I’m always going to be thankful of everyone who joins into this miniature collab thing for Mecha March, but also thank you to everyone following along with Mecha March in general. Whether you are just reading stuff from Lita’s blog, my blog, or both, thank you so much. I hope you enjoy what content appears as this month continues. Once again, thank you.
With that, let’s jump into this week’s question:
Question: Who is your favorite Mecha Protagonist?
The Responses:
Considering I have watched a total of 8 mecha anime (according to my anime list), going to be biased forever and pick Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell as a whole. We just get such a great look into what makes her human, and not. It’s such a weird headspace to watch but it’s so well done and I think it’s really held up over time.
It’s a default answer because of how much I like Planet With, but I’d have to say Souya Kuroi. Though Kaname Chidori and Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic! are a very close second.
OOhhhh… hmmm… Kamina!
(Nods and cries)
I have several, all are old school… Hikaru Ichijo from Macross; Remy Shimada from GoShogun; Amuro Ray, Char Aznable and Kamille Bidan from Gundam and Zeta Gundam; Eiji Asuka from SPT Layzner, Chirico Cuvie from Votoms; Shogo Yahagi from Megazone 23 and Mars/Takeru Myojin from Godmars
I don’t think many people have heard of the guy because I’ve only ever seen the series through the anime club (it’s not legally licensed anywhere, due to the whole Macross/Harmony Gold thing), but Alto Saotome from Macross Frontier. I think he’s rather interesting, being basically an aloof guy with a background in kabuki and a bit of a mysterious past, but…okay, I’ll admit part of the reason I’ve held a candle for the guy is because of his looks…
From DerekL
My favorite protagonist? I’d say Mangetsu from Granblem because there’s so much behind the reality of what she is.
I tend to not like most protagonists of mechas that I have seen, but if I could name one I liked, it might be the Major from Ghost in the Shell. I don’t know if this counts since the anime doesn’t include giant robots, it still includes cyborgs and is listed as sci-fi. Major Kusanagi is such a strong, dare I say bad-ass woman who I just can’t seem to compare any other mecha protagonist to. Maybe Mikazuki from Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans would be my second choice, I love his character a lot.
From Me of all people
I’ve thought about this one for a decent amount of time and for a while, I thought it was Amuro Ray because he is THE Gundam pilot and has an entire arc centered on him being forced into the call, growing into it, and so many other things. That’s still sort of true, but these days I’m leaning towards characters like Noah Izumi from Patlabor and Loran Cehack from Turn A Gundam. Noah shows that strength and agility are not the only things that make you a Patlabor pilot. Loran is the ultimate pacifist gundam pilot and is possibly the most complex one.
A lot of great answers this week too. Thank you everyone for joining me on my insanity once again.
Our last question for Mecha March is: What is something that can be improved through more mecha? As usual, you have until next Friday to supply your answer for this
Also, please submit a mecha post here if you haven’t already for the last post of Mecha March 2020. I am trying to collect everyone’s mecha post because I bet you are going to be tired of my Mecha content by then. Hopefully not.
Mechanical Anime Reviews 
It is always a treat checking out these answers for this blog series.
What can be improved through more mecha? I would like to see more genres or aesthetics using mecha in ways that make sense in the world or at the very least a made up paracosm. I have a few ideas on how this can work, but I may use them in future stories. The ideas I’d find intriguing would be seeing mecha in emergency/medical situations, courier/passenger situations, or seeing what mecha would look like if they were made in numerous countries. Not like G Gundam, but like an alternate world where several countries have they have their own resources, technology, and aesthetics in how they make their robots.
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I know, right? It’s kind of the best part of this idea so far. Somehow, I have to follow up with this next year? Good thing I’ve got another year to plan.
I would love that too. Patlabor kind of does that sort of emergency services in the tv show, but they never completely go into it as much as they can. Even different countries have their own units too and I can think of things like Schwarezmarken that countries have their own units too despite them looking the same.. More series really need to do those things.
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Certainly! I’ve been enjoying this part of Mecha March.
Thanks! Yeah, Patlabor came to mind a bit, but I could see this in a different angle like more paramedic work or even having a hospital in the cockpit for example.
I’m not too familiar with that other series, but it would be nice if you saw truly unique robots. Not just Japanese or American ones that people already have seen before. Maybe you can have German mecha, Mexican mecha, or even Cameroonian mecha for crying out loud. They could each have different functions for combat, transportation, or for menial tasks.
Did you know that in Kinshasa, DRC, they actually have traffic robots that were invented by a Congolese engineer? I didn’t know this was a thing until I saw the movie Felicite of all things where one scene involves someone driving a passenger around in the city. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTA1vHiHmcw
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Yeah, I’m kind of sad Patlabor didn’t start a trend of more creative Mecha series in that way.
And I would love that too. It would be so unique to see do many countries designs and how they are different.
Oh, I had no idea. Awesome!
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I’m glad you feel the same way. As fun as it is to to robots fighting, I think it would be very innovative and refreshing to see mecha do other things that can be very constructive like the aforementioned medical example, repairing things, safety protocol, or building something.
Yeah! That would be incredible. What ideas do you think other countries would have if they made their own mecha?
It was very fascinating learning about this. After the traffic robots were installed, accidents, traffic jams, and other similar problems dropped in that city. I believe they are or have implemented them in other places like Lubumbashi (2nd largest city in the DRC), Brazzaville, ROC, and even the Central African Republic.
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I don’t really have any ideas myself, haha. I don’t want to think for other countries, but I guess they would have their own cultural references while relying on how much resources they have. I suppose that’s why a lot of countries purchase things from other countries when it comes to tools, but seeing everyone create their own unique thing would be good.
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That’s fine and I totally respect it. I have ideas that could work for a few countries, but I could be wrong and I don’t want to impose my thoughts on the cultures of others if they want to make their own robots in real life. That’s certainly true about those things from a world market perspective.
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I’m probably going to get hate for this but here’s my response!
Week 4) What is something that can be improved through more mecha?
Well, speaking of protagonists, I think from what I’ve seen so far, is that many mecha protagonists don’t stand out to me as much as other side characters. For example, in Evangelion a lot of people dislike Shinji and he’s not my favorite character either compared to fan-favorite Rei or some of the other more fleshed out characters. Again, I’m no mecha expert but from what little I’ve seen, I feel like some characters stand out more than others in mecha series. Another example, is Darling in the Franxx, which I’ve seen a lot of, and Zero Two is once again the fan favorite side character while Hiro isn’t liked by all. A third example which would probably be the best example I can give is the guy from Gundam Narrative, I liked the movie at the time, but looking back I hardly remember much about the characters. The story felt rushed and the repeating words of Rita Bernal got old. I liked the two side characters, Michelle Luio and Rita the most but vaguely remember much about the male protagonist, which I wish I did.
I’m not saying these are bad characters, but I think a lot of the ones I’ve seen so far have been kind of similar and in future mecha shows, having different sorts of characters who don’t fit the mold and have I don’t know, a better development would be more interesting. That is just my personal take. I’m not saying everyone needs to be like the Major or Mikazuki, or trying to diss anyone’s favorites or insult anyone or anything but I’d like main characters to have more development or be more likable to an general audience.
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I agree with you on a lot of that actually. A lot of mecha protagonists can be merged together because of how similar they are in ways. And Michelle so should have been the main character in Gundam Narrative. No question about that.
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