Super Dimensional Robot Tournament Sai Mecha: The 1337 8

NOT EVERYBODY HURTS, in fact only a few really do. Those are the fans who have the misfortune of caring more about this tournament, those who take it a little more seriously, than perhaps those who are playing along, throwing neighborly support, or were just bored enough to give a flying vote.

THE RESULTS ARE VALID anyway. The voters have spoken. If your favorite robot didn’t make it this far, well it’s because you’re weak. You’re weak and lazy. By now it’s clear what kind of voters this tournament has. If you want things to change, YOU MUST DO MORE THAN WHINE.

WHERE IS YOUR CAMPAIGN? How many like-minded fans have you brought over to vote for your precious robots? Do you think the anime blogosphere is filled with mecha anime fans? HOW MANY MECHA ANIME BLOGS DO YOU SEE? ZERO. Yes, a big fat ZERO (actually, Mecha  Pot is nice but not exactly contributing hordes of voters). No, Mecha Guignol is not a mecha anime blog. No, Continuing World is not a mecha anime blog. No, Colony Drop is not a mecha anime blog. No, The Mistakes of Youth is not a mecha anime blog. No, We Remember Love is not a mecha anime blog. I just happen to be mecha anime fan.

But yes, mecha fans exist, but they don’t venture out of their scrapyards and warrens (or if they prefer, production facilities and hangars). But this isn’t the only kind of fan that hasn’t shown up in the polls. Where are the Code Geass fans? Nobody got to them. Where are the AU Gundam fans? {on facebook (online), in Indonesia (in meatspace)} It’s rather telling that the Strike Freedom never made it to the Tournament.

Oldfags? Newfags? EVERYBODY GOT SHAFTED. The thing is, the tournament isn’t over. There are eight robots here that ARE worthy. The kind of voting that got them here may be questioned, but not the robots themselves. Sure, the Tachikoma have been propelled by the casualfag moe vote, or the anti-oldfag hate vote, BUT NONE OF THAT SAI FANBASE NONSENSE invalidates how the Tachikoma is a triumph of not only mechanical design, but of a kind of science fiction that enriches anime. AND NO, I DID NOT VOTE FOR TACHIKOMA so I won’t hear of any electioneering accusations.

So, you want your favored mecha to win? CAMPAIGN. You want the final matchups be populated by the worthiest? CAMPAIGN. You want the kind of voting to be done with your particular kind of geekery? CAMPAIGN. And FFS, don’t campaign here. Flame each other here, hate on each other’s votes here, all is fair in war. But if you really want to get votes (which is what actually you know, COUNTS in a poll), GO TO WHERE THE FANS ARE. The voters here already know what they’re voting for.

YOUR ELITE EIGHT

The Evangelion Test Type vs. The Tachikoma

The Unit-01 is (I won’t spoil you, the anime gets too good) a beast. In the super robot tradition you find beastly robots, or even robots that are combinations of beasts. Very few of them got to act as beastly as the Test Type. The feral intensity displayed by this mecha is staggering, and makes for an amazing contrast with the real robot backdrop it has… limited power source, projectile and melee based armaments, non-flying, etc. This Ultraman throwback monster fighting combined with the science fiction aspirations of Gundam makes Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Test Type itself an achievement in mecha.

The Tachikoma takes the gritty combat consequences that is idealized by the fans of real robot anime like Armored Trooper VOTOMS, plausibility and verisimilitude in design seldom matched in mecha anime, and a poignant character arc that stands among the best in many anime traditions (at the very least the relevant real and super robot ones) to become a truly remarkable example of what anime is capable of accomplishing.

The Variable Fighter vs. The Mobile Suit

Here you have it, a stunningly elite matchup. An early-tech mass production unit vs. a late-model prototype, each robot backed by large and loyal fandoms; a hero unit vs. a villain unit. It seldom gets better than this.

The VF has participated in battles of such scale that no MS could ever hope to be part of. It’s accomplished feats of piloting that no MS could ever attempt. The VF could never hope to approach the mythic iconoclasm of the mobile suits. The VF could seldom hope to routinely engage units of the same technological class or better like MS almost always do.

The VF-1 is an originator of a great tradition.

The Sinanju is the latest representative of a great tradition.

The Zaku II vs. The Escaflowne

The Zaku II did something unprecedented: it made the enemy grunt mech into a superstar. For over thirty years it became the standard bearer of the tradition of enemy mecha that’s worth collecting. Prior to the Zaku the enemy mecha were one-and-done monsters of the week, or simply too unremarkable to be worth anything. It gave enemy robots a style and character that balanced the impulse to make garish monstrosities. It made villains look pro. And if you find a show with a villain mecha that appeals to your sensibilities, you have the Zaku II to thank.

The Escaflowne reminded viewers that while the robot anime is on the surface a science fiction tradition, it is filled with much fantasy elements… and then such elements can be explored in a grand and expansive way. This is achieved when the eponymous mecha itself is a physical sword-wielding armored knight that transforms into a dragon. It is different from a robot that turns into a monster of destruction. It aimed for nobility and grace, and aimed well. So much of robot anime in their heart of hearts see their robot heroes as giant suits of armor, sticking swords into terrible beasts, fighting other armored warriors. Escaflowne does away with the disguises and flies in a world of knights and magic.

The YF-19 vs, The Gurren Lagann

The real vs. super robot showdown of the quarterfinals has arrived. Haters stupidly refer to Gurren Lagann as gigantic, failing to distinguish that the Gurren Lagann in this tournament does not refer to the Choginga or Tengen Toppa versions [Edit: actually, it refers to all versions since Sai Mecha policy is to lump all versions of a mecha that aren’t significantly different in design into one entry. This also applied to the Gurren, Deathscythe, etc. -EO] . The Gurren Lagann is no taller than a Gundam at around 18 meters, making it not overwhelmingly bigger than the Alpha One (YF-19)’s 15 meters.

Both are superb examples of their kind.

The YF-19 is innovatively designed and plausibly armed – one interesting thing is how kept its missile payload within the silhouette of the mecha and not beneath the wings or under the fuselage as was customary for VFs prior. It was prepared for the rare close combat situations by arming its “pinpoint barrier punch.” Otherwise it performs with amazing agility and speed while remaining a machine that depends on the pilot’s skill to get the best out of it. It then gets to do heroic things that very few other singular real robots do, but well within the rules of verisimilitude that make real robot anime the compelling thing that it is.

The Gurren Lagann is a machine of destiny. The Lagann chose its pilot, the destined Spiral Champion which plays out the mechanism set out by the anti-spirals to maintain their status quo stasis of the universe. As such the Gurren Lagann possesses unreasonable amounts of power, bending reality casually to produce spectacular weapons and attacks. It takes the conceits of super robot anime and drugs it into a hyperactive beast which renders its combinations, sunglasses, drills into absurd proportions. Its enemies and viewers are manipulated to manifest similar reactions: “No it can’t possibly do that… OH SHIT IT FUCKING DID!!!”

Both are from shows that do their part to characterize their respective eras or generation of viewers.

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These are your worthy combatants. They deserve not only your votes, but the votes of everyone who doesn’t know that their favored units are in a desperate fight. You want your robots to advance. YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE without a corresponding effort to campaign. So campaign hard and well. Only then you can celebrate the robots’ victories as your own, or rue their loss as if your efforts and spirit disappear like so much ash in the winds of the battlefield.

Voting

Earth Side

Colonies Side

BONUS ROUND