Mecha anime and manga

Some of the first mecha featured in manga and anime were "super robots" (スーパーロボット sūpā robotto).[3] The super robot genre features superhero-like giant robots that are often one-of-a-kind and the product of an ancient civilization, aliens or a mad genius. These robots are usually piloted by Japanese teenagers via voice command or neural uplink, and are often powered by mystical or exotic energy sources.[3] Their abilities are described as "quasi-magical".[9]

The later real robot (リアルロボット riaru robotto) genre features robots that do not have mythical superpowers, but rather use largely conventional, albeit futuristic weapons and power sources, and are often mass-produced on a large scale for use in wars.[3] The real robot genre also tends to feature more complex characters with moral conflicts and personal problems.[10] The genre is therefore aimed primarily at young adults instead of children.[11] The genre has been compared to hard science fiction by its fanbase, and is strongly associated with sales of popular toy models such as Gunpla.

One of the "founding fathers" of real robot design was Kunio Okawara, who started out working on Gundam and continued on to other real robot series such as Armored Trooper Votoms.[9]

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) is largely considered the first series to introduce the real robot concept and, along with The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982), would form the basis of what people would later call real robot anime.[12] In an interview with Yoshiyuki Tomino and other production crew members in the April 1989 issue of Newtype, about his views on the first Gundam anime that was not directed by him, he commented on the realism of the show, in which he sees the sponsors, Sunrise, as imaginary enemies of Gundam, since they did not accept a certain level of realism.[13] Armored Trooper Votoms is viewed by Famitsu magazine as the peak of real-robot anime.[14]

The concepts behind "real robots" that set it apart from previous robot anime are such as:

• The robot is used as an industrial machine with arm-like manipulators and is manufactured by military and commercial enterprises of various nations.[15]
• The concept of industrial production and commercial manufacturing processes appeared for the first time in the history of robot shows, introducing manufacturing language like "mass-production" (MP), "prototype" and "test-type".[15]
• While classic super robots typically use special attacks activated by voice commands, real robots more commonly use manually operated scaled-up/advanced versions of infantry weapons, such as lasers/particle beams, firearms, melee weapons (swords, axes, etc) and shields.
• Real robots use mostly ranged weapons that require an ammunition supply.[16]
• Real robots require periodic maintenance and are often prone to malfunction and break down, like real machines.[15]

This ubiquitous subgenre features mecha piloted internally as vehicles. The first series to feature such mecha was Go Nagai's Mazinger Z (1972). In a 2009 interview, Go Nagai claimed the idea came to mind when he was stuck in a traffic jam and wished his car could sprout arms and legs to walk over the cars in front.[17] Other examples include Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972), Mobile Suit Gundam (1979), The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982), and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007). There are series that have piloted mecha that are also in the sentient category, usually because of an AI system to assist and care for the pilot, as featured in Blue Comet SPT Layzner (1985) and Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (2013),[18] or going berserk because the mecha has biological aspects, as featured in Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995).

These are mecha that have the ability to be self-aware, think, and sometimes feel emotion. The source of sentience varies from aliens, such as the titular characters of American-produced and Japanese-animated series, The Transformers (1984), to artificial intelligence or synthetic intelligence, such as the robots of Dragon's Heaven (1988) & Brave Police J-Decker (1994) to magic, such as Da-Garn of The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn (1992). The first series that featured a sentient giant robot, also the first mecha anime in color, was Astroganger (1972).[19]

These are mecha that are controlled externally. The first mecha anime, Tetsujin 28-go (1966), and Giant Robo (1967) are famous examples.

A transforming mech can transform between a standard vehicle (such as a fighter plane or transport truck) and a fighting mecha robot. The concept of transforming mecha was pioneered by Japanese mecha designer Shōji Kawamori in the early 1980s, when he created the Diaclone toy line in 1980 and then the Macross anime franchise in 1982. Some of Kawamori's most iconic transforming mecha designs include the VF-1 Valkyrie from the Macross and Robotech franchises, and Optimus Prime (called Convoy in Japan) from the Transformers and Diaclone franchises. The concept later became more popular in the mid-1980s, with Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984) and Zeta Gundam (1985) in Japan, and with Transformers (1984 adaptation of Diaclone)[20] and Robotech (1985 adaptation of Macross) in the West.[21][22][23]

This refers to mecha that are powered exoskeletons rather than piloted as vehicles, such as in Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (1983), Bubblegum Crisis (1987) and Active Raid (2016); merge with the mecha, such as in Detonator Orgun (1991) & The King of Braves GaoGaiGar (1997); combine with the robots, such as in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (1988); or become mechanical themselves, such as in Brave Command Dagwon (1996) and Fire Robo (2016).