I've decided for capricious reasons to start up a new blog whose sole purpose is to be a repository for all of the gifs I use that weren't created by others. I found it to be an issue when I'd make new gifs only for them to show up while searching for something else all because I tagged both series in the same post. So now with the side blog, I'll be able to share with you all the gifs in their purest form.
Outside of that, I'm taking it easy after finishing up The Devil That Is Capitalism (It's a long read, so be prepared for that). To do that, I'll be posting the first addendum to An Abbreviated History of Mecha focusing on some of the shows from the 70's and before that I missed. So stay tuned for that and any future projects I have in store. Thanks for reading!
No safety. No food. No aid. No water. No healthcare. No education. Is this what it means to live? Is this what world accept as life?
If a group of animals were trapped, starved, and cut off from the world like this, people would be outraged. But because it's us—human beings—somehow, the world looks away.
These are unbearable days. Everything feels heavy. Each hour presses on my chest like I’m being suffocated.
My family needs urgent help.
Basic survival has become nearly impossible. Bread—just bread—now costs over $25 a day to make.
We are not asking for luxury. We are begging for life.
Please, if you’re reading this: help.
Reblog this post. Talk about us. Donate if you can. Even a small act can mean everything right now.
Can you believe it? Wanderer's Rest is now a year old!
What started out as a way for me to voice my opinions on giant robots turned into a small blog that has about forty followers, which is about forty more followers than I expected! Hooray!
Anyways, I've been fairly busy with a lot of IRL stuff, so I haven't had time to work on the blog. I am hoping to talk more about mecha (as usual) and also Kamen Rider (if you couldn't tell from the gif above). I'm also working on something completely different. Something that's more related to comedy and might involve at least Pop Team Epic. If you want to know what it is, I'll give you a hint: I already referenced the main series two sentences ago.
I started watching Kamen Rider, and I get it now. I've watched Geats and Ryuki, I've just started Zero-One, and I plan on watching Wizard after that (I was told the Rider duo for Wizard can best be described as Kamen Rider Gintoki and Kamen Rider Hijikata; naturally, I have to watch it next). I get the hype now.
I will say, don't ask me who my favorite Rider is. It's already hard enough having to choose between Kido Shinji (Ryuki) and Sakurai Keiwa (Tycoon).
God I love these two. It's great though. Definitely go watch Kamen Rider if you have the time.
I am not dead! Also no, Getter is not forgotten. I just like this gif. Also, it turned out that this post is a sister post to Mecha's "I'm Not Like the Other Girls" Problem. So you might want to read that as context for this post.
I've thought about something recently. In between work, personal stuff, and well... personal stuff, I thought a lot about various mecha shows. For a while, I thought about just talking about Gun X Sword, but I feel like I don't have much to say on it that wouldn't be some variation of "wow, cool robot Volkein" or how it uses sex as an adolescent way of trying to be an "adult" show (which, now that I think about it, may be a point of Gun X Sword). But then it occurred to me:
At least people say things about Gun X Sword. No one says anything about Grendizer U.
Maybe it's because I'm not on social media outside of tumblr (and even then, I mostly keep to myself), but I don't think I've seen anyone talk about Grendizer U. Remember Grendizer U? I know there was a lot of hype for it prior to its airing in the summer 2024 block, but as soon as the summer anime season started?
Nothing.
I think Ollie Barder wrote something about it, but Ollie Barder writes about every mecha series. That's not a knock, mind you; it's good that someone is talking about it. But I think back to how chatter about Grendizer U all but disappeared after it started airing.
With Grendizer U though, it's really easy to understand why: Manga Productions never licensed the series out to a streaming service in the US or the EU. The only way you could watch Grendizer U outside of Japan or the middle east was to either find the Saudi channel that aired it on Sling, download a Saudi streaming service just for Grendizer U, or to watch it via, shall we say, alternate means.
And it's really disheartening. It's one thing to see people trash a series you love (I'm a G Gundam fan, it comes with the territory), but to hear nothing? No compliments, no criticisms, not even "It's mid" comments. Nothing.
I feel like similar things have happened with other shows of late. Again, this might be because I'm just plugged out of social media for my own sanity, but I don't think I've seen people talk about shows like Back Arrow, Bullbuster, or Synduality: Noir the same way people bloviate about 86: Eighty Six (I'd include AMAIM in there, but AMAIM is basically right wing propaganda that is carried by its mechanical design; there's even less to say about it than 86 in my opinion; I'm also leaving another series out, but I'll bring it up in a reply once this post goes live).
That or they're glazing up SSSS.Dynazenon, which... fair. Dynazenon rules.
(Amusingly enough, Dynazenon used to be a Funimation exclusive series prior to Sony buying up Crunchyroll)
Anyways. There's also the issue of exposure. It's one thing if these series were locked behind different streaming services. That's annoying, but it's the lack of advertising that I think does me in. And I get why. I've seen people say that more anime is coming out now in these last ten years than there is anime from the last fifty. And when there's more yield, there tends to be more chaff as well. So when your anime series is in a genre that tends to be harder to animate (among other things), you end up seeing a lot of mecha shows fall by the wayside. ESPECIALLY if the show is a new IP, like what we saw happen with recent outings like Back Arrow and Bullbuster. Both of which are pretty great. Especially Bullbuster.
The thing is: contrary to what idiots like Gigguk say, the genre isn't dying. As much as I don't like the series, 86 is immensely popular. Gundam just saw a resurgence in viewership (again) with the release of The Witch From Mercury, and the newly announced GQuuuuuux anime is a joint production with Studio Khara (*insert joke about how Anno and Khara are going to save Gundam with GQuuuuuux while ignoring the fact that Anno and company are a bunch of Gundam supernerds*), Code Geass got a new series in the same season as Grendizer U, and we're also getting another adaptation of Magic Knight Rayearth later this year and Patlabor EZY in 2026 (hopefully the new Rayearth anime keeps some of the filler stuff from the 90's anime; I'll gush about this a little bit more in the reply). Oh yeah, and Super Robot Wars Y was announced only a few days ago, which is looking to add both The Witch From Mercury and Getter Robo Arc. Heck, just in the last five years we've seen YouTubers like CheeseGX, Pyramid Inu, and Argonbolt begin to make videos on mecha (all of whom are great, and you should check their channels out).
I'm not the first to say that the mecha genre isn't doing so hot, and I certainly won't be the last. I just don't think the genre is dying like how Garnt from Trash Taste thinks it does. There just aren't as much mecha shows out there now as there were before. There's a whole smorgasbord of reasons as to why this decline has happened, but I really just wanted to lament. If this genre is supposedly dying, why are we not advertising shows from the genre. If this genre is on the verge of death, should we not be making people aware of each and every mecha series that comes out? It's not like we're talking about a general audience here, we're talking about mecha fans. We come from all walks of life with a wide variety of tastes. Surely we could
I guess the answer is no, seeing as how you can get more exposure and clout by saying that the genre is dead. Just ask Gigguk.
I think that's everything off my chest. It's kind of scattershot, but I think I was just lamenting that a lot of newer mecha shows are never really talked about. Maybe it just means that I have to plug in to the discourse, but I don't want to... Plugging in to the discourse means making a social media account, and I don't know if I want to subject myself to that. Who knows, maybe I'll make a Bluesky account at some point. Maybe then I'll see what people have to say about Bullbuster. Which is great.
Go watch Bullbuster. No seriously. It's only thirteen episodes long.
One Good Episode 1: I'm Selling Peace of Mind (Patlabor on Television)
"Perhaps insuring Patlabors was just a bad idea in the first place."
-Naoyo Yamada
This is the story of SV2 and that time they had to deal with insurance people.
The synopsis for the Patlabor episode "I'm Selling Peace of Mind" is pretty simple: SV2 are under investigation by their insurance company due to the amount of insurance claims they make, a lot of which are caused by one Isao Ohta specifically.
To understand why I love this episode though, you have to understand the appeal of Patlabor. To put it bluntly, Patlabor is loved in part due to its realism, and this episode, to me, is the one that best exemplifies what makes Patlabor so realistic. It's not the worldbuilding justifying the use of giant robots as construction vehicles, and it's not the political intrigue that boils just below the surface. It's the main cast having to deal with insurance even though they work with what would be an absolute nightmare to deal with in real life.
Another part of the appeal for this episode is that the focus is on Ohta. And this is an important aspect of the episode, since it focuses in on the member of SV2 who is nine times out of ten responsible for a lot of the damages that Division 2 specifically causes. And it should be important to note that what Ohta does in this episode is actually tame in comparison to his usual shenanigans. This is not the gun nut from the beginning of the series anymore. Ohta is now just as experienced a pilot as Noa is, though generally still not as good as Our Lady of Perpetual Mecha.
So to me, the true appeal of I'm Selling Peace of Mind is how the episode reinforces the realism of Patlabor's setting by introducing a concept as mundane as Labor insurance. I can't stress enough how much this episode really sells the worldbuilding of Patlabor, and I hope this episode really sells you on why you should watch Patlabor.
Also the insurance poster at the end (pictured above) is worth watching this episode for.
Oof. I've finally gotten off of my ass after the one-two punch of Diabolos Est Machina and the election and come back with a new idea for a series of posts. I figure that, with all of the despair just over the horizon, I figured a good way to close out 2024 would be to talk about my favorite episodes of my favorite shows.
So I present to you, the last Wanderer's Rest post of 2024: One Good Episode. Because the year's been long, and I think we all need a reprieve. The only thing I will say is that, as Thanksgiving is around the corner (and Christmas comes shortly thereafter), this "series" may take a little bit longer for each part to come out. I plan on doing four posts for now and having this series be a seasonal thing, so stay tuned.
And once again, thanks for reading the Wanderer's Rest!
Diabolos Est Machina Part 3: I, For One, Welcome Our Mechanical Overlords
Special thanks to my sister, who helped inspire me to do this series.
Oh yeah, there's also going to be spoilers for Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
IT'S WHAT WE WANTED ALL ALONG!!!
Sorry. Welcome back to Diabolos Est Machina. Last time, we covered some examples of autonomous characters in the world of fiction. And today, dear readers, we can finally talk about the actual subject of this series: the JDG-00X Devil Gundam. Specifically, we're going to look at what the Devil Gundam was made for, what happens to it, and, most importantly, who is responsible for the machine. Hopefully this little exercise will highlight the point of ethics in AI.
So with all that, Gundam Fight! Ready, GO!!!
More Than a Weapon
In order to understand the ethics behind the Devil Gundam, we must first understand what this machine is capable of. That's easy enough, as the Devil Gundam has three primary principles behind its powers:
The ability to self-repair: The Devil Gundam is capable of repairing itself from damage.
The ability to self-replicate: The Devil Gundam can pass off its properties via DG Cells.
The ability to self-evolve: The Devil Gundam can upgrade any being affected by the DG Cells.
It should also be noted that the Devil Gundam is largely autonomous, complete with all the works. It has computer vision, and even if it is an extremely fantastical version of it, the Devil Gundam does also possess some kind of general artificial intelligence that stems largely from it's ability to self-evolve.
And if you're thinking "Why would anyone make a machine like that," that's because the Devil Gundam was originally made for the altruistic purpose (though why this thing has vulcans is beyond me) of rebuilding an Earth ravaged by war. It should then be of no surprise when you find out that the Devil Gundam was originally named the Ultimate Gundam.
Paradise Lost
How could this happen, one might ask? How does a machine originally created for rebuilding the world end up trying to destroy it? Well it certainly helps when people with ill intentions want it for their own nefarious deeds. And all it takes is one useful idiot to get things rolling.
See, the Devil Gundam was developed in secret by Dr Raizo Kasshu and his older son Kyoji, but they were ultimately ratted out to the Japanese government by a jealous Dr Mikamura (the useful idiot I was talking about). In a scramble to keep it out of the hands of the government, Raizo orders Kyoji to take the Ultimate Gundam and flee to Earth, which the latter ultimately relents to doing. This results in the Ultimate Gundam crash-landing on Earth and more or less kills Kyoji. Kind of. It's weird.
The important thing to note is that the crash-landing causes the Ultimate Gundam to malfunction, turning it into the Devil Gundam we all know. Of course, now we have the Japanese government searching for it via the younger Kasshu son Domon (who is gaslit into thinking Kyoji is responsible for kidnapping the Devil Gundam). And of course, over the course of the series you also get THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST, MASTER ASIA and Neo Hong Kong Prime Minister Wong Yunfat also looking for it for their own purposes. What was once a tool to help humanity fix a destroyed Earth would soon become an object that others would seek out for the purpose of destroying the Earth.
When the Devil Gundam Kills, Who's At Fault?
So this begs the question: who is at fault when it comes to the Devil Gundam running rampant? If you think the answer is the Japanese Government, you're correct!
Except not quite.
We are right to believe that the Japanese government is at fault for the Devil Gundam causing as much destruction as it does. Not helping things is the fact that an ultranationalist like Ulube Ishikawa played a major part in all of this, as his endgame was to use the Devil Gundam for world domination. And yes, Ulube specifically is at fault separate from the Japanese government.
Dr Kasshu is also at fault for making such a system in the first place, as is Dr Mikamura for getting the Japanese government involved. Prime Minister Wong also shares some fault as he has the remains of the Devil Gundam dug up from the Guyana Highlands and brought to Neo Hong Kong. Heck, THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST, MASTER ASIA even shares some blame since he also attempts to use the Devil Gundam as a weapon of mass destruction.
If anything, the only person who you could argue is not responsible for the Devil Gundam is Kyoji, and him being mostly dead is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. He did assist his dad in making it, but that's about where his involvement with the Devil Gundam begins and ends.
And if you think this is just me spinning my gears... well it is.
Conclusion
Jokes aside, it is important to talk about these kinds of things when it comes to AI ethics. Trying to figure out who is responsible for these systems requires us to look into who is responsible. Of course, the end of G Gundam has both Dr Kasshu and Chairman Karato (the series stand-in for the Japanese government), the only parties mentioned above that are alive, eventually take full responsibility for the Devil Gundam. The point of this exercise is to understand why ethics in AI is so important. Granted, I feel like most of the people reading this are also well aware of this problem due to the recent plague of generative AI. I do think it is important though for everyone to remember who is responsible for any AI system. I hope this has been informative, even if I rushed it mostly to meet an imagined deadline of Halloween night. Thank you for reading, and happy Halloween!
Diabolos Est Machina Part 2: The Devil Is In the Details
Special thanks to my sister, who helped inspire me to do this series.
Welcome back to Diabolos Est Machina, Last time, we did some defining of terms when it comes to artificial intelligence. I don't remember if I had addressed it in the last post, but I will say it here just in case:
Artificial intelligence is considered to be a part of automation.
Something I also forgot to mention was that video games also employ some form of AI. It's mostly an aside though, as the systems that games use tend to be very rudimentary compared to what is more generally known as AI.
So today, before we actually tackle the big Devil itself (yes I know, I said I'd talk about the Devil Gundam; we'll get there by Halloween), we are going to look at the history of automation in fiction. We're also going to take a look at three different examples of AI-adjacent characters in fiction.
A (Very) Abbreviated History of Robotics in Fiction
Fictional robots and artificial humans are some of the oldest stories in the collective canon of humanity. From what I could tell, the earliest cases of the Kourai Khryseai that were made by Hephaestus as his assistants. Per the Wikipedia link above, robots and artificial humanoids have also existed in all sorts of cultures, including but not limited to Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian cultures.
As we head into the 1800's and the 1900's, we would see a lot of pivotal stories come about that are associated with robots and automation such as Frankenstein (the first science fiction story, which is all about creating artificial life no less), Rossum's Universal Robots (which is where we get the word Robot from), Metropolis (which is the first portrayal of a robot on film), and I, Robot (which is where we get the Three Laws of Robotics from).
But we're talking about Artificial Intelligence though and those are just robots. Which is true, but these stories would help to pave the way for a certain film releasing in the 60's. And with that new film, the world would be introduced to a new character (and our first case study).
Case 1: HAL-9000
"I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do."
-HAL
Full disclosure: It's been a while since I last watched 2001: A Space Odyssey, so my recollection of what happens in the movie outside of the broad strokes will be a bit
I believe it is impossible to really talk about AI characters without mentioning 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL-9000. HAL is known for his cold and impersonal appearance and mannerisms, with the only major feature that defines the character is a single modem with a red LED for a face. HAL is also slavishly devoted to the mission of the Discovery One.
One of the most important concepts introduced with HAL is the idea of the AI as a killer entity. Note that this is not the first example of this type of character, but I feel confident that most people tend to think of HAL as the go-to example of the killer AI character alongside Terminator's Skynet.
When it comes time for him to betray Dave and Frank, HAL justifies this by saying the mission is more important than the safety of the crew. When Dave confronts HAL and tries to shut the AI down, HAL pleads with Dave not to do it. It is unknown to the audience whether or not HAL actually feels scared or is using it as a defense mechanism to prevent David from shutting him down.
As I said earlier, HAL's purpose is to complete the mission and will stop at nothing to see that it is done. This is important to remember, as HAL otherwise largely functions like a highly advanced computer program. A computer program that can feel emotions or, depending on who you ask, mimic the idea of feeling emotions.
Case 2: Fuyo 0 AKA Tama
"When she's surround by smiles, that's when she's at her best."
-Gintoki Sakata
Could I have talked about a different character like Astro Boy? Yes.
Have I read or watched Astro Boy? No, so we're talking about Tama instead.
Gintama gives us a great foil to 2001's HAL in the form of the robot maid Tama. Originally designated Fuyo 0 as a part of a line of robot maids (robot maids that largely fetish machines, I might add), Tama is unique in that she can experience emotions. This is referred to in-universe as The Seed, which is an easy way to handwave how Tama is capable of experiencing emotions.
What is interesting to me is that Tama is the exact opposite of HAL. Whereas HAL's primary purpose is to complete his mission at all costs, Tama does not have a purpose for existing outside of being a replacement daughter for her creator (hence why she can experience emotions like sadness or happiness). Tama eventually extrapolates that her purpose is to help others in any way she can. This makes for another contrast between her and HAL in that Tama accepts her fate as being ultimately disposable, unlike HAL who views his continued existence as being of critical importance to his mission.
And I get that Tama is a character in a gag series, so a lot of her characteristics are largely played for laughs. But I do think it's worth highlighting that the two contrast each other pretty well. It showcases just how differently an AI/AI-adjacent character can be portrayed throughout fiction. There are all sorts of examples of these kinds of characters. Shodan, Cortana. But there is one last case study I'd like to look at. And for this one, I want to look at a character similar to the Devil Gundam itself.
Case 3: Mobile Armor Hashmal
Before I close out on this section, it would be foolish of me not to mention a character like Iron-Blooded Orphans' Mobile Armor Hashmal.
I only mentioned them briefly, but the Three Laws of Robotics is, despite being created for a work of fiction, something that is treated very seriously in the world of robotics and automation. Granted, it is something that is impossible to actually implement them into code due to the ambiguities of language, but the Three Laws serve as a useful backbone for a lot of AI and robotics ethics.
For reference, these are the Three Laws:
The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
These laws are nice, but they are not fixed. The Three Laws are guidelines that should be adhered to, and it becomes a problem when a machine is made with the express purpose of killing.
And Hashmal's entire purpose is to kill.
Whereas with both HAL and Tama we can communicate with both of them, Hashmal cannot talk. It is, first and foremost, a killing machine. Hashmal, unlike even HAL, can come off as downright alien, especially since we witness Hashmal's awakening well after the time it was created. There's no parlaying with a being that looks at you like how a hawk looks at a mouse. When it comes to Hashmal, there is only death.
Conclusion
And those are three very specific examples of AI-related characters in fiction. As I had said at the beginning, AI and robotics tend to go hand in hand. Next time, and gods willing I can get this done on Halloween, we will finally cover the Devil Gundam!
Diabolos Est Machina Part 1: Defining Artificial Intelligence
Special thanks to my sister, who helped inspire me to do this series.
Welcome to the first part of Diabolos Est Machina, the series covering AI ethics in relation to the Devil Gundam! Today, we'll be covering the basics of artificial intelligence! Yes, that's right! This is actually a school lesson!
Something to also keep in mind is that artificial intelligence is a broad field, so we will have to do a lot of defining today. We're going to take a look at what artificial intelligence is, the different concepts that make up the field of artificial intelligence, and why we would create an artificial intelligence in the first place.
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence (AI for short) is a field of study in computer science that focuses on allowing a computer to perceive the world around it as if it were a human. As we are all aware, computers are not sentient beings. The idea behind AI is to make it so that a computer can perform certain tasks where complex decision-making is concerned. At its most basic, an AI is practically a large nest of conditional statements (If X Then Y Else Z). In fact, calling it an AI is even a bit of a misnomer; a more apt name would be Complex Information Processing, but that doesn't roll off the tongue the way Artificial Intelligence does.
When created, the AI is like that of a baby. And like all babies do, the AI needs to learn. And the way most AI today can achieve this is through Machine Learning, since using just conditional statements would be exhausting and prevent the AI from being able to change its outputs dynamically. Machine Learning is a pretty broad and complicated subject itself, but the gist of it is that Machine Learning is the means by which an AI can learn how to do a given task. If you've ever heard of things like Neural Networks (NN) or Large Language Models (LLM), they are both applications of Machine Learning.
The AI has to be trained with a given data set in order for it to be able to accomplish a given task. To understand this a little bit better, lets take a quick look at a field I am actually pretty knowledgeable on: Computer Vision. Computer Vision, as its name suggests, is the field of AI where the general goal is to make a computer able to perceive visual data using cameras. So for something like facial recognition, we would need to train the system on a data set of some kind. So we train the AI on a data set consisting of two things: faces and not faces. The goal during the training phase is to reinforce the AI (in this case our facial recognition software) on what is or is not a face. We repeat this training process until the AI is able to differentiate faces from non-faces.
So, Why Make An AI? What's Its Purpose?
Like any form of automation, the purpose of AI is to perform tasks at a more efficient rate than what humans are capable of achieving. In a more positive light, AI is useful in its ability to remove the human element from dangerous, and in some cases outright impossible, tasks. On the other hand (and I'm willing to bet this is probably what you know AI for dear reader), AI is also used by major corporations to force people out of their jobs for the sake of the bottom line.
Another purpose for the existence of AI is in research, specifically when it comes to understanding how human consciousness works. The idea, like most constructed models in general, is to create a sort of simulacrum of how human intelligence works. There are, of course, a couple of issues with this.
The first is that we don't really know how human intelligence works, so how would we even be able to create something that models human intelligence if we barely understand human intelligence in the first place?
The second problem is that, as they currently stand, AI systems are not very smart.
Okay, IBM Watson is kind of smart, but that was almost ten years ago. Yes, I can feel myself aging rapidly...
But even Watson has the same problem as most AI systems, which is they are reliant on the data they are trained on. And because the data they are trained on is almost always a very specific type of data, it means that most AI systems are only good at doing one specific task and pretty much nothing else.
"But Kaien," you might ask, "What about Artificial General Intelligence? If we just made a system that could handle different tasks instead of just one then-"
NO. It's already enough of a pain in the ass to make an AI system that can handle one specific task really well. The idea that we are close to any kind of general AI that can do a multitude of tasks (let alone do them well) is, to be frank, something a snake oil salesman would tell you. Even when they handle tasks that they are supposed to be good at doing, AI systems can and do fail.
A prime example of a specific AI system failing is Amazon's Rekognition being used by the ACLU to highlight how a facial recognition system can incorrectly flag non-criminals as criminals due to systemic racial biases. It's surprising if this is your first time hearing about facial recognition in a major capacity; not so much if you know that computer vision software can and will occasionally label cats as dogs.
To put it bluntly before moving on: as they currently stand, AI systems in general are nowhere near ready to be used as a replacement for humans in pretty much every scenario where corporate ghouls try to sell them for.
Conclusion
As we wrap up this section of Diabolos Est Machina, you might be asking yourself "But why the Devil Gundam? Couldn't you cover something more iconic like HAL-9000 or Skynet?"
And to be frank, enough ink has been spilled over HAL-9000 (heck, there's an interesting paper you can read that focuses on AI ethics through the lens of HAL ), and Skynet isn't particularly interesting in my opinion due to it being more of a generic "AI overlord who is evil and wants to wipe out humanity." At least AM was an actual character...
And now to sound like a complete hypocrite, the Devil Gundam is interesting. Hear me out: a lot of this stems from the fact that a lot of the plot of G Gundam revolves around various superpowers (including THE UNDEFEATED OF THE EAST, MASTER ASIA) trying to get their hands on what is basically an AI-operated super weapon. Which is interesting, because the Devil Gundam's primary purpose was not to be used as a weapon. And next time, we will turn our focus onto the history of AI in fiction! Complete with HAL, AM, Atom, and even Skynet (without the flippant remarks this time, I swear). And most important to us: the JDG-00X Devil Gundam!
Also Hashmal might get a reference, as will the AV-0.
Except it did. I was busy with prepping for Hurricane Milton (and playing Castlevania whenever I had off time), so I haven't been able to work on Diabolos Est Machina (which is being worked on right now). I'm gunning for part one to be released by Sunday and hope to wrap the series up by Halloween.
Outside of that, I did find a video that I find is very complimentary to The Devil That Is Capitalism by The Bellman. I don't necessarily agree with all of Bellman's takes in general, but I don't think their takes are egregious like, say, Boofire191 or Professor Otaku. This video though is a pretty nuanced take on Iron-Blooded Orphans that comes to, in my humble opinion, similar conclusions that I did about the series. I recommend checking it out if you want to see a more level-headed take on a series that's known for attracting dumbass takes.
I've also be reading Dan Da Dan, and it's weird that I can now name three Shonen Jump protagonists who have lost their balls. It's definitely a weird and cool series, and the anime has been a delight to watch so far.
And in case you're wondering, it's specifically Gintoki, Denji, and Okarun.
Don't worry! I'm not dead yet! And don't worry! I'm not closing shop yet.
As I spend my days figuring out what to write about next, I have been learning up on ethics in artificial intelligence. And I figured, "Hey, I need a way to signal to others that I do actually know a bit about this." So I figured, why not write about it on Tumblr?
The robot in question:
I present to you, dear reader, the latest blog series for The Wanderer's Rest: Diabolos Est Machina! This time, instead of looking at the entirety of the mecha genre, we will instead focus on exactly one mecha: the JDG-00X Devil Gundam from 1994's Mobile Fighter G Gundam! To be specific, we will be looking at the various ethical concerns about artificial intelligence as it relates to one of Gundam's most eldritch of entities.
I will be handling this a little bit differently than both The Devil That Is Capitalism and The Mazinger Z Experience. I found that both posts were fairly long and meandering in retrospect, though I do stand by everything I said in both posts. With Diabolos Est Machina, I have a feeling I will be talking a lot more in these incoming posts than either of those two. As such, expect something more in-line with An Abbreviated History of Mecha, though with a lot more substance than AHM.
I didn't even realize that October is right around the corner, so a series talking about the Devil Gundam in the month of Big Spooky is going to be very apt! So stay tuned for it, and thank you for reading my posts!
So I recently got caught up with the Spy x Family manga after watching the Code: White movie the other day. It's great! It's been a really great experience that I found to be similar to my great Shonen Jump love, Gintama. In particular, I love that the series puts a great emphasis on how The War has affected all of the characters both young and old.
Also, as a cis/het man, Yor Forger is such a mood.
Okay, maybe not the fact that she's a super-strong assassin, but a lot of her struggles, specifically how she struggles to fit in, are things I've found to be really relatable.
But for real, I really love how The War is an event that affects all of the characters in some way. You see it almost instantly at the start with Twilight's motivations for being a spy: to create a world where children do not have to suffer the way he did. Gintama is a tad bit different since it deals more with general trauma (meaning not everyone in Gintama suffers due to the Joi War), but generally the two series share similar themes. They're also both very funny.
So basically, go read and/or watch Spy x Family. Probably preaching to the choir, but do it.
Spoiler Warning for basically everything Mazinger-related; specifically the original Mazinger Z, Mazinger Edition Z/Shin Mazinger Z, Shin Mazinger Zero and its sequel, Mazinger Z: Infinity, and Grendizer U
Also, if you want to read Shin Mazinger Zero and its sequel, I'll just say it now: BIG FAT CONTENT WARNING FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT IF YOU DECIDE TO READ THEM.
Ah, Dungeon Meshi Mazinger Z. My beloved Iron Fortress. Few machines can hold a candle in terms of importance to you, those few being either Tetsujin-28, Getter Robo, the RX-78-2 Gundam, the VF-01 Valkyrie, and Evangelion Unit 01. I might be a little bit biased though. Just a little bit.
Recently, I decided that I would start reading more manga. As I had said in my second Idle Thoughts post on Patlabor, I had started reading the manga version of Patlabor. Well... I read a lot more than just Patlabor (which is great, by the way; if you like Patlabor, go read the manga if you haven't already). I managed to read through all of Getter Robo (I blame the YouTuber CheeseGX exclusively for making me Getter-pilled), Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon (which is amazing, btw), and, of course Mazinger Z.
And boy oh boy was that a wild ride. To say nothing of the fact that Grendizer U is currently airing, I figured now would be a great time to just talk about random stuff involving the Iron Castle, Mazinger Z!
Oh, also, for future reference: there are two series tied to the name Shin Mazinger. For all intents and purposes, the TV series will be referred to as Mazinger Edition Z, while the manga series will be referred to as Mazinger Zero.
Yasuhiro Imagawa Will Cause Me to Overdose on HOT BLOOD
My first experience with Mazinger Z was watching 2009's Mazinger Edition Z: the Impact, otherwise known as Shin Mazinger Z. I would only learn later on that this series was directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, but I remember feeling my body temperature rise as I continued to watch the series. It was that familiar sensation. A sudden increase in fighting spirit. A boisterous energy that makes you want to yell at the top of your lungs.
It's what a lot of people call HOT BLOOD. Mecha heads, especially those who love the classic giant robot shows made in the wake of Mazinger Z, will know this feeling well. HOT BLOOD is a common trope with a lot of these shows, with some of the big names associated with the term including the aforementioned Mazinger Z alongside Getter Robo, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann among others.
Really, what I wanted to highlight is that Imagawa-san is a purveyor of HOT BLOOD. Because this is another moment of Imagawa helming a HOT-BLOODED mecha series, the other two being G Gundam and the first three episodes of Getter Robo Armageddon. And those are just the shows I've actually watched (I will get to Giant Robo one day, I swear). It's why I enjoy a lot of these shows.
Also Imagawa and the people working under him are really good at mecha introductions. Not necessarily tied to HOT BLOOD per se, but a good HOT BLOODED giant robot series does need a good introduction. And man, does Imagawa and company deliver. Let's just say that there's a reason why I use the gif at the beginning for Mazinger. And that's saying a lot, since the original Mazinger Z's introduction is just as iconic. All Edition Z does, as Edition Z is wont to do, is lean into the idea of Mazinger Z being either a god or a devil.
I'm So Mazinger, Even This Acronym
Another entry in the Mazinger franchise that I read was Shin Mazinger Zero and its sequel, Shin Mazinger Zero vs The Great General of Darkness. And like it's TV Anime counterpart (that being Mazinger Edition Z, or more aptly, Shin Mazginer Z), Mazinger Zero leans in to the core themes of what make Mazinger, well, Mazinger, arguably even more so than even Edition Z. And this is best exemplified not in the original Mazinger Zero, but its sequel series.
Based off of its title, the sequel manga is named after what is arguably one of the most important of the original Mazinger Z: Kouji Kabuto is eventually defeated. Not by Doctor Hell, but by the Great General of Darkness and his Mycenaean Empire. This is treated as a darkest hour kind of thing, until Tetsuya Tsurugi shows up to save the day with his Great Mazinger. This introduction acts as a general bridge for Mazinger Z to transition over to its sequel series Great Mazinger.
Shin Mazinger Zero vs The Great General of Darkness throws a wrench into this with one major change: Mazinger survives and ultimately beats the Great General of Darkness. But before we get into that, I might be burying the lede a little bit here.
Something that should be noted about Mazinger Zero is that the titular robot is actually a twisted incarnation of the classic Mazinger. Whereas Edition Z's Mazinger leans into a little bit more into the idea of Mazinger as a god, Zero's version of Mazinger leans more into the idea of the machine becoming more of a devil. If we're comparing this to the other members of the Holy Trinity, Mazinger Zero would be comparable to both the Getter Emperor or the Turn A Gundam.
Also there's time travel involving Minerva X, but I'll get to that... right now, actually.
See, Mazinger defeating the Great General of Darkness in their first encounter in the Zero timeline is important, because it messes with the timeline of the setting. This causes everything to go haywire in a series where, up to this point, the timeline has been relatively stable thanks to Kouji and Minerva X. But because Mazinger could not handle the idea of losing and being saved by Great, it went out of control.
Mazinger getting totaled is kind of a landmark scene for this franchise, since it's what establishes Great Mazinger and later Grendizer as its successors. But Mazinger not accepting this outcome in Zero means that Mazinger keeps on winning. And it keeps on winning to the point where it creates an alternate timeline where the only giant robot show to exist are Mazinger Z and the shows and manga that came out before it. So while things like Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, and Ambassador Magma would still exist in this timeline, shows that would come out after Mazinger Z like Kotetsu Jeeg, Getter Robo, Voltes V, Zambot 3, Mobile Suit Gundam, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Pacific Rim all do not exist.
Heck, even both Great Mazinger and UFO Robot Grendizer never happen in this specific timeline. The only reason Kouji is even able to bring Tetsuya is that he creates a film explaining the events of the manga up to that point in an attempt to will Tetsuya back into existence. The only reason he can't do the same for Duke Fleed is because, as Minerva X explains to Duke Fleed in the manga, Mazinger Z never meets Grendizer. Sure they both exist in the same shared universe due to Duke and Kouji being friends, but officially Mazinger Z and Grendizer never officially meet (there is a one-shot chapter in the Grendizer manga featuring the two of them as well as Great Mazinger, but I don't think that's officially canon).
Fun Spoiler Fact: I didn't pick those post-Mazinger series at random. If you read Mazinger Zero vs The Great General of Darkness, you'll see what I mean.
Mitsuo Fukuda is a Good Fit For Grendizer; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and... uh... Respect the Saudis?
As I've said in An Abbreviated History of Mecha, I am not terribly familiar with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. What I AM familiar with is its, shall we say, rather divisive nature as a series. I am also familiar that a lot of the blame also tends to be thrown at series director Mitsuo Fukuda. As I understand them, a common criticism of SEED I can recall was the fact that the series overly relies on melodrama in a rather ridiculous manner.
If I remembered that correctly, then it pleases me to tell you that 2024's Grendizer U is, in my humble opinion, a great fit for Fukuda. I believe a lot of this stems from the fact that our protagonist Duke Fleed is a better fit as a melodramatic messiah figure than, say, Kira Yamato. It also helps that Grendizer U also has preexisting source material like the original UFO Robot Grendizer, whereas Gundam SEED can only take the more surface level aspects of the original Gundam.
This is, of course, only a theory. As I have also heard, the production history of Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny is arguably one of the more troubled productions in the franchise. But that's another story for another day, and one that requires me to do more research.
What I can talk about is the production history behind Grendizer U. It should be noted that the original UFO Robot Grendizer, and really most of the Mazinger Z franchise, is popular in countries outside of Japan and the US. And while this isn't unheard of (See: Voltes V and The Philippines), Grendizer is a frustrating case since the country it is most popular in is Saudi Arabia. The reason why this is frustrating is because the Saudis are the ones bankrolling Grendizer U. And because they are bankrolling Grendizer U, it means that the series (which is a summer anime in Japan) has not been localized outside of Saudi Arabia. The only way to watch Grendizer U currently is through, shall we say, alternate means. It's vexing, because Grendizer U has been a pretty fun romp so far. Hopefully there are plans for a global release outside of Saudi Arabia in the future.
There Is a Charm to Robots That Can Do Everything
Something that is refreshing about a giant robot like Mazinger Z is, surprisingly enough, the very toyetic nature of the Iron Fortress. The fact that Mazinger is a giant humanoid machine standing at least 50 feet in height and is armed to the teeth with rocket punches, axe blades, missiles (a lot of missiles, by the way), two lasers (depending on how you classify Breast Fire), and a breath attack that turns most metals into dust. Oh yeah, it also has a winged backpack that allows it to fly, and said backpack's wings are sharp enough to cut buildings and monsters in two. And when I say it's refreshing to see a robot like Mazinger, this is even going into things like how the Black Castle is designed.
Why? Because mechanical design for giant robots did not exist when Mazinger Z was created.
No seriously. Mechanical design in relation to giant robots wouldn't be taken seriously until arguably Combattler V and at most the original Mobile Suit Gundam. But before then, giant robots were, to my understanding, largely designed by the rule of thumb of "this looks cool" (or in the case of Getter Robo specifically "this looks like three jets smooshed together"). There's a certain wonder to these early machines who I would assume go on to inspire a whole generation of people in become righteous people (pay no attention to the militia who named their armored vehicles Mazinger Z).
Even moving outside of the mechanical design of Mazinger, part of the charm of these older machines (and the ones that harken back to this era of robots like GaoGaiGar and Dai-Guard) is that they tend to tell simpler stories. To be clear, I'm not advocating for stories to be dumbed down. It's just that a lot of mecha stories, especially in the wake of both the original Gundam as well as Neon Genesis Evangelion, have felt a need for stories to be more and more complicated themes. And that's good! That's a good thing! It shows that the vague and nebulous genre known as mecha has matured from where it started, but information overload is also a thing that exists.
Mazinger Z, as far as stories (and especially as far as mecha stories are concerned), is a fairly simple one. This is not a bad thing, as I have argued that Mobile Fighter G Gundam benefits from having a simpler story. We tend to assume that serialized storytelling is objectively better than episodic storytelling, but I would argue (as I did with G Gundam) that that is not always the case. Think about how US darling series New Mobile Report Gundam Wing is thought of today as this incoherent mess that, while having some pretty interesting critiques of war, is wrapped up in this ball of unlikable and arguably insane characters and bizarre story beats. I could go on about how bad Gundam Wing is, but my name is neither Arin Hanson nor Barry Kramer. The important point is that being episodic does not necessarily mean that a series is lesser. Just remember that the original Star Trek, arguably one of the most important shows in all of science fiction, is largely episodic in nature. The same applies to seminal science fiction shows like The Twilight Zone and, to a lesser extent, Doctor Who are also episodic affairs.
(I'd like to clarify one more thing: I'm not saying that Mazinger Z does not have anything substantial to say. That's folly; every story has a message that people can take away from it, the author's original intent be damned. If anything, downplaying what Mazinger Z brings to the table is disrespectful not just to the series itself, but also mecha as a whole.)
Extra Thoughts
Before I go, I do have a couple other stray thoughts about Mazinger in its various iterations. These are little things that I thought were interesting or funny.
I haven't watched all of Mazinkaiser yet, but I love that Mazikasier in general is basically "What if Mazinger, but Getter?" No really, the origins behind Mazinkaiser was basically a what-if scenario from Super Robot Wars that conjectured what would happen if Mazinger Z was subjected to the effects of the Getter Rays. Mazinger Zero's iteration of Tetsuya Tsurugi is basically "What if Tetsuya, but Getter pilot," and guess what Tetsuya eventually pilots? Great Mazinkaiser. Hell, Mazinkaiser SKL is directed by Jun Kawagoe, the man who directed every Getter Robo OVA and the Getter Robo Arc Anime. I'm sorry Mazinkaiser faithful. I know I tagged you all in this post, but I promise I'll get to it one day.
Mazinger Z protagonist Kouji Kabuto has never had a consistent voice actor, which is surprising when compared to fellow Holy Trinity compatriots Ryouma Nagare and Amuro Ray.
Grendizer U has revealed to me that Kouji x Duke is a thing, and I'm not going to lie: I can see it.
Mazinger Z vs the Transformers is amazing. Definitely read that when you get the chance. The friendship between Boss and Grimlock is peak, by the way. It's... it's just peak.
Anyways, if there are any specific series I'd recommend, definitely give Mazinger Edition Z a shot if you like Imagawa's previous works (specifically G Gundam) and also like Go Nagai's stuff in general. As I said before, Mazinger vs the Transformers is also peak, and I've also been enjoying Grendizer U. Maybe one day I'll finally get around to watching the original Mazinger Z. Who knows. I finished all of the City Hunter anime once. I'm currently rewatching City Hunter 2. I think if I can watch City Hunter twice, I can do all of the Toei Mazinger series.
Mazinger Z Preview: The Introduction is the Most Important Part
Spoilers for, amusingly enough, Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Also I forgot how quickly the shots between Domon and Shining Gundam flash. So keep that in mind if you have something like epilepsy.
This is going to be a "short" preview of my upcoming post on the Mazinger Z franchise. And all I really want to highlight is that how a series introduces a giant robot is important. Take for example...
Shin Getter One in Getter Robo Armageddon
Shin Getter One's introduction highlights the fact that Shin Getter does not care about Musashi and Benkei's well-being, which indicates that it is currently unknown if it is a friend or a foe. This is amplified by the fact that it is shown fighting an invader seconds later. More importantly, we get a glimpse of how brutal Shin Getter One is as a machine not only in how it fights Getter 3, but how it ruthlessly and bloodily it tears apart the invader. For another powerful giant robot introduction, let's take a look at...
God Gundam vs Shining Gundam in Mobile Fighter G Gundam
G Gundam does a pretty good job using the introduction of the main character's Gundams to highlight a contrast in how he has changed as a person.
With the Shining Gundam's first appearance, it's landing pod crashes violently in Rome. And the suit-up sequence for the Shining Gundam is iconic: Domon's suit-up sequence is a violent affair, which really showcases that this is a man filled to the brim with nothing but anger.
Once he upgrades to the God Gundam though, things change. Even God Gundam's very first appearance is different from how Shining's intro. Whereas the latter is this explosive and destructive affair, the former's very first appearance harkens back to Michelangelo's Pieta as it carries the now-destroyed Shining Gundam in its arms. Even Domon's transformation sequence for the God Gundam is more peaceful, which makes sense as far as characterization goes since Domon has, at this point, learned how to reign in his emotions.
It's not just G Gundam that does this, by the way. You'd be surprised to note that Gun X Sword does this as well. Van's Original Seven Armor Dann of Thursday is treated as this otherworldly and almost angelic Armor that descends from the skies.
Meanwhile, Ray Lundgren, the Gun to Van's Sword, summons his Armor Volkein by having it rise from under the Earth. Fittingly enough, Volkein also has more of a chthonic and lived-in look to it as well to contrast it with the more ethereal and almost alien-looking Dann.
Music is (also) the Key to Victory!!
Another key factor in a mecha's introduction is the soundtrack. A soundtrack, while not necessarily being the only factor in what makes a mecha's introduction, can almost certainly elevate it's introduction. You see this with the aforementioned Dann of Thursday, but there are two examples that stand out in my mind that aren't Dann: The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, whose final fusion sequence is paired with the theme of the same name...
...and The Big O, where the titular mecha's theme is complimented by the soundtrack Sure Promise.
In both cases, the soundtracks mentioned help to really sell the idea that a powerful and heroic machine has appeared. Both robots use these themes really well when it comes to selling the fictions behind their machines. Sure Promise helps to sell the image of Big O as this massive, monstrous, and destructive savior whose every movements shake the very earth itself.
Meanwhile, Final Fusion sells us on the idea that GaoGaiGar isn't just a hero. He is the hero. The King of Braves is finally here, and by god is he going to save the day.
So... What's the Point, Me? What Does This Have to Do With Mazinger Z?
Well, I really made this post more because I couldn't fit all of this in with the Mazinger Z post I'm working on. But Mazinger Z, and specifically Mazinger Edition Z/Shin Mazinger Z, was the series that taught me that a mecha's first introduction is of vital importance. To bring in one last example before I sign off, think about how the Death Star is introduced in the original Star Wars.
The first time we're introduced to the Empire's greatest weapon, the very first thing we are shown it can do is destroy a planet (to the horror of a captive Princess Leia, it was her home planet of Alderaan specifically). The introduction of this moon-sized battle station helps to clue us in on how evil the Empire (represented in the original film by Grand Moff Tarkin): they built the Death Star as the ultimate deterrence against anyone who tries to pick a fight against them. It's a battle station that is not only armed to with a planet-destroying laser but also houses a whole armada of TIE Fighters, landing shuttles, and Lord knows how many storm troopers. The Death Star blowing up Alderaan wasn't just by chance; it served to explicitly show to both Leia and the audience that the Empire would be more than willing to use the laser if anyone stood up against them.
As for Mazinger Z... you'll have to wait and see. However, if you've read An Abbreviated History of Mecha, you've probably seen the introduction that I'm hinting at.
An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 6: CASTIGATE THE ENEMIES OF THE GODHEAD
Welcome back to An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time we left off, we witnessed the mecha canon entering the new millennium. While they would hold out for a good portion of the decade, it is here in the 2010's we see the canon reach something of a dark age. A lot of duds will crop up in this decade, though there are also a lot of hits that arise in this era. What we will also begin to see starting in the 2010's is the advent of using CGI to animate giant robots. This stems from two major factors when it comes to animating giant robots:
Animating giant robots in 2D is hard, and thus using CGI helps to ease the load by reducing the amount of work required to animate the giant robot.
The anime industry is starting to churn through new talent due to the increase of anime being released per season now.
As I said at the end of the last post, a lot of mecha shows listed here are generally seen as duds, though a few others also stand out as some of the greats of this new era. And if you think I'm being mean to those series, I've left out two shows that are a part of this decade due to how bad they are (Gen:Lock and Ex-Arm). The shows that I say are duds in this post at least have fans who will go to bat for them when backed into a corner.
So let us partake in some of these works, shall we?
Drink deep, and descend.
Xenoblade/Xenoblade Chronicles (2011)
In 2011, Monolith Soft, now working as a Nintendo studio, would release the third part of the Xeno franchise: Xenoblade Chronicles. Easing up a little bit on the Gnosticism (but only just a little bit), Xenoblade would prove to be a slow-growing success. Finally, Takahashi and company have a series that is relatively free of the executive meddling the last two Xeno games had.
Xenoblade would receive multiple sequels over the years, including:
Xenoblade X (2015), a spiritual successor that focused more on moment-to-moment gameplay and featured giant robots as a major gameplay aspect.
Xenoblade 2 (2017) & Xenoblade 2: Torna, the Golden Country (2018), a sequel that acts as a standalone foil to the original.
Xenoblade 3 (2022) & Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed (2023), a third sequel that ties together Xenoblade 1 and Xenoblade 2 while telling its own story.
Valvrave the Liberator (2012)
Valvrave the Liberator is a 2012 mecha series from Sunrise, and the first of our major duds in the 2010's. Valvrave is best known for being an insane ride from the word go, and I think this series really captures a lot of what mecha is going through in the 2010's.
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2012)
Even Gundam can have its bad days.
2012 would see the release of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE. Started as a multimedia project in partnership with Level-5, Gundam AGE was supposed to be a 100-episode series that spans multiple generations of characters. Instead, the series was cut down to a 50-episode run.
AGE's legacy is not a good one, as it is often touted as being so bad that it almost killed Gundam. I think, especially as someone who used to think this, this line of thinking is kind of silly. Gundam at this point is damn near ubiquitous, so to say that a dud like AGE would kill it seems a bit extreme. Besides, the Unicorn OVA begins airing around this time as well, and another series would really bring Gundam back into prominence in about a year.
Pacific Rim (2013)
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, Pacific Rim is a live action sci-fi film about piloting giant robots in order to fight and kill kaiju. Made as an homage to the giant mecha anime of old, namely Neon Genesis Evangelion, Pacific Rim would prove to be a great summer action flick that was made with a lot of love and care for both mecha and kaiju films.
The same, however, cannot be said for the sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising.
Gundam Build Fighters (2013)
Gundam Build Fighters, released in 2013, is equal parts loving homage to the Gundam franchise, sports anime parody, and shameless toy commercial. Gundam Build Fighters, despite being loosely a mecha series, is worth mentioning due to the fact that it would bring attention back to the Gundam franchise once more. This is worth noting after the general failure of Gundam AGE especially since a lot of series were trying to dethrone Gundam in order to become the next big thing.
Aldnoah.Zero (2014)
And boy, did that fail spectacularly.
Aldnoah.Zero also released in 2013. Billed as a series that would rival Gundam in terms of popularity, Aldnoah.Zero would start off strong. The problems with the series would arise in season 2, where, if I understand things correctly, things just kind of happen with little to no justification.
I do apologize to the fans of this series if what I have to say is harsh. I think a lot of that stems from the fact that I loathe series that are propped up as being an "X Killer," and I remember Aldnoah was originally advertised as specifically being a Gundam Killer. To me, that line of thinking is, at best, disingenuous and really prevents the series from standing on its own merits due to the comparison.
Gargantia on the Verduous Planet (2014)
Released in 2014, Gargantia on the Verduous Planet is a series where your standard military robot gets placed in a setting where, in comparison to everybody else, it essentially becomes a classic mecha. Gargantia gives us a pretty unique setting where the galactic-scale war has not really affected the cast outside of the main character.
Also this series has Gintoki Sakata Tomokazu Sugita as a giant robot. It's great.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Reconguista in G (2014)
Yoshiyuki Tomino would, once again, return to the directing chair for 2014's Mobile Suit Gundam: Reconguista in G. Created as a part of Gundam's 35th anniversary, Reconguista continues in the trend of post-Victory Tomino works generally having a kind of realistic optimism behind them. Reconguista is also known for being incredibly confusing in its initial TV run, though I am happy to report that the recent film version of Reconguista is, to my understanding, pretty easy to follow.
RWBY (2014, honorary mecha show 4...?)
(I mean... if we're using a broad definition like I do, then it counts. Penny is a major character in the series, but she's not in every volume. The series also has a lot of giant robots as well, though they're not as important to the plot as Penny is. Also, I'd rather talk about RWBY than gen:Lock, so....)
Created by Monty Oum and the now-defunct Roosterteeth, RWBY (pronounced Ruby like Ruby Rose... the character, not the actress) is a web animation series that wears its anime influence on its sleeve. Focusing primarily on flashy action with a fair bit of character dramas in its first seasons, RWBY proved to be a scrappy underdog that eventually would become one of Roosterteeth's primary draws until the company's closure earlier this year.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015)
2015 would see the release of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. Set in the much grittier Post Disaster timeline, Iron-Blooded Orphans would, more importantly, be the first non-Build Gundam series to air in the US since 2008's Gundam 00.
Iron-Blooded Orphans is known for, outside of being a rather dark entry in the franchise, controversy. And I'm not just talking about the 2nd season. I mean, "Japanese parents were upset Mika shot a man point blank" upset (to be fair, it was on prime time, and Gundam is considered to be, weirdly enough, a show for younger audiences).
If you want to listen to someone else talk about Iron-Blooded Orphans, I'd highly recommend checking out Taez's video on Iron-Blooded Orphans.
86: Eighty-Six (2017)
Eighty Six, the most recent iteration of the "Not Like the Other Girl" series, begins publication in 2017. Written by Asato Asato, Eighty Six struck a chord with a lot of people due to its stark portrayal of racism, which became extra poignant when the anime adaptation aired in 2020 (in other words, Eighty Six would air the same year George Floyd was murdered).
Darling in the Franxx (2018)
2018 would see the biggest dud of the decade air with Studio Trigger's Darling in the Franxx. The show started off strong, but quickly soured on viewers once the second half rolled in. To really understand why it's arguably the biggest dud of the decade, I'd like to theorize a little bit:
I think, when it comes to the duds of this decade (Valvrave, Gundam AGE, Aldnoah, Franxx), the three non-Gundam series were riding off of a lot of hype. And when I say a lot of hype, I mean like post-Witcher 3 Cyberpunk 2077 levels hype (so when CD Projekt Red went all in on Cyberpunk, but before they went gold). Franxx in particular was hit hard by this, as Trigger at this point had been nothing but hits (pre-Gainax includes Diebuster, Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking; Trigger proper had Kill la Kill, Space Patrol Luluco, and Axe Cop, among other hits). So for Franxx in particular, the expectations were basically "This is going to be the second coming of Evangelion." And given that even Evangelion's Rebuild films can't live up to the expectations of Evangelion, I'd say that fans inadvertently set Franxx up for failure.
That's not to absolve Franxx or the other shows of criticism. Like I said, I haven't watched a lot of these shows, so I can only really speculate. It also helps that Trigger would recover pretty quickly in like a year with their next show.
Mazinger Z Infinity (2018)
The end of the 2010's wouldn't all be duds though. As a celebration of Go Nagai's 50th anniversary in the manga business, his biggest works all got adaptations to celebrate this special achievement. Cutie Honey got Cutie Honey Universe. Devilman got Devilman Crybaby. and Mazinger Z got Mazinger Z Infinity. Set up as a conclusion to the Mazinger saga, Mazinger Z Infinity would prove to be a great conclusion to this series.
SSSS.Gridman (2018)
Coming off of the failure of Darling in the Franxx, Studio Trigger would follow up with their animated adaptation of Gridman the Hyper Agent: SSSS.Gridman. Made as an homage to Gridman and all of its variations, including Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad (hence the SSSS in SSSS.Gridman), SSSS.Gridman proved to be a return to form Studio Trigger. SSSS.Gridman's success would eventually lead to a sequel based off of the Dyna Dragon called SSSS.Dynazenon.
And to wrap up the 2010's, Massif Press would release Lancer. Set in a post-scarcity galaxy, Lancer gives enjoyers of pen and paper the chance of a lifetime: to become pilots of giant robots. None of this should be surprising though, as the game was designed by Abbadon, the guy who writes Kill 6 Billion Demons (you can tell because the IPS-N Tortuga and the IPS-N Raleigh look a lot like 10 Vigilant Gaze Purges the Horizon).
Conclusion
And that's a wrap for the 2010's. As we can see, this decade is a bit of a downer. At this point in time, it feels like mecha is dying. That's what an idiot like Gigguk will tell you. In hindsight, it's less dying and more in decline, and it's not surprising as to why.
Mecha, specifically the giant robots of old, are hard to animate, especially if you want a machine that's as intricate as say GaoGaiGar. But next time, we will finally be reaching the end of this journey. We will be diving into now, what's come out in the last four years, and what is set to potentially release in the future. Of particular note is the return of the Holy Trinity, with the 2020's in particular being a big year for Gundam.
