People like to see giant robots fight?
I doubt it's any deeper than that.
"SUPER-FIGHTING-ROBOTS!"
"That sounds so la-"
Pacific Rim, Mazinger Z, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, Big O.
"o_o"
...
I would suppose its the depth of the characters who pilot these Brobdignagian, manmade machines, and sometimes the symbiotic relations that the machines have with their pilots.
Of course, then there's stuff like G Gundam and Gurren Lagann with unforgettable, larger-than-life characters like Master Asia, the UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST, and THE MIGHTY KAMINA. You see these powerful dudes hop into a giant robot, and then their personality isn't just words anymore. When they say they're going to beat your ass, they mean it. Because they're standing in a mobile skyscraper and you're an ant by comparison.
Mecha anime usually have above-average fight scenes, transformation sequences, themes of friendship and love and and camaraderie. You're not just friends with your mecha, your friends with a whole TEAM of mechas and their pilots!
Then there's the scarce few mecha stories that, while possessing giant robots, are more focused on what the people inside those robots are thinking or fighting about. It creates a unique rift between the appeal of this awesome showdown between giant machines, where philosophy comes into play. Should I be piloting this weapon of mass destruction? Should there be more of these things? How does the mecha feel about what I'm doing? Etc.
Me, personally - I just love watching giant robots fight each other in space. I hate regular space battles. Watching a gigantic, demon-like mecha smash another mecha to pieces is just incredibly awesome.
Akira Toriyama (April 5 1955 - March 1, 2024).
They combine the awesome aspects of both vehicular piloting combat and humanoid hand-to-hand combat.
The Mecha genre seems to be one of the defining genres anime to the average person. My question is, what made the mecha genre so iconic(well, besides the inherent appeal of robots) historically speaking? I'm partly asking because I do feel a generational gap since there's a lot of mecha history which I haven't personally experienced.
edited 11th Jun '14 9:16:07 PM by blueflame724
I treat all living things equally. That is to say, I eat all living things