Anime Recognition

[Skane]

While watching Bamboo Blade, it occured to me to conduct a mini-experiment in the form of a poll.

Older anime-watchers tend to take for granted that newer/younger watchers will understand what the heck we are gibbering about whenever we talk about the anime that we watched in the 20th century. We then tend to be flabbergasted at the blasphemy if they so much as to profess ignorance on the subject matter ("Heathen, heathen!"), even though it would be natural for them to not know about it.

So... how many of us will recognise the following picture from an iconic series? You do not need to necessarily have watched it, so long as you know the series that it came from. Heck, you don't even have to know the name of the series, just a "Oh! I know where that comes from!" is enough.

Just one additional note, both original Japanese release and the modified American one are fair game.

Spoiler for an iconic mecha:

Cheers.

ADD] By request, I am adding some clarifications to my post here. I am not seeking to "flaunt" any sort of elitism, and indeed, the purpose of this post is to let the more zealous "old-school" anime-watchers understand that a person is not obliged to watch 20th century classics in order to qualify as an anime fan.

After all, it is common to see people ostracise others for not watching the things that they had watched, operating under the deluded notion that if a person does not watch his childhood favourites, there must be something wrong with him.

Cheers.

[aka Providence]

i'm just guessing, but is it from Macross/Robotech? my brain's all fuzzy and stuff.

[Sheba]

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Zentradi bipod from Macross

[Kaioshin Sama]

Gee, let me think for a second.....hmmm....no who am I kidding.

Spoiler:

Zentradi Regult Heavy Missile Carrier

[KholdStare]

I have no clue what that is. Does that mean I suck at anime?

[Blizzer]

Originally Posted by KholdStare

I have no clue what that is. Does that mean I suck at anime?

Not really, it's just an excuse for elitism.

[-KarumA-]

been a while since ive seen one of those things XD

Spoiler:

dont wanna spoil it for people, but its from Macross X9

[tripperazn]

I don't think the cut-off at 17 is fair, the last Macross series aired in 1995, a 17 year old now would be 5 then.

Anyway, as for your results, 83 page views and only 12 affirmative vote, you have your answer.

[Tiberium Wolf]

I have watched macross a few years ago but the only mecha that got imprinted in my brain was just the human plane-mecha. Were you expecting us to remember that mecha... *cough* ?

[DragoonKain3]

I recognized it immediately. Then again, I'm a Macross fanatic.

For the record, I saw the series when I was a kid, and it left a huge impact on me. I would as easily recognize, I dunno, the teenage mutant ninja turtles, the x-men, spiderman, darth vader, or *gasp* Sailor Moon even several decades down the line without having seen any of them in the mean time.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Kholdstare

I have no clue what that is. Does that mean I suck at anime?

No, it just means you suck at mecha history and it also depends on when you started watching anime rather than your age. I'm not particularly interested in "mecha for mecha's sake" so I've got no idea I also watched some anime in the late 60s early 70s (Speed Racer, Astroboy, Gigantor) but then watched zilch til I was hogtied into Pokemon by my kids in the early 90s ... then zilch again until that guy at Megatokyo convinced me I should look at something anime did that involved relationship drama and comedy in the early part of this decade (Love Hina, Kanon, etc).

[qtipbrit]

I didn't.
But I guess it's okay, since no one else under 16 has either, so I fit in.
yay!

[Pellissier]

Given my generic approach to mecha genre, it's no surprise I'm clueless.

However, marking a line between the age and the knowledge doesn't necessarily mean a link between the two. In my case it's more of a coincidence.
When I was a child and until a certain age (let's say... 3 to 12 years?) I was a huge fan of mecha. That before changing my orientation to different series. Even so, I can't recall having ever watched a Macross series. The anime came later? Or came later *in my country* ?

Just to highlight the role of coincidence, if you posted say , Voltron, Zambot, Gundam (earlier stages), Daitarn, Trider G7.. and many others to me it was an easy catch, despite my current coldness towards mechas. So to speak

[Kyuusai]

I have nothing against people not recognizing older works. Why should I? There's always something older I don't recognize. (Well, I say that, but I have an annoying habit of making pop-culture references no one recognizes because they go back beyond what people twice my age would reasonably recognize...)

Of course, I always learning about the history behind a creative work and gaining perspective on older pop-culture, so I appreciate references as long as I can track them back and see where they're from.

This, I didn't immediately recognize, but the style is familiar and dug up the correct association.

Spoiler for Some commentary on the answer that's already been stated:

I loved the original Macross. It was real sci-fi instead of just being a show set in space or a show filled with mecha. I have three quarters of the original (the only one that interested me--sequels to exploit the brand bug me) DVD set on my shelf that I got an incredible deal on. I must find the rest of them so I can sit back and enjoy it again.

As long as I'm discussing Macross... Did any one else enjoy the Robotech books that covered the Macross story? I'm normally dead-set against importing a creative work and "expanding" upon it, but I read the books before I realized that was the case and loved them so much I couldn't turn on them.

[Alexandrite]

I'm 19, and I recognize it and remember it quite fondly. Macross (albeit in Robotech form) is part of what got me into anime in the first place.

On a related note, seeing that image reminded me of some goodies I saw from the Wonderfest previews. You may consider these as iconic as well:

Spoiler for Wonderfest:

http://www.hlj.com/hlj_gallery2/v/wo..._8927.jpg.html
http://www.hlj.com/hlj_gallery2/v/wo..._8925.jpg.html

I'm seeing a lot of new Macross merchandise lately. This pleases me.

I'm not as old as some of the members on this board, but to me it does seem kind of surprising that some of the older material isn't that well know by the younger members. It was easily accessible when I was a teenage. Things like Macross, Kimagure Orange Road, and Maison Ikkoku were all readily available at my library when I was about 12 or so. Maybe I'm one of the oddball youngins who wanted to delve into the history of anime to watch what I was too young to see when they came out. I encourage people even younger than me to do the same - there are good times to be had. Chop chop!

Originally Posted by Kyuusai

Spoiler for The answer that's already been stated:

I loved the original Macross. It was real sci-fi instead of just being a show set in space or a show filled with mecha. I have three quarters of the original (the only one that interested me--sequels to exploit the brand bug me) DVD set on my shelf that I got an incredible deal on. I must find the rest of them so I can sit back and enjoy it again.

As long as I'm discussing Macross... Did any one else enjoy the Robotech books that covered the Macross story? I'm normally dead-set against importing a creative work and "expanding" upon it, but I read the books before I realized that was the case and loved them so much I couldn't turn on them.

Are you talking about the books by Jack McKinney? If so, yeah, I enjoyed them. I'm having a hard time finding four left that would complete the entire collection though.

[UzumakiW]

I didn't recognize it =/

[Skane]

Some points that I wish to clarify. My poll is not meant to dishearten those who do not recognise it. I thought I had been clear enough on that in my initial write-up. I just wanted to confirm whether real life mirrors what was being shown in anime, that the older classics are not so well-known by newer/younger anime watchers.

It is basic human nature after all, as people will naturally want to watch whatever is contemporary at the moment. What propelled me into making this poll were the comments by several posters that it was "sacrilege" that Tamaki, being an otaku, would not know of the Macross series, failing to take into account that-

1) She might not even be born yet when it first came out.
2) It was too old for her to check out and/or be interested in.

As for the choice of mecha... I wanted to make sure that the voters actually knew a decent amount of the series if they were to vote "do"; because let us face it, the Valkyries have been whored beyond the scope of their series of origin. Whereas the Zentradi Bipods rarely get any love, and do not step into the limelight as often. Do I see a 25th anniversary special model kit for them? Yeah right.

To make things clear, it is perfectly alright for anyone to not know where the image comes from. The goal of this poll is to make the "fanatics" calm down and gain some perspective that newer/younger viewers are not obliged to watch all the golden classics from the 20th century in order to qualify as a true anime fan.

ADD] PS: The cut-off age of 16 is due to Tamaki's rough age-group.

Cheers.

[GreatTeacherKen]

I'm going to be 20 and didn't recognize it and now that I think about it, I should've because I watched the original Macross and Macross DYRL a year ago.

Well I did think it looked familiar, but I don't know if that counts as recognizing it if I don't remember what it is.

[Dhomochevsky]

It's a mecha of some sort.
I tend to avoid mecha anime and have already done so in the 20th century.

edit:
fixed

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Skane

Some points that I wish to clarify. My poll is not meant to dishearten those who do not recognise it. I thought I had been clear enough on that in my initial write-up. I just wanted to confirm whether real life mirrors what was being shown in anime, that the older classics are not so well-known by newer/younger anime watchers.

It is basic human nature after all, as people will naturally want to watch whatever is contemporary at the moment. What propelled me into making this poll were the comments by several posters that it was "sacrilege" that Tamaki, being an otaku, would not know of the Macross series, failing to take into account that-

1) She might not even be born yet when it first came out.
2) It was too old for her to check out and/or be interested in.

As for the choice of mecha... I wanted to make sure that the voters actually knew a decent amount of the series if they were to vote "do"; because let us face it, the Valkyries have been whored beyond the scope of their series of origin. Whereas the Zentradi Bipods rarely get any love, and do not step into the limelight as often. Do I see a 25th anniversary special model kit for them? Yeah right.

To make things clear, it is perfectly alright for anyone to not know where the image comes from. The goal of this poll is to make the "fanatics" calm down and gain some perspective that newer/younger viewers are not obliged to watch all the golden classics from the 20th century in order to qualify as a true anime fan.

ADD] PS: The cut-off age of 16 is due to Tamaki's rough age-group.

Cheers.

As long as it doesn't devolve into an excuse to bash the mecha genre I'm behind such a goal. Anything to make people feel more comfortable and open to the genre is fine by me. The more the merrier. As much as it's okay to not recognize every mecha known to man, it's also alright to be a mecha fan. I wouldn't want to foster the belief that there is some jump to be made away from or out of mecha in order to gain persective just as much as I wouldn't want to foster the idea that you have to know all about 70's and 80's series to be considered a "true anime fan".

The Old vs. New debate is honestly the biggest waste of time I have seen come out of a collective fanbase in ages. It's simply whatever floats your boat. Me I like a bit of both and a bit of neither from time to time. Today as in the past there are series I can barely watch an episode of in a number of genres and there are also series from a number of eras that remain unforgettable to me. I personally think it couldn't hurt to check out the classics, but if people don't want to it's up to them.

The proper name for the unit is the Esbeliben Regult Battlepod by the way.