Anime with mechs in!

[petronia]

I've been watching Soukyuu no Fafner with Tania at the Concordia Anime Club, off and on for a couple of weeks, starting in the middle of the run; episode 15 or some such. I quite enjoy it (possibly as a result of starting in the middle XD). It won't win any prizes for staggering breadth of innovation - Evangelion did it all best - and the dialogue is MSTable as often as it's genuinely affecting, but it does have genuine affecting moments, the animation is excellent, and no one in the cast annoys me. So there's a rec.

Mostly, though, it ended up whetting my appetite for mecha anime. I didn't know I had an appetite for mecha anime. But the trope is so integral to the genre at large and my personal fannish history that at some point it becomes like, "Dude, didn't there use to be giant robots in this stuff? Where did the giant robots go?" ...So when I went out on Chinese New Year I rented the first DVD of RahXephon. I've been meaning to watch it, because I have all the music and it's ace. Without going into plot details what I garner from the first four eps is that this series is going to be 1) mind-bending and 2) leisurely paced. Thus I'll give it a couple more discs before the analysis kicks in. XD

What is not at all leisurely paced: Gundam SEED. Holy Moses it is BANANAS. Instant theory: the guiding aesthetic of the Gundam series follows what in music one would call a grunge/glam cycle, which (as in music) is really a pseudo-realism/outright escapism cycle. If Wing was big like Nirvana then Seed is big like... what? Franz Ferdinand? The Scissor Sisters? The retro! The colours! The graphic violence! The seiyuu! The Minmay outfits! The retro! The regen bubblepods lined with what looks awfully like rumpled purple satin, giving the spaceship bay an incongruous touch of the bordello! The TM Revolution opening theme! The combining mecha! The retro! The introduction complete lack of introduction of two dozen major characters over the course of FORTY NONSTOP MINUTES OF PITCHED BATTLE AND COUNTING, at least three of whom Tania and I couldn't even sex-differentiate properly until they spoke! The retro! etc. It was like a 90-minute-long sugar rush. I kept expecting it to screech to a halt so the characters could set up romantic hijinks hold a formal ball angst about the meaning of Warfare, and no doubt it will, but.

(The fact that the Infamously Soporific Gundam Voiceover Narration is LIKE DELIVERED BY SAILOR MOON!)

Comments

[kickinpants.livejournal.com]

Rahxephon kicks butt, even though it has...a lot of influence from Eva. It still is very good (and you're correct, very mind-bending.) Great show to marathon in batches too. Also, excellent voice acting throughout.

Ah, such a good show, although I still need to see the movie...

[smurfmatic.livejournal.com]

Been uncessfully trying to download RahXephon... I must've had a bunch of episodes, actually a majority of them, but with so many missing all around the place, some in English some in French, I decided to rid them from my computer, with or without ever backing it up on CD... >_> Where did you rent the DVD, and may I borrow it (to rip it) before you return it? I'm free tomorrow, technically (because downtown is far and cold, and I wouldn't come if I didn't have a few reasons to...). Anyways. Let me know.

Which reminds me, I've the Paranoia Agent CDs in my bag. I meant to upload them to Tacos but keep on forgetting, for like a month already. <_< So, let me know. I'd rather keep the CDs before I upload them (because they were also "cleant up" along with the rest of the anime...). Hey, whatabout Macross Zero? Obviously I don't deserve any fanboi appelation... I like anime because it happens to be in my way. But you knew that already... -Ced

[corneredangel.livejournal.com]

a. Bestest post title Evah!...until the next one.

b. (re)Welcome to the world of shounen?

c. Argento Soma = *so* much better than RahXephon...

[amamiyarin.livejournal.com]

RahXephon is cool for me, because the story's written by Serial Experiments Lain's writer. XD XD

That, and I adore Ayato. ^^;;;

But yes, SEED and SEED Destiny are just... retro.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

No, you may not, because it's due back at Sci-Fi Anime tomorrow evening and I gave it to Erin anyway. :P Seriously, just rent the thing. It's 3$ for three days. (Let you know what? To upload them? XD I do want to watch them.)

I've got Macross Zero ep5 but am still downloading ep4, so haven't watched.

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Gundam Seed is INSANE. And I maintain that that bird is like... the symbol of their lurve.

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

Rah Xephon didn't really hook me till I saw a bunch of episodes, but this is one series I enjoyed watching in its entirety. Lovely, satisfying ending. ^_^

Gundam Seed is...an angst-fest, like all the Gundams (except G, which can not be taken seriously under any circumstances). I watched it because I watch Gundam (unless it really sucks) and enjoyed it as I groaned and moaned about how unrealistic it was...like I do with every Gundam series. ^_^;

[aerie.livejournal.com]

Fafner has the added bonus of mostly-canonical gay, even! (There's a sort of passive love triangle, clearly romantic on some sides, so that I can't help considering it romantically on all sides. And, well, as things progress...)

I'm signed up to make a Soushi/Kazuki pairing FST, see. It was leaning very new wave, because new wave+gay mecha angst are my OTP, but possibly quite inappropriate to the series' mood. XD (How can "Here to Stay" not make one think of Soushi/Kazuki and laugh about it?)

[lisa-bee.livejournal.com]

I've got a bunch of friends who are really into this: I can safely tell you that the first three episodes are unremarkable, and that I've been told to just skip to ep. 13 because that's when it gets good.

And, yes. The pretty! *pets screen* But not so much on plot. Hmm.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Oooh, someone else is watching RaXephon.

[squidlet.livejournal.com]

RahXephon! Worth watching for the women alone.

I'd agree with the Eva thing only it's just nowhere near as maladjusted.

Mecha anime tend to be more fun, because there's this whole host of associated universe building that offers hours of happy dissection, PLUS shiny mechanical things.

Which reminds me, I'm going to get Appleseed for that reason.

[smurfmatic.livejournal.com]

I keep on forgetting to upload Paranoia Agent... If I do it at McGill, then I don't have to suffer Sympatico's upload bottleneck. I don't know, try to remind me on MSN next week, say when we talk about possibly meeting?

By the by, I figured I wanted to try a few last Montreal-typical things before I leave. In the food category there's Schwartz, and probably a bunch of other things. I'm sure there are other place to go, museums, showplaces, etc. Well. Want to live life as if I'm going to die from Montreal in a month. ^^;

-Ced

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Want to come with me to the Kings of Convenience show on Tuesday then? Only 12.50$. :P

[smurfmatic.livejournal.com]

Sure, if it's only $12.50. Mind buying me the ticket? :D

-Ced