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Post by Agai Lazen on Oct 6, 2010 18:23:27 GMT -4
Anime is one of the most popular genre's of animation. Here I'm gonna talk about my personal favorites in it's most popular sub-genre: Mecha. What's with the subject? I decided to use the most common phrase in mecha shows (besides "hissatsu"): Gattai. Gattai is japanese for "Combine" or "fusion," and is most often used when two mecha are about to combine. The very first show I wanna talk about is none other than the Robot that started it all, Mazinger Z! Mazinger Z was one of the very first super robots, said to have the power of either a god or a devil. Not only was it one of the most powerful bots in its time, but it also had some of anime's most iconic and unique villains, such as Baron Ashura, who is part woman-part man, and Dr. Hell, the evil scientist. The main hero, Koji Kabuto, is also pretty unique. Dr. Hell was a very unique villain at the time because unlike the villains before him, he was fighting an invincible enemy, and needed to outsmart his opponent, rather than try to overpower a clearly superior enemy like so many villains have in the past and since. "I've tried everything! Nanobots, missiles, drones, robots, Smytus, Krakus, ACNE!!!" -Vexus The only reason he failed so many times was either because Koji Kabuto would also think outside the box when he needed, or the incompetence of his minions. That brings us to Baron Ashura. Baron Ashura is extremely loyal to Dr. Hell, to the point where it makes him/her obsessive-compulsive. There is one instance, from the last episode of the Mazinkaiser OVA (of which I will talk about later) where Ashura breaks out of the prison that Dr. Hell put him in JUST TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF to that very same Dr. Hell! It's not that he/she/it doesn't take the goal seriously, like other villains. It's that being obsessive-compulsive can lead it to make bad decisions, and more often than not, at the cost of the mission. It's many failures make it even MORE obsessive, especially by the hands of a certain teenage boy... ...and that brings us to Koji Kabuto. Being first teen to pilot a giant robot, you think he'd be riddled with angst, right? Wrong. (We have Gundam to thank for that) Though Koji does get shocked at his new predicament, he quickly gets on his feet and kicks some @$$. When he starts something, he'll finish it or die trying, and believe me, he will not die. There are many other characters worth mentioning, such as Boss Borot, or Minerva X, but the three I described are the most well-recognized. There have been various incarnations, (almost as many as the Gundams!) Like Great Mazinger, Mazinkaiser, God Mazinger, Grendizer, and soon Mazinkaiser SKL.
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Post by Agai Lazen on Oct 24, 2010 20:58:01 GMT -4
Okay, now for a robot that actually involves gattai: Getter Robo! First of all is the design, since you don't always see a mech with the face of a jack-o-lantern. Go Nagai also worked on this robot, but he didn't go it alone. The recent Ken Ishikawa came up with the concept of a combining robot. Although there were combining robots before, Getter Robo is one of the more unique combiners. (Not to mention the first combiner protagonist.) As you've probably seen from the video above, the Getter Robo is essentially three jets that combine in three different ways depending on the situation. Getter-1 (the red one) takes the head when in the sky or on the surface, with its Getter Wing cape enabaling flight and quick maneuvers,. Getter-2 (white) takes charge in sub-terrainian combat, with its drill that can burrow through solid granite in 80 knots/hour. Getter-3 (yellow) appears when in the deep sea, as its reinforced hull can withstand up to 50 atmospheres of pressure, and it's extendable arms (similar to Jenny's ) allow it a variety of uses. Much like the Mazingers, Getter Robo also has numerous incarnations and models, not to mention the cast of characters that aren't to mess around with. (90% of them are killers or POWs) All of which (so far) are included in the game "Getter Robo: Daikessen"
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Post by Champ on Oct 28, 2010 2:33:40 GMT -4
Thanks for posting these! Most of my exposure to older mech anime comes from my brother, and that was mostly limited to stuff that was popular when it reached U.S shores, so there are a ton of gaps in my knowledge. I've always been fascinated by this kind of stuff, so now I've got something to watch for a while. By the way, have you ever heard of a show called Martian Successor Nadesico? It had a parody of these sort of shows in it called "Gekigangar III" that was a pretty major plot point, and fans of older mech shows usually tell me that it's the highlight of Nadesico for them. If you haven't seen it I would highly recommend giving it a look.
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Post by Agai Lazen on Oct 30, 2010 19:37:12 GMT -4
Are you kidding? Nadesico is one of my absolute favorites of all time! It works both as a parody, and as a show on its own. The characters have really funny dialogue, and they themselves are very well developed. Though the mech designs take some getting used to, it's a pleasant break from the eye-breaking design of some recent sentai mechs... GKK!! CANNOT UNSEE!!! XC
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Post by Champ on Oct 30, 2010 20:12:57 GMT -4
Jesus, what are those even supposed to be? Anyway, yes, Nadesico is freaking fantastic. I can honestly say it's one of the most entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable animes I have ever seen, and it's characters are some of the best in the entire genre. And while I know it's cliche, I have to say that Ruri is my favorite anime character ever. I can't help it, she's just an absolutely fascinating to watch...except in the movie. My God, did they really mess up on the movie.
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Post by Agai Lazen on Oct 30, 2010 22:04:34 GMT -4
Those are supposed to be the "Ultrazords" of the next generation of Power Rangers. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid. Oh, yeah. Ruri is a fan-favorite. Don't feel bad for fading into the crowd, we all have at least ONE guilty pleasure. (For example, I'm a fan of Spider Riders, which I consider to be the Sailor Moon of its time.)
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Post by Agai Lazen on Oct 30, 2010 23:03:46 GMT -4
I bet everyone on this forum knows at least something about transformers. I also bet that none of you know much about the cartoon that infact DID NOT have Optimus Prime, or even the Japanese equivalent, Convoy or Jinrai. Nope, another robot took the spotlight, and he would be forever known as Cybertron's greatest swordsman, Star Saber.
Being the one thing that made Transformers Vitory unique among the numerous other series, Star Saber was the first (and last) Non-Prime/Non-Convoy Autobot leader, and I respect him for that. (Sure, Animated Prime wasn't the absolute Supreme-Commander of Cybertron, but he was in charge of the team that ended up on earth, and they're pretty much the only autobots that we care about for the first half of the show)
Now, unlike Mazinger Z and Getter Robo, I actually own a toy of this guy! It doesn't transform, it's barely the size of my hand, and the feet pop off way too easily, but it's still a badass figure! *I will upload pics of the figure later*
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Post by swoop on Nov 6, 2010 17:25:24 GMT -4
Those are robot are well known icons and are very fun to watch. What theme power ranger is going for in that series when they use Samurai Ha-oh? I saw star saber a few episodes of the Star saber series. Victory would have been another nodge to transformers animated if they had the chance. I like the commercial break when the autobot or decepticon destroys his opponents side
I like see it done in other cartoons
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Post by Agai Lazen on Nov 6, 2010 22:15:19 GMT -4
Yeah, I really miss the wipes that they actually put effort into. With the exception of Gurren Lagann, most breaks have very little artistic value. (Lookin' at YOU, Shounen Jump. You DISGUST me with your extremely overrated anime and you lack of animation ) As for the PR version of Ha-Oh, obviously some sort of shogun, since a shogun is considered God when compared to a lowly samurai. I think it'll be called the "Shogun Ultrazord." Also, Ha-Oh means warlord, which is also the rank of a shogun. Maybe the S#!T-load of kibble behind him is supposed to be some sort of throne.
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Post by Agai Lazen on Jan 13, 2011 9:24:52 GMT -4
Go Nagai's robots, especially the Getters and Mazingers, came in 3 types. First there's the introductory robot, the one we see at first, characterized by amazing power. Then there's the upgrade robot, a model with 10 times the power of the first. Here we're looking at one of those models: Great Mazinger! In addition to having a more powerful version of all of Mazinger Z's powers, Great Mazinger also has the Thunder Break, similar to Zeus' bolt, the Mazinger Blade, and the Scrable Dash, a built-in wing booster. Compared to Mazinger Z's track record, Great Mazinger wasn't actually that much of an upgrade. It's durability and the skill of its pilot are so bad, I can compare them to the fembots of the Mazinger Saga, which can do absolutely nothing to help. Because of that, it's almost unanimous that Great Mazinger wasn't as good as Mazinger Z.
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Shockcharge
Adjusting to the neighborhood
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Posts: 121
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Post by Shockcharge on Jan 13, 2011 12:46:07 GMT -4
Meh, personally liked Mazinkaiser better than the other two. That thing rocked. Although, I felt kinda sad when Mazinger Z got destroyed.
Which reminds me, need to post my bots I have in my room when I get off vacation..
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Post by Agai Lazen on Jan 13, 2011 19:14:32 GMT -4
"With Mazinger Z you have the power of either a god or a devil, but with Mazinkaiser YOU CAN SURPASS BOTH!!!" -Dr. Juuzo Kabuto
As Shockcharge just posted, Mazinkaiser is an EXTREME improvement over Great Mazinger.
As I said in the previous post, Go Nagai robot come in 3 models, the introductory robot; the upgrade robot, which has 10 times the power of the intro bot; and the God robot, which has infinite power.
Mazinkaiser is the god robot, a position previously reserved for Grendizer, whom I'll talk about later.
Mazinkaiser could be considered a remake of the original Mazinger Z manga, as there are several noticeable parallels between them. However, that doesn't make it any less awesome. The action scenes are very well animated, the characters are maintained, and they use perspective to remind us that the robots fighting are giant, something I don't see very often in anime and appreciate a lot.
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Post by swoop on Jan 21, 2011 16:14:42 GMT -4
That Z mark is similar to Lord Zed from Power Rangers and that gun is similar to the guns of Cyborg 009 series
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Post by Agai Lazen on Jan 27, 2011 14:17:50 GMT -4
That's probably an indication of the times, with the exception of Power Rangers, the Mazinger Z and Cyborg 009 were both made around the same time period and therefore had very similar styles with noticeable differences. For example, Koji doesn't have sausage-fingers.
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Post by Agai Lazen on Feb 22, 2011 22:03:38 GMT -4
No more f**king around. Time to get serious.
Behold the latest Mazinger, MAZINKAISER SKL.
When Go Nagai published his first successful manga, Harenchi Gakuen, (literally,"Shameless School )" it was recieved as something that was entirely appalling, showing children things that some deemed to graphic. Little did those poeple know that those are some of the best things about anime. Sex and violence were new to manga and anime at the time, as it was considered a genre only for small children. Go Nagai changed all that.
With the DVD release of Mazinkaiser SKL, it's no wonder it wasn't broadcast on television. Harenchi Gakuen could be considered tame and even cute by today's standards, so Nagai decided to push the boundaries a little more. You could guess from the opening that this anime has sex and gore up the ass, but there's strippers and prostitutes to boot. Though the genre of ultraviolence is nothing new to some, that doesn't damage enjoyment of an episode. Since giant robots are doing most of the fighting, it helps that they bleed and make gushing sounds when smashed.
The thesis of this series is to mix up all of Nagai's best and most violent works, being Violence Jack, the Mazinger Saga, and Devilman.
The setting is post-apocalyptic, as the Photon Labs we've seen the Mazingers protect all of these years have been completely destroyed, and possibly all the characters we've come to know as well. However, a save heaven of advanced technology exists, and that's the protagonist's job is to protect it. We're introduced to a wide cast of new characters, including some cameos from Devilman and Violence Jack, but let's face it; we only care about the guys with the most kills: Kaidou and Magami. Not much is known about them, but it's guaranteed that if you're on the same battlefield at all, friend or foe, you are as good as DEAD. They are practically the grim reapers working overtime. Though Mazinkaiser looses a bit of it's Super-Robot factor, it can still down an entire army with little effort. However, unlike most of the crap-tastic Gundams we've been getting, it kills them all one-by-one.
The animation is spectacular during the fights, you could tell that's where most of the budget went for this series. (It may be just me, but I always find it amusing to hear them curse like a sailor, especially since there aren't that many curses in Japanese.) Many of the older robots have been redesigned to either look more industrial or have a skull/death/evil motif, Mazinkaiser itself having Devilman's face on its chest. The music is surely fitting, always filled with deathmetal riffs and screaming with a hint of throat cancer.
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