in my opinion, between 1975~1985 was the most glorious days of mecha designs. That period is when robot anime genres were getting defined and the creators ahd room to expand their imagination by trying out new things.

For alll the kids who were fans of anything robot, it was great time of falling in love with brand new kinds of characters and mechs. There was no debates about genres. Kids didn't talk about super robot vs. real robots. No one looked down on you because you are into robots. All boys argued about which robot is their favorite and which one is stronger!

The Charisma of Mazinger Z was unmatched with any characters or robots on TV during that time. Sure, there was other ground breaking shows like Astro Boy, and Tetsujin 28 that came long before Mazinger Z. But, to have a pilot actually inside the robot and how the robot is just an extension of the pilot was truely a revolutionary thing.

Between 1980 to 1985 was the period of time where the foundation to define the different genres of robot animation/live action shows were firmly established. It is during this time the original Gundam weries became mainstream (after failed initial launch, Gundam picked up its pace of gaining popularity during reruns). It also pioneered a new genre called "Real Robot" genre. Unlike previous robot shows where the robots were almost a hand of God, the robots were simply tools in these shows. The focus of the show was more on what the characters were going through rather than focusing on the robot. The popularity of this new genre was soon relived with another huge franchise with Macross. It also provided a paltform for new generation of designers such as Kawamori San (of the Macross fame).

Gundam, in my opinion was a super robot disguised in a real robot genre. Granted, the original Gundam series served as a hub between super robot shows like Mazinger Z and macross, it's not a big surprise that it had some strong reminiscence of the previously dominated robot shows. But, as the show repeated it's same old formula through out decades (and now with remake/tribute series called Gundam Seed), I really doubt it was a "real robot" genre. Sure, even within the side series like G-Gundam and Gundam Wing series, you have shows that were actually part of a Super Robot genre (Turn A was a disturbingly genre-less show). Regardless, today, the mighty Gundam series lost its identity and the original Gundam universe is getting lost in the memory of old fans and its much produced side stories like the recent Gundam Igloo series.

Well, here is my little tribute to the original Gundam. i drew it in more of 70's Super Robot style. Namely Mazinger... I never was a big fan of the design of Gundam. It never had the charisma Zakus had... To me, it just looked like over designed toy with weird color scheme. i mean, in the universe that has to rely mainly on visual confirmation for combat (because of the Minovsky Particles... sort of like a super electro magnetic pulse effect... therefore all the long range communication and radar system is not functional in the Gundam universe), here is a robot with primary colored body... I would buy it if the colors were test purpose. But, to carry it all through out the show...? Even if Amuro was a new type of completely different level... It just didnt' make any sense to me. Yeah, Char has red bodied MS (mobile suit... as the robots are called in the Gundam universe). But, he is already well know and feared pilot. It serves more as a fear factor. In fact, in the show, whenever he appeared, all the federation trembled at the "red comet"... no matter how many times Amuro beat the crap out of him. Ironically, Zeons seemed like they never feared the Gundam... eventhough it had crazy reputaion among all spacenoids. I mean... how many times did you hear Zeon pilots looking for the "White Mobile Suit"? Eventhough they would confront the Gundam only to be defeated.

But, I digress... (sorry for my geeky long otakuish rant...). When Gundam universe was switching the genre of the show, I just wished the design would reflect that. I know it's risky. But, to me, it's almost like deceiving the audience to put up a same Gundam mug. Of course, this personal sentiment gets utterly distroyed by Mr. Mead's design of Turn A Gundam... And I bet it was born out of Tomino San (the creator of the Gundam)'s desire to see something different. But, I always hated the design of Turn A Gundam. It was just a show case of how this famous american industrial designer does not understand the robot design. It was just basic shapes of cylinder,spheres, and boxes (70's robot designs) with interesting looking panel lines. And those mustache... ugh... (shudder).

Anyways, I hope my little tribute is reflecting enough of all the things and feelings I am talking about. Sorry for the long useless thoughts and ranting. As you can see, I"m not much of a writer. But, those of you who are interested in finding out what I am thinking while drawing these crazy useless fanarts, here is a bit of my brain for you.

I actually think a vinyl toy version of Gundam in this style might be cool thing....

Aplologies to Mr. Tomino, Mr. Nagai, Mr. Mead, and Ms. Arakawa...