This is a red-blooded Soviet mech. Say something nice about it!
>>845looks like a frog
just finished Eureka 7 and I know not to watch anything else related to the franchise, should I hit up Escaflowne next?
>>847Watch Dunbine.
>>848Full Metal Panic!
The Savage actually has a good track record on screen, despite being a mook mech.
>>860Really? I thought Takahashi had fairly left-wing political views.
I'm only 3 episodes in so far so I can't really say much about Gasaraki yet, but I'm quite liking it. It's not something you can binge watch though.
Well, I finished Gasaraki and
>>856 was definitely right about how it doesn't get the most out of it's premise. It feels like it was supposed to be longer since it isn't very clear with either it's political thriller or it's spiritual aspects. Maybe I'm just a brainlet and I didn't get it.
>>868I know it's a bit generic, but it's Gundam 0079. i really like the 2004 Testujin and SDF Macross too.
>>845Strong and rounded like a proper heavy fighter!
Mecha is great fun
I think we all know a lot of mecha is little more than trope-riddled soap opera trash designed to sell toys. But disregarding bad plots, what mecha shows have some of the best mechanical porn?
The 90s Gundam OVAS are all fantastic in that regard. 08th MS Team is my favorite out of them. The Patlabor movies also come to mind.
https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=XHoCPtWaCtw https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=IsMTpSDAGxM For a more controversial statement because >3DCG, I think Majestic Prince had the best mech fights of the past decade.
>>19500079 has actual pathos and purpose to its plot and themes unlike something meaningless like star wars. You're obviously set on not watching it but I implore anyone to give 0079 a full shot. Its last 10 or so episodes especially are some of the greatest moments in all of anime.
>>1949kek
>>1955>0079 has actual pathos and purpose to its plot and themes<unlike star wars
yeah no fuck off.
>>1950>>1955>>1956>>1961>>1965Yep, my bad. Was confusing 0079 with 0083. The animation is actually terrible in the original Gundam. The plot is pretty stupid as well, but I'll refrain from categorizing it as complete fucking shit simply because all the Universal Century shows after it took the worst thing about Tomino's dumb writing in 0079 and turned them into amped up tropes.
But it really was just a toy commercial from the beginning.
>>1979I hate the newtype wank the UC turns into after MSG but imo the ESP shit in the original was alright because it was kinda downplayed until the last episodes. I mean how else are you going to have space opera without breaking the minovsky physics rule of UC?
Also why do you think Tomino's writting is dumb? Always eager to read anon's tracts on the old guy.
>In spite of watching a ton of anime, including LotGH and a bunch of "real mecha" shows, including from Sunrise, I've NEVER actually gotten around to watching ANY GundamGundam is the shit. I mean it's the premier mecha series. Only other really good one is Evangelion. But that's just one series and a bunch of add-ons and remakes, and at the end of the day the story doesn't even make sense. Amazing animation though, Hideaki Anno is an autistic genius when it comes to drawing physical-simulation animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZL_WVVGbvM Watch War in The Pocket First:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY8C1gXkeXg Short, amazing animation, strong anti-war message. Although I have my criticisms of Yoshiyuki Tomino. I mean don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, but at the end of the day, even if you have an anti war message, you create a series celebrating all the bad ass machinery of war, you're still celebrating all the badass machinery of war, you know?
>FMPPatrician taste
>>869>PatlaborSpeaking of which, here's another Soviet mech.
>The Patlabor movies are absolute kinoMovie 1? Definitely. The latter two? Nooo.
The first Patlabor movie was a textbook example of the right way to do a theatrical film for a long-running OVA/TV anime. It had great animation, good pacing, engaging B-plots, a sophisticated A-plot, good faithful use of the Patlabor cast, and a
robot zombie apocalypse finale.
Movie 2 was a boring film with a logically and thematically broken dumpster fire of a premise that clumsily marginalized and distorted the Patlabor cast in favor of Oshii's original characters, choked to death on endless interludes of DEEP AND PROFOUND PROSE with the only bright spot its stunningly beautiful (but far too infrequent) animation. Even worse, it was based off "SV2's Longest Day", an underwhelming and silly arc in the OVA that was itself the second of at least three times this plot was tried and failed, after the Appleseed OVA.
Fortunately, Oshii FINALLY got it right with GiTS:SAC:2G, the only good, finally perfected execution of this repeatedly failed plot. Now neatly wrapping an existing cast of characters, all in-character, alongside new characters that have coherent sensible motivations for their schemes, with solid political and philosophical themes, and well integrated action scenes.
As for the abomination that is WXIII? It took a PARODY EPISODE of the OVA, stretched it to feature length, and and played it DEAD SERIOUS with mawkishness that would be embarassing for a 1950s Toho movie, on top of relegating the Patlabor characters to cameo roles.
>>2087>muh acab larpPatlabor is mostly comedic slice-of-life stories rather than an actual action series. Regarding its political tone, I'd describe it as broadly apolitical, with an undertone of wistful leftism.
This ties into its major "alternative history" divergence: The advent of mecha as construction equipment for a megaproject of draining Tokyo Bay, in addition to other reconstruction following a disastrous earthquake and looming global warming. This is portrayed as both an inevitable thing in that it's economic growth and a response to environmental decay, and as a bad thing in that it's out-of-control destruction of both the environment and humanity's self-direction.
The police in general are portrayed as a peripheral part of society responding primarily to mundane situations, with the protagonists in particular infamous as bumbling clods that often cause as much destruction as they avert from out-of-control mecha, hinting that escalation itself is the greater evil.
As for the protagonists as characters, in addition to the occasional terrorist or mobster, they are often at odds with politically motivated higher-ups, business, the military, and intelligence services seeking to use disruptive events to curry power, with the protagonists typically foiling their plans through disinterested slackerdom more than active intervention.
Overall, I would describe it as politically similar in tone to GiTS, where the system (read: entire society) they serve is portrayed as obviously corrupt and destructive, but their awareness of this allows the protagonists to make do within it while causing less of that destruction themselves and curbing its worst excesses.
>>1997Left wing in what sense?
Iron Blooded Orphans features a gang of lower class colonized hoodrats trying to survive while hounded by space police and importantly there's no super special powers wankery around. I think it might fit the bill even though a lot of gundamtards think it's really bad
I liked itAlso as
>>1996 said, making an anti-war series that also features SUPER COOL MURDER ROBOT BATTLES for 75% of its running time is not possible.
>>1997Fang of the Sun Dougram, Armored Trooper VOTOMs, Blue Comet SPT Layzner, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, etc. None of these are explicitly "left wing" but you'll easily notice more pronounced elements throughout their runs.
>>2094Iron Blooded Orphans is bad, actually. S01E14-17
where Tekkadan unknowingly arm a workers uprising on a space colony and Kudelia has a little Macross moment were great, but as far as I'm concerned that's not why most people like the show. No, they like the show because it's got a dull edge, and it's probably the first Gundam they've ever watched. Much like Gundam Wing, it's gonna age poorly, I tell you. Also, Japan's "left wing" has been associated with a loosely defined opposition to militarism and imperialism since the 1960s and 1970s. What little scholarship I've read on otaku subculture tends to point this out, often comparing and contrasting it with the Liberal-Democratic Party's longstanding desire to expand the power and capabilities of the JSDF. Indeed, Japan's "left wing" has grown even more passive with time; the fact that Hayao Miyazaki has remained the face of it in the anime industry is depressing.
>>2094Yeah, there's certainly a lot of that cyclical theme in it, but I think this was undercut both by the Alliance having been corrupted primarily by its war with the Empire, and with the story ending on the high note of Reinhardt conceding on the Empire as a transitional instrument toward something more democratic after wiping away all traces of the rot from the Goldenbaum Dynasty's reign.
This was on top of the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of war, both in the implied "author's voice" of horrific carnage onscreen and the death or diversion of brilliant people into something unproductive, as well as directly in the words of the heroes (especially both Yang and Reinhardt) describing war as humanity's folly.
Not to mention that even the Greeks and their successors who held the theory typically viewed it not as inevitable, let alone
good, but as a historical trend, something they hoped could be stopped with
usually some dumb hybrid regime like "muh philosopher kangz", but still a truly new political system.
Outright belief in misery and discord for its own sake as inherent virtue in human affairs is a very unusual stance, peculiar to retarded ideologies such as certain strains of fascism or Catholicism.
Oops,
>>2179 was meant for
>>2115>>2009>His characters act like brainless retards (even the adults)I used to think this till I realised he's just allergic to having characters with clear stated intentions or thoughts and instead has them contradicting themselves and having internal logic that you have to really pay attention to to catch but IS fairly consistent. Is that good writing? Maybe not but it's certainly a unique style that makes his characters feel more interesting than most anime.
>and he feels the need to shove some insipid love triangle into fucking every GundamNever seen this complaint before so maybe that's a personal hangup of yours.
>>2019Oh shit it's 'hates patlabor movie 2' anon. FYI to those who haven't seen it it's a generally beloved film, basically apocalypse now but good. Only the third movie is actually shit.
>>2522Asides from this
>>2523, the MC is just plainly generic. Shinji works because he's obviously designed for his role and looks the part for a fish out of water. Whatever-the-fuck-was-his-name-is looks like an isekai protagonist. So, when I hear his bitching, it's just ear-grating. His sadness is not at all subtle or nuanced, it is melodramatic. The same melodramatic, overacted bullshit that's typical of modern anime.
Save for Zero Two, the rest of the cast is one-note. You may have seen them somewhere before in a different anime, because they're cut and dry archetypes. In general, the show is just painfully generic despite being helmed in part by TRIGGER. Not that TRIGGER is hot shit. Darling in The FranXX is another entry in their catalogue of Eva/mecha "homages", but their in-your-face energy takes a backseat to the least interesting parts of the anime. I would blame Clover for this if not for the fact that TRIGGER allowed this to happen. They smelled money, and whatever was conjured up in the production committee succeeded in spades. Darling in the Franxx was really fucking popular.
Zero Two carries the entirety of the show, hands down. No other character is interesting as her. And, no other character clearly upsets the dynamic of the copy-paste cast of characters other than her. She is the catalyst which drives the plot. Which is a tad sad, because the rest of the cast could have been more. There is this one episode "BoysXGirls" that really has fun with the group dynamic by driving a juvenile wedge between the boys and girls. The premise is simple: the girls have one side of the house and the boys have the other side of the house. What ensues is chaos that draws out every characters reaction to the absurd & childish feud. It's probably the best episode I could ask for in a show that I genuinely just didn't enjoy at all.
>>2525>muh charactersDon't listen to these autists
>>2512 Darling in the Franxx is worth watching.
>>2536Also Full Metal Panic! though perhaps not exactly /m/. The heroes' sub was built using a partly constructed USSR prototype, a hypothetical continuation of real-world amphibious assault submarines designed by the USSR from WWII to the '70s, except in FMP's world continued clear into the '80s:
>TDD-1 finds its origins in the failed USSR ballistic missile submarine development project designated Project 985.>Project 985 was begun in the late 1980s as a refined form of a transport submarine project of the 1970s. If completed, its size of 180 meters would have made it the largest submarine ever, larger than the Typhoon Class ballistic missile submarine. In the political turmoil of the early 1990s, the project was met with budget shortfalls and difficulty obtaining construction materials. The incomplete vessel was left untouched for 14 months, as workers and engineers failed to receive pay.>The military decided Project 985 would never reach completion under the prevailing economic and political circumstances, and canceled construction. The incomplete vessel was towed to the Arctic seas where it was scuttled and sunk to a depth of several thousand metres.>The naval intelligence community of the western democratic nations used this as an example of the flawed Soviet naval doctrine. Plan 985 was derisively called a "toy box", an obviously unrealistic and childishly optimistic design proving its lack of worth by its cancellation.>In the following years, several rumors surfaced postulating the possibility of the vessel being purchased by and covertly handed to the Chinese government. The CIA and the United States Navy have discounted these theories as fanciful conjecture and fiction.>Mithril somehow obtained the incomplete vessel to redesign and complete construction at Merida Island, beginning in late 1993. In efforts to incorporate exceedingly advanced technologies and maintaining secrecy proved to be extremely expensive. Its construction costs is estimated to be 5 to 6 times the projected cost for completing Project 985. Incorporating several advanced Black Technology systems, the ship was designed and constructed largely between Teletha Testarossa and Retired Royal Navy Captain Richard Mardukas.On an amusing sidenote, in FMP's backstory the course of the Cold War ended up inverted, with the USSR winning the Afghan War and continuing unperturbed after Gorbechov was assassinated, meanwhile China fell back into civil war in the '90s.
>>3090>he should have made an entirely different show with a way more serious and explicit political/historical focus than would have ever been allowed on a telivision anime in the 70s with a shortened runtime and 20 minute episodesAre you a retard as well as a psued? Are you even aware of the historical precedent that 0079 set for anime? Are you aware Tomino literally invented the genre of mecha being weapons for actual war rather than just toy commercials for kids with plots attached? That he was 10 years ahead of his time? Do you realise this is an anime board and you are talking about a robot anime from the 70s?
The absolute fuck is wrong with zoomers.
>>3091to be fair 0079 is the most political explicit gundam, they later loose all the nuances, ZZ brought some stuff back like
>>3095 but it got lost later on, modern stuff like 00 have made up countries and the protagonists work for a "benevolent private company" called Celestial Being, it's very cringe and it's a shame because the first five minutes were pretty promosing from this pov, I still have to watch IBO tho, I hope modern gundam can still offer something.
>>3096Gundam has interesting politics but its just window dressing much like the mecha and fights. Its always been about interpersonal conflict between the characters. Amuro's growth as a soldier and an adult. Bright dealing with being the newb captain of a ship full of children. Kai taking shit seriously. Char obsessing over his rivalry and losing sight of his revenge etc etc.
What's misunderstood about tomino shows (and I feel his success at this varies wildly) is the characters move inspite of the plot. Not the other way around.
>is the most political explicit gundamI guess I agree but its really just that one hitler line you're thinking of, isn't it? I always thought the background politics in zeta were way more interesting. Seeing the corrupt federation fall to a fascist coup is pretty interesting compared to allies v. nazis but in space.
Also yeah thats what I've heard about 00. I don't really care about gundam without tomino personally. It's his franchise whether they publish fanfiction like Unicorn or not. I'd rather watch one of the several takahashi shows I've yet to watch if I want more mecha shit.
>>3102You're right that part of the setting is that the earth is portrayed as the "elites" while the spacenoids were basically the poor pushed into colonies to deal with overpopulation. I actually always thought it was a mistep that the series didn't do more to show that Zeon was subverting a genuine want for liberation in the spacenoid population. You have a few lines from Sayla and Kai but that really isn't much.
I recall Zeta doing more to layout the conflict between earth/spacenoids than 0079 did in its short runtime with Char criticizing the federation while fighting the explicitly bigoted titan faction as well as giving us a whole speach on his father and spacenoids etc.
I really don't agree about the political complaints with Zeta. It is consistent in that the politics are mostly a contrivance for the character interactions from start to finish. That sciroco was a backstabbing ladder climber in the fascist faction doesn't really change that.
Idk man maybe read some historical fiction like For Whom the Bell Tolls or something if you want your stories to have a really well developed political setting.
>>3103yeah, ZZ did it at the end but it had more potential to work with, but again I'd say the concept is for sure laid out in 0079 too, first they tell you about the actual Zeon revolution by Ramba Ral's (but at that point you think it's just a fascist "revolution) but tthen you connect the dots about truths when you get to know about the Zabi's counter-revolution by Sayla's and Casval's confrontation at the Texas Colony.
About Zeta, I think it peaked in both its political context and in the anime itself with the Dakar conference, I felt saddened when it got mostly all about Scirocco's personal ambitions and when basically everyone (even him) forgots that Quattro promised to stop hiding and being Char again, and in name too, but then he is still Lt. Quattro for anyone.
TL;DR: I have my issues with the latter arc of Zeta and I find 0079 (the movies at least) more solid and offering every political themes fleshed out in the UC.
PS: I'm really grateful for your raccomandation and I will check it for sure, thanks really.
Interesting post I read.
Silurio1 [S] 7 points 10 days ago* Robotech (Macross, kinda), reached my country in 1987, during the worst year for human rights in Chile since 1975. It was aired in "Canal 13", a right wing corporate TV channel, one of the 4 we had. I was only 2 back then, but it was rerun a bunch of times. So I grew up with it. I quite liked it, even tho I didn't quite get the story or continuity, since I could only watch one or two from the 5 episodes aired every week. I even had the collectable album.
Decades later I was watching "Do you remember love" when I read "Santiago" (the name of my city) in the Macross city cinema. So I paused, read and googled. It was the documentary, "Il pleut sur Santiago". "It rains over Santiago", a documentary about the 1973 coup by Pinochet. It still makes me tear up, to think that the makers of a beloved show from my childhood were thinking about us when making this movie, eleven years after the fact. That half a world away, they still in their hearts felt the need to denounce the atrocities my people were suffering.
Is Zeon the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany? How much did the cold war influence Mobile Suit Gundam 0079?
I've heard people argue for both sides though the common argument is that they were Nazis.
The previous answers I received before being told to take this here were the following
>sieg zeon>heil zeon>that flagZeon during OYW = Nazi Germany
Neo Zeon = generic opportunistic fascists
Neo Zeon under Char =
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXSkaSkVBYA>>2837Same anon, here I finished it and enjoyed it quite a bit more than I did earlier.
My criticisms of Fa/Puru still stand, but after a certain story beat, I think Puru became a better character. Everything on Earth was thoroughly enjoyable, especially the Dublin arc
Wish I had more closure on Kamille but I am satisfied enough with what was shown
>>4519Y'know. The
sequel.
>>4511Even though technically the physics of Pacific Rim aren't totally correct, (this is mecha so that's not the biggest concern) The way it was animated and shot made you really FEEL the gargantuan motions of those robots and the impacts against flesh and bone. The plot and acting were cheesy but it fit the genre and I really enjoyed it.
The sequel was shit, and the only good part was some cool robots and monsters, which is barely anything in a whole bucket of idiocy. It really lacks the same feel of the first film (probably cause Del Toro wasn't involved).
I guess the reason I still think about Uprising is because of the tiny bits of good (animation & design wise) it had which only encourages me to think up of a better sequel while still keeping the bits I like. I haven't even seen it again, beginning to end, since it came out so my memory might fail me. Anyway, I think the VR simulation scuffle is a good scene to work through my thoughts. At your own risk:
https://youtu.be/qrMn80ARkoE
>lighting - gif #1So, yeah, Onibaba actually looks great here under broad daylight. The other kaiju do too, for the most part. I'd say this is by far the most positive thing Uprising managed to achieve. The warm light is perfectly contrasted with shadows dark enough to obscure some of the kaiju's details. I'm no artist but I think strong shadows are important to sell not only how "real" it looks, but also the scale.
On the other hand, the jaegers look kinda iffy. The main jaegers tend to be overly glossy and look washed out under harsher light. Titan Redeemer looks good though in the 3rd gif. I think the warmer light helps. There were also some lighting changes between the first trailer and final product that I might get to in another post.
>the big problem, or, 2fast 0furious - gif #2The next thing to notice after how nice the crab looks is just how quickly this otherwise good shot moved to the next. Compare that to the original which lingers, inviting us to appreciate and digest what is on screen. Also note how the glancing morning star immediately cuts to Titan closing in without any moment in between. There are other king crimson cuts like this which just ruins the flow.
It's not simply that "they move faster". Everything is faster. The more stylised camera would actually be interesting to see if not for the fact that it's combined with the already faster movement, quicker shots and snappier cuts which btw also likes to cut to conn-pod scenes which are almost, if not equally, as long as the now shorter snippets of combat in between thanks to the faster speed. In contrast, the first film had them sandwiched between longer scenes of fighting, there's less empty dialogue and the conn-pods are actually interesting to look at! See the Knifehead webm for example.
>>4511
>weight - gif #3This is such a cool little moment it honestly makes me sad. Why is this not the standard? Lighting and "physics" are on point. Inertia in action as Titan buckles and shakes when Onibaba intercepts the blow. There are probably other details like this in the movie if you look hard enough but they're still subdued by the above issues. Too few and far in between and are easily missed due to everything being faster and them being less prominent.
I do feel like the animators were trying, but like the way they tried to establish scale, they ultimately failed to achieve the same sense of weight and scale that graced the setpieces of the first. The hits lack the punch you'd expect (that flaccid elbow rocket…) and jaegers even get thrown around like ragdolls a couple of times by normal sized kaiju.
There's no longer any interest to focus on the working of pistons, locking of joints and shifting of plates which is completely antithethical to the original design philosophy. Where are the closeups of weapons and transformations?
WHERE'S THE FUCKING LAUNCH SEQUENCE?
>jaegers moving too organically - gif #4Another factor that compounds the weight issue. Looking at the gif, the problem isn't really Titan's speed. It's how smooth it looks as it gingerly twists its hips to provide power to the weapon. There's always a bit of "weightlessness" before a hit connects, I think, but you'd expect at least some hint of mechanisms locking and shifting. Even if there were though, Uprising's editing style would just bury that detail.
The jaegers almost look like they copy the pilots 1:1. This makes no sense inside and outside the context of the movie. Why would you animate/design jaegers to copy the pilot's every flinch, fumble or other useless and potentially harmful movements? Outside the story, the jaegers just end up moving too organically to give them that mechanical feel and weight the original jaegers had. There has always been some disconnect between the pilots and the jaegers themselves. Eliminating that is basically shooting yourself in the foot.
>where's my kaiju fisticuffs?There's seemingly an aversion to any sort of drawn out close combat between kaiju and jaegers this time around. Maybe because it would be too "boring" or "repetitive"? So then what did we get with the 4v3 in Tokyo? Kaiju gets flattened repeatedly by buildings while jaeger runs away. Kaiju gets kicked repeatedly and runs away. Kaiju shoots spikes but gets shot at back and…runs away. There's barely any sense of danger until mega kaiju and by that point, jaegers are virtually useless so they just divebomb it.
I get more of a rush just watching that 3rd gif. A perfectly usable kaiju team wasted. Shrikethorn harassing jaegers with its javelins before slinking in between buildings for cover. Hakuja using both it's digging and climbing skills to ensnare and suprise jaegers from below and above. Raijin is obviously a tank, handling two jaegers with its protective abilities wouldn't be a stretch. Remove mega kaiju since it's a useless gimmick and devote that time to these three. Just imagine.
>sound designAlright, whatever happened here was downright cursed. Mechanical sounds are mostly superseded by digital ones. [b]GRRRRRRR-Kshnk[/b] is now
vrrrrrr beep boop. Especially the weapons, from swords popping out to missiles being launched. Seriously though, what's up with that new plasmacaster? Gipsy Danger's had that understated and satisfying
dink which was perfectly complemented by the rippling and bubbling of vaporising flesh. The new one is literally just loud noise. That weird filter for the pilot helmets is dumb too. The weak selection of sfx brings the whole thing even further down. Weak looking hits sound even weaker. All that said, I think the kaiju roars are fine.
Pacific Rim wasn't only a treat to look at, but to listen to as well. All those powerful and immersive sounds arranged meticulously which points our attention to specific things at specific times while not drowning each other out or the music. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but I think there were parts in Uprising where the audio mixing is just bad, like sections where the music gets drowned out by the action, some of which I actually like after giving them a listen. I might have to check myself but, eh. I'm out of steam.
>>5165
>comparison #3 - siberia
This is also a multi-layered comparison since not only is the lighting different, but so is the location of the later half of Obsidian's final fight. I think both the old and new starts the same since both began with a heavier blizzard and a mountain in the background. After the chasm drop (first appeared in 2nd trailer) however, the new one transitions into a brighter, sun-lit sky and the old one's mountain is replaced with ice cliffs stretching into the horizon. Again, the change follows the "make it brighter" mentality. It's not as bad a change though for this particular moment. The rest of the fight is another matter.
Still, I prefer the older iteration. The cloudy sky isn't as bright and a blue hue saturates the scene while white yet again dominates the new one. The mountain is not only more visually interesting, but I think also works better for a sense of scale. There's ice chunks scattered about which I'm not sure it'd work but again: scale and visually interesting. Am I crazy for thinking the more visible clouds help too? Which brings me to another thing lost from the first movie: the relationship between mood and weather. This version actually looks dire and gloomy even without the help of rain, the night or a blizzard.
Obsidian still retains the "dark silhouette" quality in the old version, with the orange lights adding a bit of detail. Otherwise, both jaegers still have some reflective sheen without it being overdone. There's a neat moment where the sparks light up OF's surface detail for a split second which no longer happens with how bright the new one is. The bits of metal flying off look nice too and I have no idea why they're removed. Oh, and there's also Gipsy's searchlights barely shining through the air.
>>3781The amount of fanwank about CCA and Char's intentions in that movie easily drowns out the works of Marx and Engels in sheer quantity of text on the internet.
I personally go with the suicide by cop + homo-rivalry theory. "Amuro I'm about to do something extremely wicked" and all that.
About 0079, I don't think the cold war influenced much of it and imo it's like Tomino tried to do a straight WWII story but in space.
Zeon is clearly the Axis meanwhile the EF is the allies, the soviet influence in the last one is more diluted but they included several memes like human (GM) wave attacks and the EFSF using red and gold as their color scheme. The neutral colonies like Side 7 were sort of analog to the colonial war torn countries like China but that's much much more diluted.
>>3790Do you agree with the analysis that Gunbuster is kinda a masturbatory japanazi fantasy? I remember somebody on /leftyweebpol/ posting this article about it and it really made me think:
https://animekritik.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/imperialism-translation-gunbuster-introduction/ >>4700>japanaziI really don't see how TBH. If anything the situation of Gunbuster's world is that of collectivization and elimination of capitalist extremities outside of some mild hobby-commodities (music, toys, clothes etc.). The story is that of self-sacrifice for a greater cause, with the ending being bittersweet as
they survive but everyone and everything they knew, loved and hated are dead and gone The vague Okinawa references are just references to the Japanese recent past and does very little to project any ideas of nationalism. That's like saying a film with sets in Berlin and portraying the Reichstag is a Germanazi fantasy.
>>4700>>4703Epic blogpost guy is overreaching hard for the fun of it but anno was definitely influenced by growing up watching the animes of hardcore nationalists like leiji matsumoto and probably absorbing imperial japanese fetishism. I mean japan literally took over the world in gunbuster lol. Its hard to say gunbuster itself is nationalistic though since the time dialation and impossible odds and mecha wank are way more important than the setting which is barely relevant other than being a near future earth. (Plus anno apologised!)
Its funny what an opposite to Leiji that Tomino seems to be on this front seeing as he is another big anime name that anno has sucked off throughout his career. In the anime+movie Ideon the bad guys are an almost rediculously overt parody of imperial japan eg. constantly referring to themselves as samurai, waxing about honor, war crimes out the wazoo, an entire episode where a commander forces his soldiers to kamikaze the enemy with promises of honor for their families only to pussy out when confronted with the enemy himself. Hell if not for Tomino constantly shitting on tribalism maybe young otaku anno would have grown up into an imperialist apologist like the attack on titan guy.
On that note everyone should watch Ideon, its the best.
>>4746On a side note, a single decently large mecha would basically turn the tide in Attack on Titan with ease.
A basic Gundam would probably handle almost all but the armored and colossal titans.
>>4695Something I forgot to add. One of the bits I remember from Del Toro's commentary track is the idea of creating different levels of colour and light to create scale. I think it came up during Gipsy vs. Leatherback. That scene had the surface level be saturated with the warm orange of the dock lights and the night sky overhead in cooler blacks and blues. I think it's present in old Siberia too albeit in a subtler fashion. Most of the sunlight is focused on the cracks between clouds while the rest of the scene is enveloped by the shade. The release version is lit too well and evenly above and below to achieve this effect. I also love the streaks of reflected light on the ice surface in the old version. Not something we'd be able to appreciate in real time, but it does make for a pretty wallpaper.
All in all, using proto-Siberia as a general lesson, we have:
>placing quantifiable elements in background and foreground for scale>having different levels of colour/light for scale>purposeful usage of weather and lighting to create appropriate atmosphereEmphasis on the last one
especially during the day.
>>4771No, it's not like the Gundam 0079 movies. It compresses the story too much and you won't be able to make sense of the plot.
Ideon is a bit padded in the middle, but you really need to watch the series to appreciate Be Invoked.
>>1731>Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood StillJust watched this on an anon's recommendation. Rather disappointing, I ended up more confused by it than the ending of Big O. Feels like the creators just presumed its audience already read all the manga and didn't feel like it was necessary to explain shit.
At least I finally know the inspiration for one of my favorite fighting game characters.
>>5206Oh come on, the cliches are awesome! Giant Robo is one of the oldest mecha IPs in the history of the genre. I think it's easy enough to deduce factional and character motivations early on. I mean yeah I could've used more backstory on the conflict with Big Fire but I don't think it's
as necessary to enjoy the OVA series itself.
Oh no. I'm feeling it again. Like, I'm not the only one here that thinks KOTM kinda sucked, right? The last time I gave it any length of thought I summarised it as "Final Wars but not fun". Haven't seen it again since release too. Honestly, isn't it kinda like another Uprising when you compare it to the strengths of 2014 (like build-up, weight, scale, cinematography)? Not even gonna talk about the human and military shit. Lotta fans seemed to like it though. I'm just gonna take a potshot and group them as the kind of people that think those lazy opaque laser edits of 2014's beautifully done atomic breath (translucent, fiery and not overdone) are somehow an improvement. Y'know, those "muh men in rubber suits wrestling" fans.
Maybe I can gather my thougths better after I see it again. It's even hazier compared to my memory of Uprising. I've never even bothered to rewatch the kaiju/action scenes. It's that uninteresting to me, apparently. I remember the nice shots in the trailers end up being most of the best ones and the fights are blurs in my mind. The one scene that stood out in my memory was godzilla's light show warning display. That actually felt like something from the 2014 movie. Otherwise, things are just not as tense, built-up or even simply visually captivating. It almost feels more like a parody/fan work at times rather than an honest creative effort at kaiju cinema. You'd think they'd delve futher into the tone set by the first (especially the comic-con teaser) but nah. Oh, the music was kinda eh too compared to 2014's. The repeated usage of the iconic march in particular felt hokey in the way only superfan-types enjoy. Perhaps I'm being needlessly picky. I don't know.
Ultimately, what I do know is garegoji > 2019 design.
>>5226I have to disagree. I don't think KOTM is some excellent movie because the fact is, KOTM is a cheap monster movie with silly themes and funny moments (intentionally or not). It's basically the cheese of a typical Godzilla multi-monster movie but on a higher budget. I enjoyed it as a spectacle, and because despite its flaws, a lot of it was better than the 2014 movie, which was human focused but lacked something that would make it a compelling story. The subversion of "The Bad Guy Wants to Save The World By Destroying It" is also pretty funny - gives me 4th War Naruto vibes. Unlike Uprising, which had a obviously better prior film, KOTM was more vibrant and lively compared to the 2014 Godzilla, and the physics of both films are not all together different.
I disliked the 2014 version because it took itself way too seriously and never showed Godzilla fight until the end (in utter darkness) which is blueballing the audience way too much for a short reveal and rather anticlimactically fast fight. The seriousness is undercut by illogical decisions and the excessive dramatic acting and lack of actual attempts at realism like what Shin Godzilla did (which is why I like that film despite having even less Godzilla screentime than the 2014 one).
>2014's beautifully done atomic breathIt looks like a cheaply done flame effect you could buy online and was way too thin. It's not realistic or better looking when it looks like farted out a bit of napalm from his mouth or spat out one of those fire Martini's. The 2019's atomic breath retains the flame-like aspect but really projects the power of it far more because of how solid and strong it is.
>garegoji designThe 2019 design is better because he doesn't look like an overstuffed Godzilla from some Deviantart account, and his motion is smoother, yet still has weight.
<body proportion
The 2014 version's head is disproportionately small and his legs are far too short and thick, giving him an absurd look, especially when he moves around far more than his model should allow. It would be like an obese man boxing quickly. Outside of Butterbean, I don't think I've seen that ever. The 2019 versions slightly bigger head, longer neck and wider shoulders mean that his movements being quick were more natural-looking and not heaved like a sack of potatoes. These slight changes made the character look very different. Also the lack of elephant like feet makes him look like a reptile in the 2019 movie.
<the roar
The 2014 roar was also anticlimactic; sounded like a a upscaled human scream with a clip of the original godzilla rumble placed on the end. That said, the 2019 version did do the roar worse IMO.
https://www.thekaijuologist.com/post/comparing-designs-godzilla-2014-vs-godzilla-king-of-the-monsters >>5230https://desuarchive.org/m/thread/14636859/#14637633An old post on what I enjoyed about 2014's depiction of kaiju. A reply to the usual. I don't care that it's "only one fight". I do care that every other scene of or with kaiju were done as spectacularly as they were. I was hoping to see this continue but
>KOTM is a cheap monster movie with silly themes and funny moments (intentionally or not).I also posted somewhere, maybe old /leftypol/ or /leftyweebpol/ (or 4/m/?), about my thoughts on 2014's handling of characters. I feel humans in kaiju films usually work better when they're treated as a collective instead of giving too much focus on a single person. Keeping it short, the mistake was putting too much focus on Ford in the middle instead of saving him for the literal airdrop into the 3rd act (keep the train scene tho). The middle was a good oppurtunity to put Monarch into the spotlight. If Joe survived he could be still be relevant in this way. Now, whatever reservations I have about 2014 is nothing compared to the mess that is KOTM.
>I enjoyed it as a spectacleI didn't enjoy it much beyond the parts I mentioned because, as spectacle, it doesn't capture how the various kaiju scenes were built-up and handled previously. I was never as awed, excited or tense as I was during the muto escape, goji's arrival, the airport scene, the train, goji and mutos touring in san-fran, the airdrop and of course the various parts of the final battle. One of my favourite shots is the overhead view of goji swimming between the carriers because it was downright beautiful. Moments like that or the jets falling helplessly into the ocean have this wonderful otherworldly feeling without having to resort to disaster porn or overt apocalyptic imagery. Goji's threat display scene falls into this nicely.
>because took itself way too seriouslyI really don't see how. There's much room between taking it too seriously and not taking it seriously at all. 2014 is not as dark as the concept trailer, but still serious enough with its narrative and visuals that I as a viewer am able to regard the kaiju as more than just shallow setpieces. I get it. It's nice to see goji and ghidorah onscreen together. But I'm not going to enjoy it much by the fact alone without the cinematic merit to prop it up.
>seriousness is undercut by illogical decisions and the excessive dramatic acting and lack of actual attempts at realismThis literally sounds like criticism against KOTM though. One film opens with a nuclear bombing and the other with a family losing their child. One has the military fail every step of their plan while the other has them flying around the world in a sci-fi plane, a hot potato kaiju-hailing device and other silliness. Getting some pretty mixed messages from KOTM.
>It's not realisticw-what
>napalm from his mouthThat's not cool? Even with higher brightness that eliminates its translucence, the breath is not simply slightly wavy. It's very irregular with a hint of gaseousness. Also how it "splashes" off the target area. I love it. Reminds me of The Next's beautiful finisher.
>2019's atomic breath retains the flame-like aspectChecked a vid. The one time it did was the one that pushed off ghidorah before mothra divebombed. Even then, it's still cleaner and I personally just don't like how big it gets.
>overstuffedThat's…why I like garegoji more? The new "classical" spines I don't think meshes as well compared to the simpler peaks. Makes the back look too busy and adds needless heft, imo. Unless you mean he's fat, then I don't see much difference between the two beyond the spines, longer toe claws and thicker tail end. Proportions look virtually the same. Both are capable of looking larger than they actually are at times.
>giving him an absurd look, especially when he moves around far more than his model should allow.I don't recall garegoji moving with any unnatural haste or grace in his runtime.
>his motion is smoother, yet still has weight.Weight, I feel, took a drop in 2019. So did the sense of scale. The more animated, less realistic movement of camera… Like I said, a bit like Uprising.
>his movements being quick were more natural-lookingI do remember noticing and just saw from a clip how weird 2019 goji moves sometimes, usually in faster moments like when he's grappling with ghidorah. Whatever design he has doesn't help here nor do I think the speed is at fault. It's just poorly animated.
>the lack of elephant like feet makes him look like a reptile in the 2019 movie.Sauropods existed, anon. So did hoofed crocodiles. RIP stubby claws, you were charming.
>>5299>Same for anylosaur and stegosaurHmm, that's true. Was going for the "It's not
that weird" angle with cotylorhynchus.
Then there's this thing.
>It is larger than any other known predatory archosaur from the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic of central Europe.They're not even sure if it's a dinosaur or a pseudosuchian. Speaking of, godzilla could totally work as a pseudosuchian.
>>5291 >I also posted somewhereYES! I recognize this post, I argued with you on this last time on 8ch, LOL.
>humans in kaiju films usually work better when they're treated as a collective instead of giving too much focus on a single person.This basically. It's why Shin Godzilla was great IMO. A few 'main characters' who were constantly supplemented with other characters, and not on the forefront too much either.
>awed or tenseI can agree there. However with the airport scene as an example, they do the same issue over and over again - building up the tension and then just as Godzilla comes on screen or the Kaiju begin to do something, they cut away. I wouldn't even mind the cut-aways if they showed at least the beginning of one of the incoming fights for a moment before doing that.
>the overhead view of goji swimming between the carriers A good shot I'll give you that
>or the jets falling helplessly into the oceanBasically all the trailer shots like those were epic, i's really why I was so disappointed wit a lot of the rest of it.
>2014 is not as dark as the concept trailerWhat I mean is that it goes for this dark disaster type movie, but the over-acting (or insufficient acting) by most characters is annoying and they don't make deaths or destruction feel like anything important, it feels like a poorly acted theatrical tragedy that isn't bad enough to be funny, and isn't good enough to praise. The plane scene before they air-drop is so generic you could splice it with Suicide Squad's scene.
>Getting some pretty mixed messages from KOTM.Well to be fair, that's literally every Godzilla movie featuring other monsters. KOTM streamlined a long history of cheesy sci-fi weapons/technology/vehicles and monster melee plots - you have the Ghidorah space intruder (1964), you have the Guardian Godzilla, you have SuperNuclear Godzilla (1995), an Oxygen Destroyer device (1954) and more. And it even references some things like Godzilla the Animated Series (1998) with Rodan being in Mexico. The ending also sequel-baits for Mecha-Ghidorah (1991). This is a lot of work to put into 1 film.
And the serious scenes contrasting with other silly character scenes works because the silly scenes are never during or with the serious ones and while the movie takes ITSELF seriously, the film-makers are obviously just having fun.
>That's not cool? If it was it's own film yes, but a long history of atomic beams and other breath attacks makes it less impressive to me.
>The Next ?
>he's fatBasically this. KOTM lengthened the neck and widened the shoulders enough so that he looked balanced and not like a child's drawing of a dinosaur with a teeny head.
>longer toe clawsIt's a small but noticeable detail that changes how he looks when standing or charging.
>garegoji moving with any unnatural haste or grace It's more that the shoulders and body rolled unnaturally at times, and then other times he can barely move, like an over-stuffed doll with stiff joints.
>Sauropods existed<hoofed crocodiles
TRUE, BUT they were quadrupedal animals and Godzilla is very much a bipedal one, like a therapod dinosaur, hence the clawed feet.
>>5293And coylorhynchus looks absurd (and is a herbivore)
>>5279The only "good" guys in Frontier are the archetypal private military contractors mavericks that tend to show up in fiction with military setting.
Kawamori is kinda like the "wow cool robot!" guy, he just added "wow hot idols!" into mix.
>>5310Was kinda wondering if anybody remembered but turns you're the same anon!
>It's why Shin Godzilla was great IMO. A few 'main characters' who were constantly supplemented with other characters, and not on the forefront too much either.Precisely, unless, they have some good or batshit insane ideas for a main character that would keep viewer's interest besides the spectacle. I made another post (again, don't remember where) where I half-jokingly proposed "Nightcrawler but with kaiju". An obsessed kaiju-chaser that would do
anything to capture the perfect moment. Would be hilarious and horrifying.
>they cut away. I wouldn't even mind the cut-aways if they showed at least the beginning of one of the incoming fights for a moment before doing that.I believe it's just that, at this point, I've grown to focus on what's there more than what's not. A half full/half empty thing. It would've been nice to see more but that doesn't make the scenes that are there any less good. And there's plenty, I think. The bridge scene for example is pure scale porn.
Not that kind, dummy.
>A good shot I'll give you thatIt also highlights why I prefer his old fins. The main three rows that stick out when submerged is a pretty iconic part of garegoji. It's the first thing we see when he surfaces in Hawaii. The new busier design wouldn't look as good in these kinds of moments imo.
>all the trailer shots like those were epic, i's really why I was so disappointed wit a lot of the rest of it.That's what I feel about KOTM. Some of the problems you have with 2014 are the same problems I have with the sequel. I don't remember much action or money shots in 2014's trailers though.
>it goes for this dark disaster type movieWait, let me rephrase myself. I don't think 2014 is dark at all! It's just plain serious.
>KOTM streamlined a long history of cheesy sci-fi Referencing or, even better, integrating older stuff is perfectly fine but some of them just feel really shallow. It comes off more like the "nerd-bait" stuff you'd find in franchises like Star Wars or capeshit.
>And the serious scenes contrasting with other silly character scenes works because the silly scenes are never during or with the serious ones and while the movie takes ITSELF seriously, the film-makers are obviously just having fun.Tone is the biggest problem I have with it. Pacific Rim achieved this just fine while I don't think KOTM really did. One moment, goji's fins literally light up like lightbulbs. Next, Sally Hawkins gets fuckin' flattened (RIP, what a waste). Or when the fodder says a clearly comedic "oh shit" before being vaporised. What? Every blockbuster seems to require these off-kilter moments of levity that any sensible viewer would find cringeworthy and out of place. Old stuff is usually [b]unintentionally[/b] funny and this ain't a comedy, so why even?
>KOTM lengthened the neck and widened the shoulders enough so that he looked balancedI honestly don't notice any changes beyond the major three. He still looks like a chonker at times. The base design is simply wide front to back. He looks pretty normal head-on. It's similar to how a theropod looks smaller from the front.
>>5310Btw,
>?My favourite ultra-ray.
>>5338>An obsessed kaiju-chaser that would do anything to capture the perfect moment. Would be hilarious and horrifying. Sounds like me TBH
>The bridge scene for example is pure scale porn<not that kind
Yeah that was a fairly decent scene,
You know what you were doing!.
>The finsThe fins were an unecessary change I'll grant you that. They certainly were striking when we see the 'atom bomb' footage where the hulking mass rises out of the depths back first.
>It's just plain serious which is why I dislike a lot of aspects. The funny and "oh shit" moments (like the train scene on Hawaii) were better than the poorly done human drama.
>comes off more like the "nerd-bait" stuff you'd find in franchises like Star Wars or capeshit I suppose so, I enjoyed that meshing of storylines TBH. Only wished Mothra would have gotten more expansion
>Every blockbuster seems to require these off-kilter moments of levity that any sensible viewer would find cringeworthy and out of place I mean that's true of a lot of films TBH, it was pure cheesiness
>He still looks like a chonker The devil is in the details for me.
>similar to how a theropod looks smaller from the frontAye, but the sideview was what bothered me in 2014.
http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2014/05/godzilla-and-mutos-vs-birds-and-newts.htmlA palaeontologist & palaeoartist's take on legendarygoji and the MUTOs. I think shaving off a bit of his width is fine but the general heft and proportions are what I like.
Regarding the brightness issue, they say it's something to do with a (faulty?) process during the transfer to home release versions. I myself have no recollection of 2014 being too dark to see in the 3 viewings I went to, for what it's worth. Thankfully some dedicated people have made efforts to remedy this.
"original theatrical MPC brightness":
https://youtu.be/IEieNNr_la4Edits by fans:
https://youtu.be/PIjCt8M9XJIhttps://youtu.be/dapz5q_vu84https://youtu.be/dDlYl6EF2B0There's a lot to appreciate with the absence of pitch-darkness. The way it's shot, animated, the scale, weight, even sound design. Things that I found not up to par in the sequel. With this, I find it harder to make out the details in KOTM due to the weather effects which obscures too much (compare with Pacific Rim) despite being not as dark and other times the camera/editing. 2014's day scenes are still fine and don't hide as much. The brightened night battle meanwhile not only reveals
a lot more detail because of the lack of rain, but also showcases the solid cinematography and composition. Note how clear we can see the action in the closeups or the rooftop POV bits where soldiers are snuck into the foreground for scale.
The best/most interesting parts of KOTM for me are the visual flourishes which delve more into the mythical and fantastical, like Mark's painting above, provided the framing is good. It provides a contrast to how 2014 used "realism" to absolutely revel in the juxtaposition; the mere presence of these impossible beings disrupting the familiar human environment. When it's time to get up close and follow the action though, I think 2014 did it much better.
>>5342Oh I meant the golden gate bridge. But yeah female MUTO scene applies too.
>"oh shit" moments (like the train scene on Hawaii) were better than the poorly done human drama.The seriousness is not so much about the human drama, but how the kaiju were treated (by both filmmakers and characters, you get what I mean?) that made those moments really heavy and effective. I could just
feel the scientists shit their pants when the MUTO popped out. I see lots of crazy stuff happen in KOTM but I don't
feel it. It's more of an "oh, okay".
>Only wished Mothra would have gotten more expansionWould've preffered a straight team-up with rodan too. Godzilla getting maimed in the first encounter, leading to Rodan and Mothra trying to take down Ghidorah from the skies. I didn't feel there was much build-up to KingG honestly.
>it was pure cheesiness I was fine with Kong's tone but something about KOTM rubbed me the wrong way.
Seriously though, there's something off about how the CG looks. The animation (goji particularly), the way it's shot, the weather effects, the filters and overblown colours look more artificial compared to it's predecessors. Kong was more fun and colourful than 2014 but still had impressive visuals. In daytime, no less. The scale and weight were there even with the more kinetic camera. KOTM looks and feels more like an animated film in comparison.
Posting my initial thoughts on GvK from /GET/. I just realised a couple (or 3?) of the Uprising posts are missing but eh.
>visuals
So I saw the big monke movie. I think I had more fun with this than seeing KOTM in theatres. I'll focus on visuals as usual which I'd say is pretty darn good. I'd rate the setpieces higher but there were things I felt were lacking in retrospect. In some ways, it's closer to Uprising and KOTM yet it works a lot better. I wasn't really bothered by the faster pace of the action and animation. The quality of the kaiju CG also looks much like G14 and Skull Island although some moments like closeups of goji's face at night looks closer to KOTM. There's just something fake-looking about parts of KOTM to me, visually and animation-wise. Moreover, there's no constant, bland, inexpressive weather effects (which Pacific Rim did well) that somehow both obstructed the view and didn't help to cover said fakeness.
The moments with fancy camerawork are a treat. The camera in general is the best between it, Uprising and KOTM as it's able to showcase the fights clearly while not at all being dull like Uprising. There's no trouble following Uprising's action but most of the time it just looks so boring. That said, a thing I felt was missing was proper human perspective shots from both low and high areas. There's not enough moments like the rooftop and ground shots with people in the foreground in PR, G14 and SI that really put the scale of the kaiju in relation to humans. It would have elevated the setpieces immensely.
Overall, I still think G14 and SI have the best visuals of the series. While skullcrawlers don't have the star power of Mechagodzilla, looking at some scenes again make me appreciate the scale-establishing shots and slower, weightier animation of Skull Island all over again. Really, if not for Hiddleston's and Larson's useless characters preventing more focus on the actually interesting people, I'd put SI on the same level as G14 and PR.
>>8012
>storyThe story is between 'okay' and 'eh'. Deaf little girl is actually the best human character. Kong using sign language is cool. The hollow earth stuff is both conceptually and visually interesting. Character moments for kaiju.
Mechagodzilla. Plenty of neat stuff to work with. But there wasn't enough care and time dedicated to these things that are also bogged down by other nonsense. It all feels rushed, especially the final fight. The action could've slowed down at points just to let the moments sink in and breathe. It kinda feels like
a lot of stuff was cut out to fit a 2 hour runtime. For example, the Japanese dude is literally named Serizawa yet I don't remember his relation to Ken Watanabe's character and motivations being explored. Not even a glimpse into the kaiju war too. They could've used it as the opening. Skull Island's opening was so cool.
If I've learned anything from
Snyder, it's that "there's too many x in this movie" is a shit excuse to forget that movies can be longer than 2 hours. If you want to include and properly develop lots of stuff, then obviously more time should be dedicated to it. But I feel that even if it was 30 minutes or, hell, and hour longer I still wouldn't have that much hope. Moving away from the tone of G14
and killing off the OG Monarch duo was the least interesting thing they could've done. God forbid I ever get a sense of genuine awe and gravitas in kaiju movies again.
>>8406No, only resin garage kits.
Plastic crack was introduced into the Otaku community by the government to impoverish and weaken them
>>5428all upscale projects are so dope
i saw a 3rd rock from the sun upscale and wow
shit looked 1080p same with koth
>>9469Alright
So what's your guys favourite Ultraman show?
I don't remember which one they aired as a kid but I've started from Ultraman Qanon
And the theme kicks ass. It shows off dope kaijus
Do you agree or disagress that
>Voltes V Is a Vitally Important Super Robot Anime according to article linked?
https://archive.ph/VSeWo>>11196It was kind of retarded how everyone acts like the dad is evil because he doesn't want his idiot daughter to get killed by fucking monsters.
Was really lol when the other father/daughter pair git ganked immediately when fighting that monster
>>8012>>8013Didn't have a chance to respond to this and I missed it prior to the split.
>missing Yeah I'm gonna restore those as soon as I can.
Speaking of GvK, a mem
Godzilla:
"Think Kong, I single-handedly killed two Titans that feed off me and were nerfing me by being walking EMPs. Then I killed a space dragon that towers over me AFTER IT DROPPED ME FROM SPACE! What made you think you could win against me?!"Kong:
"…monke" >>855It's really good
>>860I think it was actually the opposite
>>11421It's a strawman yet it's still the truth.
People's thoughts about Gundam isnt' that war sucks dick, but that the Exia got cool moves and that they want a colorful RX-0 plasticmodel. Neither they think Sagara Sousuke's weirdness is him being fucked up for being a child soldier, but that he's the funny autism man.
"Real Robot" was a mistake, the older shows were for the most part blatant power fantasies and the mechs looked like toys on the screen rather than machines.
>>11424>People's thoughts about Gundam isnt' that war sucks dick, but that the Exia got cool moves and that they want a colorful RX-0 plasticmodel. Not for me. Little kids thoughts are that, and Otakus so deep in the rabbit-hole of consumerism that they both comprehend yet don't really care about the message, but normal people got the message.
>Neither they think Sagara Sousuke's weirdness is him being fucked up for being a child soldier, but that he's the funny autism man.Because taking things too seriously is going to get you Evangelion, and that's depressing, moreso if you can't really do anything about the issues brought up; explain the methods that the average joe can change the fact that war sucks and child soldiers are traumatized, not exactly easy, is it?
>"Real Robot" was a mistake I disagree, given that it has given us many excellent series. Moreover Real Robot has been a thing for decades and is as old as the mecha genre itself, if not older.
>>11425>normal people got the message. Normal people don't watch space opera-flavored toy ads.
>>11426I think it's funny that 00 is by far the most on the nose Gundam series about the War Sucks themes, they even gave many characters backgrounds from shitholes that are at war in this day and age, instead of some fictional space hyperwar.
And of course this relatively grounded setup just
had to be contrasted with athletic super saiyan robots and shiny particles that give eternal energy to mechs, cure cancer, trigger the next step of human evolution and allow people to talk with aliens kek.
>>11464>Muh toy ads LOL ok edgelord, you're totally cool and not-like-the-other-kids(TM)
>Normal people don't watch space opera Star Wars and numerous other spae-opera series (including Gundam) called in, they told you to stuff it.
>>11466Mechanime isn't toy ads, it is exploited for toy ads and certainly lends itself to toys better than other anime, but it's not literally made to sell already existing toys or at least not in the case of Gundam, (that'd be Transformers G1 or for a non robot example, Mighty Max). Even then that doesn't necessarily make it a bad story, its fiction for a reason.
Also "muh Toy Ads" is literally the most generic contrarian thing said by meme-tier detractors of the genre, ("hurr muh toyz") so if the (TM) didn't clue you in, my "edgy" is sarcastic.
Macross Plus is getting a one-night only US theatrical release tomorrow, December 14th.
>Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SfP42SUoyA >10 Minute Previewhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2R4CW57bB0 Shinichirō Watanabe co-directed it, Yoko Kanno scored it; RIP Keiko Nobumoto. Go watch it!
Just finished watching the 3 original Gundam movies (thanks
>>10597 btw). Goddamn, I really enjoyed them. Now I'd like to see more of the same main cast before moving on to the couple of series that I originally wanted to watch.
So which one should I watch next?
>>11993Apparently Shōji Kawamori was very smug about that in the accompanying video.
>>11997That's fine I guess; the OVAs are pretty much the definitive way to watch it.
>thinking about uprising again>scene of raijin pinning a jaeger to a building, using that to push itself up and dropping the biggest k-punch in the history of the kaiju war pops into my headIt's so beautiful.
>>11326>restoreIt's alright tbh. I think the two/three posts were my thoughts on the jaeger and kaiju designs plus what I would change and then the earlier part of the lighting changes before
>>4695.
>>12697 Glad to see you back, got any analyses for Godzilla v Kong?
>It's so beautiful You really love the genre, don't you?
>It's alright tbhIt's no problem, the posts are still archived so I'll try to recover them when I'm free. The pics are hard to find, delaying my effort.
>>12698I have other scenes and ideas still floating in my head all these years.
>Glad to see you backHeya. Been hanging out in /GET/.
>any analysesNope.
>love the genreI guess so. I grew up more on the kaiju/toku side and my mecha exposure was mostly through vidya plus said toku. Tbh, it feels kinda weird to call myself a mecha "fan" because I don't really watch much anime by myself. I have seen little to none of the oldies. I have not kept up with new stuff. But I like it. I think that's part of why PR had such an impact on me. It really was the first "humanity bands together against alien threat using giant mechs" thing for me, and it's a concept that not too far off from the ultramen of my childhood.
>pics are hard to findI still have some of them but zzzzzz……
>>13159>I have seen little to none of the oldies. I have not kept up with new stuff. But I like it.That is true, pure love of the genre, obsessively viewing every mecha content to exist is just that, obsessive compulsion.
>still have some of them but zzzzzz lel
>>13366Seed and feeDestiny share the same points imo, so I'll copypaste and slightly edit it to make my point:
SEED Destiny was Zeta Gundam with everything wrong with the anime industry in the 00s taped on top: bright colored hair titty monsters by the dozen purely for sex fanservice (meer being lacus with hueg cowtits is the most cynical fapbait fanart pandering I've ever seen, stella's nude scene(s) too), more unsubtle yaoi pandering for fujo bucks, inserts songs out the ass to sell CDs, story indirectly written by fan polls except this time they affect things even more, etc.
>>13370But that's a sequel to Zeta, and mostly follows its own plot structure instead of trying to go for the same plot beats of Zeta.
IMO Tomino really did pour his autism into that one, especially towards the end. Also Chara and to a lesser extent Roux can also be considered fapbait too and Glemmy is one of the most nonsensical characters in a franchise that has MISTAH BUSHIDO in it.
I don't like ZZ >>13823I prefer pic rel from
https://old.reddit.com/r/MoeMorphism/ At least it isn't just completely lazy human-shit
>>9471If you mean Singular Point… it was talkd about… on imageboards and reddit. I finally took the time to see it and it honestly sucked for the most part. Some ideas and concepts were interesting but a lot of it is theoretical pseudo-science and leading up to the reveal of Godzilla-monsters in a more Lovcraftian, physics/universe defying entities or Singular Points. But the characters and story are totally blandly done. It feels like its trying to pull an Evangelion type vibe from the story but not hitting the mark. The most standout character is the comic-relief Pops and his antics, everyone else feels boring and by the numbers if they have any character at all.
Some discussion on it.
https://archive.ph/5Nui5 https://archive.ph/KkNWv TL;DR: The show tries to be different kinds of Godzilla movie at the same time, mixing in thing from Showa, Heisei and Shin Godzillas and inevitably making them clash. It's not much better than the Netflix Planet Godzilla series either, though the animation and art design isn't as bad.
Hello old thread. So how about that Shin Ultraman thing.
>>14978Ah, I remember that existed a while ago. Thought I'd check it out but still haven't. I'm barely keeping up with JoJo.
>lovecraftian, physics/universe defying entitiesHuh. I'm up for anything but I feel that sort of thing would better work with something like Ultraman, unless it's about the ayys. I like goji as the human-made abomination or ancient superbeing he usually is and having this basic hunk of flesh and nuclear power face off visually lovecraftian creatures would be cool to see. 2nd pic related. C*lt*sts mad seething, eternally coping at simple truth.
>>14979Miraculously finished this last year. I should check the 2nd season. The stuff with the drift was actually interesting and absolutely what people wanted to see played with.
Not quite mechs but the Leviathan book series (mentioned in the RWBY thread
>>11499 ) has some factions using mechanized warfare (Austro-Hungarians and the Germans) exclusively, with various mechs and mechanical flying contraptions, while others (like the British) used organic creatures that have life threads (DNA) manipulated to create organic vehicles and creatures meant for various civilian and military purposes, and then some, (like the Japanese and Turks) mix-and-matched the 2 technologies, combining them. All this to say there's a lot of interesting mechs in that series. Pic rel is one of the smaller 'Walkers'.
https://leviathanscottwesterfeld.fandom.com/wiki/Walkers>>20817 I mean piracy or not, an opportunity to make a profit is strange for them to pass up.
>they always wanted us to waste our lives on this slop instead of asking questionsOh bugger off.
>>21590>love letter to mecha<satireThose are not dichotomous, and yes there is satire of typical mecha tropes in Evangelion, it's literally one of the reasons it's so well known. Parody of something is often done because the subject is liked and being poked fun at. EVA-fans do that all the time, taking the piss out of Anno and NGE even if they actually like the show.
>the mere character development pokes at the notion that a 14-year-old would deal with unimaginable burdens in such a way that is mature and brave. It is utterly ridiculous, and Anno makes fun of it by having angst-ridden teenagers complain and have nervous breakdowns.>In the first several episodes, the series is presented very much as a mecha show, and other than a few clues here and there, it's not until much later that the audience is informed of anything otherwise. More deconstructive elements begin to show as the series progresses, but one of the most upfront subversions to the genre is having Shinji as a non-traditional hero and his continual existential crisis over being a pilot. We eventually learn the series isn't really about Shinji's struggle against the Angels, but that it's more about his struggle with himself. The apocalyptic and exaggerated imagery of the outer world becomes window dressing for the bleak reality of the inner struggles of human characters. Eva is a deconstruction because it presents itself initially as one thing, but subverts that expectation by taking familiar elements and doing something completely different with them.https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenreDeconstruction >>21589>>21591Jfc this is painful. I diagnose you with Essay Youtuber brain.
>>21593"Deconstruction" in regards to genre appears to entirely be an invention of tvtropes in 2007, probably made specifically for defending uneducated opinions about Evangelion, and it has jackshit to do with Derrida's actual term.
Evangelion was for a long time the first and longest entry in their examples of deconstructions. I don't think it's an unfair assumption to say the page was probably made for Eva. The problem is in the mid-90s to earlier 2000s there was a whole lot less easily available Mecha for English speaking audiences. At the time I think a lot of people's conception of mecha was voltron and power rangers. Of course Eva would seem like a brutal takedown in comparison.
>>21593>quoted TVTropesLMAO except I did not, you prove that you don't read for shit; those excerpts aren't from the TV-Tropes site at all, nor would that be a valid argument to my statement that a love letter to mecha anime is not dichotomous to said love letter also being satirical.
>claimed eva is a deconstruction Because it is, this is pretty universally agreed on and people saying otherwise are always just contrarians, like yourself.
>older mecha anime that anno liked also had children piloting robots and presenting them as miserable1) Not in the same manner, for example in Gundam, the children are like fucking 'Nam vets, in the shit so much they go full War-Criminal psycho.
2) An older anime also being deconstructive of a genre does not make EVA not a deconstruction. Japanese Mecha is loosely divided into Super-Robot and Real Robot sub-genres, and Evangelion appeared to be the former, rather than the latter, but subverts these expectations in many ways
I've never heard the argument that Evangelion was the first deconstructive mecha anime, from anyone, so unless you're trying to argue that an older work having themes means a newer work cannot echo similar ideas or themes, this is completely pointless to bring up.
>>21594 >I diagnose you I diagnose you with No Argument projector syndrome, especially considering your autism about Derrida's termin of Deconstruction being different to TVTropes, which ignores the development of terminology and its definitions/applications changing over time.
>The problem is in the mid-90s to earlier 2000s there was a whole lot less easily available Mecha for English speaking audiences. At the time I think a lot of people's conception of mecha was voltron and power rangers. Of course Eva would seem like a brutal takedown in comparison. LMAO Gundam and other popular mecha was available at the time, I remember watching it. Voltron is older than Evangelion while Power Rangers were contemporary to it. Anime in general was niche as fuck at the time, but that's obvious and is not relevant here, since the community that saw Evangelion was mostly made up of people already well acquainted with Japanimation and mecha in particular. Obviously there were deconstructive/satirical/subverted mecha anime before Evangelion, but they were also different, and Evangelion was full of what people currently call deconstruction, not just of mecha. Just because another anime shares some themes or vaguely similar deconstructive elements as Evangelion, does not take away from Evangelion's impact or meaning. Gundam and Gunbuster have their own merits, and they are unique to them, just as Evangelion is unique to itself, the former does not take away from the latter and vice-versa. This retarded 4/a/ idea that you HAVE to drag one work through the mud by dick-measuring it to another is fucking retarded and only applies to something like Darling in the Franxx, because unlike Evangelion which only referenced older anime, it is literally just a rip-off with an inserted Abe-themed story-line.
Even within Derrida's terminology
>Shinji isn't a coward, but just acting the way a fourteen year old kid would if told that he must fight the giant monster outside, especially in the context of him seeing it destroy the Japanese Military just a moment ago. That sounds exactly like a deconstruction to me, and that's just the basic plot, not going into the issues of the 3 waifu-subversions in Shinji's life (Rei, Asuka and Misato) and their own demons. Deconstruction is the opposite of its root term, construction which comes from "construct", which is defined regarding media as
"2.To create by systematically arranging ideas or expressions; devise with the mind." Construction is defined regarding media as "4.The interpretation or explanation given an expression or statement", thus for something to be a deconstruction, it must reinterpret what is being presented, to demonstrate the underlaying meanings or impacts it may have. This does not make a deconstruction an end all be all, or necessarily true to something, but it attempts to do so. Note that Deconstruction is hard to define, and even in the dictionary the meaning is very vague.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction?useskin=vector#Difficulty_of_definition >>21597 I mean this is just entertaining discussion for the sake of it, at the end of the day, if some contrarian wants to be mad about me liking Evangelion, that's their problem, I'm just having fun discussing it.
Also
>Evangelion<children's cartoonsLMAO
>>21594>>21593Decided to take a moment to see the claim about "Eva is not a deconstruction" or whatever and found a very coherent take by user Mwohl
>Deconstruction is not just a 'super bitter' critique or a subversion of expectations (e.g. Shinji falling in his first sortie). It's the pursuit and exploration of the core tenants of a work or genre to the point of revealing the internal contradictions it is built upon. This is absolutely something EVA does. Starting from the common narrative goal of 'Pilot the Robot to save the world", EVA first asks "What is a Robot?" (exploring not just the horror of the biological machine that is an EVA but also the implication of a weapon like a mecha in general, a thing made by Man that supersedes his strength and understanding), then "What are 'we'?" (exploring the concept that the otherworldly enemy humanity faces and the weapons used to fight it are actually extensions of each other, and also the notion that the thing one fights against is never truly entirely other) then "What is the world?" (the discourse had after Instrumentality). Ultimately, the idea that the world is a reality you choose based on compromises with the people you form bonds with, and that you can change that reality based on your worldview and outlook, calls into question whether a giant fighting robot was ever the tool with which Shinji's world -or any world- was going to be saved. >The last of these is carried out in a very post-modern and Brechtian manner, as the sequences in episodes 25 and 26 jump between being abstract visuals that are only possible in the medium of animation and the 'theater' setting, complete with spotlights that make a mechanical thunk when they turn on or off. However, even the concept of 'backstage' has been deconstructed by this point because the drawn and animated characters being in a theater is obviously more of a complete illusion than a pencil sketch of Shinji floating in a void. (This is taken to a new extent in EOE, where live action footage of the film theater itself is included.) >The fact that some of these events echo those of previous mecha illustrates the extent to which EVA is a Post-Modern Deconstruction, because these questions are being asked in the context of works that have brushed up against these themes, but not turned fully into the meta-textual focus that EVA takes up. Just because you can find plot points in other shows that parallel events in EVA doesn't mean it doesn't function as a deconstruction of Mecha, or of anime at large - because it does. However, you're welcome to continue with the soul hurt.…
>Being a completely original thought isn't a requisite of deconstruction. It's the fact that these examples listed above, along with a myriad of others, are all compiled together in EVA that make it significant. >Also, there's the distinction between a topic coming up in the plot of story and its inclusion causing the character and the audience to question the legitimacy of the reality of the show. There's that part in Gundam 79 where Amuro (essentially an unwitting child soldier) thinks it's unfair for him to be forcibly conscripted into the Earth Forces just because he can pilot the Gundam, but it's presented in a way that encourages the audience to respond emotionally (with sympathy for Amuro), not intellectually (in questioning the purpose and meaning of that trope's existence). So, just because something's been explored doesn't mean it's been deconstructed.Deconstruction is not necessarily a criticism, and even criticism is not necessarily the same as hatred. Anno most certainly was criticizing otaku culture, but he also is a part of it and likes being one, but that does not make it a perfect community by any means.
PS The deconstruction term on TV-Tropes did not, in fact, originated there in 2007 as you claim, it's usage as we see it defined today originated on textboards and forums long before that and TV-Tropes literally was formed by these same people originally.
PPS. Gunbuster was also a work of Anno's and there are portions that directly are contradicted in Evangelion, such as the mecha casually destroying large numbers of mooks (which is a classic anime trope in general) while the Mass Production EVA's which fall to Unit 02 initially, are inevitably going to beat Asuka, subverting this trope and also providing a deconstruction through the superiority of the MP-EVA's compared to the 3 we've seen so far.
Does anyone else have a love-hate relationship with the writing in Zeta? There's genuinely interesting political themes going on, such as the aformentioned colonial struggle, enviornmentalism, the critique of war continued from 0079, the degeneration of the Earth Federation government, but mein Gott there's some infuriating shit in this anime. For starters, the overarching flaw that was constantly bothering me was how badly the dialogue was written. Most interactions feel stiff, abstract and unnatural due to the characters explaining all the subtext surrounding their relationships and the age/gender/position norms they're funneled into, all in abstract and somewhat polite vocabulary that isn't appropriate to their situation. 0079 had several scenes that managed to move me to tears, like the time when Ryu and the others who died in the fight with Ramba Ral, M'quve and the Tristar got a post-mortem special two-tier promotion at Jaburo and Amuro was outraged at the callousness of the Forces, or Miharu's death, followed by the scene of Kai grieving on the floor of the White Base after he realized what happened. In those moments, Zeta would probably make the characters give unnecessary mini-speeches about the horrors of war and the sanctity of human life instead of the moving, raw emotional displays that managed to convey all you needed to know about what the show was telling you. The problem of the shallow emotional impact that Zeta projects also applies to the characters, Kamille feels more like the average shounen anime's MC-kun rather than a lost teenager who just committed several incredibly serious crimes and saw both of his parents get fucking killed. He quickly rises to become the ace of the AEUG and his weaknesses only surface when people dear to him die one by one and towards the end of the anime when he's too traumatized and tired by all the shit he was forced to participate in to function as a normal human being. Char's arc is pretty good, but for some reason the subplot about growing out of his fake persona gets abandoned at the end, which is a decision that probably cost Zeta a better final arc compared to the Scirocco thing. That being said, the only 2 characters I truly dislike are Reccoa and Sarah, their arcs were completely nonsensical, with only surface-level explanations given as to why they're willing to pursue their death drive to the extent that they do. The cast is pretty strong, and I'd probably like them better were it not for the flaws I listed.
>>21615Apparently some of Tomino's co-writing staff on 0079 didn't come back for Zeta
So I guess it just boils down to Tomino's quirks not being kept in check
>>20675So I watched the entire series in one go and I thought it was kind of fun. It's not like Kong the Animated Series from the early 2000s but its pretty interesting and well animated for a TV-show and the characters are neither typical heroes nor modern caricatures. Even the goons aren't just brainless blank slates that you don't feel bad for. Its also not squeamish about violence without being gratuitous about it. I found most of the cast likeable in one way or another and the overall plot, its a good beginning and the atmosphere of it reminds me of Pacific Rim: The Black, which was pretty unique and good in itself. I just hope that the second season doesn't get shelved like Blood of Zeus did, especially since it was already written and nearly ready back in October.
7 or 8 outta 10 overall.
Also as a side note I didn't realize but there's a live action TV series also about kaiju, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters with a Season 2 on the way as well, so it looks like good, niche content is on the rise.
>>22425Watched the rest finally and wow that was fucking trash. TL;DR: The majority of the 2015 storyline feels like a teen drama from the CW with a pinch of Stranger Things science-fantasy mystery. The 1950s plot on the other hand feels natural, like it could make for an interesting period-piece type story, similar to Kong: Skull Island, however we barely see very much.
By Episode 9 I took to fast-forwarding through the portions with the whiny, bipolar, retarded kid trio. Everything they are, do or say makes me wish Godzilla stomped on them. Kentaro is a fucking indecisive wuss, his half-sister is a toxic cunt, the Ex-girlfriend is a childish ass. This utterly unlikeable behavior from all 3 of them isn't initially obvious but becomes more and more apparent the further the story continues.
Seriously, the black chick who was Kentaro's girlfriend proceeds to cuck him with his half-sister… like fucking what?! This is literally a rehash of Legend of Korra's MaKorra ship being shoddily shifted into KorrAsami, down to the two of them going into the portal to another 'world' like the end of LoK and the Black chick's real name being Corah; that cannot be a coincidence. Funniest part is that the defense for their awful writing and characterization is the exact same deflection that Bumbleby and KorrAsami shippers used a few years ago to justify their toxic tastelessness;
"LOL if you don't like my terribly forced gay ship, that means you're just a miserable person" The only good humans of the show is Colonel Shaw (played jointly by Kurt Russell and his son, Wyatt), Keiko (the dedicatedly studious and beautiful Mari Yamamoto) and Bill Randa (Anders Holm portraying the younger version of the character John Goodman played). They should have been the main characters, their story, acting and setting is much more compelling. I hope Ms. Yamamoto gets many more roles because by god she fucking carries the female side of the main cast. The French woman who changed sides to help Colonel Shaw was also ok, she reminded me of Monique Dupre and she did have decent motivation and acted consistently and like an actual strong woman and not a hysterical teen pretending to be one. The only other good part was the special effects which were quite good for a TV-Show and the kaiju fights/appearances, which weren't long but were effective. I particularly liked the design of the FrostVark, it's design and rapaciousness reminded me of a cross between a Starry-Nose Mole and a Desman except huge. The Ion Dragon was also a creative design although I think it definitely took inspiration from the Gyaos among other things.
http://dargol.blog3.fc2.com/blog-entry-4241.html>"What I want modern day Gundam fans to understand is that Gundam wasn't nurtured by the PlaModel enthusiasts. It was young women who first came to the after recording studio, and Gundam is a work that began with their support. And it was a work that had no connection to the popularity of Gundam PlaModels. So I think the most important thing is creating a work that will attract those kind of girls to it again. I don't think movies as an entertainment industry can succeed without touching on that kind of fundamental portion.">“The very first fans of the original Gundam were young women. Definitely not the PlaModel enthusiasts. With both Gundam and Raideen, of the first fans to be active, 90% were girls. Among a gathering of 1000 fans, about 100 were boys. Around when the first cour ended, young women began to gather to the after recording studio. It took until much later for male fans make an uproar, around the time series got canceled. I thought: You’re late to the party!”>"When the movies were screening, we had many male fans who got into Gundam via Gunpla come to see it. Meanwhile, the girls who had been fans since the TV series aired got together to create their own world via fanzines. The fans, never interacting with each other, existed on separate planes." Women hold up half the sky as usual.
>>23851I wanted to make a note about the recent Ark Survival animated series. The animation aesthetic is very similar, as is the monster-island jungle environment. But I found the Ark Survival series to be a lot flatter and less interesting. I really don't get the hate that Annie gets by Godzilla / Kong fans, and I'm kinda disappointed that it's unlikely Season 2 will get made and released, let alone an S3.
https://archive.is/JllDk As a side note
I'm kinda surprised there is 0 Rule-34 for this show Unique IPs: 43