Once again, a massive thanks to all those who got involved in my Mecha Questions fun. I wasn’t sure this would get anyone involved or interested. Once again, my expectations keep getting continually blown away. That’s great. I will have to come up with something bigger for next time to make sure this good will continues. Good thing I have a year for that.
With that, let’s jump into the final question.
Question: What Is Something That Can Be Improved Through More Mecha?
Responses:
I’m not quite sure I can give a good answer to this. I’ve seen only a smattering, but maybe a rise of a new age of mecha? Like everyone knows the OG’s but I don’t think many fans could name a non-sequel/non-franchised mecha show from recent memory. I understand that originals will always hold a special place in everyone’s heart but as a common fan, I just haven’t seen too many new players stepping up as the next generation. Like, I’d love to see a new mecha come and take anime by storm in the community and in general.
Isn’t more mecha itself an improvement? I like the genre best when it tackles subjects like Planet With. The mechas become metaphorical, and I like that. But even if it’s just action like Total Eclipse, if it has interesting characters, it’s enough to be interesting.
From MagicConan14 (Animanga Spellbook)
Much like magical girls, mecha anime mostly exist within their own boundaries, so I guess if you want more mech fans, breaking the boundaries of the genre is necessary, e.g. I’d be interested if a slice of life series could also be a mech series.
Manual labour! I actually would like to see more biomechas.
From Josh (Classic Anime Museum)
I often think when some people think of mecha they automatically assume Gundam as if is all there is. More mecha means more variety in telling robot stories and that in fact does exist, you just have to do a little more searching.
From AnimeandFanfiction (Fanfiction Anime)
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.
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.
From Me Of All People
Besides some real world applications in labor and everything that people have mentioned, I do think that we need to change the perception of Mecha by inserting more of it into the seasonal anime sphere. More original titles and eveyrthing. That is a hard ask because it takes time to make, write, create, and put together all of these mecha series and anime has been more focused on people recently. Still, I think there is still an untapped potential here for mecha anime to do more and gain fans. We just need the creators and work in order to do all of that.
Thank you all for following Mecha March on my blog, Lita’s blog, Build Caster’s podcast channel, and those of you who participated in these question things. I think this is the most successful Mecha March we’ve had so far. All we have left it to end Mecha March itself with at least one more post this Tuesday. You can submit a Mecha post for me to share still. I may or may not work on another post to share Build Caster’s #HudClassics podcasts from this past month. Depends on how much time I have.
Mechanical Anime Reviews 
Wow. I really said “if it has interesting characters, it’s enough to be interesting.”
It wouldn’t be so bad if the other answers were so sage and well-considered!
Sigh.
Seriously, though, I really like what you’ve done for Mecha March in general, and these community-based posts are especially a lot of fun!
It’s interesting if it’s interest… Jeesh…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh pssh, that’s fine.
And thanks so much these went at much better then I thought they would. I wasn’t expecting much, so I’m just blown away honestly. I just don’t know how to follow this up next year.
I guess there is even time to figure it out maybe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I guess there is even time to figure it out maybe.”
Yep! Plenty of time. And as far as I’m concerned, doing the same thing would be fine! It was a lot a lot of fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person