its “host” unit, rather than be the end result. It’s armed with integrated GN Cannons from the Seravee, two GN beam sabers and retains the Nadleeh’s Trial System, allowing it to continue functioning as an anti-traitor machine.

This also allows the trial system to be far more easily deployed, since it’s actively carried with the Seraphim, allowing the Seravee to restrain or distract the enemy unit while the Seraphim deploys. The GNHW/B pack adds an additional pair of GN Cannons on the hips and four GN Field Generators, to further fortify the Seravee (it also gives the Seraphim a little uzi). The unused GNHW/3G pack however, goes full-hog on the Seraphim and Trial System, adding two whole Seraphim Units (SEM’s) in order to bring the total number of Gundam’s in this Gundam up to four (Seravee, Seraphim and the two SEM’s). Beyond pure firepower, the 3G expands the range of the Trial system to several hundred kilometres, allowing it to affect pretty much everything within a reasonable distance. I find the 3G quite interesting, since it was planned to be used against the Innovators during the final battle of the series, but since the use of the trial system hinged on the swift recapture of Veda (celestial being’s supercomputer), it was judged that the GNHW/B pack was the safer option, since there was a lower chance of Seraphim or it’s SEM’s being shot down prior to Veda’s recapture. (That and Tieria was like “hm, maybe trusting my allies is the better tactical choice here”). It’s just nice honestly, because it illustrates tactical foresight from celestial being, character growth for Tieria, and is just generally a fun design because of the emphasis on Seraphim/the Trial System (again, tying into my love of specialists here).

After the events of Gundam 00’s season 2 Finale, Tieria salvages what’s left of Seravee and the Innovade’s GNZ series (which are derived from second-generation gundam series) in order to construct the Gundam Raphael. Due to the Seravee’s original GN Drive being lost, the Raphael was instead equipped with 3 GN Drive Tau’s, which allowed it to continue utilising the heavy firepower Tieria was so fond of. Unlike its predecessors, not only is the Seravee II a little more obvious in the Raphael (it’s that giant mass of guns on top), it was also designed to fight alongside the Raphael, as opposed to purely being a trump card. Due to its top-heavy design and space-use focus, the Raphael was ill-suited for ground combat, leading to the development of the Raphael Dominion. The Raphael Dominion, in addition to equipping the Raphael for Ground combat, returns the lines all-important chunk, with additional armour and three GN Bazookas at its disposal. The additional armour can separate and form the Sera unit, essentially a headless Seravee unit that can attack independently of the Raphael Dominion (and presumably freak the enemy out while it’s at it). The Raphael’s a neat reversal of the Virtue line’s philosophy, and it’s a nice blend of Celestial Being and Innovator Gundam Design.

I like the Virtue line because its development parallels Tieria’s in a way different to the other Gundam pilots, and the details in the side units (like the 3G) really help emphasise this. The fact that is emphasis is always on heavy firepower is also fun - it’s a dedicated back line support unit, both because Tieria views application of firepower as the best way to get the job done, but he doesn’t trust anyone else to watch his back and his position in the back line allows him to keep an eye on his teammates. Also, the Virtue’s firepower focus makes it diametrically opposed to the Exia’s philosophy - both have a way to directly counter the other, and yet both are built specifically to counter traitors in celestial being, so they’re interesting duelling designs from that perspective.

In conclusion, I like 00’s approach because each Gundam has a solid niche, and in many cases they’re reflection of their pilots. Most of the side designs either explain more about the pilot or explain more about Celestial Being as an organisation, so we get to approach that niche from many different angles:

I must apologise for how long it took me to get this post done - Information about the Raphael Dominion simply refused to adhere to me. I will probably follow up with my opinions on other design lineages in Gundam series at some point (predominantly Wing, IBO and WFM).

#I have no opinions on the Astraea II #might do a small post on the GRM Gundam #gundam #ramblings #mobile suit gundam #very rambling #Gundam 00 #mobile suit Gundam 00

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over-the-time-flow · 2 years ago

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Time for Chapter 2! But first,

Pre-Chapter 2 Upgrades:

Excellence Cosmodriver

HP: 3800 -> 3990 Armor: 950 -> 997 Weapons: 0 -> 1

We enter Chapter 2 with 6500 left over, as i didn't really feel like spending more just yet.

I also gave everyone a Repair Kit (as we had 4), Amuro and Raul a Propellant Tank (recovers all EN, given to them even though both have ways of recovering EN otherwise since the Fairies and the Mega Beam Cannon are important to have online often), and Bright and Kayra get the 2 Cartidges (recovers all Ammo).

Making mecha designer small talk with Mizuho, Amuro asks about the Excellence and its modular nature. Mizuho says that she went with that type of design since as a test machine, they couldn't really produce it in bulk; but by giving it various frames, that single unit would have a lot of versatility. From one designer to another, Amuro admits he'd like her opinion on his designs for the v Gundam, the next Gundam unit, and one made especially for his personal use.

Changing the topic, it seems Astonaige finally noticed that the Excellence's cockpit can separate and turn into a fighter. Hey, doesn't the very first Gundam also do that? Of course, Amuro points out, those "Mazinger" robots also ended up using a similar concept.

Elsewhere in the hangar, Raul and Raj check up on the Excellence. The Timeflow engine is doing fine, but Raj worries; even if things are fine for now, with how uncertain their future is, if Raul gets the core block of the Excellence seriously damaged, who knows if they'll even be able to arrange for a facility where they can do extensive repairs. Raul says that, worst case scenario, they have a spare Argent Fighter, but it's not smart for them to let their guard down just because of that; the core of the Excellence is far harder to maintain than the frames.

Suddenly, Kayra barges into the hangar; everyone is to head for the bridge immediately. Yes, even the Excellence trio.

Due to an emergency, there's been a change in the Ra Cailum's flight plan; instead of heading to Von Braun for supplies, they're heading to Fifth Luna, an asteroid used for mining operations. Neo Zeon is about to repeat a historical tragedy; they're going to drop it onto the Earth, much like the Colony Drops of the One Year War.

They reason their plan is to use repeated strikes on the Earth with celestial bodies to trigger a new ice age, as a longstanding theory of why the ice age came about was due to meteors striking the Earth. Isn't that what killed the dinosaurs?

Amuro: "No, the dinosaurs' extinction was due to Getter radiation. It's just that the meteor impacts happened at around the same timeframe, so people often confuse them."

this line belongs in the srw hall of fame. simply remarkable.

In any case, the Londo Bell's response is late due to the New UNE's lack of prudence. This is an emergency. As such, Bright asks the Excellence crew if they can rely on their assistance for this operation. Mizuho goes ahead and accepts for us, but Raj isn't as enthusiastic, and wants to remind everyone that the Excellence is just a test machine... but Bright reiterates that right now, the Londo Bell needs any help they can get their hands on.

Mizuho and Raj muse that they certainly didn't expect for the Excellence to be deployed in live combat so quickly. Well, the Moon base incident was live combat too, in a way, though definitely not an ideal debut.

Above all though, Raul sees that incident as an opportunity. Thanks to it, now they're about to face actual combat, on the frontlines of the war! If they do well here, it'll be an achievement no mock battle could offer them. Plus, it'll be great for testing if any parts of the Excellence's design don't hold up to the scrutiny of real combat. Raul's enthusiasm is firing up even Mizuho!

Raul: "Alright. We're going to build up the Excellence's resume."

The team's confidence renewed, Raul heads off to the strategy meeting.

Fifth Luna isn't usually a mobile station; for the purposes of their asteroid drop operation, they've installed nuclear pulse engines on it. As a result, those are the team's real target. If we can make it lose its momentum before it reaches the Earth's gravitational pull, it's nothing but a big rock floating in space. Of course, since the other side also knows this, their defenses will likely be at their thickest around said engines.

In short, our goal is to get within range of the thrusters in time, destroy them, and get out. If we take too long, even with the thrusters destroyed, the inertia combined with the Earth's pull will cause it to hit the earth regardless.

In the middle of the meeting, however, news reaches the Ra Cailum; there's been a coup d'etat at the Amaterasu Colony! What's more, the people behind the coup aren't with Neo Zeon. They're part of a wholly new insurrectionist group... the Martian Successors. What's more, many people within the ranks of the UNE have defected to their cause. As a result, we'll be even more shorthanded during our assault on Fifth Luna than we thought!

Amuro thinks this is fishy. The timing on these incidents... is it really just a bad coincidence? Raul reasons that coincidence or conspiracy, there isn't much they can personally do about it. All that matters is that they've got to stop that asteroid.

#srw r #super robot wars r #translation #lets-play

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yakdeculture · 7 months ago

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Macross Frontier Review

This was so fucking peak. So far this is the only Macross thing I've seen that actually has a good love triangle. To be fair to Macross 7 they basically didn't even try Basara never cared like that and Gamlin is a loser but in Macross 1 and 2 are just really mid because of good ol misogyny so you probably aren't really going to be rooting for anything etiher way because they're all losing, and then in Macross Plus Guld is a creep. That being said it's not like having a non interesting love triangle made the other series worse but having a good love triangle really makes Frontier hit so good. The romance is always an important plot element in all the series but this show does the intersection of romance and music really well, yes all the shows are like a montage of love songs but this one just hits okay. Now granted some of the side character romances are stupid, actually like all of them except for Ozma and Cathy, but that's okay. I appreciate this show only being 25 episodes. Like I said in my Macross 7 review, I don't have a problem with shows being 50something episodes, but I think you mechafans don't seem to understand that 50ish episodes is not the standard show length that should be aimed for. Could the writers have thought of things to do and ways to make this 50 episodes? Probably. But if you're going to add episodes just for the sake of something being longer and having more of it I think that is a mistake. A lot of times in these shows, espicallys one that are often driven by the relationships characters share with each other, you end up having moments basically repeated because you can't change the core idea of their relationship too much from what you want it to be but also you need things to change at least a little bit for things to stay interesting. Let's use Rain and Domon from G Gundam as an example. Their relationship follows a very clear line where the feelings that share for each other essentially exist from the beginning but they have to go through some things to both realize this and vocalize them. And it's great it makes for a really engaging and satisfying storyline. However, it is hurt a bit by the fact that the show is like 48 episodes so Domon has to learn the "his feelings of love he shares with Rain are his strongest source of power" like 3 different times, and sure each time he understands what's going on a little bit more, but generally he spends the whole show getting more emotionally intelligent, until all of a sudden that thing where Allenby gets kidnapped makes him immediately turn back into a gremlin and be basically tells Rain to go die in a hole and he haters and she's a big fat meanie poopoo head and it's like so obnoxiously over the top and because the show is so long it kind of feels like Domon really should know better than to not overreact that seriously. It's fine that he got mad it's understandable and it kind of had to happen for the story to do what it wanted to but because it's so long but with that core storyline being relatively short the final inciting incident of Domon making Rain all emo happens way too late resulting in a moment where Domon has to act even worse than a similar episode earlier in the show. Like he wasn't even that much of a dickhead in the episode with Rain's ex yuou know what I mean.

Anyways to actually talk about the show I love it. The core characters of Alto, Ranka and Sharon are just so good. Their dynamic together is just great. And you know the story kind of gets a little Metal Gear Solid in the second half and its like pretty crazy but it was so fun. Like I said I don't love some of the side characters, most of the SMS crew is good, but Luca is just kind of there and he kind of turns into a creep because at least from what I remember he never confessed or started going out with the purple girl but he still acted like they were together in the hospital scenes while she was unconcious which is like really weird man. And also I don't like Michael but honestly he never stood a chance with me you can't be the oh I'm like a playboy because I'm scared of commitment or whatever and also share a voice actor with Shinji Fate/Stay Night it just can't happen man. The music in this one is great, Ranka and Sharon have some amazing songs. I like all of Ranka's songs pretty much about the same, I love her cover of Do You Remember Love, and Sharon's Northern Cross is an all time banger. I highly recommended this to anyone interested in an Idol-Mecha-Romance Drama show. I encourage you to check out all of Macross but honestly I don't think it really matters that much where you start, sure they reference stuff that has happened in older shit but most of the time its just "I like Minmay Songs" "I like Fire Bomber" " I want to fuck a Zentradi baddy while she's not a Micron"

#old reviews #genre: mecha #genre: romance #april reviews #decade: 00s

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midnightactual · 2 years ago

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I feel like there are a lot of parallels between Armored Core VI's Coral, and Gundam: The Witch From Mercury's Permet, as like Permet, Coral can be used for data transfer and used to augment pilots. Got some thinky thoughts about Yoruichi's specific backstory. It's funny though that in AC6, Human PLUS from AC1/2 is the bare minimum standard, not exceptional. (I don't think AC6 is related to the AC1/2, AC3, or AC4/5 timelines currently, though that may change... a lot of parts are very much recreations of AC3 part designs though.)

#Out Of Character #Verse: ARMORED WAR

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smlpodcast · 2 years ago

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The SML Podcast - Episode 890: Feral Petrucci

Download Episode 890 --

We've got a return visit from a good friend and a first time visit from composer Alexander Brandon, so let's rock!

The show kicks off with Jacob Garner & Aki on hand to welcome legendary composer Alexander Brandon to the show alongside Erik "Viking Guitar" Peabody and Dan "chunkstyle" Taylor to chat all about their recent collaboration, a seven minute long metal medley honoring the game Tyrian that Alex was the composer for! We also chat about mixing fan musicians with the source composers, meeting up at VGMCon and MAGFest, a friend who found a friggin RADIO SHACK in the wild, Alex's new album Omegaforce, and tons more!

After the guys head out, it's time for news of the week as we discuss the news that Xbox is sunsetting Games with Gold and Xbox Live Gold in general in favor of the newly unveiled Game Pass Core, the latest additions and departures for Xbox Game Pass, the latest news on the Microsoft/Activision/FTC situation, Gundam Evolution shutting down in its first year of existence, and Major Nelson stepping down from Xbox. Plus reviews featuring a visit from Grant "Stemage" Henry!

0:00 - Intro/Music Chatter w/ Viking Guitar, Chunkstyle, and Alexander Brandon 1:14:18 - News of the Week 1:35:44 - EXOPRIMAL - CAPCOM (Aki) 1:46:57 - Risky Woods (QUByte Classics) - PIKO Interactive, QUByte Interactive (Jacob) 1:52:48 - Maquette - Graceful Decay, Annapurna Interactive (Aki) 2:01:07 - Viewfinder - Sad Owl Studios, Thunderful Publishing (Grant)

The show ends with the previously mentioned Tyrian medley from Viking Guitar Live and Alexander Brandon! ROCK!

2:12:27 - Viking Guitar Live feat. Alexander Brandon - Siren Song (Tyrian)

https://www.funkyrustic.net/ https://www.vikingguitar.com/ http://www.chunkstyle.net/ https://www.exoprimal.com/ https://www.capcom.com/ https://www.pikointeractive.com/ https://www.qubyteinteractive.com/ https://gracefuldecay.com/ https://annapurnainteractive.com/ https://www.sos.games/ https://thunderfulgames.com/ https://vikingguitar.bandcamp.com/ https://alexanderbrandon.bandcamp.com/ https://www.keymailer.co/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sml-podcast/id826998112 https://open.spotify.com/show/6KQpzHeLsoyVy6Ln2ebNwK https://twitter.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://store.streamelements.com/thesmlpodcast ALL REVIEWED GAMES HAVE BEEN PROVIDED FOR FREE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ANY COVERAGE ON THE SHOW #PS5 #Xbox #Switch #Keymailer

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gundamfight · 7 years ago

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siphersaysstuff · 3 years ago

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So I'm (slowly) rewatching Transformers: Victory...

And Zod have mercy, I'm having to power through it.

See, when I did the pictures of the Dinoforce toys for @tfwiki, I saw how their fiction sections were massively empty, and I thought to myself "self, these guys are major characters in Japanese canon who are VERY VERY LIKELY going to get new toys soon (the Legacy Core Class Dinobots are blatantly Dinoking pretools), and they pretty much always appear as a big group, you can do a lot of copy-paste once you get team leader Goryu's section done, plugging another big hole that's been on the wiki for nearly two decades." So I dug up a subtitled run of Victory and...

It's incredibly, suffocatingly dry.

It's in this kind of awful middle ground where it's too simple and repetitive to be GOOD, but that lack of ambition means it never dips into the depths of ludicrously ridiculous/poor/careless writing that would make it BAD. It's just... there. A workmanlike product, inoffensive but also largely uninteresting.

The first six episodes are all basically the same story: Decepticons (mostly Dinoforce) attack a place, extended carnage and a few scenes of Kakuryu bungling, oh no some humans are in danger, Autobots show up, extruded fight sequences which typically lead up to a combiner sequence, Star Saber shows up to basically no-sell and win the day by just being super-powerful. It's only come episode seven that the formula changes. The stories don't necessarily get more complex, but they are at least different.

The Autobots are incredibly rigid and formal and it's hard to tell what most of them have got for personalities. It's not helping that, not being familiar with Japanese accents, they all sound incredibly similar and characters' faceplates don't move when they talk, meaning sometimes I literally can't tell who's talking. The Decepticons fare slightly better, thanks mainly to Leozack and Hellbat being super-duplicitous assholes and Goryu being a big proud lug, but the rest of Dinoforce are mostly childish idiots and the rest of Breastforce (yes, yes) are as flat as any Autobot, only evil.

Things do start changing up and getting slightly more character-driven after a while but really, it's all so rote. Also, six of the thirty-eight episodes are clip shows with no framing device whatsoever. The NINTH episode is a clip show, followed by another at episode 13. Yikes.

And stock footage. So, so, so much stock footage.

Supposedly, after the weirdness that was the Masterforce anime, Takara wanted to get "back to the roots" of Transformers, which had taken Japan by storm when it first released there in 1985. But by all accounts, a hefty part of what made TF so appealing o'er there to the point where re-releases of toys that had been on the market two years prior (in Diaclone and Microchange) suddenly sold like deep-fried crack was how it was so different from other "mecha" shows. It had a real goody-dumb to downright chaotic charm a lot of the time. But Victory is incredibly straight-laced, even to the point where the comedy relief bits are super predictable.

I was talking about it with @therobotmonster and he looked up what else was on "kids" TV in Japan (1989), and... whoof. Dragon Ball Z was ramping up to the first big fight with Vegeta. SD Gundam. Ranma 1/2 was hitting its stride. Never mind what was going on in the realm of Super Sentai and Masked Rider style action shows. And apparently, while Victory toys sold well, the show basically bombed.

Can't say that's surprising.

It's just kind of impressive the dull thud it's landing with, given I very distinctly remember the early days of online TF fandom in the 90s, when people swore up and down how amazing the anime were, especially Victory. Of course, by and large, nobody saying that actually understood Japanese and subtitles were out of the question, plus simply seeing the show was an endeavor all its own. You got a 9th-generation VHS copy from someone you didn't know on super-long-running speed (aka "worst fidelity") and just guessed at what was being said.

Ah well, I'm'a keep with it. I can't say I'm having fun with it, but well, it IS the wiki's purpose to catalog all this stuff, and Victory, dry as the cartoon is, DOES have nostalgia behind it and IS pretty much "The" Japanese Transformers Show.

And really, there are so many pieces of TF media that are so underwhelming compared to the toys they exist to advertise, and honestly, most of those are harder to watch than even the worst of Victory (looking at you, Prime Wars/War For Cybertron trilogies).

#transformers #transformers victory #star saber #deathsaurus #transformers anime

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emonewtype · 2 years ago

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Top 5 non-big three mecha (Gundam, Getter, Mazinger)

oh shit I forgot to answer this in a timely manner! Assuming you mean shows/games as a whole, not individual mechs? If thats not what you meant just tell me and I'll try and make a list of those as well. Anyways:

5) Martian Successor Nadesico: one of the first mecha I ever watched, and something I'll always respect for its ability to run both comedic and dramatic stories so intertwined without much unintended whiplash for the viewer. I ended up never finishing it due to IRL circumstances

4) Armored Core: While the settings are universally pretty dark by my standards, FromSoft's usual storytelling leaves things vague enough for me to tolerate it. Gen 2 AC greatly influenced how I feel a mech "should" move in a 3d space when I imagine one.

3) Patlabor: Like Nadesico, is a fascinating premise able to run both comedic and dramatic storylines, though Patlabor keeps them largely separated. A lot of the designs have that elusive "just unrealistic enough to be fun" quality to them that makes me find Real Robots so interesting. The soundtrack has quite a few hits as well. Didn't finish the TV series due to streaming services changing, but love the OVA and first 2 movies.

2) Macross Plus: A part of me wants to put the whole franchise here, but considering how variable the musical style, animation quality, and overall tone can get between different entries, I chose the one I'm most familiar with. Its mysteriously nostalgic to me, something about the music, something about that late 90's early 2000s era its from, I'm not fully sure.

1) Super Robot Wars Original Generations (Games, Not Shows): It almost feels like cheating, putting this here. SRW OG has a little of everything the mecha genre has to offer while remaining both legally and tonally distinct from all of it. But an aspect I love it for that I rarely hear talked about is how well it Gradually Escalates from a reasonably grounded (for a sci-fi) setting to the Rule Of Cool Shenanigans its more well known for without the player really feeling a big disconnect until more than a few games into the saga. And for something that is still technically a crossover, that is no small feat. Also the soundtrack is consistently incredible, especially comparing the GBA versions to other games on the system.

(Honorable mentions to the Front Mission series and Dai Guard, FM doesnt make the list because every game I've played has some irksome mechanic that annoys me, Dai Guard doesn't make the list because I've only watched like 3 episodes so far)

#someone bug me to watch Dai Guard #or the Blu Rays I got at a con a while back #or like #finish any of the stuff I've started and fallen off of

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kenkamishiro · 6 years ago

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Ishida’s Q&A comments from YJ compilation, Part 7

More of Ishida being snarky, plus that time he got hit by a car.

For anyone who doesn’t know about the relevant Questions to Ishida contest, please read here. You can start from Part 1 here.

The recent set of zakki:re and interview translations take a lot of time and effort, so if you enjoyed it please reblog or leave a like. Thank you!

2015

No. 1

What was the most unexpected thing that happened to you this year?

When I asked my friend, “Did anything unexpected happen to me?”, he suddenly handed me 6 mini four-wheel drives, which I was not expecting.

It was made by all the staff members.

No. 2

What present did you get from Santa that you were happy with?

DQ, probably. I feel like it was both my Christmas and birthday present wrapped in one.

I was in despair that time I got a mysterious transformers toy.

[T/N: DQ is the short form for Dragon Quest.]

No. 3

Sensei, what do you think is the face of 2014?

Jibanyan.

Gave a random answer for that one.

No. 4-5

December 24th is Christmas Eve! Now then, please share with us a gift that you want now as an adult!

Nothing since I’m an adult.

Like hell you’re an adult.

No. 6-7

Who or what are you most anticipating for 2015?

I’d be thankful if a 64-bit version of SAI was released.

It never came out! But I ended up going back to SAI in the end.

No. 8

Please share with us your goals for 2015.

I want to start oil painting.

I dabbled in it a bit in 2017.

No. 9

A hero that you admired when you were a kid?

The Jedi.

I still admire them.

No. 10

What’s a fictional vehicle you want to ride?

The Millennium Falcon.

Doraemon’s time machine.

No. 11

Who has had the greatest aura up to now?

The Kanou sisters.

They’ve stood in the countrysides of Fukuoka.

No. 12

Please share with us a person or character you think will be popular.

I think Iseya Yuusuke is really cool.

I don’t concern myself with those kind of things.

No. 13

What do you want to graduate in?

Excessive sleep.

I’m already giving up.

No. 14

Please tell us about the 18th time you went to karaoke.

This and that...I like to sing.

I do like to sing.

No. 15

What would you most like to receive right now?

Chicken.

Wouldn’t that be a hassle though, receiving chicken out of nowhere...

No. 16

What is your favourite CM?

I haven’t watched any CMs recently.

Even now I haven’t watched any.

No. 17

Who’s a person from the same generation as you whom you respect?

She’s younger actually, but Ooima Yoshitoki.

I think there are a lot of amazing people younger than me.

[T/N: The mangaka of A Silent Voice/Koe no Katachi.]

No. 18

Do you have a school uniform or some other kind of uniform you want to wear?

A military uniform.

The one from McDonald’s.

No. 19

Any memorable stories that take place in a school setting?

Lesson of the Evil.

Battle Royale.

No. 20

Is there a hairstyle you want to try once to challenge yourself?

I want to dye my hair an ash colour.

Yeah, I understand.

No. 21-22

What volume would you recommend to children?

“The Gentle Lion.”

It would depend on the nature of the child reading it.

No. 23

What ghosts or monsters would you never want to encounter?

Deidarabotchi.

Actually, just all ghosts in general.

No. 24

It’s that time of year when the May blues start showing up, but Sensei, what do you do to cheer yourself up?

I’ve been eating hanpen recently.

What’s “It’s that time of year when the May blues start showing up” supposed to mean...

No. 25

Are there any penalty games you want to try?

I don’t want to try any.

I can’t even think of any penalty games in the first place.

No. 26

Which famous person would you be happy with if they lived next door to you?

Robert Knepper.

If a famous person lived next door to me it’d be such a hassle.

[T/N: Ishida did a sketch of him a few years back on his twitter.]

No. 27

What robot would you like to pilot?

The White Glint.

A Gundam.

[T/N: White Glint is from Armored Core.]

No. 28

What song do you listen to when you’re reading your own manga?

For instance, you can listen to Ling Tosite Sigure, People In The Box, the cabs, österreich, and amazarashi.

That’s right.

No. 29

What fictional city or house would you like to live in?

Pallet Town.

But that town is like, empty.

No. 30

Who would you say is the ideal father?

Darth Vader.

How?

No. 31

What nickname do you want to call yourself?

The hikikomori of Hakata.

God.

No. 32

What wish did you write on your Tanabata slip a long time ago?

I don’t remember.

“I hope to live forever.”

No. 33

If you had a side job besides being a mangaka what would it be?

Being a ghost writer.

Just how much are you planning to work?

No. 34

Sensei, please tell us about a letter that you remember!

I don’t remember any, but I like getting letters.

It’s hard to remember just one because I get so many.

No. 35

Please tell us about any person or thing that’s greatly flourishing around you recently!

Ginger ale.

Music player I use for running.

No. 36-37

Sensei, please share with us one of your old memories.

I slammed my face into the slide.

Oh, so that explains things.

No. 38

Please share with us a memory of you when you were back in grade school during the summer.

I was writing a manuscript.

Probably when we painted our bodies and danced half-naked deep inside the mountains of Kurume.

No. 39

Please share with us a special dessert!

Tapioca coconut milk.

Brulee.

No. 40

Now then, what would you do if the world ended tomorrow?

Sleep.

Get flustered.

No. 41

Please share with us a “taste of autumn” that you’d like to eat this fall!

Japanese pear.

Pacific saury, probably.

No. 42

Please tell us one character that you’d like to house-share with!

Umaru-chan.

Why Umaru-chan?

No. 43

Please share with us one subject you weren’t good at in school!

Nothing in particular.

I wasn’t really interested in social studies, but now when I study it now it’s interesting.

No. 44

It’s time to change clothes for the season! Sensei, please share with us what you usually wear!

Going barefoot.

Going barefoot...?

No. 45

It’s Reader Autumn! Please share with us a volume you want to read this fall!

March Comes In Like A Lion.

Putin: A Diplomatic Study. I’ve been fascinated with Russia recently.

No. 46

Please share with us a memory of a trip you’ll never forget!

The trip to Oita I went to the day before an exam.

Ah, I remember that.

No. 47

Please share with us one famous person’s future you’re watching out for!

Morohoshi Sumire-san.

I wonder if she’s doing well.

[T/N: Aka Hinami’s voice actress!]

No. 48

Please share with us a memory of you related to cars!

When I was in 2nd grade of elementary school, I was hit by a car.

I don’t really have any memories of those few following days after I was hit.

No. 49

Please share with us one TV program that you want to or wanted to appear in!

Terrace House.

I really wanna appear in it.

No. 50

Please share with us a flavour that you’ll never forget!

An onigiri that was given to me.

The squid from the sushi that was given to me to eat before my serialization was delicious. And that was how I became able to eat sushi.

No. 51

Please share with us something you want to learn how to do now?

Play the drums.

Drawing, learning English.

No. 52

Please share with us one of your favourite writing utensils!

A ballpen.

At the time I was addicted to drawing rough sketches with a ballpen. Now I use a mechanical pencil.

previous || next

#Tokyo Ghoul #zakki:re #Ishida Sui #Ishida Q&A #Translations #my translations #36 got me snickering #but ouch #reminds me of that time i fell off a slide and thought i got ketchup on my face when it was actually blood #.__.#also i remember that hikikomori of hakata comment LOL

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twilightvolt · 6 years ago

Text

My Favorite Anime OPs and EDs from 2010-2019

No one asked for this, but i’m doin’ it anyway cuz there’s so many songs out there that i’ve never heard anyone talk about. like, y’all sleep on Yu-Gi-Oh! apparently. lmao

Going by release year, here’s all the OPs and EDs i can remember that i luv (and still do to this day). i may or may not have gotten all the years right. hell, i’m not even sure i got the OP and ED numbers right.

It��ll go by: Song Name - Artist (Name of Anime and Which OP/ED it is) an asterisk means i REALLY like it above the rest.

Hopefully this’ll help introduce you to some new jams you missed out on! ^ ^

2010

Going My Way! ~Road to Tomorrow~ - Masaaki Endoh (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds OP5)*

Close to You - ALvino (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds ED4)

Future Colors - Plastic Tree (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds ED5)

Gravity 0 - Aqua Timez (Star Driver OP)*

Never Give Up! - Sonar Pocket (Digimon Xros Wars OP)*

Period - Chemistry (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OP4)*

Rain - SID (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OP5)* THE. FEELS.

Uragiri no Yuuyake - THEATRE BROOK (Durarara!! OP)* Y’all remember this one? Lmao

Trust Me - Yuya Matsushita (Durarara!! ED)

Ice Cream Syndrome - Sukima Switch (Pokemon Zoroark: Master of Illusions ED)*

My Soul, Your Beats! - Lia (Angel Beats OP) WAIT HOLD ON, ANGEL BEATS WAS THIS DECADE? I THOUGHT THAT WAS 2009 OR SOMETHING. DAHEQ?

ChAngE - Miwa (BLEACH OP12)

Calling - FLOW (Heroman ED)*

SHIVER - the GazettE (Black Butler II OP)

2011

Samurai Heart (Some Like it Hot!) - SPYAIR (Gintama ED17)* And on this day I realized….SPYAIR is lit.

New World - Twill (Digimon Xros Wars OP2)

Masterpiece - Mihimaru GT (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL OP)

Boku Quest - Golden Bomber (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL ED)* I luv watching the actual ending sequence. It fits my cyber aesthetic to a T.

BRAVING! - KANAN (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL OP2)

Setsubou no Freesia (Longing Freesia) - Daizystripper (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL ED2)* I’ll be completely honest, this song has been my favorite anime theme over most, if not all others, ever since. It’s kinda held a special place in my heart as it’s got memories of what transpired during 2012 that i don’t think i’ll ever forget. From the summer trip we took down south to me creating my very first OCs, Takuya and his Charmander partner Drake, on paper, i’ll luv this song with all my heart. ^ ^

Lovers - 7!! (Seven Oops) (Naruto Shippuden OP)

Counter Identity - UNISON SQUARE GARDEN (Soul Eater Repeat Show OP)*

Ai Ga Hoshii Yo - Shion Tsuji (Soul Eater Repeat Show OP2)* WANTCHU WANTCHU, I WANT CHUU~

SHINING STAR - 9nine (Star Driver OP2)*

Crossover - 9nine (Star Driver ED2)

Sky's the Limit - Shihoko Hirata (Persona 4 the Animation OP)

We’re Not Alone - coldrain (Rainbow Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin OP)

One Reason - Fade (Deadman Wonderland OP) I can bet you right now half of y’all forgot about this show. I mean i did. Lol

Mayonaka no Orchestra - Aqua Timez (Naruto Shippuden ED16)

Hacking to the Gate - Kanako Itou (Steins;Gate OP)* THIS SONG CLEARED MY SKIN AND RAISED MY GRADES.

Ranbu no Melody - SID (BLEACH OP13)* That main chorus tho. N o i c e .

LISTEN TO THE STEREO!! - GOING UNDERGROUND (Katekyo Hitman Reborn OP8)*

Core Pride - UVERworld (Blue Exorcist OP)

2012

Mask - Aqua Timez (BLEACH ED30?)

Soul Drive - Color Bottle (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL OP3)*

Wild Child - Moumoon (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL ED3)* Whenever I hear this song, I either think of school shenanigans or, if school isn't a thing in their world, a high school AU. Lmao

Unbreakable Heart - Hideaki Takatori (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL OP4)

Artist - Vistlip (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL ED4)*

Stand By Me - Stereopony (Eureka Seven AO ED)* Ok I know some people don't wanna remember AO, but hear me out here. Lmao

Brave Blue - FLOW (Eureka Seven AO OP2)*

Key Plus Words - Shihoko Hirata & Yumi Kawamura (Persona 4 the Animation OP2)

Harukaze - SCANDAL (BLEACH OP15)*

Crossing Field - LiSA (Sword Art Online OP) I like making SAO jokes as much as the next guy, but let's be real here. Crossing Field was still a pretty good song.

STAND UP! - Twill (Digimon Xros Wars Hunters OP)* Hunters sucked, but the OP slaps.

Kyomu Densen - ALI PROJECT (Another OP) This show gave me a temporary fear of umbrellas, but this OP is good.

Complication - ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D (Durarara!! OP2)

Light My Fire - KOTOKO (Shakugan no Shana III Final OP)

Mite Mite Kochichi - Memoiro Clover Z (Pokemon Best Wishes ED3)

2013

Dualism of Mirrors - Petite Milady (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL OP5)

GO WAY GO WAY - FoZZtone (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL ED5)

Challenge the GAME - REDMAN (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL ED6)* I swear to god, this should’ve been the final OP rather than Wonder Wings. I really don’t like that song.

Oh, and if you wanna hear more of the lead singer's voice, he's the lead singer of GIRUGAMESH. They didn't do any anime songs while they were still active afaik, but totally check it out if you like J-Rock.

Sakura Mitsutsuki & Genjyou Destruction - SPYAIR (Gintama OP13 and Gintama: The Final Chapter OP)*

After Cherry Blossoms (all quartets lead to the?) - UNISON SQUARE GARDEN (Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta OP)*

Non-Fiction Compass - UNISON SQUARE GARDEN (Yozakura Quartet: Tsuki ni Naku OP)

Sayonara Memory - 7!! (Seven Oops) (Naruto Shippuden ED)

BLOODY STREAM - Coda (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Battle tendency OP)* I mean, how could i NOT put this song on here? Lmao

Be An Arrow! - Rica Matsumoto (Pokemon Best Wishes! OP2)

Natsumeku Sakamichi (Summerly Slope) - Daisuke (Pokemon Best Wishes DA! OP)* While the Black & White series was absolutely terrible, I can thank it for spawning some nice OPs.

Egao - Ikimono-gakari (Pokemon Genesect and the Legend Awakened ED)

Take Your Way - Livetune adding Fukase (From SEKAI NO OWARI) (Devil Survivor 2 the Animation OP)* I swear I will never get tired of this song.

Be - Song Riders (Devil Survivor 2 the Animation ED)*

Watashi no Bara wo Kaminasai - ALI PROJECT (Rozen Maiden 2013 OP)

Moshimo - Daisuke (Naruto Shippuden OP)

Burn My Dread ~Spring of Birth~ & More Than One Heart - Yumi Kawamura (Persona 3 the Movie #1 Spring of Birth OP and ED)*

Eden - Aqua Timez (Magi: the Kingdom of Magic ED)*

Out of Control - Nothing’s Carved in Stone (Psycho Pass OP2)*

HERO -Kibou no Uta- - FLOW (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods ED)

2014

Silhouette - KANA BOON (Naruto Shippuden OP16)* Everyone rise for the weeb national anthem.

BelievexBelieve - Bulletrain (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V OP)

ENAMEL - SID (Black Butler: Book of Circus OP)

Masayume Chasing - BoA (Fairy Tail OP15)

STRIKE BACK - BACK-ON (Fairy Tail OP16)*

Burn! - Bulletrain (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V OP2)

DAYxDAY - BLUE ENCOUNT (Gintama OP)* Before Polaris, there was this. lol

Goya no Machiawase - Hello Sleepwalkers (Noragami OP)* I swear Noragami has great taste in OPs. lmao

Fate is in Our Hands - Lotus Juice (Persona 3 the Movie #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream OP)* Y'all know Lotus Juice makes EVERYTHING badass.

One Hand, One Heartbeat - Yumi Kawamura (Persona 3 the Movie #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream ED)* I swear I literally feel like crying every time I hear this song. It's just that powerful.

Unravel - TK from Ling Tosite Sigure (Tokyo Ghoul OP) Ok, lemme explain. I used to hate this song cuz I thought TK's singing voice was whiny as hell. But after a long, LOOOOONG time, it finally started to grow on me. I think it's because of all the song covers I've listened to and, after understanding the meaning behind the lyrics, I appreciate this song a bit more nowadays.

V (VOLT) and MEGA V (MEGA VOLT) - Yusuke (Pokemon XY OPs 1&2)*

daze - Jin ft. MARiA from GARNiDELiA (Mekakucity Actors OP)

Monochrome - Dancing Dolls (Soul Eater NOT! OP)

2015

Saigo Made ii - Aqua Timez (Gintama ED15 i think?)

Kyouran Hey Kids! - THE ORAL CIGARETTES (Noragami Aragoto OP)* IN THIS HOUSE, WE JUST WANNA HOLD YOUR HAAAAAAND~

Getta Ban Ban (Mad-Paced Getter) - Tomohisa Sako (Pokemon XY OP3)*

XY&Z - Rica Matsumoto (Pokemon XY&Z OP)*

Raise Your Flag - MAN WITH A MISSION (Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans OP)*

Hello, World! - BUMP OF CHICKEN (Kekkai Sensen OP)*

Sugar Song and Bitter Step AKA the song everyone makes fan animated parodies of it’s opening sequence - UNISON SQUARE GARDEN (Kekkai Sensen ED)

Kirifuda (Trump Card) - Cinema Staff (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V OP4)

Speaking - MRS. GREEN APPLE (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V ED4)* before Great Escape from Attack on Titan and Inferno from Fire Force, there was this OP and ED. both of which i feel are better songs. lmao

Tweedia - Rei Yasuda (Pokemon Hoopa and the Clash of Ages ED)*

Diver - KANA-BOON (The Last: Naruto the Movie ED)*

Butter-Fly 2015 - Kouji Wada (Digimon Adventure Tri. OP)

Sono Chi no Kioku ~End of the World~ - JO☆STARS ~TOMMY, Coda, JIN~ (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders OP2)

Lapis Lazuli - Eir Aoi (Arslan Senki ED)*

Clattanoia - OxT (Overlord OP)*

L.L.L. - MYTH & ROID (Overlord ED)

Nazo 2015 - La PomPon (Detective Conan OP41)* Hearing this brought back memories of hearing the original during my childhood back when Cased Closed was still a thing.

Just Fly Away - EDGE of LIFE (Gundam Build Fighters Try OP2)

Flyers - BRADIO (Death Parade OP) Like Another, this was one of those where i wouldn’t have touched the show itself if my anime club didn’t watch it.

X.U. - Hiroyuki Sawano (Seraph of the End OP)*

Hikari - ViViD (Magi: the Kingdom of Magic OP2)

2016

DiVE!! - Amatsuki (Digimon Universe: Applimonsters OP)*

Ai - Ami Wajima (Digimon Universe: Applimonsters ED2)

The Day - Porno Graffitti (My Hero Academia OP)

HEROES - Brian the Sun (My Hero academia ED)

RAGE OF DUST - SPYAIR (Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans OP2)*

Believe in Myself - EDGE of LIFE (Fairy Tail OP21)*

CRAZY NOISY BIZARRE TOWN - THE DU (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable OP)

Chase - batta (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable OP2)* Screw the haters. This song is a bop.

Great Days - Karen Aoki & Daisuke Hasegawa (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable OP3) As you can see, i luv all of Jojo Part 4’s OPs. lmao

Kaze no Uta - FLOW (Tales of Zestiria the X OP)* Zestiria may have been the most uninteresting experience i’ve had in the Tales series, but at least it’s OPs are straight fire.

Dream Lantern, ZenZenZense, Sparkle and Nandemonaiya - RADWIMPS (Various themes from Your Name) I'm still miffed that they didn't kiss at the end. >:v

Re:Re: - ASIAN KUNGFU GENERATION (Erased OP)

Brave Shine - Aimer (Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works OP)*

Starting Over - Mr. Children (The Boy and the Beast ED)* Mamoru Hosoda never ceases to make me smile and/or cry, huh?

GO - BUMP OF CHICKEN (GRANBLUE FANTASY the Animation OP)

KINGS - angela (K Project OP) i don’t even know how i remembered this one. I watched K at my local anime club years ago cuz one of my friends suggested it. I barely remember what it was about, though. ^ ^’

Vision - Kusou Linkai (Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V ED5)

Light of Hope - Unknown Number (Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V OP5)

Pendulum Beat! - SUPER DRAGON (Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V OP6)*

2017

Peace Sign - Kenshi Yonezu (My Hero Academia OP2)* SURE IT’S POPULAR, BUT IT’S POPULAR FOR A REASON.

Datte Atashi no Hero - LiSA (My Hero Academia ED3)

Little Pi - Ange☆Reve (Digimon Universe: Applimonsters ED3)

Perfect World - Traffic Light (Digimon Universe: Applimonsters ED4)*

With the Wind - Hiroaki “TOMMY” Tominaga (Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS OP)* I’ll be honest, this one took some getting used to, but now i luv it!

Fake Town Baby - UNISON SQUARE GARDEN (Kekkai Sensen and Beyond OP)

Tonari Au - THE ORAL CIGARETTES (Sakurada Reset ED)*

Rain - SEKAI NO OWARI (Mary and the Witch's Flower ED)* I really liked the movie and I just luved the fantasy vibes given off by the instrumentals in this song.

Baton Road - KANA BOON (Boruto: Naruto Next Generations OP)* Y'all say Boruto is trash, but at least the theme songs still boppin'.

Boku wa Hashiri Tsuzukeru - Melofloat (Boruto: Naruto Next Generations ED3)

FEED THE FIRE - coldrain (King’s Game OP)* Thank you Fire Force for introducing me to this wonderful band. ;w;

2018

PAiNT it BLACK - BiSH (Black Clover OP2)* Never thought I'd ever find a band actually named bish. Lmao

Black Rover - Vickeblanka (Black Clover OP3)

Guess Who is Back - Kumi Koda (Black Clover OP4)* Now, if this ain't a bop fit for a triumphant return like "SURPRISE BISH I'M BACK." then idk what is. Lmao

Gamushara & Tenge Tenjou - Miyuna (Black Clover OP&ED5)* i’m mainly referring to Gamushara, but i luv Tenge Tenjou too.

ODD FUTURE - UVERworld (My Hero Academia OP4)*

Make my story - Lenny code fiction (My Hero Academia OP5)*

The Future is Now - Straightener (Digimon ReArise OP)* Yes, I know I'm cheating cuz it's a video game, but it's an opening sequence much like an anime, so yeah.

Breath - Porno Graffitti (Pokemon the Power of Us ED)

Katharsis - TK from Ling Tosite Sigure (Tokyo Ghoul OP3?)*

Here - JUNNA (The Ancient Magus Bride OP)

Renai Circulation - Kana Hanazawa (Bakemonogatari OP4) Imma be honest, i found this song through those Coldplay mashups and other memes. Lmao

I Wanna Be - SPYAIR (Gintama Shirogane no Tamashii Hen OP)

Hana Ichi Monme - BURNOUT SYNDROMES (Gintama Shirogane no Tamashii Hen ED)*

2019

Hana ga Saku Michi - THE CHARM PARK (Black Clover ED7)* I SWEAR NO ONE’S COVERED THIS SONG YET AND I’M SAD. I LUV THIS SONG.

Inferno - MRS. GREEN APPLE (Fire Force OP)

Veil - Keina Suda (Fire Force ED)* This ED gives me feels and i luv it. ;w;

MAYDAY - coldrain (Fire Force OP2)* This sounds like a song i’d hear at Hot Topic and i feel blessed. lmao

Nounai - Lenny code fiction (Fire Force ED2) I swear this anime doesn’t have a single song i don’t like. I’m not kidding. lmao

WILD SIDE - ALI (BEASTARS OP)* IN THIS HOUSE, WE DO NOT SKIP THIS OPENING I STG.

Le Zoo - YURiKA (BEASTARS ED)

Nemureru Honou (Sleeping Instincts) - YURiKA (BEASTARS ED2)*

Kawaki no Ameku - Minami (Domestic Na Kanojo OP)

Polaris - BLUE ENCOUNT (My Hero Academia OP6)* THIS IS THE BIGGEST BOP SINCE PEACE SIGN OML

Touch Off - UVERworld (The Promised Neverland OP)* This show was too creepy for me to continue, but I luv it for what it is. Also NAA NANANANANANAA NANANAAAA~

Sangenshoku - PELICAN FANCLUB (Dr. Stone OP2)* Sorry, but Good Morning World didn’t totally do it for me. I luv this OP way more tbh.

Suisou - Megumi Nakajima (Hoshiai no Sora OP)* The bits before the chorus are just so good.

1•2•3 - After the Rain (Pocket Monsters 2019 OP)

Dark Crow - MAN WITH A MISSION (Vinland Saga OP2)

MOTOR CITY - Kenichi Asai (No Guns Life OP)

Game Over - DATS (No Guns Life ED)

#rambles #anime talk #favorite anime openings and endings #MY JAM #i really had to dig deep into my memory banks for this one #and do my research to make sure i got things right #i most likely forgot quite a bit still #feel free to tell me how trash my tastes are

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final-mazin-blade · 6 years ago

Note

12. What monster would be your Deckmaster? What would it’s effect be? 13. What monster deserves an evolution and what would it be?

12: Junk Gardna because it’s a free attack stopper each turn and I assume it’s effect would work on both players’ turns. Plus it’s an underrated card and was very helpful to the good guys in Bonds Beyond Time. I’m guessing the effect would remain the same and if it was altered at all, it would be a Scrap Iron Scarecrow on my opponent’s turns only I wouldn’t need to play it on the field.13. Junk Warrior -> Junk CoreDescription - Junk Warrior’s main torso covered in rusted orange plating until it resembles a spherical shape with Junk Warrior’s eyes and faceplate being the only recognizable features left of it. Arms are present, folding out of the spherical body. The Scrap Fist hand is still present, yet heavily modified and the left arm has been rehauled entirely to resemble a gun hand like the Gouf’s in Mobile Suit Gundam.11/2500/3000Synchro, Warrior, effectAll ‘Junk’ and ‘Scrap’ cards you control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, including set cards. If a monster card you control would be affected by an opponent’s card effect, you can, once per turn (quick effect), send a’Junk’ or ‘Warrior’ monster from you deck to the GY to negate that effect. Once per turn, if you control a Tuner monster, you can Special Summon a ‘Scrap Token’ (Lvl 2/ATK: 800/ Def: 1000). If used for the Summon of a Synchro ‘Warrior’ or ‘Junk’ monster, you can increase the level of the ‘Scrap Token’ by up to three.

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charredasperity · 7 years ago

Text

Animes with little to no female sexualization/objectification:

I know there's a lot of people who swear off anime as a whole because of sexualization/fanservice that gives it a bad rep to outsiders, so here's a few anime recommendations spanning different genres with little to none.

1. Princess Principal (Action)

While the "cute" character designs might set off some people's fight or flight response, this is not at all a moe anime, this is a serious spy thriller set in an art deco version of Europe. It's dark to its core without ever being creepy about it. There are only two scenes of a woman showing off her body in the show, and it's only to cause a distraction so the rest of the gang can get the jump on a target, as well as being very tame.

2. Yuru Camp (Slice of life)

A totally innocent anime about a bunch of girls who love camping, no sexual scenes whatsoever. You could watch this anime with your grandmother (provided she's willing to read subtitles)

3. Love Live! (Musical)

Basically a series about a bunch of pop idol enthusiasts who learn to sing and dance to become idols themselves, no sexualization. Plus it’s got some hella catchy tunes!

4. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Action/Supernatural thriller)

One of, if not the best anime of all time. This follows two boys who lost their bodies attempting to save their dead mother and end up in the middle of a war. There's multiple female supporting characters and they're all treated as powerful and with respect, it helps that the series was written by a woman.

5. G Gundam (Mecha/Action)

If Gurren Lagann's constant sexualization of its female lead put you off, this has all the over the top action without the creep factor. True, the women wear skintight suits, but so do all of the men. Partial nudity is only shown in the final episode.

6. Little Witch Academia (Adventure/Comedy)

This follows a young girl enrolling in a school for witches and trying to make it through despite having little to no magical ability. It's basically Harry Potter meets Sabrina. While the OVAs are better, the series ain't bad either! This is a fun show the whole family can enjoy.

7. Fate Zero (Action/Drama)

The prequel to the popular Fate series is also its crowning achievement. This series is set in a global war for the legendary Holy Grail, fought by the reincarnations of ancient heroes, and boasts some of the best 2d animation ever put on screen. (Just try to ignore the source material)

8. Amanchu! (Feel-good/Slice of life)

While you'd think an anime about girls swimming all day would be excuse for a bunch of perversion, I assure you this is not Free! with girls. This is completely innocent story about two girls and their friends learning to safely enjoy their hobby, which happens to be diving! The art and soundtrack make this the perfect anime to chill out watching, and it also has a (canon!) wlw love story tucked away in it.

9. Re:Creators (Sci-fi?)

This show answers what every writer has asked in their minds "What would happen if what I created was real and met me face to face?" This is a mish-mash of several different genres, and every character is given respect. (The two most powerful characters are women!)

10. Mitsuboshi Colors (Comedy)

Again, don't let the art style put you off. This is a cute show about three terrible children who see themselves as the defenders of a town, and go around solving self-appointed cases, often making things worse in the process.

11. Pop Team Epic (???)

This is what I could only describe as "Anime Eric Andre" It's basically very short comedy sketches that are completely absurdist and off the wall. If that's your bag, you'll probably enjoy this.

12. Nichijou (Comedy)

Another absurdist comedy but a bit more grounded, this follows the life of three highschool girls and an unrelated child genius and her robot caretaker who overreact to situations in their absolute extremes. Just watch the Coffee bit to see what I mean.

13. Mob Psycho 100 (Comedy/Action/Supernatural)

The story of the daily life of an incredibly powerful psychic child who wishes he was normal, and his deeply flawed mentor who helps him find a place in the world. This is full of laughs and has a completely unique animation style.

14. Kemono Friends (Adventure)

While obviously meant for kids, this anime builds a world and characters in a way so unique that it's even entertaining for adults. Don't be put off by its low budget animation, this show's full of heart and will leave you smiling.

15. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Psychological Horror)

Another key example of "Dark as hell without sexual violence" This anime shows what happens when theprotagonists lose and give into despair. Though not to say this show is devoid of light. What makes this show is it’s surrealist visuals which change from episode to episode.

16. Sailor Moon (Action)

On the polar opposite side of things we have the Grandmother of the modern Magical Girl show. This follows 5 girls who use their magic powers to kick monster butt while balancing a normal life. Basically anime power rangers, this was the original Girl Power anime.

17. Aggretsuko (Agressive Retsuko)

This is an adult anime, but not in the way you’d think hearing that. It centers around a 26 year old woman trapped in a stress-filled office job struggling with overwork, dating, friendships, and troublesome peers, just like any 20-something would, but she relieves stress by singing death metal. This is a hilarious show that young adults will absolutely relate to without resorting to being crass or offensive. Also it’s by the people who made Hello Kitty, believe it or not!

18. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

This is an anime about animation! The series focuses around a girl with a hyperactive imagination, her no-nonsense wealth-chasing best friend, and an actress trying to live simply who start a 3-person animation studio behind their school and find art inspiration in anything and everything in their surroundings. The art in this show is lovely and it really gets you in the mood to draw up something yourself!

There's plenty more, but those are just the ones I could think of right off of the top of my head. You shouldn't disregard an entire entertainment medium because of a couple bad apples. For anime fans, if you have other recommendations, please add onto the list!

#anime #long post

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recentanimenews · 7 years ago

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The History of Japan's Greatest Video Game Brawler Franchises

If there’s one video game genre that’s pretty easy to describe, it’s brawlers. You’ve just gotta beat up a bunch of enemies. Simple! They’ve certainly evolved throughout the last three decades as hardware advanced and design philosophies changed. From the series beginnings with games such as Kung-Fu Master, Bruce Lee, and Karateka to modern brawlers such as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, Yakuza, and even Saints Row IV’s parody, the genre has thrived over the past thirty years. In honor of the upcoming SENRAN KAGURA SHINOVI MASTER series, it’s time to take a look at some of the best brawler game franchises to come out of Japan. That also means we’re not talking about every game with brawler gameplay or series because you’d be here reading it all the way through next week.

Final Fight

Capcom’s perennial brawler is the Final Fight series. Originally developed as a sequel to Street Fighter and shown at trade shows prior to release as Street Fighter ‘89, Final Fight has become an iconic game in the brawler genre. The first game in the series was released in 1989 in arcades running on Capcom’s CPS hardware, but perhaps the more famous version is the Super Nintendo release that came out a year later in Japan and in 1991 in North America. This would be most people's first experience with the game as they would get to know Cody and the greatest mayor of our time, Mike Haggar. Guy was cut from the SNES release and would eventually show up in a re-release titled Final Fight Guy. For most game fans of the ‘90s, you’re either a Final Fight person or a Streets of Rage person considering they were on the rival consoles of the early ‘90s. Final Fight spawned a few sequels over the years, with the last iteration of the series coming in 2006 with Final Fight: Streetwise, a 3D brawler for the PlayStation 2. Most people are going to know the series from the first game which has been released in so many places that it’s hard to not find it. In fact, the arcade version was just recently released as part of the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle. If you’re looking for a version that’s not the arcade or SNES port, check out the Sega CD port, or at least just the intro which is simply amazing.

Streets of Rage

If you grew up with a Sega Genesis in the ‘90s, you were probably a Streets of Rage fan. Unlike Final Fight, Streets of Rage was created by Sega for consoles first and would later come to arcades—the inverse of other games in the genre. All three games in the series were released between 1991 and 1994 for the Genesis. The trilogy is also another case of the games being released pretty much everywhere, so it’s not hard to track these games down individually or in a collection. You’ll be able to hit the streets in whatever way you want, beat up some folks, and listen to the amazing soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro. If you’re going to play any game out of the three, you should probably play Streets of Rage 2, as that opening level is a perfect mix of action and fantastic music. Plus, there’s a new Streets of Rage coming soon with Streets of Rage 4. Who knew it’d take over 20 years for there to be rage in the streets again?

Sailor Moon

You might be looking at this and thinking, wait Sailor Moon? Yes! There were in fact 4 Sailor Moon games in the brawler genre during the ‘90s. Sailor Moon games run the gambit of genres in video games, from fighting games, to puzzle games, to quiz games. The Sailor Moon franchise liked the brawler genre so much that there are three games titled “Sailor Moon” that play in that way, but are all different. The first of these Sailor Moon games to be released was on the Super Famicom in 1993. Developed by Arc Systems Works—who also worked on the Super Famicom sequel Sailor Moon R—the game recreated the first season of the TV anime, allowing you to play as all five Sailor Guardians. A port of this game would come to the Sega Mega Drive a year later, but developed by a team at Bandai called Ma-Ba. While still utilizing the same story, this version would feature new music, stages, and visuals, making it a completely different experience. An arcade game that wasn’t related to either of the previous two versions was released in 1995 for some international regions and featured better visuals and animation compared to the home console counterparts. Following the arcade release, Sailor Moon would leave the brawler genre to explore different ways for players to enjoy the franchise. While most of these games weren’t brought over from Japan, if you can find a way to play them, they’re well worth checking out.

Double Dragon

Before Final Fight and Streets of Rage, there was Double Dragon. First released in 1987 by Technos for arcades and a year later with the more well known NES port in 1988, Double Dragon allowed the brawler genre to really take off in a way it hadn’t before. The main four games in the series follow the same format of gameplay, but the franchise did spin out into different styles such as a fighting game in Double Dragon V. The naming of the games also gets pretty confusing considering V came out in 1994 and Double Dragon IV was released in 2017. Double Dragon is also unique in the fact that the NES versions of the games are the ones most people remember, yet those ports are fairly different from their arcade counterparts. That boils down to differences in gameplay and also story, due to the NES hardware limitations. This means NES players missed out on the rawest opening to a video game ever in Double Dragon II. Luckily though, there are ways to play all the different versions of Double Dragon from the Virtual Console, NES Classic, and Nintendo Switch Online having some ofthe NES versions, along with Hamster’s Arcade Archives series preserving the arcade originals, and there was even a smartphone version. You’re probably not going to be able to easily find the Atari 2600 port though.

Kunio-Kun/River City Ransom

Double Dragon wasn’t the only brawler series that Technos was working on as their Kunio-Kun series was more popular in Japan than other regions. One game did come over in the form of River City Ransom (Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari), the third game in the Kunio-Kun franchise. When it was brought over, River City Ransom was Americanized and replaced the Japanese names, but kept the core gameplay intact. The Kunio-Kun games were different in the fact that they combined brawler gameplay with RPG and open-world mechanics. Similarly to other games in this genre we’ve talked about, Kunio-Kun expanded out to puzzle and sports games. Most of the earlier games in the series didn’t make their way over to English regions outside of River City Ransom, but Kunio-Kun games have started to come back with some of the more recent releases in the series. There’s also Kunio-Kun: The World Classics Collection coming to Japan in December which brings together fifteen games from the Famicom-era which hopefully will get localized to allow people to play some of those games for the first time.

Dynasty Warriors

As video games moved from 2D graphics to 3D, the brawler genre underwent a change. Moving to the third dimension meant that developers weren’t restrained to just side-scrolling. One franchise that thrived in this environment was Koei Tecmo and Omega Force’s Musou games—specifically the Dynasty Warriors series. Yet, Dynasty Warriors started off as a fighting game, and it wasn’t until Dynasty Warriors 2 for the PlayStation 2 where the series goes completely into the brawler genre. In the 18 years since 2, there have been eight more mainline Dynasty Warriors games and multiple spinoff franchises including Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, Hyrule Warriors, and Fire Emblem Warriors. In fact, it wouldn’t be tough to argue that Musou is now a genre itself. Whether it’s attempting to pursue Lu Bu across a battlefield of thousands of soldiers, flying through space in a mobile suit, or rolling through Hyrule as Link, the Musou games stick to their formula and try to have something for everyone.

Senran Kagura

The newest franchise out of the ones we are featuring, Senran Kagura debuted in 2011 for the Nintendo 3DS as a 3D side-scrolling brawler. Senran Kagura wouldn’t make its English debut until 2013 when the first and second games were released together on 3DS. Compared to other games discussed so far, Senran Kagura took a more “adult” route with how the characters are presented. The mainline games fall into the brawler genre, but that hasn’t stopped the franchise from having rhythm, water gun action, card, and pinball games. The difference in genre doesn’t change the style of Senran Kagura so for example, clothes will fly off characters in the cooking rhythm game Senran Kagura Bon Appetit. Along with the games there was the first anime adaptation from 2013 and now the forthcoming second season. With the new anime, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more games in the future from the franchise.

Yakuza

It’s easy to say that the Yakuza games have brawler aspects to them which make up the main story of the game, but nailing them down to a single genre? Impossible. With the staggering amount of mini-games and activities that are available, they branch out into social sim, fishing, tower defense, rhythm, management, and many others. Which makes sense for a game with brawler mechanics since most franchises don’t stick to just beat ‘em up gameplay. The Yakuza games have continuously improved upon their brawler mechanics to create games that not only play great and are fun, but have so much depth to them. Combined with the wonderful stories throughout the 7 mainline games has made for a series that’s become one of the hottest in all of games. They are the brawler games to play currently.

There are certainly other brawler games that are missing from here, but that’s where you come in! What are some of your favorite brawler games or franchises or what would you like to see become an anime? Let us know down in the comments below!

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Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

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