#microbots

[what-if-i-like-my-mechs-older]

I will forever love the fact that in Transformers G1

Microbots

Perceptor is like

"let's just hope he doesnt make any sudden moves."

and the animation team decided to slip in Megatron looking at a fucking wrist watch.

XD

[starscreamisreginageorge]

Bumblebee will fight anyone for his friends. Even his friends

[pocoslip]

Perceptor and Brawn has Passed the Gay Test

(Everytime I get Two Transformers Figures of my Favourite Shipping, I wanna see if One can Carry their Boyfriend or Girlfriend like this But even if they Fail the Test, I'm still gonna Ship them anyway)

[brandwhorestarscream]

We should talk about microbots

Cybertronians that are so small they're oft forgotten about, the tallest comes in at barely 5 inches in a world where everyone is between 10 and 50 feet high

They're regularly poisoned by doctors because dosages are off. They can't get housing or access most buildings because it's all too big for them. Public transport is a death trap. They can't use the roads and are forced to hitch hike. Most mecha have never even seen a microbot before, or don't know that they have, because they're so small.

Please imagine the teeny tiniest bots no bigger than a human finger, living in discarded dollhouses and old boxes. Always having to run for their lives whenever one of the "Big Ones" walks past them lest they be trampled and stomped into paste. Tiny bots trying to get an education and having to walk along their textbooks, reading words row by row, having to jog back across the screen everytime they reach the end. Tiny bots trying to join decepticon protests because they would like better treatment, too, but no one can hear their little voices and they're nearly kaiju'd. Tiny bots struggling to find any form of housing that's accessible without an hour of climbing and huffing and puffing. Tiny bots that are stepped over and unnoticed and always lrft with the shortest end of the stick. Tiny bots drowning in rain puddles that may as wrll be small oceans, tiny bots that can't even go to the doctor when they're sick because they can't get into the building, and doctors aren't trained for them anyway so they're often poisoned by incorrect doees. Tiny bots that are caught in the crossfire when the war starts, unable to evacuate from battlegrounds as their tiny cobbled together homes are smashed and burned.

Just. Wittle microbots. I can't stop thinking about them. AU where some of our faves are tiny and struggling for equality. Maybe an AU where Megatron has never actually been seen at any of his protests, and they think his speeches are pre-recorded and he's staying out of public view. But no, he's actually a microbot that's just tired of being walked all over, and he's up there on the podium speaking into a megaphone generously provided by Soundwave 🥺 imagine Soundwave carrying teeeeeny tiiiiny Lord Megatron around, letting him command from the palm of his hand. Starscream's mutiny just involves putting him in a jar 🤭

[the-warping-seeker]

Look, I am willing to overlook MANY things when it comes to G1. One thing I'm NOT willing to let go is the Decepticon ship in the Microbots episode being in "South America".

They're talking about the Mayas. It is very clearly stated within the first 5 minutes that that's who built the (now) ruins they're digging in. Which means the thing could never be in South America, because the Mayas lived in Central and North America, like the Aztecs did. If we're talking South America then it's the Incas.

I get that this is an 80s show made by the US but that's the least they could have done. I will even overlook the terrible (incomprehensible, really) Spanish at the beginning.

Do not fuck with geography in my vicinity, I'm a sucker for it <3

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 2: AWAKEN! SUPER ROBOT!!! (1970-1979)

(Read in the voice of Tessho Genda) ITS NAME IS.... MAZINGER.... Z!!!!!!!!!

Welcome back to An Abbreviated History of Mecha. Last time, we covered the origins of mecha by highlighting some of the major works of the time including Godzilla and Ultraman, which are not really mecha but are just as influential to the genre as the other shows mentioned.

Today, we will be moving on to the 70's. Here we will see three extremely iconic entries to the canon make their grand entrances, known to Super Robot Wars fans as the Holy Trinity. We'll also see a lot of the classic mecha tropes become codified with a lot of these entries. So, let's MAZIIIN GO!

Kamen Rider (1971)

Kamen Rider is the second iconic series created by mangaka Shotaro Ishinomori and would be part of the reason why henshin heroes (that is, heroes who transform) would become so popular. More importantly, Kamen Rider would give us one of the most homaged attacks of all time: the Rider Kick! And in case you're wondering, yes, Ishinomori still has one more series worth mentioning.

Kamen Rider, alongside Godzilla and Ultraman, got a 2023 retelling in the form of Shin Kamen Rider, courtesy of Hideaki Anno.

Mazinger Z (1973)

Mazinger Z is one of the many iconic series created by legendary mangaka Go Nagai. If Tetsujin 28 was the original "super robot", Mazinger Z would be the series that would introduce a lot of the tropes now commonly associated with a lot of giant robot anime, including but not limited to:

A robot that has to be piloted from the inside

A chest blaster

Laser eyes

Hot-blooded pilots

The term "super robot"

And most important of all, the rocket punch

Let's just say that there's a good reason why Mazinger Z (and this is just Mazinger Z) is the first of the three pillars of the Holy Trinity. Mazinger also has, in terms of sequels and adaptations:

Great Mazinger

UFO Robot Grendizer

Mazinkaiser

Shin Mazinger Z/Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact

Mazinger Z Infinity

Getter Robo (1974)

Created by Ken Ishikawa with help from Go Nagai, Getter Robo would be the second pillar of the Holy Trinity alongside Mazinger Z. Getter Robo would be important for introducing concepts such as a robot piloted by multiple people and, more importantly, Getter Robo would also introduce us to the combining robot, which is why it requires multiple pilots to man.

Getter Robo would get multiple sequels and spinoffs including, but not limited to:

Getter Robo G

Getter Robo Go

Shin Getter Robo Armageddon!

Shin Getter Robo vs Getter Robo Go

New Getter Robo (not to be confused with Shin Getter Robo)

Getter Robo Devolution

Eventually Ken Ishikawa would pass away before he could wrap up the series with Getter Robo Arc. I will come back to Getter Robo at some point in this series though, but to give you a hint: the series does get a conclusion.

I think I'd also be mistaken not to link to Cheese GX's excellent video retrospective on Getter Robo.

Super Sentai (1975)

Because Shotaro Ishinomori wasn't content with creating two iconic series, he went ahead and made a third: Super Sentai. That's right: Ishinomori created the two most iconic versions of the henshin hero. Super Sentai is worth mentioning here due to the fact that the series would eventually start adding giant robots into the mix. This series would also eventually attract the attention of one Haim Saban, but that's a story for another day.

Microman/Microbots (1974)

Microman (the toy, not the wrestler) was a line of, and I'm not joking when I say this, "Tiny Little Guys" released in 1975 by the toy company Takara. I'm not super familiar with Microman, but I feel it is important to mention Microman here to understand that one of the biggest names in mecha is descended from this line of toys, as it would start out as a spinoff of microman. Something about transforming vehicles the micromen could pilot. Who could know?

Also fun fact, there's a wrestler named Microman.

Brave Raideen (1975)

(We'll have to settle with this clip from Super Robot Wars)

Brave Raideen is a series created by Studio Sunrise and is one of the first giant robots that is considered to be supernatural in origin. Raideen is important in the history of mecha as it is where two important figures would come into play: Yoshiyuki Tomino and Tadao Nagahama. While it is largely overshadowed by other bigger series, Raideen is still important due to it being the first stepping stone for those two directors alone.

Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers (1975)

Up next is Leiji Matsumoto's legendary Space Battleship Yamato. This series would be one of those watershed moments in anime history as Yamato would prove that there was, in fact, an audience who wanted more serious war stories. To say that this series isn't that influential would be a mistake, as we will soon see.

Space Battleship Yamato would eventually receive multiple adaptations, including a live-action film and an anime reboot in the new millennium. The success of Yamato would also help pave the way for other Leiji Matsumoto works like Space Pirate Captain Harlock and the Galaxy Railway 999.

The Robot Romance Trilogy (1976-1979)

(Pictured above: Voltes V)

The Robot Romance Trilogy is a thematic trilogy created by Toei and directed by Tadao Nagahama. These series would include:

Super Electromagnetic Robot Combattler V (V as in the letter)

Super Electromagnetic Robot Voltes V (V as in the number)

Fighting General Daimos

The Robot Romance Trilogy is known for building off of the innovations of its peers. Whereas Getter Robo combined by smashing three jets together (and thus was hard to translate into a toy), Combattler V was designed in a way where the parts of the robots actually made sense when combining to form the robot. This also doesn't even touch on the fact this trilogy would also help to popularize things like the five man band (alongside Super Sentai), mecha shows having more serious storylines with melodrama, and funnily enough, the motion capture mecha (specifically Daimos).

Voltes V is also extremely popular in the Philippines. While this isn't unheard of at this time, Voltes V was different in that it was banned from airing on television by the Marcos regime. Speculation behind its ban may be that its themes were similar to the plight of the Filipino people under Marcos, so you could say that Voltes V in particular is a symbol of rebellion in the Philippines. Heck, it was so popular that there now exists a live action Voltes V series filmed in the Philippines.

Zambot 3 & Daitarn 3 (1977 & 1978)

(Pictured above: Zambot 3)

Meanwhile, Yoshiyuki Tomino would continue to push boundaries as he got more into the groove of directing. On top of producing Voltes V (according to Wikipedia), Tomino would work on a few more series before the end of this decade. The first two would help to establish a pattern with Tomino's works, where he would follow up a more serious and depressing series with something more lighthearted and silly. Zambot 3 would help Tomino earn his nickname "Kill 'Em All Tomino," while Daitarn 3 would also show that he knew how to relax when working on a series. Both Zambot 3 and Daitarn 3 were big hits, but the next series would forever cement Tomino as a legendary figure in the world of anime and manga.

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)

Mobile Suit Gundam, the final pillar of the Holy Trinity, is arguably Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise's single most important series date. Arguably the single most famous mecha of all time, Gundam would be the first giant robot to be treated less as a hero and more as a tool of war, and it would be Gundam who would kick off a new generation of mecha stories that focused more on things like war and how it affects the lives of the characters in these stories. Which is funny, because Gundam was initially a flop at first. Over time, the series would eventually become a hit thanks to its compilation movies as well as the sale of its models and, most important of all, its female fans.

Mobile Suit Gundam would also be a watershed moment in animation history, as it would be the introduction to a lot of people who would also become famous thanks in part to this series. This includes people who worked on the show like Yasuhiko Yoshikazu (the character designer), Kunio Okawara (mechanical designer, and arguably the first credited mechanical designer), and Ichiro Itano (animator, the same man who Itano Circus is named after). Gundam would also be a direct inspiration for one Ryousuke Takahashi, who would begin to really push the boundary for what one could do with military mecha shows.

Conclusion

I hope this was an enjoyable read. Next time, we'll be getting into the 80's, where we will begin to see a lot of series pop up as Japan's economy grows at an exponential rate. We'll also see how these giant machines will come to influence people outside of Japan on top of how they build off of the themes present in the first Gundam.

Will you survive?

[redix19]

Would you do my art requests of the microbots breaking the caviar down in King Norman’s stomach pls?

(Norman is a titular Kenny Scharf “failed cartoon” character who is antagonistic tax collector)

I'm sorry, I forgot about it,

[drama-glob]

Well, today marks the 3 year anniversary since “City of Monsters Part 1″ premiered, where we got to see super-suit upgrades, mutant villain team-ups, “Liv’s” plan coming to fruition and perhaps best of all, Karmi and Hiro putting aside their pride to work together. ^_^ It also was a very stress-filled 24hrs where we had to wait until the following day to see how our teen geniuses were going to make it out of this. (Poor Karmi, she didn’t deserve this :( ).

It was nice to see how Tadashi built Baymax’s healthcare matrix with the help of his doctor friend and how we can do more working together than competing against one another. :) I did laugh so hard at how they brought back Fred’s fake mustaches and even Go Go wore hers. XD Also, I think we can all agree it was a really smart decision to finally give Baymax an extra battery reserve for Overdrive Mode (even if he did use it up and we were still treated to another funny low-battery segment XD).

(I’ll be posting Part 2 tomorrow, so look out for that gif set ;). I’ll also coincidentally be posting a new entry on my “Cutscenes” stories on AO3 later today where it shows what Globby was doing during “City of Monsters Part 2″ since we didn’t get to see it in the show :) ).