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[FatMebius]

From my perspective it's actually more like Bandai wanting another Gundam because for some reason they think Gundam will die off. They're pushing hard for this to be a multimedia franchise, they announced an SHFiguarts and model kits of the main girl and the mechs before the anime started airing to go alongside it. It looks anemic, to be honest, no wonder it's flopping already. Same with the tie-in game (to be published by Bamco of course), I'd rather just buy AC because I can trust that not to be a soulless cash grab. Maybe I'm just not their demographic but the moment I saw the bland male protag and offbrand Rei Ayanami I thought it was going to be boring shit.

It's not really that Bandai thinks Gundam will die off. They just try a different "not-Gundam" show every so often to see if they can get another cash cow mecha franchise and maybe attract some normies. Like, they did Metal Armor Dragonar in the 80s. That was specifically made to be Gundam-lite, but without any continuity or baggage that might be perceived as a barrier to entry. Basically shows that have a similar formula or still go for that military mecha aesthetic, but don't have the Gundam branding. They try it every so often, to varying degrees of success, with things like Code Geass, Buddy Complex, Kyoukai Senki, etc.

 

[sasazuka]

The OP of that Twitter thread said basically the same thing, except he used the 1990s instead of the 2000s.

The 1990s sounds about right. That AnimEigo/Coastal Carolina dub of the You're Under Arrest OVA series that the director of the Japanese version, when they were expanding it into a TV series in 1996, allegedly showed the *Japanese* VAs to get their performances more in line with the English-language performance because the anime director thought the English dub was so incredible, must be about 28 years old by now.

 

[ZMOT]

Did anyone even want the conclusion Oreimo did besides the author? The whole siscon thing was a hook, but the sister herself was aweful and the other primary love interest was far more likable and had chemistry.

it was less with however he ended up with, just that they literally went supersonic full retard with it. didn't help the second season was desperate to turn into a harem (harem doesn't bother me that much), but again the execution again was dumb af where the suddenly basically every female character wanted the MCs dick for no reason whatsoever - including one character which constantly shat on him/didn't give a fuck but then basically said at some point "dunno why I but I want to make you mine" or someshit. there's tsundere and there's retarded.

spoiler for everyone who wants to skip 2 seasons and get a bit of rage
towards the end MC and his sister go on a christmas date and have a relationship complete with rings etc. while being aware that's it's not a great idea. it could have ended there with "love trumps all" or something and then fade out in the epilogue. instead they pretty much come out to all their friends, MC's childhood friend (with a crush on MC, which is one of the few setups that made sense) outright tells him it's a shit idea and it will only end in pain. it also comes out that's exactly what she told the sister years before and that was the reason why they hated each other in the beginning or something. however MC confirms his love yadda yadda, childhood friend and sister even trade blows, childhood friends then leaves and the friendship is over.

however MC and sister made a promise on that christmas date to limit that relationship to a month "for the memories" or whatever, so the coming out with it was retarded. the whole breakup with the childhood friend was super retarded, especially when said childhood friend WAS FUCKING RIGHT, MC AGREES SHE WAS RIGHT, SISTER AGREES SHE WAS RIGHT, THAT'S WHY THEY MADE THAT PROMISE IN THE FIRST PLACE, but the writer still thought it was a good idea to have that shit happen because of drama and MUH TWIST. oh and of course it's heavily implied MC doesn't care and then keeps creeping on the sister after it's officially "over"

I get dumb MCs, I get dumb drama for plot reasons (*cough* love life season 1) but holy fucking shit there's a limit how far you can go with that before it's so retarded it only causes rage for having wasted two fucking seasons on it when that's the outcome...

It's not really that Bandai thinks Gundam will die off. They just try a different "not-Gundam" show every so often to see if they can get another cash cow mecha franchise and maybe attract some normies. Like, they did Metal Armor Dragonar in the 80s. That was specifically made to be Gundam-lite, but without any continuity or baggage that might be perceived as a barrier to entry. Basically shows that have a similar formula or still go for that military mecha aesthetic, but don't have the Gundam branding. They try it every so often, to varying degrees of success, with things like Code Geass, Buddy Complex, Kyoukai Senki, etc.

don't know that dub, but a lot of 90's dubs where fucking GOAT and could stand next to the original. for one it was still niche, so you got people who gave a shit (effort matters) and was long before the dubbing clique made shit worse for everyone.

 

[thegooddoctor]

Still one of the best opening intros of all time, regardless of how people feel towards FMA in general the brotherhood series has some of the best openings to any anime I think I’ve ever seen.

 

[Pedophobe]

It really underscores the importance of family, being an upstanding son and brother and respectfully honoring the memory of your mother.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I get dumb MCs, I get dumb drama for plot reasons (*cough* love life season 1) but holy fucking shit there's a limit how far you can go with that before it's so retarded it only causes rage for having wasted two fucking seasons on it when that's the outcome...

Didn't the manga have even worse ending where it turns out the neighbour childhood girlfriend was a yandere?

 

[HexFag]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cRA5gsdCf4cStill one of the best opening intros of all time, regardless of how people feel towards FMA in general the brotherhood series has some of the best openings to any anime I think I’ve ever seen.

Don't just ignore the original 2003 series, they have some bangers and probably some of my favorite endings in anime. They really gotta bring back R&B for openings and endings, the last anime I can think of that did it was To Your Eternity and that's because it was Hikaru fucking Utada on the OP for that show. There really isn't a bad opening or ending in the series (except 2003 op 3 that shit sucks ass).

 

[Registration]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cRA5gsdCf4cStill one of the best opening intros of all time, regardless of how people feel towards FMA in general the brotherhood series has some of the best openings to any anime I think I’ve ever seen.

Nigga, 2003 openings are so much better and even then I would not put them on top anything.

The only brotherhood worth a famn is the first one. The Best Op of FMA is rewrite.

 

[The Demon Pimp of Razgriz]

Early 2000s anime endings just hit different. I mean, say what you will about Inuyasha (and believe you me, everybody already has), but that anime had some banger ED.

Especially the First:

The Second:

The Third:

The Fourth:

The Fifth:

And the Seventh:

 

[Mississippi Motorboater]

Early 2000s anime endings just hit different. I mean, say what you will about Inuyasha (and believe you me, everybody already has), but that anime had some banger ED.

Especially the First:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=eI_el2XhI8s
The Second:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xKt8_o1a9Cw
The Third:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=v6mwBT9r1iQ
The Fourth:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4toVuz4TyrI
The Fifth:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9-xAIrdXKg0, list: PLpxlUa735MgD5XnR879_5Bp_Yo-irXo3Y
And the Seventh:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ISKheE5vEAU

Speaking as someone who is just getting into the anime of this era for the first time, I see your InuYasha and raise you...

​

It is a rare thing indeed for an anime ED to not only get a dubbed version, but one so good it actually tops the Japanese original. I don't what kind of money Pioneer was throwing around to lock down all these great English covers, but they're nothing short of pure gold.

 

[brocktherock]

In fact, if you look at it the mecha anime that were successful are mostly remembered for their waifufag qualities nowadays.

Not sure how accurate that is but sounds about right. In the past I thought mecha fans were the kind of guys who picked fantasy robots over real cars as their poison and they always had toylines to sperg over. Now the mechs seem more like decoration for the soap opera/shounen/whatever parts (those anime are all post-2000) and the toy market from every angle is shrinking. So the fantasy of getting laid > bionicles and battleships for modern anime fans?

 

[Glowie]

It really underscores the importance of family, being an upstanding son and brother and respectfully honoring the memory of your mother.

In addition of lessons of letting go, nothing stays forever. Trying to fight nature or time is futile. Your loved ones will die eventually due to sickness, old age or accident.

You can't mess with natural order of things and effects of time.

 

[Blasterman]

Not sure how accurate that is but sounds about right. In the past I thought mecha fans were the kind of guys who picked fantasy robots over real cars as their poison and they always had toylines to sperg over. Now the mechs seem more like decoration for the soap opera/shounen/whatever parts (those anime are all post-2000) and the toy market from every angle is shrinking. So the fantasy of getting laid > bionicles and battleships for modern anime fans?

Yeah, that would be the case essentially. Mecha has had a consistent fan base since the 80s. A ton of the mecha and anime originalfags from that point in time were already sci-fi fans and military geeks who obsessed over weapons, spaceships and the like. Seeing machinery fight was the draw, and the good stories and characters mecha as a genre provided was the icing on the cake. Post 2000 and the boom of battle shounen and especially after waifufaggotry started to boom around 2006 with shows like Rozen Maiden, Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star there was an influx of anime fans who cared more about the romantic aspects and the general character appeal (mostly design wise though there were always people who got too enamored with the character traits), and after 2007 they almost completely drowned out the oldfags and originalfags. It's telling the last real smash in the mecha genre in the West was Gurren Lagann - a show that drew in both the mechafags who loved the concept of a Getter Robo homage and the waifufags that came because of Yoko. Post 2007 moe started to dominate as many oldfags retired from anime as a whole, and the newfags (and later on, the post-2013 SAO and SnK cancer) had little to no interest in mecha as a genre, which is often compounded by anime YouTubers like Gigguk spreading misleading information about the genre.

 

[Space Police]

It is a rare thing indeed for an anime ED to not only get a dubbed version, but one so good it actually tops the Japanese original.

Need I say more?

Here are some other English-dubbed anime songs I enjoy:

The English ED sucks, to be honest, but this intro is pretty good.

I like the Japanese version of Konya wa Hurricane better than the English version (Kinuki Oomori is a great singer -- she's basically the real-life Priss), but I like the English and Japanese versions of Mad Machine equally.

don't know that dub, but a lot of 90's dubs where fucking GOAT and could stand next to the original. for one it was still niche, so you got people who gave a shit (effort matters) and was long before the dubbing clique made shit worse for everyone.

The dubs for Nadesico and Aura Battler Dunbine (I just love the Scottish fairy) are amazing, as are most of the other ADV dubs. The DIC Sailor Moon dub, which everybody hates, mogs the modern Viz dub big time -- the voices are so expressive and interesting, and the special soundtrack is great too.

In the past I thought mecha fans were the kind of guys who picked fantasy robots over real cars as their poison and they always had toylines to sperg over.

I'm that kind of mecha fan, probably because I'm also heavily into Transformers toys and was into Transformers before I got into mecha anime. I'm the type where I can enjoy a repetitive monster-of-the-week kids' mecha show as long as the mechs are really cool -- in fact, such shows are some of my favourite anime! I also like it when there's a good political situation, detailed worldbuilding, and interesting sci-fi because that appeals to the part of me that likes space opera, cool sci-fi concepts, and fantasy epics like LOTR. If it has excessive waifu bait/romance/ecchi, in-your-face coomer nonsense, uninteresting mecha and generic mecha animation (especially CGI mechs), and/or surface-level, unexplored sci-fi and politics, however? Bleh.

Also, enjoy this short clip! It's a Gundam parody but it stands out because for some reason a ship that's some cross between the Voyager and Enterprise-D from Star Trek was plopped in there. Weird, but it's only 2 minutes.

 

[brocktherock]

uninteresting mecha and generic mecha animation (especially CGI mechs)

This is my current barrier to entry, no modern mecha show has never clicked with me even though I like doing the model kits. Just reading this sentence reminded me of when I gave the new Voltron a try but the mech fights were terrible, I also couldn't get into Franxx because of the writing so I don't know how the action was but thought the designs were weird and skinny. I'd be down for some lovingly drawn mechanical parts but that's not happening in today's climate.

If you like those toys then I must drop a good word for 52Toys' Beastbox series, they're neat.

 

[Space Police]

I'd be down for some lovingly drawn mechanical parts

If that's what you want and you don't mind something a couple of decades old, I highly recommend GaoGaiGar. This is a show that well and truly earns its title of king.

The actual plot is quite good too -- at first it's a monster of the week super robot anime, but there is a good level of detailed battle strategy. The plot in the second half really takes off and becomes quite serious and interesting as well. The sequel OVA is also incredibly enjoyable -- the animation in that is on steroids!

If you want to watch a short anime with good mecha animation, check out Gunbuster. The mecha animation is incredibly fluid, and painstakingly hand-drawn and hand-painted, and the plot involves cool physics concepts that are tied back to the story very well. The old Artmic/AIC mecha OVAs -- Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01, Dangaioh, Megazone 23, Iczer, Zeorymer, etc -- are also pretty fun and mind-bogglingly well-animated.

 

[The Demon Pimp of Razgriz]

Since people are listing 80s and 70s anime openings, may I introduce you, ladies and gentlemen, to one of my personal favorite:

Theme from Space Pirate Cobra, from 1982. Song written by Yuji Ohno who would later go on to handle the soundtrack for the Lupin III series (except the first season, and the Woman Called Fujiko Mine), another great source for great music. Song performed by The Columbia Studio Orchestra and singer Yoko Maeno.

 

[Blasterman]

@Sailor Troon
I think that's how most modern mecha fans start with the genre. I personally fell in love with Transformers thanks to Cybertron which was actually a bonafide mecha anime. Even though the CGI could be clunky at times I loved it all. Had amazing battles, fun villains, great music by Megumi Ohashi, everything I could've wanted from a "cartoon" (since I didn't know what was anime at the time). Later on I was watching Transformers and found out about the Yuusha franchise. GaoGaiGar (fucking fantastic show BTW) also helped with the acclimatization to the piloted style of mecha since many Transformerfags find it difficult to transition from sentient to piloted mecha (FYI GaoGaiGar has a main piloted mecha and a group of secondary Transformer-style sentient robot mecha). From there on it was Gundam, then Macross and so on and so forth. /m/ also helped me with finding a ton of obscure, but otherwise quirky and interesting shows that all have a mecha as the common element. Stuff like Baldios, the J9 trilogy etc.
As for ecchi, I must say I'm guilty of liking some fanservicey shows. However, most of them have the fanservice as secondary i.e. it doesn't shove too much T&A and keeps it for a moment where the fanservice either makes sense or has a good comedic effect. Vandread is one such example - it's classified as ecchi but it actually revolves around a budding romance between a guy and a girl from different planets (the guy's from a all-guy planet and the girl's from an all-girl planet) and it in fact has a message that's surprisingly relevant today when women and men are being increasingly split apart by unfriendly forces.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Nigga, 2003 openings are so much better and even then I would not put them on top anything.

The only brotherhood worth a famn is the first one. The Best Op of FMA is rewrite.

I miss the openings of shows back then where house and dance beats were used. Remember these? And of course InitialD which is basically the super Eurobeat jukebox show.

 

[Trilby]

Speaking as someone who is just getting into the anime of this era for the first time, I see your InuYasha and raise you...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CdTDyZmxkds
​

It is a rare thing indeed for an anime ED to not only get a dubbed version, but one so good it actually tops the Japanese original. I don't what kind of money Pioneer was throwing around to lock down all these great English covers, but they're nothing short of pure gold.

At least it made buying those dub tapes for a cheaper price feel like a good deal, especially coming from a reputable company like Pioneer. This was probably what many of us older fans wanted to see.