Ep. 103 - A Time to Kio

[fodder]

On the Eastern Mecha vs Western Mecha:

I can't believe you guys forgot the mother of all of the most awesomest Western mecha movies EVER... ROBOT JOX. Or should I say Live action G Gundam. Although, I think Robot Jox was made before G Gundam. And then there was also Robot Wars. And there was even a Battletech cartoon. Looking back it wasn't that bad. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the CGI Heavy Gear cartoon. Which sorta followed the Eastern Mecha trope of the teenage pilot thrown into the role of the hero.

Many years ago, a group of friends and I discussed the difference between American Mechs and Japanese Mecha . We sited that the biggest difference would be the location of the cockpit. In the West we would probably put it in the head, while in the East they would put it in a more logical place like the torso, but that was 14 years ago and Western mecha has some some ways a bit. So this might have changed some.

Also it's important to note that way back when Battletech (when it was called Battle Droids before Lucas sued them to change the name), it was originally to bring Japanese mecha board games to the States, however, the thought was that the west would never accept Japanese storylines. So it was adapted to fit the west. This is why outside of sentien robotic life forms, Battletech is probably one of the largest and most successful Mecha Series. It's got 10 video games, 50+ novels, a 13 episode cartoon, a tabletop RPG and 2 different versions of it's miniatures rules to its credit. Maybe we can get Sir Bey to do a Battletech movie. Hey, when a Battlemech goes boom it makes a lovely mushroom cloud.

[Chris]

I can't believe you guys forgot the mother of all of the most awesomest Western mecha movies EVER... ROBOT JOX.

Ahh, if only I had a dollar for every time someone said "I can't believe you guys forgot to mention [name]!" Soul Bro mentioned it before we started recording, but didn't bring it up in the segment. I wasn't going to bring up that movie because it's a horrible piece of crap.

[Mu La Flaga]

You know the game series themselves are mecha ones.
BUT some of the Command and Conquer entries have them namely Tiberium Wars has the Wolverine light weight power armor.
A Titan, a mecha with explosive shell arm cannons and then you have the Mammoth.
A 4 legged walker with Railguns and Missiles.

So it's a small thing to put out there.

[fodder]

Ahh, if only I had a dollar for every time someone said "I can't believe you guys forgot to mention [name]!"

I thought that me calling that movie the most awesomest might have been a clue that I was just joking. It wasn't bad given the time and the incredible lack of live action robot movies in the west at the time. You have to give the movie credit. It got the space battle scene perfect. To date it's the only science fiction movie that I've seen with a space battle with no sound.

[The Fowl Sorcerous]

the real issue for western mecha is that either the franchise is deliberately aping anime (exosquad, heavy gear) or just crap (robot jox, the battletech animated series).

[Chris]

I thought that me calling that movie the most awesomest might have been a clue that I was just joking.

I dunno, there's no accounting for taste these days. You'd be surprised how many people think some pieces of trash are masterpieces.

[Mu La Flaga]

Small show Soul Bro loves and he kind of mentioned on the second call in show.

The Bots Master.

[fodder]

Small show Soul Bro loves and he kind of mentioned on the second call in show.

The Bots Master.

HA loved that sho I used to get my home room to watch it when I was in High School.

[aLumberingOx]

Robot Jox or the Mechwarrior 2 video game was my first major introduction to giant robots as a child but Chris if you believe Robot Jox was bad, did you ever see the even worse sequel Robot Wars?

[fodder]

Robot Wars and Robot Jox are two different settings.

[animalia]

it seems like wootbit was the type of guy who assumes anyone from a famous family must be stuck up, and acts like a jackass to them without even bothering to get to know them