Club Mecha

[T.G. Oskar]

Hello there, folks!! I saw the thread a few days ago and decided to give it a try, and I was asked to give a first post, so here I go.

I'm not that much into mecha anime as I am into general anime, but I like to see some mecha action every now and then. I did see the entire series of Escaflowne, and some tidbits of GaoGaiGar, Shin Getter Robo, Mazinkaiser (and the original Mazinger), S-Strain (darn cruel series, but I like them), between others shown usually by more enthusiastic mecha fan friends of mine. I have also seen some other series not typically mecha but considered akin to genre, such as Tekkaman Blade (in spanish, nonetheless; actually a very good translation...). And, for the records, I have not yet seen Evangelion, nor its two endings.

What really got me into mecha is the initiative of a relatively unknown company dedicated to making mecha games (nope, not the Armored Core series), although you might probably heard of them: the Super Robot Wars series by Banpresto. If you haven't heard of them, it's like having all mecha series blended into one game, where all mechas collectively face enemies from all series (like, for example, having all Gundams, Getter, and Mazinger face the Dinosaur Empire from Shin Getter). I gained a great deal of respect for the company, especially when I heard that it made even the original creators accept some in-game creations as canon (like Gunpei Yokoi of Mazinger creating a series out of Mazinkaiser, a mecha authorized by him and created originallly for the game). I also played a little Virtual-On, to which I attibute the enjoyment of the first song in the game (from the first stage), as well as the "playable movie" Xenosaga Episode I.

[Andromeda]

Thanks for reminding me about Xenosaga, that is a mecha game. They have plenty of mechs in the game. By the time the game got to the third and final episode you got to see some very interestingly designed mechs in there. There was one that had a large shell around it that is sort of a mobile armor from appearance. There is also the very smooth and round edges of Shion mecha.

And there is also Xenogears with the amazing looking Xenogears suit with a lot of winged attachments coming off of its back. There is also the armless suit that looks really strange, but I think it was mainly a magic using suit so no arms might not be as problematic. And one of my favorite is Citan Uzuki and Jin Uzuki suit that both use real swords which many suits do not have. So many of the suits like to use energy weapons and swords.

I am trying to remember another mecha anime that I watched on G4 Tech TV. Which is Gad Guard, it was a little different as they had mecha that were linked to people. But the person did not actually sit inside it, though they did still control it. Which it is a little different than most that you sit inside.

[Silver]

Ah Xenosaga....
Though there are many people I know who would disagree with me, my favourite was the second one by far. The combat system was simply amazing. And if you download the fansite kit, a download from the official website, you can see some rather high quality images of the aforementioned mechs. And if your connection prevents the download for whatever reason (as it is fairly big for dialup users), then there is a cool futuristic bike like mech depicted on the wallpaper with KOS-MOS. Here's the link for the site you can get the official fankit anyways, http://xenosaga2.namco.com/episodeII.php

As for Gad Guard, there was an episode, the first, on a free sampler disc Australians could send for courtesy of madman. I rather enjoyed it, but couldn't find a new copy of the series anywhere. If you've seen it, the special effects were very well done. The glitter of the precious beads a girl drops, the turning of that cube into the mecha....
It looked amazing to put it mildly.

[T.G. Oskar]

Gee...how'd you forget Xenosaga?

Seeing that much Gad Guard reminds me of another mecha series with similar name. Has anyone seen Dai-Guard? I can't just see how hilarious it gets to see the world's cheapest mecha saving the world countless times. Come on, the shell is made of aluminum; it should not even stand, because aluminum typically has little resistance to impact despite the cheapness and thickness.

Also, I know that this isn't a mecha series, but who of you has seen Keroro Gunso (Sgt. Frog)? It teaches a lot about mecha fans, like that Gundam models are properly called "Gunpla" (Gundam Plastics?) It's also hilarious.

Apparently no one knows about Super Robot Wars. Quite a disappointment...

[Shiendar]

I currently want to find a copy of Front Mission 2. I've got the demo via Vagrant Stories and me and my husband Igor rather liked it. I think that was the most amazing opening technology-wise on the PS1. Wish me luck...

I rather like the combat system. *uses shotgun on turret*

[T.G. Oskar]

Wouldn't it be Front Mission 3? Front Mission 1 & 2 were SNES releases, so far. Gee, I had forgotten about the "Wanzers"...a very simple kind of mecha, without the overwhelming design. The mecha in Matrix 3 reminds me of them (I assume everyoen saw the final Matrix, right? The time for spoilers should have already ended, so...) Simple weapons, simple design, not overly complex storyline...a good breath of fresh air compared to other tactical RPGs, emphasizing world destruction over a single war.

On the same league, I remember 3 games that were side-scrollers and features mechas: Front Mission - Gun Hazard, Cybernator (*shudders*), and Metal Warriors. The first was a side-scroller in the spirit of the FM games, Cybernator was almost a FM-GH spiritual twin (but boy it was friggin' hard...), and the last one was fun in its own way (Prometheus mecha is the best of them, but I have a soft spot for the original suit and the UFO-like suit.

[Andromeda]

I never did get the chance to play Front Mission, the closest thing that I played was Zeonic Front which you got to pilot Zeon mobile suits and you could customize things. I think it was sort of like Front Mission, but probably completely different.

There was also that other game that everyone was excited about which was just an online game from what I saw. I don't remember the name of it, but it was on the 360 and it was one large server. There were three factions and everyone just battled each other for territory until one country won. When they won the game reset and they continued again. It was supposed to be pretty good, but I think that Armored Core took over for it. Though I don't know how good that was either, but it was available for both.

But how about Xenosaga, I keep thinking of it as a RPG and neglecting the fact that it has mecha. It has such a rich story that the mechs are almost sidelined at many points that you don't think of it as a mech game. And it really is not that much of one. But you can customize them depending on the game that you are playing and by the end they are their own character almost. Which was very nice, much more Xenogears like, a good thing for me.

[Evangel]

I've never played Xenogears or Front Mission. I've seen screens for Front Mission and it actually looks pretty cool. Xenosaga is probably one of the best games I've played. I only played Episode 3 and even that I didn't get to the end. Somwhere after the fight against Omega. The only Gundam game I can find anywhere is Journey to Jaburo, and even that I can't get through easily.

Phantasy Star is also a really good game. It has mecha in it, and very well designed too. That's another game I didn't get through in a short time. I like those type os games.

Armored Core is also one of the best game series, I think. I don't care what critiques think. It's hard, I'll admit that. But the level of design you can put into your mech is astounding. Online, your AC is one of a kind. AC 4 has even more depth. If I were to get a PS3 and a choice of one game, that would be it.

[Andromeda]

If you haven't played Xenogears you own it to yourself to play it since you played Xenosaga. I played Xenosaga I and II before I played Xenogears I believe and like I thought that Xenosaga was an amazing game that was one of the best I had played. Well not so much Xenosaga II, but either episode I was great. Then I played Xenogears and realized that Xenosaga is vastly inferior to Xenogears in almost every way. It was only Xenosaga III that managed to redeem the series for me and make it arguably somewhat comparable to Xenogears. If Xenosaga II had been a good as the first and third it would be a better series, but even still Xenogears is a superior game that is a must play for anyone that loves Xenosaga.

But just be glad you played Xenosaga first, because if I had played Xenogears first I would not have enjoyed Xenosaga nearly as much as I have. So many I talked to have played Xenogears first and hated Xenosaga for how much of a let down it is in comparison. And in truth I think Xenosaga I-III is just the first part of the original six part story imagined in Xenogears.

Xenogears barely got released in the US for its large references to religion and god. Though it does much more than Xenosaga did. Most of what Xenosaga was just using religious names and playing a little context together. But Xenogears did so much more than that. I can't say enough great things about Gears, its deserves a remake more than any other game simply because it was unfinished when released. When you get to the second disc you know why it was unfinished. But it is an epic in story telling. Plus it is like a 70 hour story or so, its a long RPG needless to say.

[Evangel]

The newest Gundam series has just been aired. I'll put a little synopsis::

Taking place in 2301 A.D (Anno Domini), Gundam 00 focuses on the four "Gundam Meisters". More specifically on Gundam Exia's pilot, Setsuna. Setsuna belongs to a group called "Celestial Being", who's goal is to end all war via "forceful intervention".

Thankfully, the series doesn't start out with a Gundamjack. However, the method the Meisters got their Gundams is unknown as of yet. My idea is that Celestial Being created them. What I've seen so far, they are 100x more powerful than any other MS created. But, what obviously is going to happen is another faction would create a few Gundams or Gundam-esque Mobile Suits. Just one Gundam in the series so far can probably take on one hundred and destroy them all.

What is interesting is in the beginning, a flashback of Setsuna reveals another Gundam like MS. Wings made of energy sprout from its engine, it looks like the original RX-78 Gundam with a newer look. Kinda like Gundam Evolve's version.

You can find the episode on YouTube. The one I found was poor quality though.

[Andromeda]

Well only the Universal Century and I think it is the Another Century or the Seed Universe has Gundamjacks. All of the other series do not deal with Gundam getting stolen. But it is very common in the Universal Century Gundams as 0083 and Zeta Gundam both have it and Seed was copying a lot of things from the original, so having Gundam hijackings only made sense. But those two Gundam Universes are the only ones that continued past a single show I think. Though the Seed Universe has yet to take on long journey that the Universal Century has. The Seed series primarily stick to the original characters from the first show when they go into the second show. Which is what Zeta did for the most part as well. They had returning characters but the main character left the spot light though the main villain or rival stayed around. Though Char when under a different name even though it did not fool anyone aside from the ever naive main character of Zeta.

But a new Gundam with its own universe and everything sounds nice. I will be curious to see what becomes of it in the US. I know just about every Gundam anime makes here these days. Though we are still missing a number of Gundams, but Zeta made it so I'm hoping that Bandai will eventually get the rest of them.

[Evangel]

AS you may noticed, ~Wings of Destai~ created a Transformers RP. I've asked and Club Mecha is going to sort-of sponsor the RP. Feel free to join.

[Andromeda]

It is quite unlikely that I will be joining that RP. I have enough currently as it is to keep me busy.

Anyway, my Newtype arrived a week or two ago and of course being the former Gundam magazine that they were it was only natural that they would have an article on the newest Gundam, Gundam 00. As I understand it the director of the Gundam is the same one that did Fullmetal Alchemist. Which if that is any indication, this could be the best Gundam ever. Obviously, it does not have the same FMA staff, but the director will bring his vision to the show. Not that I need more encouragement for seeing Gundam 00, but reading that I want to see it even more.

The fourth Gundam pilot had me a little confused. Because I watched the intro a while back and thought, finally a female Gundam pilot. I think Seed Destiny had one or two, but one thing Gundam has always been is a male driven cast with strong male characters. They are females, but they are not usually in the front line main roles. Sadly, I found out that the pilot is a boy and just happens to have very girlish features. Oh well. I'm still waiting on my Gundam with a female lead. I guess until that happens all I'll have is my Gundam RP. Oh well. With a heavy male viewer audience I think it is going to unlikely that there will be female lead roles.

[Shiendar]

Ack... remember those nasty rumors about the EVA live action movie? I guess they are not true at all. I've been looking at some of the concept art on the WETA site (which is the studio making it) and all they are waiting for to begin casting and such is a director. Too bad all the established ones that are interested in making it are all busy-busy-busy. I got an interesting chill looking at a realistically drawn Asuka and Rei. Do you suppose there would ever be an actual director?

Oh yeah-Spotted a toy Angel in Japanese packaging in One-Hour Photo. I looked it up and apparently, it personally belongs to Robin William. Gee, I wonder if he fits in with the creator's statement that you have to have mental damage to understand the show? /sarcasm