My Life In Fandom: "Kyokai Senki" Preview Posted

bandai Spirits releaseed an 11 minute preview of its new mecha show Kyokai Senki

This is the original mecha series I posted about a while back, and it's good to see that it's set for an October release. Yes, there's no subtitles available; you'll have to muddle through like I did (or get a bilingual friend to help), but so far it looks like what we can reasonably expect from an original Japanese work. It takes a known and proven structural premise--teenage boy finds giant robot, gets involved in Big Conflict--and runs with it, this time into an alternative history where Japan is occupied by multiple powers each using mecha like the protagonist's unit.

As this is a preview, using more-or-less finished footage from the first episode, expect it to be a bit rough yet. As this is a seasonal TV series with 12-13 episodes, do not expect the plot to drag because the production literally doesn't have the time to waste on slow build ups. As this is a Bandai original, you can expect the tie-in merchandise (especially the model kits) to get pushed hard shortly.

And yes, if this meets expectations you can expect it to get into Super Robot Wars in a year or two down the line when they need fresh properties to put in a lineup. It's too early to say if this is worth your time or not, but I'm hopeful that it is and that it's more than just good enough.

But you want something more out of me than this, right?

While there are original mecha properties being released this year, there are not enough of them. My concern is that this won't reach the expected performance that Bandai wants out of it--this won't be another Majestic Prince or Knights and Magic, nevermind Code Geass--because the mood in the country is one where they need narratives of triumph, and I'm not seeing that this is one. If this isn't one where the protagonist's struggles to overcome the conflict are worth the effort, then I can easily see domestic audiences abandon this series and overseas audiences (us) nope out just as fast.

In short, we need to admit that one of the secrets to the succcess of the classics is that even when the heroes don't survive, they still win.

"But Gundam!"

Was a failure in its original run. It took the theatrical recuts to save it, and then only because Macross's success showed that Real Robot shows were more than a bad experiment. Remember how Zeta Gundam ended: the AEUG won, even if it cost Kamille everything and left the door open for Neo-Zeon to move in, which is why Zeta is easily considered one of the best Gundam series.

There's a reason shows like Ideon leave bad tastes in everyone's mouths, why Evangelion has constantly had to revise its own ending, and why Tomino's nickname is one of infamy; no one like nihilistic despair porn but broken losers and Death Cultists. It's the same mix of shit and ashes that people come to reject in other genres and media, and it does not matter who those people are, where they are, or when they are and if you keep pushing it the audience will abandon you to your filth.

You can do a lot to a character, so long as what they go through is worth it, and when that isn't met you get rejection. This is why folks balked at No Country For Old Men and other subversive media like Mouse Wars.

You want mecha media to return to prominence? Tell stories where the protagonist's struggles are not for nothing.