To 30 Years Of Gundam And To 30 More

30 More Years! 30 More Years! 30 More Years!

It was April 7th, 1979……1 score and 10 years ago, one man brought forth a vision, a new kind of robot anime, conceived in depression, and dedicated to the proposition that all robots are created with some form of approachable scientific consistency. 

Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z-Hen (You May Now Use The Word Epic)

Odds were that a title that could be identified as a proper epic would actually appear to salvage the word….however temporary.  Here is a title that even identifies itself as an epic in it’s title, so go ahead and call it one

Shin Mazinger’s opener is an oddity because it’s not really an opener at all, but instead what appears to be a pastiche of the final events of the Mazin Saga woven together to set the stage for the epic to come.  It’s a spoiler essentially, but in my opinion it works as an artistic choice.  Why you might ask, well because in the history of the ancient epics and mythologies (which Mazinger is like a modernization of if the presence of Zeus doesn’t tip you off) the majority of the time the listener already knew what was going to happen. 

Take the Ragnarök Saga for example.  The final destiny of the gods.  We already know what is foretold and how the heroes and villains of the story will act and how the gods will all be killed in a legendary battle with the Frost Giants that ends in the burning of the World Tree, the submerging of Midgard and the rebirth to follow as the waters subside and life begins anew.  Not only do we know the fate of the gods, but the bards have regailed audiences with the epic tale so many times that all that is left to wonder at is the embellish of the particular performer as to the events of epic.  And so it is the same with Shin Mazinger and it’s bard Yasuhiro Imagawa.

I’ve Just Realized Something About Mecha Anime

So people wanted to know what I really think about Gundam 00?  Well here it is…….I thought it completely and 100% sucked balls, was clearly the worst anime ever made, and was a total waste of my time.  And really it’s only served to show me that clearly all mecha and sci-fi anime suck balls as well.  I can’t believe I’ve wasted so many years following mecha series like Gundam, Macross and the Go Nagai franchise’s when ALL it is is just mindless explosions and stupid characters talking about stupid things and emoing over each other’s problems. 

Well no more, clearly there’s no enjoyment to be had in mecha/sci-fi anime on any level and I am now renouncing my faith in mecha anime for good thanks to Gundam 00.  I am only going to be following much better genres next season in the form of  shows like Queen’s Blade, Tayutama -Kiss on my Diety- and Hanasakeru Seishounen.  Good riddance to bad rubbish.