Why does Japan love giant robots so much when they're very niche in the west?

why does Japan love giant robots so much when they're very niche in the west?

is it just compensation for their small chinchins?

Robots used to be very popular in the west too.

arguably because of japanese influence tho

If you don't like giant robots you had a shit childhood

>hey we need to sell toys to kids like right now
>say no more
And thus the mecha genre was born.

It's because western culture is too feminized and men are socially conditioned to not like actual manly things.

Only partly though, a lot of our own sci-fi is just as responsible.

Star Wars, Capeshit and Transformers all have robots and they're all incredibly popular.

You have to understand that fundamentally humans are attracted (not necessarily in a sexual sense) to the human form. Giant robots are essentially powerful weapons in human form. Thus the enjoyment you get when you look at a giant robot is much in the same you get when you look at a Greek statue. I could go in more depth but it's almost 3 am and I'd rather not, but that's the reason for the obsession in a nutshell.

Chicks digg giant robots!

Transformers, Power Rangers, Iron Giant, Samurai Jack, Titanfall, Star Wars, Warhammer 40k, Pacific Rim, Terminator, etc...

Everyone has a penchant for machinery violence. The true main difference is that western mecha designs are more about being heavy armed like walking tanks and Eastern ones are more humanlike

No they don't.

They don't even like giant robots that much anymore

>why does Japan love giant robots so much when they're very niche in the west?
That the four riders of the apocalypse ride "horses" is actually a translation error caused by the ambiguity in the terms used in past times for mounted vehicles. The end of times will take the form of a giant mecha war.

The niche status of /m/ in the west is a reflection of the disconnection the Christian population has with its very own belief.

Please don't belittle East Asians. They come from the greatest, most mature cultural and racial legacies of humanity, and should be our friends and allies against the NWO globalist agenda

>that waist
Oda needs to retake art lessons

The popularity of *giant* robots, (as opposed to regular-ass robots in general which have their inception outside Japan) originates in a solution to how to portray industrialisation in an eastern storytelling ethos.

In ancient tales, if you are dealing with a full-on god, which can cause natural disasters and thus are often personified as possessing a form akin to one, IE a huge-ass giant, it literally isn't something people can confront. Whereas narratives outside Japan might talk about people struggling against the divine, here, that's not really an option. You need your own god to oppose a god.

Traditionally this would take the form of entreating another great power to take to your aid, but that's a fraught process and unlikely to succeed because high-tier gods are temperamental and calculating shits and individual humans can't offer them much.

However, with industry becoming so much more powerful, such that any organised and well-resourced group of people can make the impossible possible, like powered flight, what if we could build a god?

This is the subtextual inception of the mecha genre. Aesthetically, it is a powerful image, and so it was quickly exported back to the west without any of its cultural context, where giant robots were used as symbols of powerful invaders from space or whatever.

But in its home context, a mecha is a being made from steel and solder, with the power of a god, but a will subordinate to that of man, or indeed lacking one entirely, a shell body allowing its pilot to act. It exists to enact the will of man wherever no lesser measure will suffice. In a literal natural disaster, a giant robot will save lives and thwart the event itself. In a figurative natural disaster, a giant robot sallies forth to do battle with whatever malevolent god threatens its people with destruction. In an invasion, a giant robot is unassailable save by the actions of another giant robot, as potent a totem spirit for its people as the Ark of the Covenant.

>It exists to enact the will of man
And the best way to show that, is to let it have the humanoid form.

To build our own god to fight gods is also the greatest act of defiance.

so mechas are actually a way for human beings to adopt the form of a god?
that's pretty interesting and might tie into the whole "defeating / surpassing God" thing a lot of Japanese media have going on

is he dabbing on that rocket?

The only supplications needed to harness the power of a mecha are the maintenance necessary to prevent it from disintegrating. Regardless of how strongly its relationship with its engineers / priests is portrayed, it cannot act forever, and must return to recover from its efforts every so often.

The activation processes for a giant robot are meant to evoke the process of starting a complicated vehicle (such as a car, which would be pretty new at the time), but also incorporate some more arcane elements much as one would use to summon a god to your aid.

Ever wonder why allusions of religious terms are so ridiculously common within the mecha genre? Mecha aren't referred to as gods or devils, demons, angels, or whatever, embroiled in plots with bizarrely intense pseudo-religious undertones or overtones for no reason. The simple existence of a giant robot tells you that religion is already on the table, because someone has built a god, either to worship, or to get out of their obligations to worship something else.

All of this cultural and subtextual baggage doesn't translate across very well to the West. The culture in the west has never really entailed the same level of 'helplessness' in the face of the supernatural, Europeans have generally believed that there is no ghost or spirit so powerful that a sufficiently large group of motivated people could not get rid of it. Likewise, in the face of natural disasters, noone would ever lie down and accept God's will, there always has to be some way for individuals to weasel out of any divine punishment rendered, so the context isn't there.

In the west, big robots punching shit is just a thing that looks pretty cool, but it doesn't offer any competitive edge in terms of the quality of a story. Whereas in the East, it is a rich and deep concept in and of itself. The West has acquired a second-hand understanding of how the mecha genre works though, which is increasing its reach.

Cuz it fits perfectly to the sci-fi and post-apocalyptic future-ish settnigs. But you can choose to live in the past.

thats pretty interesting, i cant find any explanation of how other cultures storytelling styles /ethos work though...

>And the best way to show that, is to let it have the humanoid form.

To build our own god to fight gods is also the greatest act of defiance.

Great, I'm really happy that I evidently got my point across, this would have been one of my points as well but I literally forgot.

It is a *very important thing* that mecha's are human shaped, as it represents their stake in the conflict essentially, that they are an armature of man as well as a god, and that their hands are their pilots hands, etc. The whole "god made man in his own image" thing but reversed, as well. All very powerful imagery.

GIANT ROBOTS ARE COOL AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T LIKE THEM IS A FAGGOT

Pacific Rim portrays this eastern vision on mecha too (obviosly since it's strongly inspired by roboto animu):
>There are things you can't fight, acts of God. You see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger, suddenly, you can fight the hurricane. You can win.

And 40k copies the aspect of "taking care of your gods" down to the last comma with their Titans.

And Japan isn't?

but those are appeal to normies.

I agree

those are all shit, jews don't know what makes giant robots cool at all.

Why would anyone like giant robots anyway? They are silly. Tanks are way better.

lol ok kid

Choppers can't hold ground, man

The giant robot genre in Japan is the equivalent of war movies for the US. Because of its actions in the last century and the move towards demilitarization and pacifism, Japan cannot explore the subject of warfare directly.

Do you know that in your country too, your birth rate is dropping? Have you people forgotten how to use your chinchins?

Battletech is the shit
It's not fucking Robotech anymore ffs

Dropping to a 56% white?

But, they do.
They just like giant robots as much as US like guns, Indians with their musicals, and China with their Kung-fu movies

Speaking about Mecha, is there manga or anime with robots as heavy armored bipedal weapon platforms like in MechWarrior instead of giant and agile humanoid mechas with arms and hands who fight essentially in melee like every Japanese mecha ?

>NAIS

Take heed, before us lies bait

half of these are directly inspired by Japan
40k has some awesome robots tho
sauce?

How many Japanese films about WW2 have you seen that unapologetically celebrated fighting and victory? This was something utterly missing for several generations of Japanese boys, except in mecha shows.

There's a reason Gundam has a chonmage.

The cockpit?

Read the fucking filename.

>"I also put the form of the chonmage, which is a form of Japanese traditional haircut worn by men, and kabuto, which is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors, into the design of Gundam. They are my inspirations that are concealed behind the creation of Gundam"

I was referring to the Cockpit movie, user

I agree, but it's odd you used Marcille for reaction pic since she would be the one proclaiming that giant robots are for manchildren.

Saw a video on it.

West is about guns.
East about hands (and swords).

So East like martial arts and mechs and big monsters which are just big people and martial arts x1000

She'd like magic robots i'd bet

couldn't find any anime named "Ghetto Robo", and I don't think that's from "Giant Robo", is it?

>Doesn't get the racist joke.
Oh user..

correct

I remember the robots vs dinosaurs choose-your-own-adventure books and wish Japan would love dinosaurs.

I do, but the joke is not the fucking sauce

Look user it's really fucking obvious. If you don't know the name of such a basic anime then you clearly shouldn't be on this board.

its "getter robo".

let me break it down user, i tried "ghetto robo" in google, it says fuck all, not even a spell check correction from google itself.

I grew up with robotech, transformers, and technoman blade, power rangers and voltron and all the main staples of dubbed shit and let me tell you, I didn't know shit about getter robo, gundam (apart from gundam wing, that was the turning point to discover that anime ain't regular western animated shit), or even ghost in the shell or any other good stuff I know now, not everyone gets a heavy dose of WEEB injection, my mother somehow knew of voltes V but that's because she lived in SEA while here I am in first world white as fuck town.

So, be fucking nice and not so elitist, if you're gonna use a joke, either back off, or use a joke that at least google can help out with

At least he didn't go to fucking reddit or random facebook page 101 where all he';d get is boko no pico responses, fuck

Alternatively, lurk moar.
Works every time, and you don't make a tremendous faggot out of yourself in the process.

>t. herbivore man

Dinosaurs > Robots
inb4 robot dinosaurs, regular dinosaurs are still better.

Is the entire point in your response “pls no bully”, on a board like this?

You couldn't be more retarded if you tried.

>big chickens
>better than killing machines

"Wrong!"

neither can tanks

Fuck dinosaurs

Is this a getter robo reference?

This is true.
ATGM say hi.
One shot is all everyone need to finish off a tank and there's plenty ATGM available everywhere, thanks to good old Uncle Sam.

Battletech is as garbage as the video game that coming out with its game later next year.

>Mecha aren't referred to as gods or devils
What about Mazinger? That was called a potential God or a Demon.

Most mecha series are trash though

What are you going to do if you need to cross a mountain with no path? Strap a rocket to it?

That isn't even a giant robot in the OP image though

Look at those sick biceps. You think those are artificial?

Get that AZ shit off that list and replace it with Gunbuster right now!

>Mecha aren't referred to as gods or devils, demons, angels, or whatever, embroiled in plots with bizarrely intense pseudo-religious undertones or overtones for no reason
>Mecha aren't referred to as gods for no reason
Learn to read.

There is only one giant robot in OP's pic series and it sucks dick.

What is Active Protection System?

I don't know why casuals keep pushing 08th as the "good" gundam.

Production quality aside, it's fucking trash. Characters are nothing, the story is shallow romeo and juliet trash, and a lot of the action scenes are quite retarded, especially the infantry vs MS ones.

This, and the fact that technology is what saved Japan after the 2 bombs, so they have a huge love for it.

>love dinosaurs

>why does Japan love giant robots
All people dig giant robots.
Anyone who says they don't is lying or not aware of it herself/himself.

Because fortunately the west doesn't matter that much to them for these kinds of things?

>Japanese men
>not feminized
It's not good to run away from reality Takeshi.

Because Newtypes are bullshit and Char is overrated.

what is that gif from?

Megas was the best anime of all time

greco is the best gundam

They're trying to subtlety tell us they have mobile tank suits

Another note.

In Mazinger, Kouji is told by his grandfather(Who made the titular robot, of course) that he can become god or the devil with Mazinger Z.
Kouji chooses neither of the two and instead chooses to fight for humanity.

Did you crib this from your college thesis or something?

how can someone like Geass but not mecha in general

Geass is such a typical mecha show

Finite.

why does USA love super heroes so much when they're very niche in the east?

is it just compensation for their big crime rate?

Because, and I really hate to use this comparison, CG is the Rick&Morty of mecha. It hides its true nature behind a veneer of pseudo-intellectualism that appeals to people who want to feel smarter by allowing them to identify with a smart character.

Congratulations on posting the most retarded thing I've read today

Machines are fake and have no soul.

Fuck you.

someone should do a list of shows like this so that they can be avoided

Spoken like a true normalfag.

Houseki no Kuni would be at the top.

>satan spawns
>soul
Wrong again

>someone should do a list of shows like this so i can shitpost