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wanderersrest · 6 months ago

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An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 6: CASTIGATE THE ENEMIES OF THE GODHEAD

Welcome back to An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time we left off, we witnessed the mecha canon entering the new millennium. While they would hold out for a good portion of the decade, it is here in the 2010's we see the canon reach something of a dark age. A lot of duds will crop up in this decade, though there are also a lot of hits that arise in this era. What we will also begin to see starting in the 2010's is the advent of using CGI to animate giant robots. This stems from two major factors when it comes to animating giant robots:

Animating giant robots in 2D is hard, and thus using CGI helps to ease the load by reducing the amount of work required to animate the giant robot.

The anime industry is starting to churn through new talent due to the increase of anime being released per season now.

As I said at the end of the last post, a lot of mecha shows listed here are generally seen as duds, though a few others also stand out as some of the greats of this new era. And if you think I'm being mean to those series, I've left out two shows that are a part of this decade due to how bad they are (Gen:Lock and Ex-Arm). The shows that I say are duds in this post at least have fans who will go to bat for them when backed into a corner.

So let us partake in some of these works, shall we?

Drink deep, and descend.

Xenoblade/Xenoblade Chronicles (2011)

In 2011, Monolith Soft, now working as a Nintendo studio, would release the third part of the Xeno franchise: Xenoblade Chronicles. Easing up a little bit on the Gnosticism (but only just a little bit), Xenoblade would prove to be a slow-growing success. Finally, Takahashi and company have a series that is relatively free of the executive meddling the last two Xeno games had.

Xenoblade would receive multiple sequels over the years, including:

Xenoblade X (2015), a spiritual successor that focused more on moment-to-moment gameplay and featured giant robots as a major gameplay aspect.

Xenoblade 2 (2017) & Xenoblade 2: Torna, the Golden Country (2018), a sequel that acts as a standalone foil to the original.

Xenoblade 3 (2022) & Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed (2023), a third sequel that ties together Xenoblade 1 and Xenoblade 2 while telling its own story.

Valvrave the Liberator (2012)

Valvrave the Liberator is a 2012 mecha series from Sunrise, and the first of our major duds in the 2010's. Valvrave is best known for being an insane ride from the word go, and I think this series really captures a lot of what mecha is going through in the 2010's.

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2012)

Even Gundam can have its bad days.

2012 would see the release of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE. Started as a multimedia project in partnership with Level-5, Gundam AGE was supposed to be a 100-episode series that spans multiple generations of characters. Instead, the series was cut down to a 50-episode run.

AGE's legacy is not a good one, as it is often touted as being so bad that it almost killed Gundam. I think, especially as someone who used to think this, this line of thinking is kind of silly. Gundam at this point is damn near ubiquitous, so to say that a dud like AGE would kill it seems a bit extreme. Besides, the Unicorn OVA begins airing around this time as well, and another series would really bring Gundam back into prominence in about a year.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, Pacific Rim is a live action sci-fi film about piloting giant robots in order to fight and kill kaiju. Made as an homage to the giant mecha anime of old, namely Neon Genesis Evangelion, Pacific Rim would prove to be a great summer action flick that was made with a lot of love and care for both mecha and kaiju films.

The same, however, cannot be said for the sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising.

Gundam Build Fighters (2013)

Gundam Build Fighters, released in 2013, is equal parts loving homage to the Gundam franchise, sports anime parody, and shameless toy commercial. Gundam Build Fighters, despite being loosely a mecha series, is worth mentioning due to the fact that it would bring attention back to the Gundam franchise once more. This is worth noting after the general failure of Gundam AGE especially since a lot of series were trying to dethrone Gundam in order to become the next big thing.

Aldnoah.Zero (2014)

And boy, did that fail spectacularly.

Aldnoah.Zero also released in 2013. Billed as a series that would rival Gundam in terms of popularity, Aldnoah.Zero would start off strong. The problems with the series would arise in season 2, where, if I understand things correctly, things just kind of happen with little to no justification.

I do apologize to the fans of this series if what I have to say is harsh. I think a lot of that stems from the fact that I loathe series that are propped up as being an "X Killer," and I remember Aldnoah was originally advertised as specifically being a Gundam Killer. To me, that line of thinking is, at best, disingenuous and really prevents the series from standing on its own merits due to the comparison.

Gargantia on the Verduous Planet (2014)

Released in 2014, Gargantia on the Verduous Planet is a series where your standard military robot gets placed in a setting where, in comparison to everybody else, it essentially becomes a classic mecha. Gargantia gives us a pretty unique setting where the galactic-scale war has not really affected the cast outside of the main character.

Also this series has Gintoki Sakata Tomokazu Sugita as a giant robot. It's great.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Reconguista in G (2014)

Yoshiyuki Tomino would, once again, return to the directing chair for 2014's Mobile Suit Gundam: Reconguista in G. Created as a part of Gundam's 35th anniversary, Reconguista continues in the trend of post-Victory Tomino works generally having a kind of realistic optimism behind them. Reconguista is also known for being incredibly confusing in its initial TV run, though I am happy to report that the recent film version of Reconguista is, to my understanding, pretty easy to follow.

RWBY (2014, honorary mecha show 4...?)

(I mean... if we're using a broad definition like I do, then it counts. Penny is a major character in the series, but she's not in every volume. The series also has a lot of giant robots as well, though they're not as important to the plot as Penny is. Also, I'd rather talk about RWBY than gen:Lock, so....)

Created by Monty Oum and the now-defunct Roosterteeth, RWBY (pronounced Ruby like Ruby Rose... the character, not the actress) is a web animation series that wears its anime influence on its sleeve. Focusing primarily on flashy action with a fair bit of character dramas in its first seasons, RWBY proved to be a scrappy underdog that eventually would become one of Roosterteeth's primary draws until the company's closure earlier this year.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015)

2015 would see the release of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. Set in the much grittier Post Disaster timeline, Iron-Blooded Orphans would, more importantly, be the first non-Build Gundam series to air in the US since 2008's Gundam 00.

Iron-Blooded Orphans is known for, outside of being a rather dark entry in the franchise, controversy. And I'm not just talking about the 2nd season. I mean, "Japanese parents were upset Mika shot a man point blank" upset (to be fair, it was on prime time, and Gundam is considered to be, weirdly enough, a show for younger audiences).

If you want to listen to someone else talk about Iron-Blooded Orphans, I'd highly recommend checking out Taez's video on Iron-Blooded Orphans.

86: Eighty-Six (2017)

Eighty Six, the most recent iteration of the "Not Like the Other Girl" series, begins publication in 2017. Written by Asato Asato, Eighty Six struck a chord with a lot of people due to its stark portrayal of racism, which became extra poignant when the anime adaptation aired in 2020 (in other words, Eighty Six would air the same year George Floyd was murdered).

Darling in the Franxx (2018)

2018 would see the biggest dud of the decade air with Studio Trigger's Darling in the Franxx. The show started off strong, but quickly soured on viewers once the second half rolled in. To really understand why it's arguably the biggest dud of the decade, I'd like to theorize a little bit:

I think, when it comes to the duds of this decade (Valvrave, Gundam AGE, Aldnoah, Franxx), the three non-Gundam series were riding off of a lot of hype. And when I say a lot of hype, I mean like post-Witcher 3 Cyberpunk 2077 levels hype (so when CD Projekt Red went all in on Cyberpunk, but before they went gold). Franxx in particular was hit hard by this, as Trigger at this point had been nothing but hits (pre-Gainax includes Diebuster, Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking; Trigger proper had Kill la Kill, Space Patrol Luluco, and Axe Cop, among other hits). So for Franxx in particular, the expectations were basically "This is going to be the second coming of Evangelion." And given that even Evangelion's Rebuild films can't live up to the expectations of Evangelion, I'd say that fans inadvertently set Franxx up for failure.

That's not to absolve Franxx or the other shows of criticism. Like I said, I haven't watched a lot of these shows, so I can only really speculate. It also helps that Trigger would recover pretty quickly in like a year with their next show.

Mazinger Z Infinity (2018)

The end of the 2010's wouldn't all be duds though. As a celebration of Go Nagai's 50th anniversary in the manga business, his biggest works all got adaptations to celebrate this special achievement. Cutie Honey got Cutie Honey Universe. Devilman got Devilman Crybaby. and Mazinger Z got Mazinger Z Infinity. Set up as a conclusion to the Mazinger saga, Mazinger Z Infinity would prove to be a great conclusion to this series.

SSSS.Gridman (2018)

Coming off of the failure of Darling in the Franxx, Studio Trigger would follow up with their animated adaptation of Gridman the Hyper Agent: SSSS.Gridman. Made as an homage to Gridman and all of its variations, including Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad (hence the SSSS in SSSS.Gridman), SSSS.Gridman proved to be a return to form Studio Trigger. SSSS.Gridman's success would eventually lead to a sequel based off of the Dyna Dragon called SSSS.Dynazenon.

Lancer (2019)

(From Massif Press)

“̸̻̖̍̑I̷͔̦̒̽ ̷̩̇̅h̴̻͊͘á̴̙̹v̸͌̈ͅe̷̲͋ ̵͇̅̈n̸͙̹͆̀ë̸͉̎v̵̡̄͆ͅe̴͎̯͝ṟ̶́̄ ̶̙̒͑ͅb̸̻̋̋e̷̝̯͝é̸͕͔n̴̗̑̄ ̶̬̦͑͐h̵̲̒é̶͚́ŗ̴͎̅e̸̖̾ͅ:̶̯̩́̓ ̶̫̖̒͝I̴̯̪͑̍ ̴͚͂̽d̸͈͖̉͌ǫ̷͖͆ ̴͔̑͋n̵̂̆͜o̸̟͉̍t̸̗͇̓̎ ̴̜̠̄̑k̴̻̚͜n̸̰͙̓̊o̶̝̫͛̇ŵ̵̮̬ ̴͍̄w̴̧̢͋͊h̶̼̃̐ͅe̵̼̯͠r̵̹̿è̸͙̀ ̵͇̪̉͘h̷̺͋̇e̷͙͆̓r̴̛̟̒e̷͍͊ ̴͖͒i̷̛͓̾ͅs̵̒͜͝:̵̗̪̎ ̸̥̉Ȉ̵̬̠̓t̸͎͠ ̷͙͝ḧ̸́̚͜a̸̞̗͒s̷̜͈̒ ̵̻̋̐ǹ̵͓̲͘o̸͖̥͗̿ṯ̸̉̌ ̶̻̀̉h̸̙̆a̶̡͙̍p̵̮̭͆p̸͚̘͂̀ẹ̷̮̔̊n̴̳̂͠e̴̦͖͐͠d̶̥̻̿̆ ̶̖̮͋ŷ̸̻͚ȇ̵̩̈́t̵̼̎͘:̸̖̈ ̷̤̒O̵̻̱͑n̶̙͐͐c̶̮͉̉ě̶̫̬,̸̛̬ ̷̻͋̑I̵̙̓͌ ̵̧̮́͝w̴̧͚̽̕a̵̖͆s̷̒̿ͅ:̸̫̰̈ ̴̯̦̅̈́Ḯ̷̤ ̸̛̹̀h̴̤̳͗͑ȧ̸͍̦v̷͔̘͘̚ẽ̶̡ ̶̗̍n̵͇̞̉ę̶͙̏v̵͉̥̍ė̷̝͍͂ṙ̸̗͎ ̶̩͠b̴͈̿̏e̴̤̊̋ḛ̶̙̔n̸̡̔ ̶͚͠h̴͙̀͝é̶̳r̶̙̯͊e̵̢̫̕:̸̩̬͝ ̴̭̩̈́͗Ŷ̵͇͆ò̷͔͚u̶͈̒ ̷̻̌̚͜a̵̢͐̔r̴̰̝̕e̵̼͌̂ ̵̢̓ǎ̵̠͕l̷̮̉̀l̵̝̫̀͘ ̶̣̟̈I̶͍̍ ̶̣̊s̴̡̟͘e̷̼̦̿͝e̴͚̎:̴̦̟̃̇ ̶̬̱̕H̷̰̟̆̉ơ̸̰̐w̸̨͉͛ ̷͍̽̕c̴̡̋͂ͅa̶̡͂̐ṋ̵̫̈́ ̵͎̥͑͐y̷̭͉͛o̵̖͍̕ȗ̶̙͐ ̶̝̯͗b̷͎͍́̀ḙ̷̩̇ ̴͖̝̑ǎ̸̩̼l̸͙̞͌l̴̨̎ ̵̨̍I̵͓̊ ̴͇͒̀ͅs̵̗̽͒e̴̯̊é̶̥:̴̛̥͠ ̵̡̩̓̽W̸̝̦̏̈h̸͎̓̇ê̴̳r̶̻̊͜ȅ̶͓̹ ̸̖͊̕a̵̯͕͒͋m̵̆͜ ̸̙͒I̵̗̘̽:̵̼̳̉͑ ̷͖͒̈́W̵̬͒͒h̵͎͆ë̸̩́͜r̸̦̟͊͗ẻ̸̖ ̴͈͊d̵̩̕i̵̱̰͘d̵̳̗̕͝ ̴̛͖̳͒Ĩ̵̮ ̶̲̩̈́̋g̷̩̏͠o̸̱̓ͅ:̶̬̥͑ ̸̨̥̔͒Í̶̧̻͊ ̶̠̽h̵̩̘̋̓a̶͈͙̓v̸̝̊e̷̟͗̌ ̶͉̽͆͜n̵̮̭̉ḛ̷̜́v̴͓̥͛e̵͈̱̓̏r̵̪̅̌ ̶͉͌b̶̗̤̍e̶͔͘e̷͇̪̕ņ̷͝͠ ̵̥̄h̶̦̬̉̕ë̶̞́r̸̨͚̉̇ĕ̶ͅ…̵̤̘͛͝”̵̞̺͊

And to wrap up the 2010's, Massif Press would release Lancer. Set in a post-scarcity galaxy, Lancer gives enjoyers of pen and paper the chance of a lifetime: to become pilots of giant robots. None of this should be surprising though, as the game was designed by Abbadon, the guy who writes Kill 6 Billion Demons (you can tell because the IPS-N Tortuga and the IPS-N Raleigh look a lot like 10 Vigilant Gaze Purges the Horizon).

Conclusion

And that's a wrap for the 2010's. As we can see, this decade is a bit of a downer. At this point in time, it feels like mecha is dying. That's what an idiot like Gigguk will tell you. In hindsight, it's less dying and more in decline, and it's not surprising as to why.

Mecha, specifically the giant robots of old, are hard to animate, especially if you want a machine that's as intricate as say GaoGaiGar. But next time, we will finally be reaching the end of this journey. We will be diving into now, what's come out in the last four years, and what is set to potentially release in the future. Of particular note is the return of the Holy Trinity, with the 2020's in particular being a big year for Gundam.

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