Gundam Thread 5: That's no Anime, boy! No Anime!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > VEGETA > Gundam Thread 5: That's no Anime, boy! No Anime!

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Darth Walrus posted:

IBO, at least, will be done in a month, which leaves them with a fill-in-the-gaps TV series and six or so not-especially-time-critical OVA episodes. This actually feels like it'll be a bit of a rest period for Sunrise's Gundam department.

The word is IBO has a second season coming.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 01:29

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 17:15

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

ImpAtom posted:

I think Sunrise is sort of desperate to find the magic button that makes Gundam relevant again and Unicorn was the closest to that so far. While model kits are important they're just not really creating long-term fanbases for their shows and they've had more than one serious bomb recently and no unqualified successes. Even Build Fighters sold merch but failed to capture its intended audience.

I think everyone except marketing knew who the intended audience was, because damned if the writers weren't pandering to Gundam fans instead of kids. BFT just didn't know what it wanted to be and just sat in a corner eating paste.

How's IBO doing for model sales, do we know? I like the show, but 5/6 Graze variants can't be doing the line any favours.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 17:27

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

ImpAtom posted:

What I've heard is the following:

The ratings are poor in Japan. The last numbers I saw were at or below Age's numbers. The model kits are not selling particularly well either. They're not bombing as badly as Age but they're not flying off the shelf either. Barbatos appears to be doing well but otherwise it's been fairly tepid. There is hearsay about it doing better with overseas audiences but that is by its very nature hard to quantify and doesn't represent anything solid. Word of mouth on forums tends to be divided. (Some people adore it but there's also a lot of complaints about it being slow/boring/ect. )

If it is doing well it's a modest success, not a runaway success, but there's too much hearsay to really reliably judge it beyond that at the moment.

IBO I think is a bit of a tough sell. It has some strengths that can also be weaknesses. The long period of time between mecha fights is refreshing if you're a long-time Gundam watcher or not really in it for the robots but in terms of selling it to a less-receptive audience it runs into the problem of feeling slow or boring. The subject matter is pretty grim and weighty in a way that is difficult to sell. The dub is going to have to sell some pretty hard material and it depends on if it is up to it. I'm not exactly raising my flag over Johnny Yong Bosch as Orga. (He'd be a good Eugine I think.) I certainly think it'd have potential on something like Adult Swim but could easily be misjudged especially since most name recognition that Gundam has is the US is more due to Wing or G than anything.

Orga really needs a harder voice like maybe Crispin Freeman's, JYB's is too soft for Orga's but would definitely make a good Eugene. Also apparently Sunrise is releasing Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try in the west on DVD :allears:

# ¿ Feb 23, 2016 02:48

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

SeanBeansShako posted:

Is there a way to just tell Imgur 'No I don't want to loving open a gallery just let me post a single picture and give me a URL''? the interface seems so drat cluttered to me. On the bright side, the pictures are still there with TinyPic at least. I just need to reupload them.

Just drag the image from your PC folder into your imgur account, works fine for me with no hassle :shrug:

. Never had it ask me to make a gallery or anything.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2016 16:39

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Darth Walrus posted:

Yeah, you do have to wonder why SEED helmets have those giant bricks attached to their foreheads.

My handwavey guess was that it was an impact thing to protect the visor. Smash your head forward from an impact and the forehead piece hits the console instead of the visor.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2016 16:32

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

LORD OF BUTT posted:

Seriously, if they're really going for a new push in the West with IBO getting dubbed and Gunpla showing up in normal-people stores and whatnot, there's no way they won't animate FT at some point. More Wing, even as bonkers as FT is, is pretty much an instant-win button for making Gundam popular here again.

I'm surprised a Build Fighters dub isn't on the table as well if they're really going to push Gunpla in the west.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2016 13:53

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

ImpAtom posted:

The very first time he brought it up in an interview it was about two princesses because he wanted to do a story about the power of women. It was one of those things where people kept going "We're FINALLY getting a female protagonist" but yeah, it pretty quickly changed to a brother and sister. I honestly doubt a lady protagonist will survive the initial draft of any Gundam series unless they decide the only way to get the real marketing is to go full T&A.

I don't really think Diana is the protagonist unfortunately. She's a major character (and more interesting than Loran) but Loran's kind of the focal point and gets most of the main character beats. The final conflict is between him and Gym after all. Gundam in general seems to have comfortably settled into the role of "female lead, usually some form of nobility or upper-class citizen in a leadership role, main dude is the fighty guy who supports her." It isn't every Gundam series but at this point it is more than isn't.

Hey, Fumina made it to just shy of the final script version for BFT before being ousted for Sekai by the look of things :v:

# ¿ Mar 16, 2016 22:13

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

ImpAtom posted:

That's really not accurate. The role Fumina plays is one you see in a lot of anime. She's the 'normal' viewpoint character who discovers the exceptional protagonist. It was pretty plain that is what she was from the start. The fact she was more interesting then Sekai is more a result of the fact that Sekai was the most boring man imaginable more than anything.

She absolutely doesn't get center stage. She doesn't even have her own rival until the very end and she is only a rival sort of by default and because someone else told her to be. No ongoing plot threads are set up with her and her drama is largely resolved once she gets a team. There's a brief bit of drama where she discovers Winning Gundam is kind of stupid but then that gets resolved as well. Star Winning Gundam is absolutely cooler than Try Burning Gundam is though. In comparison Kousaka and Sekai both have ongoing plot threads that last the entirety of the series. Both of them have multiple rivals who exist entirely to fight them and get heavy focus episodes. Fumina gets to do cool things in fights (which is awesome) but otherwise kind of gets sidelined as a character.

That said I do think it's funny that the way Try is written means Sekai in the second half looks like utter crap compared to his teammates despite everyone talking about how awesome he is.

Except the shift in writing style is so abrupt that it screams something happened there. Fumina in the first few episodes reads like she came from a more complete series bible than the other two, and somewhere midway it got retooled into The Sekai Show. Also Sekai didn't have rivals, he had adoring cultists who wanted him because :shrug:

. A final-four showdown should not have three teams wanking about how no, they will be the one to face Sekai rather than focusing on their actual opponent.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2016 03:28

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

ImpAtom posted:

Eh, I guess I'm just not seeing it. Fumina in the first episodes makes me think of someone like Karou from Kenshin or Meryl from Trigun or whoever. She's there to be the grounded face for when the exceptional protagonist comes up and to support and clash with him. She can still be useful in combat but it's clear from the first episode (which focuses on Sekai being so awesome and his robot debuting and so-on) that we're supposed to be more impressed by him.

You've got it the wrong way round. The first few episodes are built on Fumina stuck being bottom rung, with no teammates anymore to even stand a chance despite being a competent fighter and builder, and here at the end is Sekai pulling out the BBG from the Dom and just MAYBE, with his help, she might finally see a ranked victory. The exact same way the first episode of Build Fighters went with Reiji.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2016 07:33

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

ImpAtom posted:

It really wasn't. Build Fighters was built off the idea of there being a Builder and a Fighter and set up the co-protagonist duties that way. BFT dropped that idea entirely in favor of the 3-man-teams and set itself up with the almost entirely cliche red hotblooded, blue genius and girl team combo and gave pretty much all the protagonist swagger to Sekai. BF set up its first episode as "together, these two will be unstoppable" and Try instead sets it up as "here is the amazing guy who will be Fumina's team ace!"

The third slot filling out with Fumina's childhood friend still reinforces that she was the original center of the group, not Sekai.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2016 08:12

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

ImpAtom posted:

She's the reason the group gets together but that doesn't make her the original protagonist, especially with the show's stated goal of being a romantic comedy this time and the show started setting up the romantic pairings early. (Probably because that was a popular part of BF classic.) Frankly I think she would have been a better protagonist but from Episode 1 she was being overshadowed by Sekai. It's easy to see how she could have been the protagonist but nothing in the show really makes me feel like that got past maybe a very early draft.

Now you're pretty much getting where some of us are coming from. One other thing is looking at the way they're written from the start of the show; We know who Fumina is, we see what her goal is and what her plan to achieve it is, she just lacks the means. Here is her estranged childhood friend Yuuma, whom they made a promise together as kids to enter the World Tournament together. He's an artistic builder rather than a fighter, but still wants to help Fumina when no-one else does and joins her team.

here iS Sekai. He Is tha strongast fitter, of all wit hiz kun-fu. evrione wents to fit him becaz he is stron. All tha girlz went him. (Okay granted, it's not that bad early on, it just kinda becomes a slow steady creeping awareness the more you get through the series)

# ¿ Mar 17, 2016 08:49

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Well Manicured Man posted:

My favorite part of BFT is still the bit in the first episode where Fumina has to tie Sekai down in order to keep him still long enough to teach him about gunpla.

And that anything Gunpla-related is done for him by another character with no real interest or initiative from Sekai. Save maybe the last episode, and even that is dicey because Shia was apparently helping. From past experience, that could easily translate to "she did all of it while Sekai ran kung-fu drills in the yard".

# ¿ Mar 21, 2016 07:31

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Kanos posted:

I dunno, Reiji's level of interest in Gunpla building was roughly equivalent to Sekai's. Both of them had an episode where they built a beginner gunpla and had a fight with it(Sekai vs Minato with the SDs, Reiji/Aila vs GUNPLA MAFIA), both of them helped participate to the best of their abilities on token repairs at times. It's really hard to come up with reasons for why a total newbie like Sekai would ever logically participate in helping to upgrade/modify super custom jobs like the teams were using when he could just leave Yuuma and Fumina to do it competently without the risk of loving it up.

Except Reiji actually continued on from building his own kit into helping with the SBS of his own initiative. He even kept the Beginning Gundam that he made and put it to use on a few occasions. Reiji also went out to learn how to play Gunpla Battles properly by practising.

Everything Sekai did was almost always at the impetus of someone else. You could replace him with a smiling lump of wood and lose mothing. And if Sekai's going to be using the BBG, you'd think at the very least he'd show some effort to get in on upgrading and tailoring it for his personal use.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2016 11:22

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

The GIG posted:

Honestly, the thing that started killing my interest in BFT was how much they scaled back and de-escalated everything into a safe, generic sports show. It's hard to take any kind of stakes seriously when the previous series slowly escalated to "Tiny Gundams save the world."

Dont forget going on about how big and amazing the National tournament was. And the punchline of capping the series with "Hurray, we made it to the World Cu*INDETERMINED PERIOD OF TIME LATER*".

# ¿ Mar 21, 2016 11:50

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

dogsicle posted:

Gunpla literally saving the world wasn't a bad development necessarily, but it seemed like a fairly large and dumb escalation, i didn't like it. BFT's escalation issues felt more about not even reaching the level of competition as BF rather than one-upping BF's dumb climax.

It worked for Build Fighters because it knew exactly what it was - pure dumb fun for the fandom.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2016 13:08

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

boom boom boom posted:

Guys, Toonami is co-producing new seasons of FLCL. we all have to support it. I don't care what your opinion of the new FLCL is, because if it's successful, Toonami might make more sequels to classic old Toonami animes.

This is the best shot we have at getting a Frozen Teardrop anime.

Will it be as fooly-cooly as one can hope? :magical:

# ¿ Mar 24, 2016 23:25

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Eej posted:

SEED is good in the sense of being 12 years old and wanting to see BIG ROBOT FIGHT

But then you look back on it when you're older and realize how much animation they reused and how insanely stupid the writing is and it's all downhill from there into mecha grognardom

I still want more HGCE SEED kits though :sigh:

# ¿ Apr 6, 2016 02:11

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

muike posted:

Yeah, even in shows like Gundam that use the robots as military tools, robot anime almost always uses the robots as a vehicle for (super) heroic action or iconography.

Its the little touches that help ground them. Like most Gundams being major hangar queens between even minor skirmishes.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2016 17:27

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

NikkolasKing posted:

I would advise just skipping to Episode 40 or so but I guess it's not quite as awesome without context. You need Rau to be his soft-spoken and in-control self for most of the show to appreciate what he's like by the end.

Rau is a legitimately good character. They give you just enough hints and suggestions that there's more to him than you know but I never expected what eventually happened. It was really well-done.

There's also Natarle, who I think is criminally underappreciated. She's one of the best ladies in Gundam to me. Seeing her struggles with the lack of discipline and order aboard the Archangel, her clashes with Murrue over their contrasting commanding styles, was also really well-done.

There's Flay as well.

But yeah, everything else is pretty bad.

Flay was pretty awful. I was not sad at all to see the bitchy redhead go at the end. Rau was a villain that deserved a better show than SEED, especially his dub version.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2016 04:47

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Lemon-Lime posted:

It's definitely a taunt. He's such a piece of poo poo that he has to rub it in just before Garma dies to make sure that Garma suffers as much as possible.

I love Char because he is amazingly hosed up and early UC Gundam stuff is in large part a character study of exactly how hosed up he is.

Hopefully IBO wont turn to poo poo in season 2 and McGillis can continue to give Char himself a run for his money in absolutely brutal betrayals.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2016 21:15

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Eej posted:

The Gundam Boys thing works really well because if you don't like the main character you're usually SOL but since they are roughly given equal importance unless your name is Allelujah, a fan can eventually find a favourite to latch onto. And then buy the model kit of. Or maybe just buy all the model kits because there's FIVE DIFFERENT GUNDAMS with different abilities!!

I wouldn't say that it's a "re-imagination" of Wing but it definitely takes a lot of themes from it for Season , although I think Marina is more poking fun at Lacus than inverted Relena. But I mean Gundam is self referential as hell to the point where I thought Fumitan was a Shirin reference even though super serious competent maid with glasses is just a really generic stereotype.

One thing I liked is they telegraph the Naudleeh's existence right from the first episode; if you check their radar displays it tags the Gundams as 01, 02, 03, 05.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2016 05:53

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Pureauthor posted:

I can parse the other 2 but why on earth would anyone want not-silly Gundam???

Anyway, watch Build Fighters. The first series, not the sequel.

I dont think Build Fighters should be an entry point into Gundam, if they have the choice of something else like 00 or even IBO that is. Some of the fun comes from the little efforts of love like recognising the custom-job gunpla up front or in the background rather than just seeing them as a new machine of the week.

You know, like BF-Try.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2016 17:16

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Kuvo posted:

thanks, now I'm imaging a bunch of mobile suits playing beach volleyball to Kenny Logins

Play-ing with-the-toys! :yayclod:

# ¿ Apr 14, 2016 02:47

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

boom boom boom posted:

yeah. A suit has a person inside it, a doll is something you play with.

Mobile Doll fits perfectly, because they turn war into a game

Just an aside, but the Skells in Xenoblade X are called Dolls in the Japanese version.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2016 05:51

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Revitalized posted:

Was Gundam Build Fighters well received?

I just started watching it and I really like it. It makes me very self conscious about how big of a nerd I am.

Nth'ing that Build Fighters is fantastic and you're in for fun trip :allears:

. Also to save you time in the near future, HLJ.com has most, if not all, of the Build Fighters HG kits in-stock :v:

Droyer posted:

It's very good. don't watch the sequel.

Also this. Very much this. Don't watch Build Fighters Try.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2016 08:24

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Kanos posted:

Build Fighters Try is not a horrible show. It's not even on the lowest end of what the Gundam franchise has produced. It's got a few really fun characters, a few fun robots, and some really cool moments. It's just a titanic step down from Build Fighters, so the residual disappointment of that has basically made people hate it with a burning passion. I'd still recommend BFT to people over stuff like Destiny or AGE or IGLOO in a heartbeat.

If you find yourself with some free time and want more Build Fighters, BFT will kind of satisfy that urge but not really, like diet ice cream when you really want a fudge sundae or something.

There's about two or three decent characters, and all of maybe four or five decent fights in the entire run of the series. And most of those are at the tail end, so you're sitting through about ten hours of JIIIGEN HAOH RIYU to get near them.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2016 13:14

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Raxivace posted:

Tryon 3 is pretty amazing at least.

Hey, I didn't say there weren't any good fights in BFT :v:

. Really though, the only good ones are The Race with Mirai, Try-On 3, Crossbone Gundam vs the entire Gunpla Academy, and maybe the section of the finale battle involving everyone who wasn't Sekai and Wilfred jacking off at eachother about how great they are. I think I might be missing one though.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2016 13:25

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Droyer posted:

So the design for what I assume will be the first opponent of the IBO sidestory manga has been unveiled

Looks like they're gonna be fighting another Teiwaz subsidiary.

It's a Beefeater Gundam. Did it escape from G Gundam? :allears:

# ¿ Apr 24, 2016 14:17

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Pureauthor posted:

Let me know when Frozen Teardrop gets HG kits.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2016 15:06

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

The problem with the concept of "go find the missing bits" for something with a model kit is you can probably do that by buying a second Astaroth kit to "fix" the left arm and right leg.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2016 05:13

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

TTBF posted:

That seems like a pro from Bandai's viewpoint.

Not if they have an Astaroth Complete variant planned down the line. Plus there's no mystery as to how it might wind up looking when restored to its original state.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2016 08:08

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Srice posted:

I wish they tried to revitalize Gundam in the west a little earlier, I'm bummed that not only will G-Reco not get a dub, but also of the crappy treatment it got with its stream

That wasn't "the West", it was just the US. It got simulcast in Australia and, I think, the UK/Europe. Madman Entertainment's also released it on DVD in two two-disc sets.

# ¿ May 1, 2016 04:30

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Droyer posted:

his mob boss nickname is daddy. fair point on the other one though, english isn't my first language.

If he's the leader, that really should've been translated to "Godfather".

# ¿ May 2, 2016 01:27

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

boom boom boom posted:

In Tomino shows characters will lie, or be mistaken, or just say weird poo poo that makes sense for the character, and never be called out on it or corrected or explained by another character. Like the dude in G-Reco that tried to get the Earthlings to surrender by telling them he'd give them fish to eat. It's a baffling thing to just say in the middle of a battle, except that the dude genuinely thought Earthlings were barely above animals, and actually would stop fighting if given good food to eat. That's not explained in the show, you have to pay attention to the dude's actions and how he treats Earthlings vs. how he treats Spacenoids, and all of that in the context of the setting created in the show

Raraiya regaining her mind probably looks like it comes out of nowhere if you don't pay attention and notice she's been slowly getting more lucid through every episode, and does stuff like casually slipping Klim Nick's grip or trying to book it for the G-Self when trouble turns up.

# ¿ May 7, 2016 01:30

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Srice posted:

And that time she fakes having a fever to avoid being seen by people who would recognize her.

Yeah, you can tell by looking when it happens it isn't "ME SIMPLE GIRL FEEL ILL", she takes one clear look at them and goes "oh gently caress, I am outta here before this goes sideways!"

# ¿ May 7, 2016 01:46

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Anthrovore posted:

Norris vs the 08th team has to be one of the best mech fights ever. I love how it drives home the normalness of shiro & co., Shiro is a good pilot but he's nothing against an actual ace. Also the gouf custom rules.

You'll love war in the pocket, it's one of the most poignant ovas I've seen and really well done overall. Bernie(Wiseman) 2016!

Those are always my favourite kind of fights; where its not about finishing moves and super-weapons, just using a handful of tools/weapons effectively and wearing them down one weapon loss or hit at a time. Like the Kampher Amazing and GM Sniper fight in BF.

# ¿ May 17, 2016 11:40

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

mr. stefan posted:

Actually his first action is to pose on top of a goddamn skyscraper and monologue

No, he had a chuckle to himself while getting a read on where the enemy's positions were, from a high vantage point where he couldn't be shot at easily (one of them explicitly stating Norris was in his blind spot). And then he went to work.

# ¿ May 17, 2016 18:13

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

chiasaur11 posted:

Fair.

I should say on screen GM pilots who did their job.

Mostly, they tend to die to the last without accomplishing anything so the Gundam looks better.

(Unless we're talking the White Dingos or similar, of course.)

They all seemed pretty competent in The Origin manga at least.

# ¿ May 18, 2016 05:17

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Kanos posted:

Short, controlled bursts matters a lot for a fleshy human trying to handle a gun with muscle power but I doubt it's quite as necessary for a giant robot to keep a gun on target.

Not necessarily. Projectiles at that scale are gonna have some nasty kickback, so it's possible (even just as a handwave) their arm servos cant mitigate it fully.

# ¿ May 19, 2016 03:51

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 17:15

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Dangerous Person posted:

Preview of the IBO dub:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1CxJVWHE_o

Some of the voices like Kudelia's and Fumitan's are okay, McGillis' voice isn't quite deep enough but he's otherwise fine. Johnny Young Bosch is just waaaay off for Orga though. His voice comes off too casual when it should be more firm and authorative. The question he asks in that clip comes off as a general question instead of "You know exactly who you're tossing us out against, don't you, you fuckers? :argh:

# ¿ May 21, 2016 11:18

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > VEGETA > Gundam Thread 5: That's no Anime, boy! No Anime!

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