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Comment by Animats | Hacker News Reader

Mecha seem to have disappeared from Japanese anime. Here's the anime list for Spring 2024.[1]

[1] https://anichart.net/Spring-2024

While I'd like to blame the metastasization of the narou-kei LN adaptation, I think the real reason is the same as why Sci Fi has largely disappeared from visual media in general outside of hangers on from legacy franchises. People have stopped believing in the future.

Mecha was a 1960s-1980s war-inspired fascination that maybe, if anything, we should be surprised at the longevity of. We haven't really been getting that many giant robots or pilotable mechs in popular media outside of Japanese animation.

Mecha is never going to disappear. Mecha are great for toy sales.

Patlabor wasn’t war-inspired; you might enjoy it’s contrast to gundam-type mecha stories. The Labors represent the rise of technological power that can be employed by a single person and all the effects that can have.

There is an upcoming Mech movie Atlas, starring Jennifer Lopez with a heavy Titanfall vibe.

I always felt like the big explosion was the 80s, not to say the 70s was unremarkable and the 90s just had a lot of really good stuff like turn A, Eva (I dislike it) and King of braves GGG

We got Gundam Witch last year :)

And Gundam SEED Freedom this January.

Last season had Yûki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern, SYNDUALITY and Gundam SEED FREEDOM, this season has Shinkalion and next season has Grendizer U. "Disappeared" seems like a strong word.

I watched Shinkalion purely out of desperation and was pleasantly surprised despite being a show for kids and having "terrible graphics".

And yeah there's not much mainstream, but you always get some Mazinger spinoff, some Gundam and other "minor" stuff. The genre is definitely not popular but it's alive.

Super Robot Taisen is also still ongoing, and while it's not a show (although it's been adapted a few times) it's a good way to find stuff that might have escaped your radar. And the originals can help quench the thirst for new cool robots with flashy moves. Lately they have been adding "never animated" stuff like Mazinger ZERO, GaoGaiGar Vs. Betterman and Getter Devolution which is nice too.

I thought EightySix was pretty good (2021-3)

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