Isn't this going a bit overboard?: Instant Awesome Just Add Mecha

Read the first sentence of the article:

"Simply put, this is when a work is not about Humongous Mecha, but throws one or more in at some point(s) anyway. Why? Because giant robots are cool, duh!"

Now let's see some examples, shall we?

• The Big O, which was a Super Robot show from the start.

• Code Geass, which from conception was a Real Robot series and featured it in marketing.

• Now And Then Here And There, the first battle machine that appears is technically a mecha, and it was pretty clearly meant to drive home that it was a fighting machine from another world.

• Basquash, which was advertised from the start as basketball with giant robots. Technically, wouldn't that be In Space rather than this trope?

• Full Metal Panic, again, the robots are a point in the series from the start, and there presence drives a good deal of the military end of the plot. So how does this count?

• Then it lists Battle Tech, which again seems more like an In Space. Apparently, being based entirely on giant robot combat is still "giant robots in an unrelated work because it's cool". Same with Gear Krieg. Heck, what's with the "quotes" format for the Tabletop section?

Seriously, some of these are a bit like claiming Naruto or Tenchu feature examples of Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja.

"If you're out here why do I miss you so much?"

Well how were we to know some of those were intended to be mecha all along? Just take the bad examples off, and note in the edit reasons and discussion page.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

The Big O is essentially "Batman owns a Super Robot". See the part where it got added?

Code Geass...eh probably true.

Basketball with giant robots. Do you not see the addition of mecha in that sentence?

If you've read a lot of Battle Tech works, particularly the novels, then you would find their argument reasonably compelling I think; the series is generally politically savvy and more about that and the characters/societies, the giant robots are there so you can base a wargame on it. Gear Krieg and Heavy Gear are similar in nature; the wargame and its mecha are not necessary to appreciate the depth of the setting. They do, however, make a pretty good hook for someone glancing casually at it.

FMP, probably have a point.

Don't know the other series.

edited 15th Aug '11 11:01:26 PM by Night

Nous restons ici.

Can't call this surprising, really, given how the "Instant Awesome" family lives in the "Better With" neighborhood....

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

Big O is also film noir with mecha, so that is a double reason it counts.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

Take a basic concept add Giant Robots then its awesome? Really that would be any series with Giant Robots even Real Robot and Super Robot shows.

If you really want one where Mecha is there but not the focus of the show I could see a soft split.

Right now this would be more like Persona 4 having Giant Robot enemies around why? Who cares its cool and Chie gets to Punt them into a Twinkle in the Sky. Or Pani Poni Dash having a Super Robot hidden under the school that shows up for 1 episode. Or Spaceballs Mega Maid. Or Genshiken's Second OP [1] (The series isnt a mecha series [2])

edited 16th Aug '11 12:51:56 AM by Raso

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Hm, maybe stuff like Alien or something would count. I don't see how most series that are built around giant robots would ever count.

Fight smart, not fair.

Again, the very first line states that this is when giant robots appear in a work that, up to a point, did not involve them. Not simply that a work involves giant robots in general.

"If you're out here why do I miss you so much?"

The trope also includes works clearly based on other works but adding mecha. The first lines of descriptions don't set a trope in stone (really learned that the hard way in some discussions).

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

But if the logic is that The Big O belongs on it since it can be boiled down to "Batman + Giant Robot", then you can add any Mecha Show to the list. Mobile Suit Gundam is just World War II with giant robots, right?

Why doesn't Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja mention Naruto or Dr Mcninja? They can be boiled down to a Shonen Fighting series with ninja and a superhero story with ninja, after all. Or How To Train Your Dragon under Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons, seeing how it's a coming of age tale with dragons.

edited 16th Aug '11 1:11:23 AM by TheGunheart

"If you're out here why do I miss you so much?"

How is that different from Recycled In Space Except Only With Mecha?

The trope's last line of the actual description literally says that is what the trope is.

edited 16th Aug '11 2:58:47 AM by Night

Nous restons ici.

That's not the same. This trope defines itself about the mecha not being a centerpiece of the work, but a minor element.

The Big O, for example, the titular mecha gets used almost Once an Episode, like 1960s Batman and the Batmobile. Sure, without the giant robot you'd basically have a Japanese Batman (given its film-noir setting and sosuch) but the robot is what defines the series.

edited 16th Aug '11 7:27:22 AM by Stratadrake

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

What if we split this?

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

Recycled In Space is already the other use, though. We should just narrow it down to works that don't center on mecha but end up including them.

Also, The Big O isn't the Batmobile. It's the Batsuit.

edited 16th Aug '11 12:37:03 PM by TheGunheart

"If you're out here why do I miss you so much?"

No, I mean make that one a Sub-Trope to Recycled in Space.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

That's a pretty slippery slope, though. That'll mean we need other Recycled In Space subtropes for other potential variations.

"If you're out here why do I miss you so much?"

Actually, that might be a good thing. The trope has been misused for a long time (largely for any show being in space), so perhaps splitting it into trope directly about what it is would help.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

I don't see what's wrong with Recycled In Space subtropes. It's a very common idea for creating a work.

Fight smart, not fair.

It would just require enough examples of a certain type, and a lot mentioned here fall under that.

BTW, Code Geass could fit on the main page as an inversion, as the manga adaptations take out the mecha.

edited 16th Aug '11 2:40:31 PM by DragonQuestZ

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

So two tropes?

• Recycled With Mecha
• Conspicuous and Gratuitously placed Mecha in series that didn't have them. IE the examples in my last post.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

I kinda agree with the split. To me, "Instant Awesome Just Add X" means "a mundane setting that doesn't normally have X, turns into awesome when you add X", which is about exactly what eg.: Basquatch is. However that's too subjective and kinda hard to define since "doesn't normally have X" adds some particular constraints with regards to how X is defined (eg.: in Instant Awesome Just Add AI, for example, if we have/had it), and it is far too close to Everything Better With Xes for comfort.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

The mere thought of adding a mecha into a work that never had one is implied awesome.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

The point is trying to make it awesome. Success is not required of the trope.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

Hm, other subtropes of Recycled In Space: Recycled In Steam Punk (the new Three Musketeers movie comes to mind).

Fight smart, not fair.