Rooster Teeth's gen: Lock

Didn't seem to be a thread for Rooster Teeth's upcoming new web series so I thought I'd make one.

We also have a new teaser featuring some of the recruits.

https://youtu.be/pFVIgIa1Qxs

https://io9.gizmodo.com/meet-new-recruits-and-new-giant-robots-in-the-latest-te-1829082093

Edited by windleopard on Sep 16th 2018 at 10:26:08 AM

I'm not sure whether to be overly skeptical about this or overly optimistic with my preconceptions here, especially after Nomad of Nowhere and RWBY.

• Lots of celebrities and even some I've heard of before / lots of possibility for failure and too much reliance on star power
• 3D-animated giant robots are always cool to look at / visual clusterf-ck that would put the Bayformers to shame
• Interesting sci-fi plot with some kind of "wall" and emotionally-powered mech suits / a Western Evangelion knock-off with cheaper animation
• Teaser doesn't give away too much of the plot / I have no idea what this show is about and why I should care
• Computer coder female protagonist, that's progressive / dull-looking main protagonists, assuming that's what they are
• Classic, cheeky Rooster Teeth humor / what tone is this show going for they're putting too much money into it for it to be purely comedy

Edited by Soble on Sep 17th 2018 at 3:47:11 AM

Here are some videos to remind you that the show is coming. First off an interview with David Tennant;

Second is an official clip of the show;

Animation could be tidied up a little bit to be a bit more fluid, but we still have three months until premier so hopefully that gets tidied up.

I don't find the animation to be as distracting as The Dragon Prince's so far, and otherwise it looks interesting.

I am having a bit of Merida-style difficulty with understanding Maisie Williams though xD

Too early to say anything concrete just yet. I'll wait for the first episode to air before making any decisions. Looks interesting though.

It's funny that this is the 2nd time Maisie is doing a character with Scottish accent, the 1st being The New Mutants. I was expecting she will be doing a Northern accent (Sean Bean's accent).

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htmb_OhRDnc

So what is the Union? Is it an alien race, or some other national entity on Earth?

I’m a bit conflicted. This has a very interesting Real Robot premise with an older cast of characters, and a level of talent that would make any HBO original green with envy, but Rooster Teeth’s animation technology is still, well, Rooster Teeth. It kinda reminds me of Knights of Sidonia in the looks department where the machinery looks fine but the people look...off.

Then again, Sidonia had a distinct lack of David Tenant and Michael B. Jordan. I’m willing to give it a chance, but time will tell if we see gen:lock model kits.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jan 17th 2019 at 8:15:31 AM

So far it looks pretty good in my opinion, even though it has Dragon Prince framerate.

So someone posted the OP, and it’s a full, proper anime style OP, which I’m pretty sure was in Michael B. Jordan’s contract.

https://genlockfans.tumblr.com/post/182304287148/its-a-real-anime-op-you-guys

Watched the first two episodes, and you can color me intrigued. At first I thought it was leading us to think Chase was dead but got his mind uploaded into the mech, but it seems like he's in a Man in the Machine scenario instead.

Echoing theLibrarian, I do wonder what exactly is "the union"? It doesn't seem like just some standard Evil Empire with the ridiculously advanced nanotechnology compared to "The Polity", and soldiers who don't even say a word and act more like robots that people, and until we got a human spy from the Union and were told one of the characters was a Union defector in the second episode I was thinking it might be some sort of Grey Goo or Artificial Intelligence that Turned Against Their Masters and started an Assimilation Plot. It might still be something along those lines, but with just The Evils of Free Will instead of being straight borg-style assimilation.

Edited by CaptainCapsase on Jan 26th 2019 at 5:55:23 AM

So, watched the first episodes today. I like it. I like it a lot. I'm glad they're also giving the actual main characters the spotlight so that people don't get caught up with trying to play "Spot the Rooster Teeth employee." I've already heard Lindsay and Blaine, but I didn't know that the other members of Dakota Fanning's unit were Grey, Miles, and Chad until I saw the credits.

My main issue is that the animation is at a noticeably lower frame-rate compared to RWBY, which is jarring in scenes where characters are talking rather than fighting.

Eh, it doesn't really bug me that much.

It's not a deal breaker but it is kinda...Distracting...

Edited by CaptainCapsase on Jan 26th 2019 at 5:57:49 AM

It seems to be a deliberate style choice, I was able to ignore it after awhile.

The RT talent in the show is being used wisely, Miles was the one I was surprised most about seeing as I didn't even know it was him until the credits.

I am a bit eh on how they had Chase survive; the fact that he crashed moving at combat speeds should have turned his body to paste, I was initially convinced he was a whole brain emulation from a scan they took prior to his death, and me nitpicking here is more the disappointment at missing out on one of my all time favorite sci-fi tropes than a real issue; but that would have added so much character potential for him and Miranda.

Edit: Anyone else get big time XCOM vibes from this?

Edit: Also those pilots are pulling like 10 G manuevers in their planes. At least The Expanse gives us "The Juice" as a Hand Wave for why people can survive those kinds of accelerations. Just the misgivings of a hard sci fi fan though.

Edited by CaptainCapsase on Jan 26th 2019 at 9:51:00 AM

On that note, I'd have prefer people going about their gunfights not like it's Star Wars...but I suppose it is a series of mecha after all.

The hand-to-hand fight looked great though. The infantrymen grabbing the hacked robot to unplug it was a neat and logical thing too.

Interesting so far, and while I was worried about the Cliché Storm elements (and everyone dunking on Grey Haddock because he has a limited knowledge of mecha), the show seems to at least like the thing it’s about. The things it does different (older characters, the nanotechnology being a recurrent tool, etc) are interesting and what they do with Chase, while not entirely original is an effective hook. I’m intrigued.

I was definitely not expecting our protagonist to be a triple amputee.

I was far more amused that Mr. Tennant has taken up the mantle as a Doctor, just not the kind we normally associate him with.

He's definitely still the sort of "No second chances" doctor though.

"Hey Caliban, please let this spy inadvertently kill himself in a horrific manner." *post horrific spy death* "Okay, who wants to put their brain in a robot!"

I was wondering whether he being serious or if he thought that'd be a funny thing to say (understandable, I totally would too).

So favorite characters so far? I actually quite like Chase, the whole Man in the Machine thing isn't as cool as being a purely digital consciousness would be, but eh. Then you have Cameron who has no military experience and is only 17, that makes me sad.

Edit: Random tangent, how do they explain away the little issue posed by Mutually Assured Destruction in terms of global conventional warfare between superpowers?

Edit 2: They made it too obvious that Sinclar was either going to die or be a traitor.

Edited by CaptainCapsase on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:11:00 AM