#patlabor early days

[aweoftism]

My friend Noa

[scratching92]

I started watching the Patlabor OVA series and man, I absolutely love how one character has it explained to him that he can't actually practice shooting his gun because a) there's only one safe shooting range for mech-scale firearms practice, b) it's booked up for most of the year by the defence forces, c) it's very expensive, and d) mech-scale weaponry requires mech-scale ammunition, which is also expensive.

I love this kind of thought put into a mech setting, even if it's just a one-off gag.

[animefastfood]

Izumi and Shinohara enjoy a WcDonald's hamburger and probably cola in Mobile Police Patlabor: The Early Days episode 2 (1988)

[wanderersrest]

Some Idle Musings on Patlabor

I've talked about Patlabor twice in some capacity, so I figured why not go for the hat trick, no? (EDIT: The hat trick was ruined because I got tilted by a certain bad take involving Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans)

Patlabor is probably one of my favorite anime series of all time, especially when it comes to mecha anime. Granted, a big part of that is due to me recently coming into ownership of pretty much the entire series on blu-ray, but still. And seeing as how the second post on here was about how people should check it out (among other mecha shows), I figured I'd dive a little bit deeper into at least Patlabor. Who knows, I might touch on all of the other series at some point. I'll definitely cover G Gundam at some point, that much is assured.

Anyways. Patlabor. This isn't going to be a super deep dive, but there are three things I want to highlight with this series that I really like.

The World is Carefully Crafted to Justify Its Giant Robots

A common point of praise for Patlabor is due to how the worldbuilding is set up to accommodate the giant robots. A quick synopsis of Patlabor: giant robots known as Labors were created to help with construction projects. Following the creation of Labors came Labor-related created crimes. To combat these crimes, a special type of Labor was created to stop these types of criminal activity: the Patrol Labor, or Patlabor for short.

And it's not just there that the series fleshes out the Labors. The titular Patlabors (specifically the Model 98-AV Ingrams employed by the main characters) require a whole team outside of the pilots who operate the Labors, including spotters, transport platform operators, and mechanics. The television series also makes it a point of highlighting that the important part of the Labor is not the Labor itself, but the pilot data stored in the machine's computer. The world is so thought out, that the television series even touches on Labor insurance (yes really, and it's probably one of my favorite episodes of the TV series, maybe out of every anime series I've ever watched). This is, if I understand things correctly, why a lot of people love the OVA timeline (which consists of the Early Days OVA as well as the movies).

Great Characters Part 1: Noa Izumi

If the OVA timeline has more of a focus on the worldbuilding and the politics at hand, then the TV timeline (consisting of the TV anime and the New Files OVA) hones in on the character interactions. It's a real shame too, because the main cast are a pretty likeable group. Our main character in particular, Ingram Unit 1 Pilot Noa Izumi, is a delight to watch in pretty much every scene she's in, especially in the TV series. To it's credit, the OVA timeline does keep a lot of the appeal behind the characters. If anything, I'd argue that the change in tone of the OVA timeline is both natural and an extension of the pessimism following the bursting of the Japanese Economic Bubble.

But back to Noa, part of what I like about her as a character is her resilience. There are moments throughout the various entries in the franchise where she gets knocked down, but due to the nature of her work, she gets back up to finish the job. That kind of attitude helps to round out her more usual cheery and kind of naive attitude to most things. Also, she's very hot-blooded. Which is great for any mecha series, regardless of the style of mecha show you're watching. Speaking of hot blood, I think I'd be remiss to not mention my other favorite character in the series (that's not Division 2 chief Kichii Gotoh, because that's cheating)...

Great Characters 2: Isao Ota

I think the YouTuber Argonbolt described Ingram Unit 2 pilot Isao Ota best: "...he's 50% gun nut, 50% [ego]." It's almost impossible for me to talk about how great Noa is as a character without bringing up Ota. I could just say that he works great as a foil to Noa, but I think I'd be selling our red-blooded gun nut short. Part of what makes Ota such a great character to me is the fact that, whereas a lot of Noa's growth pertains to her as a person, Ota's growth is essentially tied to how he handles his Labor.

This is because Ota is a hothead.

No, seriously. Ota's hotheadedness is a large part of what makes him such a great character, and that's just going off of the sheer entertainment value of it all. It also helps that Ota being an American-styled cowboy cop (even moreso than the American Kanuka Clancy, and she's already a bit of a cowboy cop) oftentimes has consequences. Heck, a lot of Division 2's notoriety stems largely from Ota's hotheadedness. But Ota's hotheadedness often hides aspects that betray the manly image he's crafted throughout the series. It's little things like how he frets over Noa like an older brother when she runs off on her own to chase down a bank robber, or the change in his demeanor when Kanuka and her replacement, Takeo Kumagami, start getting into an argument with each other. This depth of character is better explored in the episodes that focus squarely on Ota, with my favorite of the bunch being the aforementioned insurance episode (TV Anime Epsiode 37, "I'm Selling Peace of Mind/Safety on Sales"). Without getting into spoilers, part of what makes it great is how the episode highlights how hard it is to avoid a lot of property damage when it comes to piloting giant robots. But I'm now rambling a bit too much, so let me jump ahead to the last bit about what I like about Patlabor.

This Series Loves Giant Robots

More than anything else, Patlabor loves its giant robots. My first time learning about this series was seeing some random user on Reddit go "See, unlike Gundam, Patlabor is cool." And if there are two things that make me, as an ardent fan of mecha anime, really upset, it's one of at least three things:

Bashing series X in order to prop up series Y (Bonus points if its Gundam)

Saying X is unlike other mecha shows because X focuses on the characters (No 86/Evangelion/Code Geass/Gurren Lagann fans, 86/Eva/CG/TTGL is not special, especially when Fang of the Sun Dougram/Space Runaway Ideon/Mobile Suit Gundam/Getter Robo exist.)

Denigrating a series because it's not super realistic (Basically the whole "Real vs Super" debate. I'll touch on it when I talk about G Gundam.)

But after watching Patlabor on my own, I realized that this series really loves its giant robots. It's often shown through both the worldbuilding, which is really just an excuse to justify having giant robots in the setting to begin with, and also the fact that it's main character is, for all intents and purposes, a mecha otaku.

Final Thoughts

Off the top of my head, I don't really have much else to say about Patlabor for now. Granted, there were a lot of things I didn't get to talk about in depth like how the computer systems the Labors employ are, in my opinion, a great example of a seemingly realistic take on AI (not the generative kind, just AI in general), or how one of my favorite character interactions in the series is the pseudo parent-child bond between Chief Engineer Sakaki and Noa and how their relationship reminds me of my relationship with my dad. Most importantly, while I do have an overall preference of the TV timeline over the OVA timeline, I don't think it's necessarily better. The two timelines have their own strengths, but both timelines benefit from the other existing. It also doesn't cut down on the fact that there are still people out there who enjoy Patlabor, and that's really all that matters.

Anyways, I'm going to go crawl back into a hole and wait for any morsel of news involving Patlabor EZY.

[georgebbwbush]

watch patlabor: the early days as soon as possible

[nem0c]

me and a friend were having an argument- is patlabor cyberpunk? is lain?

excellent ask because it means I can complain about three things:

1. all transhumanist sf is cyberpunk now (actually New Weird stuff avoids this) This bothers me because there was a great deal of transhumanist fiction in the 60s and 70s which influenced cybperunk but often had a different imaginary wrt what new technologies would mean and how society could be organised. Examples: -Samuel Delany's Nova (one of Delany's least interesting so still better than most space opera) is one of the first sf novels to feature mind-machine interfaces and they exist specifically to end the social isolation of contemporary workers. As work is always social and mediated through machinery, they get to directly experience both their fellow workers and the thing they're working on - no longer a bit part of the process. -John Varley's Eight Worlds fiction in which mankind gets all sorts of future tech as a result of an alien invasion and promptly develops double welfare state plus libertarian socialism. Stories focus on the day-to-day problems of people in this post-scarcity society. Morphological freedom is a given, though this is the 70s so the exploration of this often gets about as far 'wouldn't it be cool to be a hot babe for a weekend?' -Whatever is going on with Cordwainer Smith -Also see Walter Jon Williams' Aristoi for an example of a cyberpunk author trying something different (transhumanist means-tested solar neoplatonist aristocracy wherein each aristocrat is a plural system of personalities)

2. Transhumanist film and videogames, due to big number investment and the necessity of mass-market returns, don't even copy the cool print cyberpunk works (exception for Caves of Qud because it's correctly copying Gamma World instead)

3. Post-cyberpunk wasn't/isn't what I want it to be. I agree we should question the humanist++ vision of transhumanism and the neo-noir story set-up of Corpos Are Evil (but provide actually good product and actually want to dismantle the nuclear family) but there is a street-level resistance composed of your stupidest speed dealer friend who's totally going to make it big this time. However, post-cyberpunk authors mostly have californian tech investor brain disease and were writing in the late 90s/early 00s and I can't really take 'silicon valley will save us, billions must prosper' seriously in 2024.

To answer your actual questions, genre is whatever is useful to discussion and I'm willing to call Lain and Patlabor 2 cybperpunk because of their thematic concerns with conspiracies, technological reimagining of the human, the breakdown of certainties in a world inundated with simulation, and a post-cold war post-nation state public/private hell co-operation politics.

What makes Patlabor 2 different is its complete rejection of -punk aesthetics and its associated political commitments. This is an anime about interdepartmental politics and middle-aged public servants rooting through paperwork, and there's no solid moral conflict. Much as in GitS:SAC 2nd, the fight is between the status quo and a slide into authoritarianism. It's barely even a mecha anime and Noa's repeated statements that she 'doesn't need it any more' and 'doesn't want to be remembered as the robo crazy chick' reinforces this.

Lain is a religious text and an initiation into a way of perception that only people who have been shut-in NEETs will understand. Lain is just like me frfr. Lain knows that the way out is through.

[mobilefruit-gundam]

Been dying to rewatch some classic patlabor and gundam ovas. I wish that shit wasn’t so hard to find now. I shoulda bought more of those dvds back in the early aughts when you could still get them. I feel like these days it’s veeeery slim pickings even at the good jvideo stores.

If anyone knows a place in the north / central Bay Area that’s got a solid selection of subbed 80’s-90’s anime on dvd/vhs lemme know.

[humunanunga]

7 movies 7 tags (stolen from @/clannfearrunt)

What better opportunity to talk about movies whereupon I always got to show it to people who'd never even heard of 'em!

Ultraman: the Adventure Begins (1987): did you know there's a Hanna-Barbera animated adaptation of Ultraman? well now you do, and it's still cheesy, but now it's American cheese. to this day, I must say the name Susan in a sinister voice and point (also sinisterly).

Hanuman and 7 Ultramen (1974): did you know there was also a Thai production of Ultraman? no joke, this was where I'd first heard of Hanuman, but I didn't get all the hindu promo because I had the Japanese-dubbed cut on VHS as a child, which had a label in English but no subtitles that I can recall (I might not have even been old enough to read yet anyway) and I have no idea where my birthparents even found it. I don't remember there being any box art for it, in fact, idk if it even had a case. anyway, it's another a cheesy movie even more continuity errors, but as an adult it's another fun one to laugh at with friends.

Mermaid Forest (1991): okay, now let's switch gears from good old monster fun to some grimdark monster horror, because god. I developed a taste for blood at a very early age. it's based on the manga by Takahashi Rumiko (of Inu Yasha fame), with a soundtrack by Kawai Kenji, and it revolves around the tale of eating mermaids for immortality... but with a catch. the odds are against you, as most eaters either are poisoned by it or turned into unaging monsters. what can go wrong!

Mermaid's Scar (1993): another Rumik World OVA, look at that! but Scar a different adaptation of a different chapter. Mermaid Forest is still my favorite between these two, but I can't introduce one without mentioning the other, and they're both great for the Halloween or Obon seasons.

WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 (2002): okay, this one scratches an itch specific enough that if I had to pick one, it's possibly my favorite movie. yes, this is technically the third movie of an anime about utility mecha (called labors), but you don't need to have watched the series to watch this movie. I especially recommend going in blind the first time, no spoilers, ideally on a rainy day in the dark; but in every rewatch afterward you'll notice more and more hints and details. of course, if you do watch, content warning, WXIII (Wasted 13) is a crime drama, so prepare for a suicide near the end of this movie, too.

the Others (2001): is it time to dial it back a bit? well, how about a ghost story about a widow, her photosensitive children, their new housekeepers and the recent intruders. it's been a while, so idk if I still could, but I used to be able to recite this whole movie's script if I wanted to. another one for the spooky seasons, goes great with blackouts and thick fog.

Origin: Spirits of the Past, aka Giniro no Kami no Agito (2006): I'll finish with one more animated movie-- produced by the same studio as for Last Exile, if you like steampunk, but this one's more solarpunk. suspension of disbelief and all that, watching Origin is more about the vibes, okay? the opening is serenaded by Kokia while dragons made of trees hatch from the moon and enter Earth's atmosphere. and it's beautiful. peak grass-touching propaganda, no notes. don't ask about the volcano.

Tagging @child-of-crows, @fangenstein, @marismolotov, @mini-binni, @photochoco and @ruby-goulash.

[swanmay-that-got-away]

Patlabor Final Thoughts + My Watch Guide

So the original salespitch of Patlabor was that you could make this generic Police Procedural / Workplace Comedy / Mecha Action / Near-future Political Thriller / Romantic Comedy setting that you could plop any ol' script into and it would work. And to that end, it kind of works. It makes at least one each of those plots work across its entire runtime.

The main issue with it though, is that declaring "I want to make a police workplace comedy" seems to melt writers' brains and they start producing complete slop.

Patlabor TV is weird because writers and directors I know can write good material, just stop being able to do it. It's a slog to make it through. And, Patlabor: The New Files is a pretty transparent continuation of the TV show as if it was still broadcasting. It looks a little nicer and it can discuss TV-unfriendly topics, but it uses that successfully like twice. Spoilers after the cut.

Really, I think Patlabor is at its best when it focuses on character writing. When we're examining Noa's otakuness and how it has messed up her ability to live a healthy, happy life; when we're dealing with Kanuka's tryhard-hardass coping mechanism for racism, when we're exploring how Goto navigates interpersonal conflicts with a frankly Daoist Sage levels of wuwei, that's when Patlabor is best. This is part of why I think Patlabor's Movie timeline shines so much. Patlabor is at its absolute lowest when it's shooting for a barebones workplace comedy with the broadest characters imaginable. I cannot tell you how many times I grumbled at my TV because such-and-such was acting totally out of character because that's how the stock character would behave in a situation. It's exhausting, frankly, and it really drained any interest I had in the TV timeline by episode 25 or so.

And while I'm bitching about Patlabor TV, let's talk about the plot. Patlabor TV's overarching story is about how the SCHAFT mercenary company is trying to steal the Ingrams' data disc and develop the Griffon labor, and some mysterious plot going on with the Babylon building project being terrorized by the Home of the Sea organization.

I hope that didn't interest you at all because Patlabor never really resolves that plotline. It abruptly halts in episode 35, only to resume in New Files. And even then, New Files stops talking about it after episode 7. You get a "soft" finale to it when the pilot of the Griffon finally gets got, that's it. Anyway, here's my personal watch guide. Note that this isn't a "these are filler" list, this is "the episodes I actually liked" list. TV watchers should be aware that I didn't include the main Schaft plotline because, it's boring and also they never really conclude it anyway.

Swanmay Patlabor Watch Guide

Movie Timeline

Patlabor: Early Days (5/7) 1-2, 5-7 Patlabor Movies (3/3) 1-3 (YAY!)

-------------------------------------------------------

TV Timeline

Patlabor TV (23/47) 1-3, 6, 9, 13-18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 36, 39, 41, 44 Patlabor: New Files (6/16) 4, 6-9, 15 (for Ultraman fans)

[battery-low]

some movies/series i have seen/want to see

donnie darko

first slam dunk

blue giant

mary and the witch's flower

sirocco and the kingdom of winds

rascal does not dream of a dreaming girl

the tunnel to summer, the exit of goodbyes

the girl who leapt through time

‌wolf children

boy and the beast

mirai no mirai

belle

summer wars

in this corner of the world

metropolis anime

your name

children who chase lost voices from deep below

5 centimeters per second

the place promised in our early days

‌suzume

weathering with you

garden of words

little nemo

‌fist of the north star

vampire hunter d

vampire hunter d:bloodlust

wings of honneamise

ninja scroll

macros plus

patlabor

redline

the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya

the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya

tekkonkinkreet

serial experiments lain

the case of hana & alice

the piano forest

night is short walk on girl

okko's inn

millennium actress

i want to eat your pancreas

a silent voice

liz and the blue bird

kimi no iro / the colors within

the heike story

dog of flanders

angels egg

giovannis island

night on the galactic railroad

to the forest of firefly lights

a letter to momo

josee, the tiger and the fish

summit of the gods

kodoku no gurume

time of eve

panda go panda

patema inverted

kabaneri of the iron fortress

orange

gravity

wayne

big boys

small lights

old enough

begrijpt u nu waarom ik huil

schindlers list

colourful (1999)

colourful (2010)

‌anthem of the heart

‌maquia

maboroshi

inu-oh

birdboy

‌banana fish

‌terror in resonance

short peace

500 days of summer

summer ghost

chungking express

goodbye don glees

fleabag

one day

office space

lost in translation

manchester by sea

blue valentine

paddington 1, 2

neon genesis evangelion

end of evangelion

evangelion: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.0+1.0

le otto montagne

the bear

met mes

call me by your name

beatiful boy

beau is afraid

chainsaw man

white lotus

sopranos

band of brothers

monster anime

pluto

master keaton

to your eternity

miss hokusai

‌your lie in april

march sweeps in like a lion

‌a place further than universe

the perverts guide to cinema/ideology

yuki yukite, shingun

everything everywhere all at once

the hunchback of notre dame

jojo rabbit

coldfish

love exposure

in the mood for love

house

in bruges

midnight gospel

‌god father i,ii,iii

‌scarface

‌death parade

one punch man

mob psycho i,ii,iii

vinland saga

bee and puppy cat

‌violet evergarden

violet evergarden (special)

violet evergarden (movie 2019)

violet evergarden (2020 movie)

frieren

‌anohana the flower we saw that day

erased

scavenger reign

inuyashiki

over the garden wall

‌bojack horseman

‌better call saul

‌breaking bad

‌game of thrones

severance

shogun

‌naruto

‌scrubs

‌moonlight kingdom

‌freedom writers

a sun

handmaids tale

carnival row

7 samurai

kingdom of heaven

persona

a brighter summer day

how to make millions before grandma dies

past lives

perfect days

dear zachary:a letter to a son about his father

paris,texas

time still turns pages

silent love

monster (movie)

wonka

get out

poor things

‌us‌

candyman

‌nope

fionna and cake

audition

on the count of three

sensitive the untold story

lucy

the creative brain

rudy

nyad

‌the whale

memories of murder

taxi driver

after hours

goodfellas

a clockwork orange

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

‌requiem for a dream

trainspotting

waking life

fight club

‌children of heaven

‌my sisters keeper

‌hachi dogs tale

hachi-ko (1987)

the big short

‌gardenstate

‌boyhood

‌perks of being a wall flower

‌into the wild

‌good will hunting

mishima: a life in four chapters

what's eating gilbert grape?

better days

king of staten island

schindlers list

meet joe black

we are who we are

cowboy bebop

yasuke

nr. 10

dead poet society

ghost in the shell

ghost in the shell sac

memories 1995

euphoria

atlanta

the vince staples show

matrix i,ii,iii

animatrix

star wars visions

castle of cagliostro

my neighbour totoro

spirited away

howls moving castle

kikis delivery service

ponyo

the wind rises

whisper of the heart

the cat returns

the boy and the heron

tales from the earthsea

from up on poppy hill

castle in the sky

nausica valley of the wind

porco rosso

princess monoke

ocean waves

only yesterday

pom poko

grave of fireflies

the tale of the princess kaguya

the neighbours yamadas

gauche the cellist

arrietty

when marnie was there

red turtle

samurai shamploo

oldboy

tales of the unusual

insidious

the face of another

rin daughters of mnemosyne

afro samurai

close

paranoia agent

bullet in your head

gladiator

american gangster

american psycho

poltergeist

eyes wide shut

mind game

if beale street could talk

heat

a time to kill

killers of the flower moon

dunkirk

the iron giant

tree of life

mindhunter

blue eyed samurai

twin peaks

[emonewtype]

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)

[scratching92]

coldest take ever I know but I fucking love the police procedural narration at the start of every patlabor episode. it's so good. i feel like i'm getting transported back to the 90s.

[laboitediabolique]

Easily the oddest piece of Patlabor animation. This commercial appeared on the original video releases of the 1988 Patlabor OVA (aka Early Days) and the 1992 laserdisc box set of the OVA series. It was created as Bandai Visual weren't too sure they'd recoup their investment into the series. All reissues of the OVA from 1995 onwards exclude the Axia commercial.

Axia PS IIx commercial (1987)

[wanderersrest]

Wanderer's Rest Presents: A Not-So-Comprehensive Mecha Anime Recommendation List

Mecha anime. You know them. Shows featuring young folks and their giant machines, fighting against enemies that range from mythological beings, dinosaurs, space fascists, aliens, kaiju, angels, war profiteers, and many more! Chances are likely you can think of at least one mecha anime series, whether it be something as mainstream as Gundam or Evangelion, or it's something as obscure as Flag or Dai-Guard (at least I think Dai-Guard is obscure). You want to get into mecha anime, but you don't know what to start with. That's what this list is here for! Specifically, I'm going to list shows based roughly on what your preferences are. I'll try to cover a fair bit, so strap in.

Unless I state otherwise with the recommendation, you can most likely find any series recommended on here on Crunchyroll.

Recommendation 1: Dai-Guard

Speaking of Dai-Guard, go watch Dai-Guard. It's basically "What if our alien-fighting giant robot was piloted and maintained by regular office workers?" the anime. Complete with all of the red tape and corporate backstabbing that ensues. It's also relatively short, clocking in at 26 episodes, so be sure to check it out when you get the chance.

Recommendation 2: Gun x Sword

Do you like Westerns? Do you like sci-fi? Do you like western sci-fi mash-ups that also have what is basically a Mexican Super Sentai/Power Rangers giant robot in it? If yes to that last one, you might want to check out Gun x Sword, a western sci-fi mashup complete with a Mexican-themed Super Sentai robot (I'm not kidding). It's a tale of revenge, and how far one is willing to go to exact it. So if that sounds interesting to you, then check it out.

Recommendation 3: Magic Knight Rayearth

So, uh, this is a magical girl series. A magical girl series that has giant robots in it. Rayearth is great. Definitely check it out, especially if you really like magical girl shows. Also full disclosure: Rayearth is pretty much the only magical girl series I've watched outside of the Madoka Magica movies. Also, I will say that Rayearth is based off of the manga, though the two diverge heavily after a certain point, both with drastically different storylines a la Fullmetal Alchemist and FMA: Brotherhood.

Recommendation 4: The King of Braves, GaoGaiGar

Content warning: GaoGaiGar has a lot of strobing lights throughout the show, moreso than Rayearth and Patlabor.

GaoGaiGar is a classic giant robot series. More importantly, it came out in a time when everyone was trying to imitate the hot stuff that was Evangelion. It's the classic "anime series designed to sell toys" style specifically, but it really rocks. Most people say that it gets good around the half-way point, but I would argue that it's the first half that allows us to have that great second half. It's a great series if you're looking for something to watch on a Saturday morning, especially if you enjoy waking up to what is quite possibly the most hot-blooded mecha show after Gurren Lagann and G Gundam.

Recommendation 5: Patlabor

If you like political thrillers and giant robots with lots of worldbuilding, I'd highly recommend Patlabor. Now depending on which you prefer, the recommendation gets a bit more specific. I'd specifically recommend watching the Early Days OVA first as a primer for what the series is all about. Then, if you're hooked, I'd continue in production order, which is:

Early Days OVA -> Movie -> TV Anime -> New Files OVA -> Movie 2 -> Wasted XIII

A lot of people like to say the movie timeline is better, but I personally think that sells the TV series short. Especially since the TV series has a lot of character development that the Early Days OVA and movies can't include due to their length.

Patlabor is streaming on HiDive.

Recommendation 6: Back Arrow

There haven't been as many mecha shows in more than a decade, but Back Arrow is definitely a series that scratches that itch. Like Gun x Sword above, it's also one of those weird genre mash-ups, trading in western & sci-fi for medieval European fantasy with wuxia... and also sci-fi. Not helping things is that both Back Arrow and Gun x Sword are directed by Goro Taniguchi. Also the main character spends the majority of the first episode naked, and the second in nothing but a pair of underwear. It's weird. It's great. Definitely give it a shot.

Recommendation 7: Psalm of Planets Eureka seveN & After War Gundam X

If you're looking for something with more romance in it, I'd definitely give either Eureka Seven or Gundam X a chance. Both are fairly long and have a similar vibe with regards to their main couples, though I think Eureka Seven is more realistic with its relationships. It's because of their similarities that I'm recommending both series, especially since Gundam X predates Eureka Seven by almost ten years. They're both great, and definitely worth checking out.

If you're going to watch Gundam X, please keep in mind that the series was cut short in its run for a lot of factors outside of its control.

As of this writing, neither the original TV series for Eureka Seven nor Gundam X is available for streaming. If you're really lucky, the official Gundam YouTube channel might stream Gundam X one day. Don't count on it though.

Recommendation 8: Brave Bang Bravern

I know I've been post a lot of gifs with this list, but for this recommendation, I want you to go in blind. It's of vital importance that you go into Bravern blind. Just do it. Take my word for it. It's great. Very hotblooded. Much robot.

Recommendation 9: SSSS.Gridman & SSSS.Dynazenon

If you're big into tokusatsu, then you need to check out both SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon. Gridman might be stretching the definition of what a mecha show is (on the other hand, so does Evangelion), but Dynazenon absolutely is a mecha show. Both are great though, and definitely worth a watch.

Recommendation 10: Mobile Fighter G Gundam

G Gundam is probably the second most hot-blooded show in all of mecha (tied with GaoGaiGar, and somehow surpassed only by Gurren Lagann). It is not the best series to get into if you want to get a basic understanding of what Gundam is like in general like either the Witch From Mercury or 00. But neither of those series have the Erupting God Finger. Nor do they have a Mobile Suit piloted by a horse. Checkmate atheists.

Conclusion

There are so many mecha shows out there, which is not surprising since the genre's roots go back as far as the 50's with, depending on how you define the genre, either Astro Boy or Tetsujin 28-go. While they aren't as numerous as they were in the past, there are still a lot of shows in the genre. So many shows in fact, that I didn't even mention some other great shows like Turn A Gundam and Shin Mazinger Z. Heck, I haven't even gone through a good portion of the genre itself, as I haven't gotten around to watching seminal works such as Getter Robo, Giant Robo, Armored Trooper VOTOMs, Fang of the Sun Dougram, Aura Battler Dunbine, or the Vision of Escaflowne. Don't even get me started on either finishing all of Gundam or starting Macross. That doesn't even touch on the fact that I ignored a lot of the "Not Like the Other Mecha Show" series like Evangelion, Code Geass, or Gurren Lagann (I mentioned GL a few times though, so that's worth something I guess). I really can't blame anyone for seeing this and going "Meh. I'll just watch *insert show here* instead." But if you're willing to go in for the long haul with any of these series, I can vouch for these series (and a couple others like Turn A). So yeah, check these out if you have the time. Also check out Turn A Gundam if you haven't already (but only if you've watched a lot of Gundam).

[spicebiter]

Watch List- Anime and Foreign Language Animation (Latest Update Nov. 6, 2024)

Non-English Animation watch list. I keep this one separate from general shows because I vary in whether i want to watch subs or dubs, not to mention the fact that some don't have a dub at all so I can't watch some of these as casually as I can a show in English.

Because of the sheer number of things I want to watch I’m separating my watch list posts into four categories. I keep them separate primarily for organization so I can decide what to watch based different variables (mood, time, language, etc)

I’m pretty much constantly adding things to all of my lists- hence why I’m amending when this was last updated to the title itself- and will update this post anytime I update the wheel I use to randomize my next choice, which usually happens after I’ve added or subtracted a significant number of options.

30,000 Miles From Chang’an

5 Centimeters Per Second

Afro Samurai

Akanuke Ichiban

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku

All Saints' Street

Animal Arithmetic

Another

Asobi Asobase

Azumanga Daioh

Baccano!

Bakemonogatari

Belladonna of Sadness

Blackfox

Black Dynamite

Black Rock Shooter

Blood: The Last Vampire

Blue Submarine No. 6

Bocchi the Rock

Boku no Marie

Boogiepop Phantom

Boys Over Flowers

Brand New Animal

Bubblegum Crisis

Bungou Stray Dogs

Catnapped!

Cencoroll

Code Geass

Corpse Princess

Cowboy Bebop

Creamy Mami Long Goodbye

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

Cyborg Neko Chan

Darker Than Black

Darling in the Franxx

Dead Leaves

Death Parade

Dennou Coil

Devilman Crybaby

Diabolik Lovers

Dirty Pair

DRAMAtical Murder

Eccentric Family

Eden of the East

El Hazard

Elfen Lied

Ergo Proxy

Escaflowne

Eureka Seven

FLCL

Force of Will

Franken’s Gears

From Up On Poppy Hill

Ghost Hound

Ghost in the Shell

Golden Boy

Gravity Daze The Animation: Ouverture

Gunbuster

Gunsmith Cats

Gurren Lagann

Haibane Renmei

Hamatora The Animation

Hataage! Kemono Michi

Hataraku Maou-sama

Hell Girl

Housing Complex C

Hyouka

I Can Hear the Sea

Jin-roh the Wolf Brigade

Kabeneri of the Iron Fortress

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran

Kill la Kill

King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm

Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu

Kite

Kite Liberator

Kizumonogatari part 1: Tekketsu

Koneko no Studio

Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni

Koutetsujou no kabaneri

Legacy of Al Caral

Little Witch Academia

Magnetic Rose

Megalo Box

Megami Paradise

Memories: Magnetic Rose

Metropolis

Mezzo Forte

Michiko to Hatchin

Millenium Actress

Mob Psycho 100

Mobile Police Patlabor

Monogatari

Mononoke

Moon, Laika, and the Bloodsucking Princess

Mousou Dairinin

My My Mai

Neo Rengo

Neo Tokyo

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Nichijou

Night On The Galactic Railroad

Obsolete

Ocean Waves

OddTaxi

Ojamajo Doremi

Only Yesterday

Ookiku Furikabutte

Osomatsu-san

Otaku no Video

Overlord

Panty and Stocking

Paprika

Paranoia Agent

Patlabor

Perfect Blue

Please Save My Earth

Pom Poko

Pretty Cure

Princess Tutu

Project Ako

Read or Die

Redline

Robot Carnival

Romeo no Aoi Sora

Rust Eater Bisco

Samurai Champloo

Serial Experiments Lain

Sherlock Hound

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

Shirokuma Cafe

Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Sirius the Jaeger

Slayers

Speed Grapher

Steamboy

Summer Ghost

Superflat Monogram

Suzume no Tojimari

Sword of the Stranger

Taiho Shichauzo

Tales From Earthsea

Tenchi Muyo

Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger

The Big O

The Boy and the Heron

The Deer King

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

The Gymnastics Samurai

The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Ocean Waves

The Place Promised In Our Early Days

The Secret World of Arrietty

The Tatami Galaxy

The Wind Rises

Tokyo Babylon

Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru

Trigun

Typhoon Noruda

Uchuu Patrol Luluco

Uta no Prince Sama

Vampire Hunter D

Vampire in the Garden

Violet Evergarden

Watashi ga Motete Dousunda

Weathering With You

Witch Hunter Robin

Wolf Children

Wolf's Rain

Yasuke

Yatterman

Yoru Wa Mikikashi Arukeyo Otome

Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru

Zankyou no Terror

[mi4011malith]

My top 3 Animators

Here’s a detailed research of these animators:

1.

Pendleton Ward

Ward Taylor Pendleton Johnston, known professionally as Pendleton Ward, or simply Pen Ward, is the creator of Adventure Time and the original Animated short, as well as a production designer for Steven Universe. Pendleton Ward currently works for Cartoon Network Studios and Frederator Studios. He was born on September 23, 1982, and grew up in San Antonio, Texas.

In 2002/2003, Pendleton Ward published a webcomic titled Bueno the Bear. He later took down the comics because he thought they were "terrible."[3] However, he retains the name "buenothebear" for his website and his handle on sites like Twitter. Later, Pen created a short for Frederator Studios titled "Barrista" starring Bueno the Bear.

Pen continued to work on short animations for Frederator's Random! Cartoons which aired on Nicktoons. There, he worked with several people who later join him on the Adventure Time series, including composer Casey James Basichis, Adam Muto and Niki Yang. His two shorts were "The Bravest Warriors" and the "Adventure Time" animated short. The "Adventure Time" short was made in 2006 and went on to become an internet phenomenon in 2007, with over 1,000,000 views by November of that year.[4] (Internet searches seem to indicate it first went viral in mid-January 2007, although the original versions of the video on YouTube have since been removed.) Pen pitched Adventure Time as a full series in 2006 or 2007 to Nickelodeon, however, they passed it up for Fanboy & Chum Chum, a CGI animated Television series. It took some time until Cartoon Network decided to pick up the show, which, some fans believe, was better then the show being in the hands of Nickelodeon.

In 2008, Pendleton Ward worked on Cartoon Network's The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (along with JG Quintel, creator of Regular Show) as a writer and storyboard artist. Flapjack was a storyboard-driven show, meaning that the storyboard artists also wrote the episodes, based on an outline. The experience inspired Pen to run Adventure Time the same way, once it was picked up as a series.

Pen became interested in animation at an early age, inspired by his mother, Bettie Ward, who was an artist and worked with animators. He started drawing flipbooks in first grade.

At the Adventure Time panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2011, Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama, made a surprise appearance, telling a story about Pendleton's childhood. His mother brought him to visit his house to get advice on how to be an animator. However, he couldn't remember what advice he had given to him.

Pen attended CalArts, where he became friends with JG Quintel. (They later worked on Flapjack together, and in 2009, Quintel went on to create Regular Show). At a "Producers Show" at CalArts, Pen met Eric Homer from Frederator Studios, which was his first lead in working with Frederator.

2.

Jonathan Djob Nkondo

He was born in Paris in 1987 and grew up in the suburbs, drawing loads since he was a kid. He was really inspired by cartoons like Dragon Ball Z, Mighty Max, Patlabor, Inspector Gadget, Ulysses 31, the Warner Bros ones and video games like Zelda, TMNT and Mario Bros.

But at some point, his parents decided they wanted him and his siblings to watch less TV, so they got rid of it. There was not much to do and entertain himself with, which led him to start reading a lot of books and comics.

He used to go to the library a lot and copy/draw over those drawings, trying to understand the techniques behind them. He was more curious about characters in general, and one day he just decided to create his own, along with his own stories for them.

But yeah, he read a lot of comics — and very diverse ones. Loads of Belgian ones: the famous ones like TinTin, Spirou, Les 4 As (The 4 Aces), Bone… A lot of mangas as well and, later on, during college, he found out about the American comics like Spider Man, Xmen, Gen 13, Witchblade, Spawn, etc.

He is a big fan of Katsuhiro Otomo. Akira is the first manga heread when he was a kid. He was too young at the time to fully understand the story behind it, but his style blew his mind. He just recently bought the 6 volume set (like 2 years ago) and he’s still impressed by the drawings.

But the story and message have now became more important to him. He thinks the three most impactful mangas he read when he was kid were Akira, Gunnm from Yukito Kishiro and Gon from Masashi Tanaka.

On the “dreamy” comment: well, a lot of my ideas are actually coming from dreams I have.

It’s definitely happened that I dreamt about something and then illustrated it afterwards. I tend to be very conscious when I’m dreaming (sort of lucid dreaming), and I think it’s a good source of inspiration. Often times I feel stuck with an idea or get a hint of a path that could be interesting to develop, so I usually keep that in mind and I kind of unlock those during my sleep.

3.

Yoneyama Mai

Mai worked at TRIGGER, an anime production company that is highly regarded both in Japan and abroad. There, she was in charge of the animation director for “Kill la Kill” and the character design for “Kiznaiver” and other aspects of the works, and she emerged as a force to be reckoned with. In the 2019 Japanese massive hit animated film “PROMARE”, having played a central role in visual development and other aspects of the work, she has a definite presence in the animation and illustration industry.

Mai has also been remarkably active as an illustrator, such as working on the main visual for the EVANGELION fashion brand “RADIO EVA”. And she held a solo exhibition “SHE” in 2019 and a solo exhibition “EGO” in 2021, her activities as an artist gain momentum.

Her works are characterised by the depiction that you can feel the flow of emotions and movements, which is the result of the fusion of a broad and deep sensibility that includes not only Japanese but also Asian elements, and an expressive ability to convey situations backed by the outstanding skills of an outstanding animator.

“For me, drawing animation is an act that reminds me of the preciousness of the moment. I like the state that is created by extending the moment of a single frame, preparing many of them, and establishing a flow of movement by moving them back and forth, so that all the moments are interacting with each other, so I made it into my work.”