[Mr. Outside]

Haro! (No flames - everyone has their own opinion /obvious)

This is a rather generic question, but I am quite serious about bringing this up. I've tried to watch Gundam 00 many times and I couldn't get into it. I believe I watched the first ten episodes and there was something with the flow that didn't resonate with me. Compared with Gundam Seed, I think the pace is fantastic. I know if I tried to stick with 00, I'd eventually get to the core drama aspects (and meaning) behind every mecha series, but I just feel Gundam Seed made me want to see Kira win from the beginning where as in 00; it has undeniably more build up and not enough soul shaking moments.

I know there are some die hard Evangelion fans, but this is my 3rd or 4th time trying to watch Evangelion and I am at the half way point again and I am bored as ever (always stopped at 12-16 every watch). I think it may be more about the fact that there are some set of episodes you can watch in any order and the flow, like in 00, feels choppy to me. Starting to think I wasted my money supporting Gainax..

I know my flow complaint can be said about any anime genre, but when I talk about flow I mean it didn't have a steady pace of drahm-mah as much as shiney mecha sometimes combining in midair. Whenever I start a series I normally finish it even if it is as choppy as Rosario+Vampire where you can watch nearly any episode in any order. I've only gave up on mecha shows with bad flow, so I am wondering if I am doing something wrong.

Should I stop seeking meaning/drama in Mecha shows so soon and just enjoy the fan service? I couldn't even watch one episode of FMP.. *hides* Guess I'll mention I liked the pace of Gundam Seed (100 Episode), Gurren Lagann, Code Geass (25), and Kannazuki no Miko (if you can even count the last two; and the last one definitely had some issues), so it isn't that I am anti mecha. I guess the ending of KnM saved it for me, but holding out for 12 episodes is a lot easier than 25, 50, or even 100.

[suisensei]

Hard question to really answer: I think a good story, interesting characters that develop and grow, interesting sub plots, a good cast of supporting characters, interesting villains/bad guys, well designed mecha and system of operations etc...

For me like you I could not get into Gundam 00 ( I also did not like Gundam Wing) although I did enjoy Gundam seed and destiny (although Destiny not as much). The premise of Gundam 00 seems to be rather dull for me - it is just one big fight with more fights - and that seems to be a bit dull - not to mention the fact that the gundams are being used to try to bring a new order to the world in a very violent way - it just not appeal to me.

Have you watched the original Gundam series and others in the franchise?

As for Neon Genesis Evangelion -it is not for everybody - it is a strange anime and gets weirder as it gets along in episodes and requires a few movies to get to the conclusion - definitely not a mecha anime for everyone.

Have you tried Patlabor - also a mecha anime although not as fancy as a Gundam. Or maybe Macross (the original) and Frontier - both very good mecha animes - although I would label them more space exploration (and humanity meets alien stories) anime that just happens to have mechas as a tool of war.

For a different mecha anime try Maze - with its mechas and magic combination.

[cerberus]

Heehee, I was going to suggest Gurren Lagaan as a Mecha Anime, but you've already watched it I don't know, but for me, I don't like Mecha-typed Anime. It's like finding story and depth in, say, an Eechi Anime! And believe me, I've tried hard for that!

But genre aside, good story and greater direction are key to success, imho.

[zeramoth]

mechas
/thread

[rauj13]

NO! It's the frikkin laser beams!

[RinVonStark]

Good mecha series? Why do people keep trying to find impossible stuff...
Mecha can be entertaining but no matter how you look at it, it's still mecha.

Plot. It's all about the plot and not sucking at making animations. If the plot is good, most of the other flaws can be overlooked, I think.

[zeramoth]

super giant robots = cool
therefore mecha series = cool

[cerberus]

Originally Posted by zeramoth

super giant robots = cool
therefore mecha series = cool

Actually, super giant robts != cool!

Originally Posted by RinVonStark

Good mecha series? Why do people keep trying to find impossible stuff...
Mecha can be entertaining but no matter how you look at it, it's still mecha.

Plot. It's all about the plot and not sucking at making animations. If the plot is good, most of the other flaws can be overlooked, I think.

I totally agree with you!

[Krischaos]

00 was awesome, loved every minute, I liked the characters and the way they were trying to stop wars by owning everyone, its like an army of Kira without the tears lol.
I wasn't really looking for drama in the show, more like i was intrigued with the premise,
i wanted to see all the secrets and what the motivation were, at least the pilots all had backstory as to why they were the person they are unlike Wing lol.

Loved Seed/Destiny too, could say I wanted Kira to win all the way through though, they made him retarded as soon as Destiny began like they didnt know if he was supposed to be the main character again and had him appear and generally annoy everyone and by the end it appears he joins Zaft so he's now been in three military powers lol.

00's drama doesn't start to kick in till the end of both seasons, you'll see if you stick with it, Setsuna and Lockon's stories are epic(Alleluah's in season 2 is pretty good too).
Never really found Seed at any point to be soul shaking, just a damn good show.

To this day i have never found EVA to be as good as people make out, its so pretenous, as Peter Griffin would say it insists upon itself lol. I hate Shinji with a passion, they purposely make you hate him just to be different from every show but that dont make it right.
I swindled ADV out of a platnum boxset because it wasn't worth it, got it for £40 rather than £90 because i said it wasn't worth it(and a free Guyver shirt).
The only time EVA was done right was in Super Robot Wars Alpha 1-3 were Shinji becomes the man because of hanging with Koji Kabuto from Mazinger Z and other Aces(there's even a bit where he tells Kira off for what he did to Sai with Flay lol).
If only he grew a "set" during the show instead of just screaming, crying and perving over the -SPOLIERS-clone of his mother lol.

Whats worse try reading an interview with the creator who tries to justify this bull when its been noted that he had been depressed while making the show, clearly he took it out on the audience, dude should just admit he was pissed off like Tomino does(AKA Victory Gundam lol).
Hopefully the rebuilds will improve the characters instead making everybody in the show suck.
If you want to see that show done right watch RahXephon because you can back Ayato from start to finish.

I came to the conclusion that shows with 25-28 eps only get good by ep 9 as a rule(FMP WATCH IT ALL LOL),50 eps shows usually by 13-20 and 50+ we are looking at 25-30 onwards.
the real story only tends to kick in later, for instant the only low point of Seed for me was during the Waltfelt chunk of the story(god i hated the second opening lol) then the show got good again after that.

IMO opinion i think you should appreciate the fan service for a bit and relax, not all shows can be as epic as Gurren but can still at least entertain till you get to the part where the real story begins

[Krischaos]

Originally Posted by RinVonStark

Good mecha series? Why do people keep trying to find impossible stuff...
Mecha can be entertaining but no matter how you look at it, it's still mecha.

Plot. It's all about the plot and not sucking at making animations. If the plot is good, most of the other flaws can be overlooked, I think.

I hope that was sarcasm creeping in, its not impossible to find a good mecha series more so it depends on your taste