GenerationMech.com is a blog that discusses the uncommon topic on robots. It’s not just any robots you’ll hear or speak to me about in a general sense we use in everyday lives.  It’s about how robots used in animation and cartoons, and I developed quite an acquaintances with them over the years since the heydays of Transformers and Voltron during the 80s.

I really loved watching these a lot as a kid so I considered myself as an avid fan of this genre called mecha or giant robots in Japanese.  I was born and raised in Malaysia in the 80s where electricity runing in every household in rural town is barely sufficient.  TV – in those days-  was considered too much of a luxury to afford for commoners.  I’m one of the lucky ones. As a Chinese, I grew up doing like what the rest of the Asian majority used to love and do ie watching anime, reading manga that comes in many flavours and forms etc TV, books, magazines, radios, etc.

Much like nowadays.

However, I’ve from a different group of people and I got myself hugely interested in watching this ‘unique’ genre of anime.  During my early childhood years, I remember faintly that I mostly watched so many great mecha shows from 70’s and 80’s (even though I was born in 1980).  In the back of my tiny 5-year-old mind, they were the greatest thing to watch on TV.  Their artworks and impressive machine designs really astounded me and I thought to myself wouldn’t it be awesome to have the talents to draw or ride on them. I remembered so many countless anime programs on TV.  Macross, Getter Robo G, UFO Robo Grendizer, Dragon Daiking, Voltron, Transformers etc etc.  Just to name a few.  I just simply loved watching them all and I remembered ditching a lot of tuition lessons in the evenings so much I begged my tuition teacher to let me watch them during my tuition sessions! And he did.  For 5 consecutive days !  It was crazy! I was really into them so much!  As they become part of the mainstream, toy stores all over Malaysia were swamped with toys from these popular shows in all scales and model sizes, and there were selling like hot cakes.  However, as years went by, me having moved to New Zealand (see inset) in the 90s, I realised my new home country has little or no exposure to this as anime is a foreign subject to them.  Obviously, this is not great (I really so wished I brought my Transformers toys with me in the cargo instead of ditching them in a old cardboard box for disposal!!!!).  So I felt somewhat sad that I inevitably grew apart from them and gradually forgot about them during my high school/university years.  I learned new tastes and interests that every normal high school kid would go for like school balls, sports, grades, where to get best fresh lamb from the butcher shops etc.

But thanks to Internet (and YouTube :)) in today’s technology,  I encountered so many mecha anime programs I used to love watching from all those 20 years ago.  My overwhelming feelings of joy, contentment and excitement from my childhood years have returned and my passion for the genre was reignited once more.  And I realised there’s countless of mecha anime from 70’s, 80’s and 90’s I never heard before and I felt completely thrilled to learn more about them (and, most importantly, enjoy them).  Bumping into YouTube, it was a huge blessing to me.  I felt it was a godsend that Youtube thankfully existed so I had the chance to revisit my childhood memories of  great 70s and 80s mecha shows.  All mecha videos submitted by many die-hard mecha fans all over the world gave me a refreshing reminder why I used to love them and how much fun I had.  From my observation (both online and offline), this genre has remained strong for so long, commendations go to the great classics, and I really wish I had experienced the thrills and pleasure in watching them all if they had such programs broadcasted in New Zealand… But all it’s not lost as thanks to the wonderful world of the evolving internet space, it gave me a clear sense of purpose that I want to be part of this ‘community’ as well.

Enough with my rambling.  So what is the purpose of my blog on giant robots you may ask?  Before I go on, here’s an extract from an article I read online that talks about mecha.

So what is mecha, anyway? Mecha can mean many things, but for the purposes of this article, let’s define mecha as a term – short for mechanical – that refers to the robots, machines, and cyborgs that permeate anime. Often, mecha denotes the genre of anime that features the use of giant robots, mechanical suits, and cybernetic implants.
Boasting its own fervently dedicated group of fans, mecha has become its own sub-genre in anime.
Mecha is a pillar of anime that boasts fervently dedicated fans of its futuristic battle scenes, intricate robot designs, complicated human characters, and dark, dystopian plots. The humans associated with mecha can be heroic or cowardly. Mecha can be superheroes or threats. Mecha can represent the hopes and fears of humanity without being fully human.
THE WEST AND WORLD WAR II
In the post-WWII aftermath atmosphere, Japan was ready for a change. Having seen its technological failures during the war, the country was forced to come to terms with its archaic practices. Frederik Schodt, manga researcher, wrote, The emperor, in a letter to the young crown prince at the end of World War II wrote that Japan has lost the war because our armed forces put too much emphasis on the spiritual side and forgot science.
Even pacifists such as Osamu Tezuka, one of the founding fathers of modern anime, realized very clearly that Japan lost the war because of science and technology. While the U.S. was dropping atomic bombs, the Japanese military were trying to light forest fires in America by sending incendiary balloons made of bamboo and paper over on the jet stream. We developed an inferiority complex about science and technology.
Taking their lessons to heart, Japan emerged from the post-war din with a new constitution and a new perspective ready to embrace the use of technology in industry and entertainment. The mastering of technology became an expression of Japan’s new age, its ability to address and overcome the weaknesses that led to its defeat.
With the hope of technology on the heart of the Japanese people, but the fear of its deadly potential still weighting heavily upon their minds, the country was given a hero, Tetsuwan Atom.

–Source: Rightstuf.com

From this, mecha, as a genre, has ‘tranformed’ itself over the decades since the great Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, Mitsuteru Tokoyama’s Tetsujin 28, Go Nagai’s Mazinger Z and Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gundam Series. These talented individuals were the very reason mecha became the ‘viable’ subgenre to enjoy for so long.  People born long ago in those decades (or earlier) would remembered watching them and they still have very fond and refreshing memories about them when recollecting them.  They’re known as the Generation X.  I considered myself as a Generation X as I watched some of 70s and lots of 80s show and I’m a lot more fonder with them than today’s mecha shows.  Now, we have new mecha shows in 2000 format that Generation Y/Z also enjoy as much as the people in my generation.  Now, we’re drawing to a close of this first decade of 2000, who knows what the next generation of mecha shows would be like and newer generations will have fond memories as great as people in my generation experienced.  It’s about documenting the chronicles of many giant robot anime many of us knew and very fond of.  Old and new fans.  It covers the past, the present and the exciting developments of the future mecha.  I’m sure the next generation of mecha fans would go through the highs, lows and thrills of fun as much as I did.  With my blog, I want to share and connect with the mecha community, young and old fans,  so we can all contribute our excitements, thoughts, experiences and passion on these robotic ‘creatures’ at such great proportions.

There’s so much wealth of information on these mecha that’s happened over the years not many of us are aware of.  And I’m sure there’s countless stories people over the world would like to share but they haven’t found the medium that gets them to express that.  So my life-long mission is to discover the truths, the story, the history, the myth, the fun behind the mecha genre to the community and the whole world, just as the mecha community has done all those 30 years ago. The life-long journey for mecha fans starts here.

For all of your anime-quenchy needs in knowing the latest development of anime and robot, I would love to hear your contributions to make this online presence worthwhile.

Rocketto Punch!! – the famous super robot “Mazinger Z” favourite line.

– GenerationMech.com