What are Your Thoughts On Mecha?

[DragoonKain3]

Meh, only reason why I love the mecha genre is that some semblance of romance is in the vast majority of the recent releases. I can't think off the top of my head a recent mecha series that had absolutely zilch in that department.

Also, out of all the genres I like, it is the genre that has the most possiblity of being licensed in R1. While I'm more of a romantic at heart (and thus lean towards the romance genre), I own more mecha series than other genres precisely because more of it gets released on this side of the pacific.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

Sorry, could you elaborate on that, I don't really follow at all.

Well, looking at my reps somebody else did. So maybe it's not entirely my fault. Anyway. For easy digestion:
1. "Versatility" counts for anything but the genre itself.
2. Mecha anime are neither produced nor watched primarily for romance, political commentary, or whatever ,but for the mecha.
3. Mecha anime aren't so versatile . Or maybe they are in theory, but then script writers hardly make use of that fact. They have their standard rules, plots, and tropes.
4. Exceptions exist, but this is hardly a surprise considering how many mecha anime have been produced.


Better?

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Well, looking at my reps somebody else did. So maybe it's not entirely my fault. Anyway. For easy digestion:
1. "Versatility" counts for anything but the genre itself.
2. Mecha anime are neither produced nor watched primarily for romance, political commentary, or whatever ,but for the mecha.
3. Mecha anime aren't so versatile . Or maybe they are in theory, but then script writers hardly make use of that fact. They have their standard rules, plots, and tropes.
4. Exceptions exist, but this is hardly a surprise considering how many mecha anime have been produced.


Better?

Slightly, though maybe a little less hostility would have been nice. Like I said the goal was for people to give their own personal thoughts, not go after what other people said with a vengeance if they disagree or to borrow from "common knowledge". I mean your kind of trying to tell me how I should watch mecha, that's not really what I was going for here.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Well, looking at my reps somebody else did. So maybe it's not entirely my fault. Anyway. For easy digestion:
1. "Versatility" counts for anything but the genre itself.
2. Mecha anime are neither produced nor watched primarily for romance, political commentary, or whatever ,but for the mecha.
3. Mecha anime aren't so versatile . Or maybe they are in theory, but then script writers hardly make use of that fact. They have their standard rules, plots, and tropes.
4. Exceptions exist, but this is hardly a surprise considering how many mecha anime have been produced.


Better?

You know as person who grew up watching mech anime and is still a huge fan of mech, I must say that the reason why I love mech is because it is diverse. No other anime genre is like mech genre, so many are different from each other, I mean just look at Code Geass to GaoGaiGar, both mech but really different. On your second point well, I could make that similar argument to slice of life, I think that many watch the shows for the girls on the show (of course many probably like the girls for their personality and such, so this might be an bad argument). Because from what I seen it seems that is to be the case, they love or follow the show because it's character are kawaii!. Also people do watch mech for other reason beside mech, look at Macross Code Geass, Gurren Lagann, Gunbuster, Evagelion, RahXephon, Nadesico, and so many more that I could name, I would say that mech is the icing on the cake(though I hate this metahphor because I hate cake) because the story, characters, and other factors makes the show amazing.
Here's the thing SoL, mech are versatile, compare to other genre that is, like I said Code Geass, GaoGaiGar, they are so different yet both are mech. Also can you define this exceptions of this mech anime for me, because I don't get what you mean by exception?
Well in the end I am bias, because I am lover of mech.

[Sorrow-K]

Mecha, as a genre, really isn't too much more than a subset of the action genre, and, as such, undergoes the same set of criteria when I watch them. If the mecha aspect takes an aside to character and plot development and a story that tackles a set of complicated but fascinating themes, then that's good. If the story is drowned out by constant mecha fights that aren't decisive in any way, or if the story plays to too many well known cliches, then that's not good.

And, like all action anime, the action sequences should be well choreographed and animated. This is a mistake too many action anime make. They think two fighters with "epic powers" throwing punches or sword slashes or giant mecha or superpowerful beams at each other at the speed of light for fifteen minutes non-stop constitutes a good fight. It's not. Let's have more fights that had at least some amount of creative thought and careful animation go into them. This isn't just a criticism of mecha, it's a criticism of the entire action genre.

The problem with mecha is the exact same problem with all popular genres in anime: it has its own staple of wretched cliches that anime creators seem to think they can happily pander to and still expect to draw a sizable audience. And they're generally not wrong... particularly with established franchises (*cough* Gundam). This idea of mecha being versatile... well, it's not a property exclusive to the mecha genre by any stretch of the imagination.

Here's a novel idea: let's judge anime independent of their genre, since genre biases get people no where.

I want to see another anime with the awareness and attitude towards politics that Gasaraki had, but it certainly doesn't require mecha to make that set up work. Mecha in Gasaraki, for example, was a plot device: it could have been any revolutionary technology with militaristic applications. That actually goes for a lot of the good mecha series as well...

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

Here's the thing SoL, mech are versatile, compare to other genre that is, like I said Code Geass, GaoGaiGar, they are so different yet both are mech. Also can you define this exceptions of this mech anime for me, because I don't get what you mean by exception?

Ah, but here is the thing: name any genre and i will name two shows that share the common element but are fairly different in execution and direction. This isn't exactly something unique to mecha ... though i wouldn't really call "mecha" a genre per se, more like a subset of SciFi ... so in fact we are making an argument that Science Fiction as a genre can be quite diverse ..which it indeed can. But you can take any genre as the "base" and grow a layer of sub-genres around it that add to the story and make the show more colorful. This can be done to any story, any setting at any time and isn't tied to any specific "genre". I am having hard time imagining this argued otherwise.

In the end i enjoy pretty much all genres there is. It all comes down to storytelling and how the elements are presented, and i am not about to praise or dismiss a series based on what tools of storytelling the author chose to deliver it, as long as the end result is satisfactory.

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

Here's a novel idea: let's judge anime independent of their genre, since genre biases get people no where.

Exactly. Truer words have yet to be spoken in this thread.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

Slightly, though maybe a little less hostility would have been nice. Like I said the goal was for people to give their own personal thoughts, not go after what other people said with a vengeance if they disagree or to borrow from "common knowledge". I mean your kind of trying to tell me how I should watch mecha, that's not really what I was going for here.

My contribution wasn't meant to be hostile in any way. You made a few arguments, I tried to disprove them. I neither declared you to be stupid for watching mecha anime, nor inexperienced, which seem to be the two most popular types of ad hominem attacks in arguments about anime. You won't find any other types in that long post either.

Hostility seems to lie in the eye of the beholder. Starting a thread with, I quote, "Since everybody is apparently an expert on this genre I felt I should make this topic. That way everyone can give their thoughts on it and I can tell them why they're wrong." sets a kind of mood and not exactly the most agreeable one, doesn't it. And that mood doesn't go away simply by adding a "j/k", which looks more like a CYA attempt to me than anything else. Making a full quote of a long text just to add something along the lines "I didn't get anything, too bad." isn't exactly the most nice or helpful response either.

I'm not telling you how to watch mecha, or how many, rest assured. Nor do I give you any other orders concering anime. Except that I herewith forbid you to watch Dragonaut, because that is really bad.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

My contribution wasn't meant to be hostile in any way. You made a few arguments, I tried to disprove them. I neither declared you to be stupid for watching mecha anime, nor inexperienced, which seem to be the two most popular types of ad hominem attacks in arguments about anime. You won't find any other types in that long post either.

Hostility seems to lie in the eye of the beholder. Starting a thread with, I quote, "Since everybody is apparently an expert on this genre I felt I should make this topic. That way everyone can give their thoughts on it and I can tell them why they're wrong." sets a kind of mood and not exactly the most agreeable one, doesn't it. And that mood doesn't go away simply by adding a "j/k", which looks more like a CYA attempt to me than anything else. Making a full quote of a long text just to add something along the lines "I didn't get anything, too bad." isn't exactly the most nice or helpful response either.

I'm not telling you how to watch mecha, or how many, rest assured. Nor do I give you any other orders concering anime. Except that I herewith forbid you to watch Dragonaut, because that is really bad.

Yeah, I guess most people just don't get my sense of humour at times. It is kind of brazen I will admit. The point of it was a quip at the progession these types of threads tend to follow, which I dislike about as much as you do. In that sense it was deliberate. As I said though my intentions were the exact opposite. Hopefully people caught that....?

Anyway I don't even know where to start concerning Dragonaut by the way so I just won't. I don't understand it nor do I really want to.

Back to the topic at hand though, I really like what Sorrow-K said in the snippet Skyfall quoted. Is that even possible though? Sadly I predict that happening around the same time that Liberals and Conservatives, Democrats and Republican's stop fighting each others legislation every step of the way and come together for the greater good. As much as I'd love to see both those things happen it seems very far off and like there are quote a few obstacles to overcome before we can even start to tackle that "Genre Wall".

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

Mecha, as a genre, really isn't too much more than a subset of the action genre, and, as such, undergoes the same set of criteria when I watch them. If the mecha aspect takes an aside to character and plot development and a story that tackles a set of complicated but fascinating themes, then that's good. If the story is drowned out by constant mecha fights that aren't decisive in any way, or if the story plays to too many well known cliches, then that's not good.

And, like all action anime, the action sequences should be well choreographed and animated. This is a mistake too many action anime make. They think two fighters with "epic powers" throwing punches or sword slashes or giant mecha or superpowerful beams at each other at the speed of light for fifteen minutes non-stop constitutes a good fight. It's not. Let's have more fights that had at least some amount of creative thought and careful animation go into them. This isn't just a criticism of mecha, it's a criticism of the entire action genre.

This captures my thoughts perfectly. Like action anime in general, mecha anime have a tendency to be caught up in their excesses: instead of good choreography, we see too much of fancy stills, elaborate poses, or other special effects rather than interesting combat. Ideally, this shouldn't be the case, but too many shows settle for such low-effort fare.

[Reckoner]

Ranting is fun, I like to rant, so here's a rant for the sake of ranting, or maybe I just want to rant. Anyhow...

The mecha genre in my opinion is one of the most overly exploited ideas out there in the anime world. There are many people who will not watch mechas these days just based upon the fact that there are giant machines everywhere. I myself am included in this. I literally have to force myself to watch mechas. Funny enough, the ones I pick I like. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion is my favorite anime oddly enough. The one case in which I was wrong was Full Metal Panic, that show is meh.

Before I digress into which shows I like and dislike though, I'll elaborate on my point that the mecha genre is overly exploited. The best example of this in real life that I can think of at the moment, is how Hollywood suddenly jumps the bandwagon on ideas such as fantasy. If people have noticed, there has been quite an overload of fantasy movies lately compared to the past, which is probably the fault of Harry Potter. The point being is that now when I see a preview for a fantasy movie, I and many other people I know think to ourselves "Oh, another fantasy film..." and never become interested in it. I feel that the mecha idea/genre/sub genre of w/e you want to call it, is truly suffering from this. Many will simply dismiss the show as soon as they hear mecha because it just seems to be something that is way overdone. This is not to say that the reverse isn't true either, I'm sure people will watch anything that is mech if they're fanboys or something.

Another thing I guess I would have to argue is that mecha genre isn't so versatile. The main theme that usually goes along side mechas is "war." This profoundly effects the way a show is carried out. The romance in a mecha show will always be drastically different from the romance in a romance focused show such as "Rumbling Hearts." I mean, the picture of romance I get from a mecha show usually is something along the lines of "You're my enemy, but I'm in love with you" or "Please come back alive, I'm worried about you." The romance certainly never goes anywhere too deep, and we don't really get to see why the person that someone loves is so special to them at all... Lets take Shirly from Code Geass as an example... The reasons she gave for liking Lelouch were so bland that I just completely dismissed her emotions as shallow and pathetic. On the contrary when I see a show like Clannad, the feelings come alive and I can see exactly why certain characters develop feelings for one another.

I like what Slice of Life tried to point out here, which I'll use in my discussion. That being the fact that people usually watch mechas for the mechs. They don't look at big white gundams on magazine covers and say "Oh, I wonder why psychological effects the pilots must face in piloting these machines!"? I would find it hilarious if people stated otherwise, as that reaches a new level of naivety in my book.

If you guys don't feel like reading my post, or found it jumbled, my two large points were:

1. The mecha anime category is so overexploited to the point that any appeal is becoming nonexistent for many such as myself
2. The idea of mecha tears away a lot of impact from the other subgenres present within it

K, done with rant post.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Ranting is fun, I like to rant, so here's a rant for the sake of ranting, or maybe I just want to rant. Anyhow...

The mecha genre in my opinion is one of the most overly exploited ideas out there in the anime world. There are many people who will not watch mechas these days just based upon the fact that there are giant machines everywhere. I myself am included in this. I literally have to force myself to watch mechas. Funny enough, the ones I pick I like. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion is my favorite anime oddly enough. The one case in which I was wrong was Full Metal Panic, that show is meh.

Before I digress into which shows I like and dislike though, I'll elaborate on my point that the mecha genre is overly exploited. The best example of this in real life that I can think of at the moment, is how Hollywood suddenly jumps the bandwagon on ideas such as fantasy. If people have noticed, there has been quite an overload of fantasy movies lately compared to the past, which is probably the fault of Harry Potter. The point being is that now when I see a preview for a fantasy movie, I and many other people I know think to ourselves "Oh, another fantasy film..." and never become interested in it. I feel that the mecha idea/genre/sub genre of w/e you want to call it, is truly suffering from this. Many will simply dismiss the show as soon as they hear mecha because it just seems to be something that is way overdone. This is not to say that the reverse isn't true either, I'm sure people will watch anything that is mech if they're fanboys or something.

Another thing I guess I would have to argue is that mecha genre isn't so versatile. The main theme that usually goes along side mechas is "war." This profoundly effects the way a show is carried out. The romance in a mecha show will always be drastically different from the romance in a romance focused show such as "Rumbling Hearts." I mean, the picture of romance I get from a mecha show usually is something along the lines of "You're my enemy, but I'm in love with you" or "Please come back alive, I'm worried about you." The romance certainly never goes anywhere too deep, and we don't really get to see why the person that someone loves is so special to them at all... Lets take Shirly from Code Geass as an example... The reasons she gave for liking Lelouch were so bland that I just completely dismissed her emotions as shallow and pathetic. On the contrary when I see a show like Clannad, the feelings come alive and I can see exactly why certain characters develop feelings for one another.

I like what Slice of Life tried to point out here, which I'll use in my discussion. That being the fact that people usually watch mechas for the mechs. They don't look at big white gundams on magazine covers and say "Oh, I wonder why psychological effects the pilots must face in piloting these machines!"? I would find it hilarious if people stated otherwise, as that reaches a new level of naivety in my book.

If you guys don't feel like reading my post, or found it jumbled, my two large points were:

1. The mecha anime category is so overexploited to the point that any appeal is becoming nonexistent for many such as myself
2. The idea of mecha tears away a lot of impact from the other subgenres present within it

K, done with rant post.

Well I guess I'm not a person then since that's not what my immediate first and only reaction is, the "OMG IT'S MECHA!".

To me I can see the exact same developments in characters in mecha series like Gundam as I could see in a series like Clannad. I understand the characters and their feelings and thoughts reach me just the same. Just having mecha cannot rob a series of something like that by default unless you the viewer are unwilling to focus on that because you are worried about giant robots flying around. I point out series like Eureka 7, Turn A Gundam and Vision of Escaflowne that go on for episodes at a time without so much as featuring a single instance of mecha and especially Turn A Gundam for it's slice of life take on a society that has regressed to pre civil war times. In those shows the mecha are like window dressing and the real focus is on the characters and the setting.

One of the other reasons I like mecha I might add is the excellent character development I find that often goes along with them. Be it a fluke or not I don't know, but I find it to be the case. Again to me just because their is a mecha in a series cannot immediately rob the story of any meaningful character development by default. It does give it any less of a chance of having the characters connect with the viewer than something like True Tears.

I could also name a number of ideas that I think are exploited now, one of which is the definitive Key style series of eroge adaptations (Comedic beginning/really melodramatic ending), but that would be a waste of time and not productive. What I will add though is that I don't hear anybody complaining about them being overexploited, when there are at least as much of them or more per season than mecha series. It's kind of a double standard to say mecha is overexposed when there are just as many examples in other genres and tropes, but I guess I've come to expect that kind of thing these days.

Regardless of how odd and overreaching I find your points on mecha to be, thank you for your candidness. Other than the people who state they watch mecha series for reasons other than the mecha are naive thing. That's more than a little uncalled for don't you think?

[qtipbrit]

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Ranting is fun, I like to rant, so here's a rant for the sake of ranting, or maybe I just want to rant. Anyhow...

If you're ranting for the sake of ranting, it's quite implied that you want to rant.

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Lets take Shirly from Code Geass as an example... The reasons she gave for liking Lelouch were so bland that I just completely dismissed her emotions as shallow and pathetic. On the contrary when I see a show like Clannad, the feelings come alive and I can see exactly why certain characters develop feelings for one another.

You really shouldn't be taking anything from Code Geass as an example for mecha at all, except that it can be overly popular, most definately not ROMANCE as its example. It's like using Clannad as an example of action; sure, it has Tomoyo kick scenes, Fuko starfish, and Button/Botan, but that's the extent of its action.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Full Metal Panic! have much more believable romance than Code Geass, though, as you said, they are not nearly as romantic as a true romance seres.

Also, I'm a fan of Clannad, but I personally have yet to learn why some characters have feelings for Tomoya. Fuko obviously doesn't, being the loli-moe-starfish character, Nagisa and Kotomi are easier to understand, but TsundereKyou and Tomoyo aren't.

Originally Posted by Reckoner

1. The mecha anime category is so overexploited to the point that any appeal is becoming nonexistent for many such as myself
2. The idea of mecha tears away a lot of impact from the other subgenres present within it

The majority of anime categories are overexploited. I would say that almost every studio has had an attempt at slice-of-life/general comedy or drama/romance, and there really aren't as many mecha anime as you think there are (I personally know of maybe 30-40 mecha series that have any popularity at all), it's just that Sunrise really has nothing better to do than to keep releasing Gundam series.

Second, the appearance of any subgenre within a series will remove impact of many other subgenres within it. Take your example, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. Almost pure drama and romance. There was even very, very little comedy included, mainly during its first two episodes.
Another example, Shakugan no Shana. I say it's a romance, some say it's an action, some say it's a slice-of-life, some say it's a drama. Obviously, mixing any genres will lessen the impact of any other genres within it.

[DragoonKain3]

I really do think that Code Geass is misunderstood in terms of romance. From the way I look at it, despite the vast cast of female characters that are interested in lelouche, in the end it's really about how lulu becomes 'addicted' to his geass power and becomes another Mao lol. So far they've systematically eliminated in one way or another his LI's, especially the one girl who could've stopped lulu's descent into madness. So yeah, I feel in terms of romance, CG is pretty much on the bottom of the list. Heck, even I feel Gundam 00 with SaijiXLouise to be the better show in respect to romance, and considering how little those two got screen time... lol

Really though, there's some great romances in the mecha genre. Ever since Macross, it's one of the things I look forward to the genre. Just looking at my boxsets, I've got Stellvia, Escaflowne, Nadesico, Infinite Ryvius, Rahxephon, and Zegapain in which I thought that the romances were well done. Then again, finding refuge in the kindness of love amidst the desolate bitterness of war has always been interesting for me.

So yeah, to reiterate myself, mecha to myself as a person is almost synonymous to romance. I actually expect some semblance of it in any recent mecha show. Now the question of it being done good or not is another issue altogether, but the same could be said of the romance genre itself.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Touching on what qtipbrit said about subgenres, one must consider that just because a series has mecha in it doesn't neccesarily mean it's the dominant aspect of the series or even the second most dominant, or even third. Somebody said it's often mixed with other genres in here, which can be the case. Trying to generalize one series aspects across the whole subset of series featuring mecha isn't any more fair then when you get those people who say "I don't like Romance series, they're all about moe girls doting over a weak-willed protagonist" just because they happened to catch a few that feature that character relationship.

As for Sunrise, the joke that they seemingly can't make a series without mecha even if held at gunpoint has been noted. During the 90's when the mecha boom was all but over they were the only ones still stubborn enough to keep at it, and that's an era that features some of my all time favourites. Sometimes it pays to stick at what you are good at, even if it makes you look kind of obsessed.

[ZXValaRevan]

As has been said, mecha is basically just a theme. No show is good just because it falls into a certain genre or theme, just as no show is bad just for that reason.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

One of the other reasons I like mecha I might add is the excellent character development I find that often goes along with them. Be it a fluke or not I don't know, but I find it to be the case. Again to me just because their is a mecha in a series cannot immediately rob the story of any meaningful character development by default. It does give it any less of a chance of having the characters connect with the viewer than something like True Tears.

True this may be, but there aren't a great number of people that associate "mecha" with "character development". Hell, there's no reason why the two are mutually exclusive; FMP:TSR, for example, has some of the best examples of character development one can find in anime. But if you watch a character driven drama (those series people mistakenly call "slice-of-life") like Honey & Clover or Nodame Cantabile or even a lesser title (relatively speaking) like Asatte no Houkou or Hitohira, you'll almost certainly find some sort of character development since that's the whole point. Sure, the whole thing is just perspective, but the common perspective is that one is less likely to find good character development in a random mecha title because there's no obligation for a random mecha title to supply character development... just mecha.

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

I could also name a number of ideas that I think are exploited now, one of which is the definitive Key style series of eroge adaptations (Comedic beginning/really melodramatic ending), but that would be a waste of time and not productive. What I will add though is that I don't hear anybody complaining about them being overexploited, when there are at least as much of them or more per season than mecha series. It's kind of a double standard to say mecha is overexposed when there are just as many examples in other genres and tropes, but I guess I've come to expect that kind of thing these days.

I don't think anyone's going to argue that the high school setting for romance series isn't a cliche. Why this particular cliche doesn't get berated in the same way as the common mecha cliches, I'm not sure. Maybe people, myself included, have had better luck finding good series within that particular subgenre than in mecha. Experience informs intuition.

Originally Posted by qtipbrit92

Second, the appearance of any subgenre within a series will remove impact of many other subgenres within it. Take your example, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. Almost pure drama and romance. There was even very, very little comedy included, mainly during its first two episodes.
Another example, Shakugan no Shana. I say it's a romance, some say it's an action, some say it's a slice-of-life, some say it's a drama. Obviously, mixing any genres will lessen the impact of any other genres within it.

I don't really agree with this at all. A well made anime should be able to blend aspects from different genres together in such a way that they all complement each other. See Bokura ga Ita for a near perfect mix of drama, comedy and romance, or Nodame Cantabile for a slightly different but just as effective mix of the same things. Full Metal Panic mixes romance and action fairly well (although I can't be the only one who wishes they'd handle the romance slightly better), while Higurashi has a weird mix of comedy and horror, and yet somehow pulls it off. If an anime contains a mix of things taken from different genres, and they don't work together, that's a flaw of that particular anime. There's nothing inherently wrong with mixing genres if the people doing the mixing know what they're doing.

[DragoonKain3]

To my knowledge, Sunrise also did Kekkaishi, a show that's IMO superior to almost any other fighting action shounen series out there in terms of characterization and plot direction. Not to mention it had great animation consistency, which a lot of shows fo the genre horribly suffered from.

Just too bad it wasn't such a big hit commercially. :sigh: Probably another show that would keep Sunrise doing mecha shows because it wasn't much of a success.

[Darklord_bg]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

To my knowledge, Sunrise also did Kekkaishi, a show that's IMO superior to almost any other fighting action shounen series out there in terms of characterization and plot direction. Not to mention it had great animation consistency, which a lot of shows fo the genre horribly suffered from.

Just too bad it wasn't such a big hit commercially. :sigh: Probably another show that would keep Sunrise doing mecha shows because it wasn't much of a success.

To add to that, Sunrise has done may other shows that are not mecha-related. It's a huge studio with many different good projects, so to stereotype it by saying it does only mecha shows is overgeneralizing a lot.

Besides, if there is any genre that is beaten to death recently, it harem/visual novel adaptation. There's an average of 1 mecha series per anime season for the last two years, while at least 6-7 eroge adaptations. So, mecha is in no way overexploited, at least no more thatn other genres. Double standards again...

[Sorrow-K]

Sunrise is a funny studio. IMO, if you conveniently ignore the way they've dragged Gundam through the dirt over the last few years (and a few times even before that), they actually have a hell of a track record. It's just a pity that some of their worst titles have turned out to be the most popular ones, since they seem to have no qualms about milking a cash cow for all it's worth.

Edit for something completely unrelated:

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Lets take Shirly from Code Geass as an example... The reasons she gave for liking Lelouch were so bland that I just completely dismissed her emotions as shallow and pathetic.

Code Geass handles (present tense because I'm only half way through it) romance in the same way that Shuffle! or any other generic shounen romance does... terribly. We can forgive it because it's not the point. Now if FMP tried to pull the same stunt...

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

To my knowledge, Sunrise also did Kekkaishi, a show that's IMO superior to almost any other fighting action shounen series out there in terms of characterization and plot direction. Not to mention it had great animation consistency, which a lot of shows fo the genre horribly suffered from.

As well as Kekkaishi Sunrise have also done s-CRY-ed, Inuyasha, Gintama & Yakitate!! Japan and I'm hoping like hell they pick up Mx0 sometime next year. Than you have stuff like Cowboy Bebop, City Hunter, Infinite Ryvuis and Planetes... yes Sunrise are mecha focused but take away every mecha title they have done and they are still a top studio. It's a pity one of their biggest fans here acts like Sunrise is a Rie Kugimiya who can only do tsundere roles