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e1dritchqueer · 1 year

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All the silly mech media I've consumed so far to prepare for my beam saber game

(Ya'll I have gotten so autistic about mecha it's wild)

Okay for context I'm gonna join a Beam Saber (Narrative based mech ttrpg, it's really fucking cool) game soon and I realized that I don't know anything about mecha stuff so I decided to develop a hyperfixation (and I did!!! Luv me some gundam!!!) Anyways here's all the silly media I've gone through for both fun and research as to what "makes" the mecha genre/what the fantasy of mecha is

Underlined ones (EDIT underlines apparently don't work so I'll be putting italics and !!! next to each one I really really like) are ones I really really like and like if you're gonna play/watch anything I recommend those ones

Mobile Suit Gundam I The original Gundam series!!! Both this and the other ones are compilation films, so like yeah, some pacing stuff feels off.

Mobile Suit Gundam II

!!! Mobile Suit Gundam III !!! This one is real well done, worth going through the other two movies I think. The pacing is real tight, focuses on some fascinating ideas and themes, and yeah, I like this alot. Char and Amuro should kiss (also gahhhh frothing at the mouth at the ideas of mech rivals (and mech rivals kissing))

Titanfall 2 Is Titanfall campaign, is good

!!! War in the Pocket !!! The story about a young boy once fascinated by war and mechs until the terrifying reality of war arrives to his home. Love this one, it's real good and also a real good emotional gutpunch. Like.... yeah, I'm fond of this one

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky This is the only one I've seen so far that I DO NOT like. Yeah the animation is good and all but it felt too voyeuristic about war in a way that did not sit well with me.

!!! 08th MS Team !!! Gundam but with Vietnam war aesthetics? Love this one love it alot, the story is real good and the backgrounds are GORGEOUS. Out of all the ones I watched this one hit the nail on the head for thematically what I was looking for. Like, it's about a pilot becoming more and more disillusion by the fact they're a soldier and seeks to escape the war, I really really like it!!!

08th MS Team: Miller's Report This is a compilation film, but a weird one, taking place between episodes six and seven, personally I think you might get some enjoyment from watching it instead of those two episodes (at least episode 8, but I'm not sure, there are some moments that I really liked from the show that were cut) but idk.

08th MS Team: Battle In Three Dimensions Short little animation, lovely :), having watched it I think Michel and Sanders should kiss???

!!! The Witch from Mercury (Watching) !!! GAY ASS MECH MOTHERFUCKERS!!! Love me some mech lesbians. But like seriously this one is real good!!! It starts off in its own universe so really good for newcomers (just need to know that there is a difference between a Gundam and a mech within the fiction of the show) I like it alot, it's high school drama with the backdrop of corporate war and space capitalism and like... it's really well done!!!

Friends at the Table: Counter/Weight (Listening) What if an actual play podcast sat down and discussed critical worldbuilding and themes, that's Friends at the Table and it rules!! This one is a more noir focused game with mechs (the system they use is literally called MechNoir) and it's essentially a group of detectives in space Berlin! Real fond of Austin Walker's stuff and Friends at the Table rule, has really inspired me as to how I can run games and what I can do as a player.

Project Nimbus (Playing) Fast mech game, fun.

!!! Heaven Will be Mine (Playing) !!! This game raises the question of what if mech rivals kissed to 11, they are also lesbians, in space, with heavy themes and symbolism, and beautiful art. I really really like this game, finished it twice, trying to 100% it but it's real good, big big big mega fave

Zeta Gundam (Watching) Sequel series to MSG, not sure how I feel about it yet but tbh I'm enjoying it, genuinely love Kamille and I love how Char is in this

!!! Umurangi Generation (Playing) !!! What if you were a photographer at the end of the world and the way the world ended specifically was Evangellion? That's essentially Umurangi Generation and it's REAL good at that, I am extremely fond of this game

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner (Playing) Like Project Nimbus but with a better feel and also made by the some of the same people who made Metal Gear Solid and Tokimeki Memorial, fun game also all the mechs are sexy????

Phew anyways thats the stuff and my thoughts on it, mech stuff real fucking cool!!! I'm quite fond of it!!! I have so many blorbos now

#char and amuro my beloveds #what's funny is most though not all was consumed in a period of two weeks #gundam #mobile suit gundam #ms team #08th ms team #zeta gundam #witch from mercury #g witch #friends at the table #heaven will be mine #umurangi generation #war in the pocket

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slpytired · 6 months

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Watching the whole Gundam series in 2023 #8: Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt Review

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt was directed by Kou Matsuo and released as two 4-episode ONA series from 25 December 2015 to 8 April 2016 and from 24 March 2017 to 14 July 2017. The two series were also rereleased as the compilation films Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower respectively. The plot follows Earth Federation pilot Io Fleming and Principality of Zeon pilot Daryl Lorenz throughout their experiences in the One Year War and beyond.

This review will be a little shorter since Thunderbolt itself is such a short series.

From the start of the series I was taken by the unique free jazz soundtrack. The combination of rapid, almost chaotic sax lines and drumming, coupled with breakneck MS combat is one that tickles my brain in the best ways. Io is kind of an asshole, with Daryl and his team depicted as the underdogs of the story, so I was sort of rooting for them. In the end both Zeon's Living Dead Division and the Earth Federation's Moore Brotherhood take severe losses, especially with young kids deployed as reinforcements on the Federation side. The battle between the Full Armour Gundam and the Psycho Zaku was brutal and dirty, like every other battle in this series. With such a short runtime per episode, every death feels simultaneously cruel and insignificant, with no time to linger. Suffice to say, the first half of Thunderbolt was my favourite.

The second half of Thunderbolt sees Io posted to a new unit, the Spartan carrier, in the new Atlas Gundam. Daryl is still fighting in a Zeon remnant unit, though the two do not come to blows in this part of the series. I felt that the plot was a little bit all over the place in these 4 episodes, as there are two completely unrelated perspectives to follow. Unlike the first half of the series, Io and Daryl's perspectives are not connected, and they are often fighting on opposite sides of the world. It doesn't help that the series ends on a cliffhanger, with no continuation to the Seven Seas Alliance plotline that it started. For these reasons I must say that this half of Thunderbolt was quite weak, and I will be reading the manga while hoping/waiting for a third season.

Overall this series is a 6.5/10. It would've been higher if it weren't for the flaws of the second half.

#gundam thunderbolt #slpytalk

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adam-sadmon · 4 months

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So ya know, a lot of people I know (friends, acquaintances etc.) have felt, especially this year, the call of the abyss, the sheer absence of any purpose or will to live, some felt it a little more than others.

I've always considered myself lucky, ever since I overcame that issue myself, that I'm maybe uniquely gifted in the ability to find a lot of joy in the little things, it's easy to see that as taking what scraps life throws off its plate to you, but I especially am guilty of always thinking life should be more, a better job, a relationship, more money, bigger house, fancy clothes etc. And to that I'd say, as I've learned: Survive first, live second. These are trying times even for those with a decent starting hand, let alone those without.

So, with all that said, I wanted to get out a few little things I've enjoyed this year, I hope you reblog it and add some of your own, I have no end of want to pick up some new hobbies or fascinations, and I'd love to make some mutuals on here. So with all that said:

Gunpla- Right, so this has been the big one. I first got into it when I came across a Zaku II Gunpla on Halloween and, being a big fan of mecha and the Zaku's design I picked it up. Prior to this I had been struggling with my free time and what to do with it, it was a time when I eagerly anticipated sleep and would zone out and go into a full dopamine fueled trance of YouTube shorts and whatever was on TV. Gunpla changed that. Now, every night for an half an hour, an hour, maybe 2, I'd sit down, put a podcast from my mountain of media I need to get through on in the background, and get to work. It's been genuinely nice having an actual hobby, something I can take some time on, actually think my own thoughts for a little bit, and be rewarded with something to put up. For Christmas I invested in some tools (sharper snippers, some different grit sandpaper, line removers etc.) and hope next year to slowly improve, make my builds a little cleaner. Gunpla really speaks to the average Japanese hobbyist I imagine, the whole idea of measure twice, cut once, spending an inordinate amount of time on a single part so it's polished to perfection, and taking pride in what you do, I get it now.

If you want to get into Gunpla yourself I, much as I love the Zaku, can't really recommend the High Grade Zaku II as mine falls apart if I look at it funny, though I've recently bought a high grade RX-78 which I've heard is sturdier. If you like either of those and find yourself getting into the hobby then I absolutely recommend the Real Grade Z'Gok, it was a treat to put together from start to finish, it's a beautiful piece of plastic even if you (like me) don't plan on painting it, it's sturdy and it's articulation is second to none. I've recently picked up a Real Grade Zeong for Christmae and, on and off-note, I feel like every time I see a new suit I think "that's the dumbest thing I've ever seen", and it immediately enters my faves. Z'Gok, Zeong, Gogg and Hygogg.

Gundam - So, this may be cheating because arguably Gundam is as far removed from a little thing as possible, but really the way I see Gundam is you choose what looks the coolest to you and jump in.

So a friend asked if I had actually watched any Gundam when I bought my Gunpla, and while I maintain so long as you think the Gunpla in question would look sick on a shelf you need no other reason to justify getting it, I'm again a big fan of mecha so decided I'd have a go. So here come the recommendations:

Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky - First of the Thunderbolt movies and (from what I understaaaaand?) is an OVA of a full series, December Sky is for my money the most War is Hell of any Gundam series while still remaining actually believable and salient to war and it's impacts as we know it today. It stars Daryl Lorenz, an amputee sniper and mobile suit pilot of the evil Zeon regime and focuses a lot on his and his brothers in arms' role under Zeon and how each side has good, honest men and women fighting for causes they don't understand or have lost all meaning of, with special focus on the cold brutality of war, how it affects people inside the mechs and out and how much can be lost for so little. It has a pretty famous soundtrack comprised of frenetic and freestyle jazz as well as some wholly original, voiced pop songs, with the framing device of both Daryl and rival pilot Io Flemming listening to music they have a deep connection with during fights, the juxtaposition of which is awe inspiring, tragic and sometimes even beautiful, in a haunting way. Not for the faint of heart but a must watch for people like me who prefer more grounded and brutal mech combat as well as a story both introspective of its themes and characters. I won't say much about Io Flemming because this is a positive post and, I'mma keep it real with you, I hate Io Flemming.

Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower - Now this is a very hard recommendation. December Sky is sold a lot on its narrative and thematic elements, whereas Bandit Flower throws basically all of that out for balls to the wall anime bullshit. Focus is given less on the characters or any overarching point but instead on showcasing all the cool new Gundams. I'd still recommend it however if only because it's focus entirely on spectacle and action means it's at the very least a fun, dumb watch, with admittedly a few standout story moments like the Zeon Remnants as characters and their fight in the Arctic.

War in the Pocket - Points immediately for maybe my favourite mobile suit in the entire franchise, the Hygogg, War in the Pocket is also in the War is Hell subcategory following the great war between the goodies and the baddies (I'm condensing here) through the eyes of a kid caught in the middle of it, with a LOT of time dedicated to more of the slice of life of your ordinary kid in the Universal Gundam universe, though what fights do occur onscreen are stellar. A mixed bag when it comes to recommending it since your patience has to be pretty high and, admittedly, I feel like Gundam is perfectly capable of delivering its message while not boring me. Still, it's 80's animation so even the boring bits are a joy to watch.

Deli Sandwiches - Okay, yes I know this sounds like I'm prescribing hearty sandwiches for depression and yes I kinda am but here me out: Corned beef. This is probably going to really emphasise just how much joy I can find in the little things but sat down, watching TV with corned beef, sauerkraut and melted swiss cheese all in one beautiful hoagie, it made me feel like life isn't all bad. I don't even LIKE cheese that's how good it was.

Street Fighter - So to preface this, Street Fighter is a series I've WANTED to get into for sometime. I remember vividly playing SF2 Turbo on my Gameboy Advance back when I was a kid and, when I was in my teens and wanting to actively get into fighting games, picking up SFV. This, right, was a mistake. Street Fighter unlike any other franchise I've played is not only not beginner friendly it's most diehard fans seem to want to keep it that way, so thank God for SF6. Even beyond all the praise I could give it for Modern Controls and it's ability to not only let me play the game, in a hype manner, online against real people and WIN but it's a visually gorgeous game, it's redesigns of classic characters are basically all straight up improvements and new characters (shoutouts especially to my mains, Manon, Marisa and A.K.I) all have a sense of identity and belonging within the SF universe, and that's not even mentioning the soundtrack. Go, immediately, listen to R.E.D, Zangief's theme, The Plunderer, JP's theme.

I titled this recommendation Street Fighter and not Street Fighter 6, because playing SF6, actually getting invested in the characters and feeling like I'm a part of this niche now, urged me to seek out more, which is why I'm also going to recommend the Udon comics which I've read enough issues of to give a give thumbs up as well as the 1994 anime movie, not heavy on plot but easily some of the most enjoyable martial arts fight choreography in anime.

The Yogpod - So this isn't really anything new to me, per se, but I hope it will be for you. I used to listen to the Yogpod, that is the Yogscast's podcast, a long while back, not when it first premiered but in time to listen as some of the middle to later episodes first came out. Lewis and Simon at their peak were, and I use this word specifically, effortlessly funny and had a genuine sense of camaraderie, with hour long conversations that devolve into tangent after tangent from a single talking point the way conversations with old friends do, and it's great to sit in on that not only for the laughs but, and this may sound sad, feeling like your there.

Now, I will add a few things:

This is specially the Yogpod, not Triforce. Ive5nit listened to Triforce as I'm nit familiar with its newer cast and while I have no doubt it probably is a good listen perhaps it's just my nostalgia but I have no urge to listen to it.

I have not kept up with the Yogscast as they are today at all, I'm not aware of their political leanings or any drama outside of the Sjin incident which, as far as I'm aware, they handled in the most sensible manner possible.

All that said, onto recommendations. Honestly the first episode where they call Sips in my mind is mandatory listening, it was a complete dumpster fire of a pilot and that's what makes it so genuinely hilarious. Others of note are I believe the 2nd or 3rd episode, 'Drugs and Zombies', all the Spooktacular/Spacktacular Halloween specials as well as their Simple Simon interview with Bill Bailey, if you like any of those really do give them a listen.

Horror movies - Now, I already have an alt account dedicated specially to horror media, horror as an interest is not at all new to me, I've been drawing monsters back when I was using crayons, it's always been my favourite genre and I'll try to keeo this brief or I'll be rambling for days. This year I decided to start buying physical and collectors editions/Blu Rays of horror movies which eventually spurred me into branching out and actually watching some new movies, and by new I mean at least 3 decades old, but new to me. Specifically I wanted to seek out absolute garbage, and while garbage I often found there was the occasional gem, and those are:

Motel Hell - Horror comedy starring Rory Calhoun as Farmer Vincent, known all around the USA for his smoked meats, you get where this is going. It is bizarre, it is somehow stranger than Texas Chainsaw, and like Texas Chainsaw 2 ALSO ends with a chainsaw dual between a sheriff and a pig-coded, skin-mask wearing cannibal.

Ghostwatch - NOT a trash movie but easily one of the most effective pieces of, at the time, interactive horror and ghost media, the less spoiled the better. It was produced by the BBC and starred a lot of 90's BBC alum with the framing of a Halloween ghost hunt that, at the time, aired live to the entire UK, this as I'm told was sorta like our War of the Worlds broadcast.

So, yeah, I hope this terrifying dive into the psyche of a man easily pleased by deli meat and giant robots/trashy horror movies/buff women has given you some ideas and maybe the perspective to look at the little things you enjoy in life and to keep on enjoying them, I'd genuinely like to hear any recommendations of your own, as I said I'm always looking for more to get into, hoping everyone has an easier time of next year and happy holidays to you all.

#Mental health #Gunpla #Gundam #Anime #Street fighter #Street Fighter 6 #Hoagies #Lol #Yogscast #Yogpod #Podcasts #Horror #Horror movies #Depression #Hobbies #Positivity #Videogames #Gaming

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gatormeister · 2 months

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First time watching Gundam Thunderbolt

Okay. I did not know this was an ongoing story. So anyone exclusively watching the anime have been waiting on a third season/movie for seven years now? And after Bandit Flower ends right after introducing who I can only assume is the main villain? I can appreciate your patience.

Anyways.

Thunderbolt is just plain great. I loved it. I stand by the Full Armor Gundam looking kinda goofy, (I genuinely believed the three extra shields were all that constituted the Full Armor in the name when I first saw it in Gunpla form on digital store fronts,) But I have to admit it looks pretty fantastic in motion.

Speaking of Thunderbolt Original suits, they are all fantastic. The Full Armor, the Psycho Zaku, and my favorite of the three; the Atlas Gundam. I just love the white, yellow, black color scheme. It's very striking.

The actually show/movies those designs are attached to are pretty good too. December Sky is the better of the two current movies I think. It's mostly self contained, you can watch it and not have to worry about how things continue on or any plot points left hanging. It's both an eccentric and stylish visual feast, and a brutal and crushing view of the one year war at the same time. Here we are in the middle of a dead colony and its surrounding space where neither side is all that well equipped save for some experimental mobile suits that are no doubt only there for field testing. All the soldiers on both sides of the conflict are miserable and broken, clinging to just about anything to keep themselves sane while throwing themselves into an endless meat grinder. Their one and only purpose being to kill the enemy before they themselves are killed, it's just about all they can do until they both end up tearing themselves apart.

Then Bandit Flower is very much about a specific mission and enemy they have to fight. Yeah, it takes a turn to a more standard, more familiar Gundam framework afterwards, and really I can't fault Thunderbolt for that. How long can something like December Sky go on before it just ends up repeating the same points over and over. It makes perfect sense to move forward in the way they did, and Bandit Flower does exceptionally well placing the characters and loose threads of December Sky into this more objective based plot.

Io and Daryl are both incredibly well written and performed, bouncing off their respective side characters perfectly. I love how Bandit Flower focuses on amphibious mobile suit battles, it's such an underutilized aspect of the series. All these amphibious Zeon suits that look goofy as all hell are put to fantastic and wonderful use here. I mean I'll be honest, I never expected something that looks like the Acguy could look so cool in a series.

So yeah, Thunderbolt was exactly as awesome as people said it was, I have no complaints other than I can't wait to see more of it... however many years that may take.

The next stop on my Gundam viewing journey is Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, SEED Destiny, and eventually SEED Freedom. SEED Destiny is hated, I know, but I feel like I need to at least see it through if I'm going to watch SEED at all. It's either all in or all out, I'll be back to share my thoughts once SEED is over.

#mobile suit gundam #gundam #Mobile suit gundam thunderbolt #gundam thunderbolt

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