/m/

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Revision as of 09:43, 15 June 2023 by 63.193.173.168 (talk) (Undo revision 898933 by TheMechaManiac (talk))
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/m/ is the 4chan board for all things giant robots. Sometimes it's also about small robots. Sometimes it's also about spaceships. Sometimes it's also about guys in rubber suits that look like robots. If it's even remotely mechanical in some form, chances are it's /m/-related.

Overview

/m/ is primarily a board for talking about mecha anime/manga, although many different topics frequent the board as well as long as it's vaguely Sci-Fi. Topics range from Super Robots (Gigantic superhero-like robots with special techniques such as rocket punches and blazing swords), Real Robots (Smaller mass-produced robots with more militaristic loadouts such as rifles and grenades), Power Armor (Human-sized bodysuits filled with strength-enhancing mechanical bits), and many other topics like space battleships, kaiju, and Gundam models.

Mecha in /tg/

Although not as common as elves or orcs, robots and other mechanical things do pop up quite frequently in various /tg/ media. Below is a list of some of the more well-known examples of mecha and /m/-related factions in /tg/-related media.

  • Warhammer 40,000 - Robots of a wide range of shapes and sizes appear in the 40K universe, used by many different races/factions.
  • BattleTech - The premiere western mech tabletop game, even if most of its designs from the game's early years originated from anime like Dougram. The most famous war machines in the setting are BattleMechs and their OmniMech offspring.
  • Gamma Wolves - Imagine if you will, Mordheim but if he mecha.
  • Jovian Chronicles - DP9's space mecha combat game and resident gundam expy.
  • Heavy Gear - A wargame sort of like BattleTech that also has some video games and cartoons, the mechs in this are similar to the Armored Troopers seen in the VOTOMs series.
  • Mechaton/Mechaton Titan - Another wargame similar to Battletech, but you design your own minis out of Lego. See also: Mobile Frame Zero.
  • MechaTop - A crowd funded war game centered around /m/ related models and figures on various sized bases.
  • Mekton - A mecha-themed pen-and-paper RPG with pretty loose rules, leading to all kinds of hot-blooded shenanigans.
  • Magic: The Gathering - Various /m/ aspects include the sad-robot Karn, the Bio-mechanical menace of Phyrexia, and the many artifact-focused Planes such as Mirrodin and Kaladesh.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh - What, of course a Japanese card game is going to throw some giant robots into the mix. Some notable /m/ archetypes include Ancient Gears, A-to-Z, Masked HEROs, Super-Quantum, and Synchrons.
  • Cardfight!! Vanguard - Another CCG from Japan, this one is slightly more /m/-related than Yu-Gi-Oh due to the Dimensional Police clan being OBARI AS FUCK.

/m/ and /tg/

/m/ and /tg/ have a storied history with one another, being one of the homes of 40K threads before the creation of /tg/ during 4chan's early years. Whether it be arguing about how an Emperor Battle Titan can take on a Evangelion or the logistics of declaring Exterminatus on Unicron, both /m/ and /tg/ share the same brand of autism when it comes to their respective franchises. Also worth mentioning is ZeonQuest, a long-running Gundam-themed quest that's worth a read.

Perhaps the most emblematic of this crossover would be Adeptus Evangelion, a hack of Dark Heresy which places players as Eva pilots. This would later spin off to Bliss Stage, a more original system.

The two boards also associate well with their fellow FLGS compatriots /co/ and /toy/, taking part in regular friendly matches during the 4chan cup.

/m/ Essentials

Want to get into /m/ culture but have no idea where to start? Here's a beginners guide. Short answer 1: Any anime that appeared in Super Robot Wars, preferably from the Alpha and Z games. Short answer 2: Use this chart. Long answer: Check out several sub genres, the most common lead ins being listed with similar titles you can watch if you end up enjoying them.

  • Any anime created by Go Nagai. Literally, any, does not matter if it is subbed or not. Mazinger and Getter Robo are the most talked about though. God Mazinger had production issues so expect that to be the black sheep of the bunch. Both versions of Gaiking qualify as Go Nagai titles.
  • Gundam, is considered one of, if not the, first "real robot" series, where the giant robots and their pilots aren't super heroes, but war machines with military crew. Universal Century entries are the most recommended, but if you watch at least four shows and at least one movie you're good to go, just don't fall for memes. Just note that every entry has fans and opponents, just because you don't see a faction does not mean they do not exist.
    • Mobile Fighter G Gundam is the series' exception to the thing about the giant robots being war machines by having the robots be martial artists piloted by hot blooded manly men who are also national sterotypes. Despite the radical departure, it's actually liked by parts of the fandom.
    • Build Fighters is directly /tg/ related, being about assembled and painted models (many of which are kitbashed) that then, through super science, animate and fight each other. Don't pick it as your first since, aside from being wildly different, there's massive in-jokes in every scene.
  • Armored Trooper VOTOMS, 80s vintage cheese, manly as fuck, and plenty of hard science. Other similar anime include SPT Layzner, Metal Armor Dragonar, Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Panzer World Galient, the Appleseed franchise, Crusher Joe, and Venus Wars.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion, for the more artistic folks or those that like mysterious settings. Other similar anime include Big O, RahXephon, De:Vasady, Zegapain, the Eureka Seven franchise, Betterman, Argento Soma, Star Driver, and Captain Earth.
  • Hades Project Zeorymer, the most essential for /m/ OVAs with short episode lengths. Other similar anime include MegaZone 23, DanGaiOh, the Iczer trilogy, Madox 01, MD Geist 1 and 2, and Big Wars.
  • The Vision of Escaflowne, most prolific fantasy mecha anime out there. Other similar anime include Aura Battler Dunbine, Nobunaga The Fool, Ryu Knight, the Aquarion trilogy, Comet Lucifer, Brave Raideen, Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars, and the Lamune franchise.
  • Gravion, manly and Obari as fuck! Just a warning: Not for the faint of heart, Klein Sandman confirmed for fabulous justice. Other similar anime include Godannar!! (because one exclamation point is not manly enough), Linebarrels of Iron, Viper's Creed, Majestic Prince, Combat Mecha Xabungle, Great Dandaioh, Dai-Guard, Daitarn 3, and Blue Gender. Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Inspector is recommended only for the manliest of men (or if you've done a lot of homework and want a celebration of the genre).
  • Gunbuster and its sequel Diebuster, loaded with space adventure and action (when it gets around to it). Other similar anime include Space Runaway Ideon, Heroic Age, Star Gunman Bismarck, Vandread, God Mars, Angel Links, the Macross franchise, Galaxy Whirlwind Braiger (which has been compared to Cowboy Bebop), and RobiHachi (more of a comedy akin to Futurama).
  • The King of Braves GaoGaiGar and its finale FINAL, kid friendly version of manly and fitting for those that grew up with TransFormers. Other similar anime include other entries in the Yuusha franchise, Zoids, the Eldoran trilogy (Raijin-Oh, Ganbaruger, and Gosaurer), Gear Fighter Dendoh, Goshogun, and Trider G7.
  • Zambot 3, classic super robot cheese with darkness. Other similar anime include MOSPEADA, Dancouga, Orguss, Steel Jeeg, the Robot Romance trilogy (consisting of Combattler V, Voltes V, Daimos, and as a fourth spiritual/comedic member Daltanious), Golion (aka where Lion Force/Classic Voltron spawned from), and Space Warrior Baldios (Beware: It's the darkest anime mentioned here).
  • Neo Human Casshern, the original 70s version, it will give you a solid feel of how /m/ likes their tokusatsu and "small" mecha anime. Other similar anime include both the original Tekkaman and its remake Tekkaman Blade, Hurricane Polymar, Samurai Flamenco, Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos (beware the atrocious subtitles), the Guyver franchise, Overman King Gainer, Heroman, and Raideen The Superior. Concrete Revolutio also gets mentioned, but there is a steep divide as to whether or not it is a cultural artifact or a tremendous mess (the first half especially), proceed with caution if you decide to try it.
  • Code Geass, a good entry point for those that like genre mixing with their mecha with science babble and ridiculous twists. Other similar anime include Full Metal Panic!, Cross Ange, Giant Gorg, the Fafner franchise, Buddy Complex, Heavy Object, Martian Successor Nadesico, Unit Pandora, The Price of Smiles, and Dorvack.
  • Gargantia, an extremely atypical mecha story the focuses more on world building, but have lots of mecha elements. Other similar anime include M3: The Dark Metal, Aldnoah.Zero, Neo Ranga, Blue Submarine No 6, Lagrane: The Flower of Rin-ne, Iron Leaguer, Basquash!, Strike The Blood, and Astro Ganger. Dancouga Nova gets special mention because the tone shifts rapidly from real robot to super robot setting which is extremely rare.
  • Megas XLR, the most praised western cartoon on /m/ for being choke-full of robot action, comedy, monsters, and other /m/ minutia. Other similar cartoons include the TransFormers franchise, the Voltron franchise, Hulk and The Agents of SMASH, Exosquad, Sym-Bionic Titan, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, and Heavy Gear are all western cartoons featuring giant robots.
  • Legend of the Galactic Heroes, the long running 100+ episode space opera is highly praised on /m/. While not strictly a mecha show, it gets the Science Fiction pass. Other space opera shows mentioned favorably on /m/ include Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (which recently appeared in SRW V in it's 2199 incarnation), Captain Harlock, Crest of the Stars, its sequel Banner of the Stars, Outlaw Star, and Daikengo.
  • Daiohja gets a special mention because unlike nearly every other mecha anime out there it doesn't have an overarching antagonist, most episodes are focused on world building for different planets, very inconsistent in its technology, the humor is childish, and the titular mecha never loses (you'd think that'd be more common in older titles but no). It's a bit too unique to compare it to much else.

For the war gamin' crowd

While the listings above would help most people looking to get into the genre, war gamers understandably may want something more in their element. The following mecha titles deal with at least one of the following: Real robots, mechs that come off production lines, heavy use of military strategy and/or vehicles (tanks, choppers, jets, mobile projectile launchers, submarines, battleships, etc.), very detailed in the fictional science department, or would be easy to integrate with homebrew wargaming. Dougram, Crusher Joe, and Macross are not listed because those were the big three anime franchises that inspired BattleTech; Gundam and VOTOMS are so huge they deserve their own pages.

  • Ideon: The antagonist faction uses a fuck load of ships with some ground vehicles and basic mech variety, Earth forces also have some futuristic vehicles for self defense. Downsides include an absurdly overpowered titular mecha, most mecha are 100 meter range yet have paper armor like reverse AT-ATs, and if you didn't like Starkiller Base from The Force Awakens you might be turned off by the final battle.
  • Xabungle: Every mecha counts as a real robot and deals almost entirely with mercenaries, vehicles are limited to hovercrafts and land ships (as in giant boats on land). Downsides include factions being gang levels of small for the most part and it breaks the fourth wall every few episodes, definitely not for nit and gritty.
  • Acrobunch: The antagonist faction has smaller clans to give it diversity which includes their mecha, mecha aside from the titular Acrobunch are real robots that consist of grunts and a commander, and the Earth forces use a variety of vehicles and actually pose a threat. Downsides include an ending that makes Evangelion look sane and one of the commander mecha got destroyed by simply being knocked over. That is not a joke.
  • Dunbine: Very real robot-y with lots of neutral giant monsters that serve as random hazards, medieval themed, political thrills, advancements in technology, and has useful vehicles. Downsides include mecha being absurdly overpowered when out of their setting thanks to their Aura Barriers (so overpowered even one basic mooks can level cities like Las Vegas and tank conventional weapons) and melee focus may turn off those that favor long range weapons.
  • Orguss: Transforming flying robots with basic designs that focus on projectiles and ancient robots that hate humans later come into play. Downsides include the titular mecha is a little overpowering, the setting can turn off people that prefer more realistic scenarios, and the sequel heavily favors super robots until the titular mech goes into action.
  • Dorvack: Transforming robots that turn into robots, power armors, lots of military vehicles, heavily uses tactics in most episodes, has realistic depictions of battles, and aside from a few color variations all the enemies are mass produced units. Downsides include little consequences for order disobedience that can break suspension of disbelief, occasional animation issues in the last third, and the main villain is so mysterious and overpowered he can seem out of place with the rest of the setting.
  • L-Gaim: Heavy on world building, variety in mechs, weapons, and vehicles, and the titular mecha is not overpowered. Downsides include designs that are more pulp fiction heavy rather than realistic despite being a real robot series, vehicles are hardly given any respect, and the main villain may put off those wanting realistic world building.
  • SPT Layzner: Variety of mechs and vehicles, gives a grim atmosphere for most of the series, plenty of world building, and lots of space and aerial fights. Downsides include the main character being exceptionally wimpy for the first half of the series, the protagonists have very few mecha, and the titular mecha slowly becomes over powered. There is a divide whether or not the last third is better than the first or not since the grim atmosphere slowly dissipates in favor of acting like Fist of The North Star.
  • Patlabor: Police mecha that stop construction worker mecha from doing crimes with military mecha sometimes attacking; all mechs being fairly realistic. Downsides include a lot of comedy that can be hit or miss and a lot of random monsters in an otherwise realistic setting, one of them even being the main antagonist of the third movie.
  • Dragonar: Basically an early Gundam series without newtypes, lots of space combat and reasonable mech variety. Downsides include very few vehicles outside of super weapons and can be more heavy with comedy than early Gundam.
  • Jushin Liger: A Go Nagai anime that involves organic mecha, but in the second half real robots and the Self Defense Force play a prominent role as giant monsters start being mass produced. All that with a soundtrack and iconography so manly it got adopted in real life Japanese wrestling! Downsides include vehicles being treated as a joke as standard in kaiju movies and one of the villains has the old "separated at birth" shtick. Also be warned it's gory as fuck, imagine if Angron directed a children's cartoon.
  • Nadesico: Earth and Mars against colonies from Jupiter's moons, heavy focus on ship to ship combat, basic mech designs, and strategies are frequent. Downsides include the second antagonist faction in the movie being a bit too small, the first antagonist faction uses super robot designs which can turn people off, and the idea of boson particles allowing for force fields and teleporting during combat may come across as unnecessary.
  • Gasaraki: Real robots use a bunch of guns while uncovering the robots they were based off of which were created by ancient aliens on the far side of the Moon. It takes its world building very seriously, respects the use of vehicles to an extent, uses mostly realistic technology, and uses a lot of strategy. Downsides include a lack of variety for the mecha, the cast can appear to be too cluttered, and unless you're okay with a lot of spiritual imagery this might be off putting.
  • Blue Gender: Real robots fighting off giant bugs spawned from the Earth itself because humans polluted it too damn much. Mostly the same pros and cons as Gasaraki (same creator, Ryosuke Takahashi) but a fuck of a lot more violent and high in the sex and nudity department.
  • Full Metal Panic!: Lots of mechs that are mostly realistic, focus on mercenaries, lots of variable weapons and equipment, strategy is heavily used, and actually has underwater combat. Downsides include black box technology (mostly the Lambda Driver) is a bit unrealistic and until season 4 it heavily mingles high school life with military aspects.
  • Flag: Highly realistic shown through the literal lens of a war photographer, heavy on world building, is highly respectable toward vehicles, and uses a lot of strategy both on and off the field. Downsides include a severe lack of action for long stretches and little variety for mecha and factions; China becomes a player in the last third out of left field with their Lonkus (which may or may not be Timber Wolf homages).
  • Code Geass: Mecha variety, strategy is heavily used in most fights, and there are several nation factions. Downsides include color coating may get on the nerves of others, very heavy on melee combat over long range weaponry, and /m/ has been divided with the fights once flying capabilities were included.
  • Viper's Creed: Basic mercenaries versus rogue AI, realistic motorcycle mecha against bug mecha, and strategies are used. Also /m/ complains about the lack of rule 34. Downsides include a lack of variety in mecha and factions and it is more cyberpunk than military themed.
  • M3: The Dark Metal: Basic transformable robots with lots of world building and is respectable toward mecha that are not used by the main character. Downsides include being more of a horror series featuring real robots versus monsters, science is played loosely, and a lack of faction variety.
  • Buddy Complex: Same as Dragonar, an offbrand Gundam series without newtypes with mecha variety and lots of world building. Downsides include color coating can be off putting and uses time travel which can confuse people.
  • Aldnoah.Zero: Heavy on strategies, features real robots versus super robots, and heavy on the fictional science. Downsides include the main character might come across as too smart and vehicles hardly get any respect.
  • Heavy Object: Basic shapes as mecha rather than humanoids, acting more as mobile fortresses, and features lots of world building and is heavy on fictional science. Downsides include most of the focus being two goofballs sabotaging mechs rather than mech fights and vehicles are hardly used.
  • Unit Pandora: Transformable robots that fight cyborg animals and loaded with Warhammer homages. Enough said.
  • The Cost of Smiles: Real robots limited to only a handful of types, main upgrades involve thrusters, landships are present and environments come heavy into play. Downsides include the first episode does not reflect the rest of the series and minor mecha variety gives it less depth than most real robot anime.

/ourguys/

Lots of characters are /m/, but very few ever make it to the rank of /ourguys/.

  • Coop from Megas XLR
  • Boss, Nuke, and Mucha from Mazinger
  • Perturabo and the Iron Warriors
  • The entirety of the Adeptus Mechanicus
  • SOUL GRINDERS
  • Chaos Dwarfs
  • Ikit Claw and the rest of Clan Skryre
  • Sargent Keroro from Keroro Gunsou
  • Kira Yamato from Gundam Seed (will induce Skub unless it's his Super Robot Wars incarnation that is more likeable due to enforced character development)
  • Staz Blood from Blood Lad
  • Murray from Sly Cooper
  • Ratchet and Clank
  • Yattarn from Captain Harlock
  • Setsuna Seiei from Gundam 00
  • Rika Domeki from Dai-Guard
  • Akito Tenkawa, Gai Daigoji, and Hikaru Amano from Nadesico
  • Yutaro "is this a pigeon?" Katori from Fighbird
  • Might Senpuji from Might Gaine
  • Chirico Cuvie from VOTOMS
  • Ultraman Geed
  • Shinn Asuka from Gundam Seed Destiny when Kira is not around (then again, more likeable in his Super Robot Wars incarnation)
  • Jiron Amos from Xabungle
  • Inspector Gadget
  • Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal
  • Sho Hayami
  • Genesect from Pokemon
  • Rei Kurushima from Pastel Memories
  • Metalder
  • Jiban
  • The Boukengers
  • The Go-Busters
  • Kamen Rider Fourze
  • Star Fox McCloud
  • Kirby
  • Dr. Eggman from Sonic The Hedgehog
  • Metal Gears
  • Iron Man
  • Owl Guldy from Gonna Be The Twintail!
  • Graham Imahara from MythBusters
  • The constellation of Aquarius
  • Every incarnation of Mega Man
  • Jiron Amos from Xabungle
  • Ryoma "Fuck Dinosaurs" Nagare from Getter Robo

Gallery

  • Aquaion Logos aka The Emperor of Man as interpreted by /m/.

    Aquaion Logos aka The Emperor of Man as interpreted by /m/.

  • Keroro Gunso aka The best gunpla builder known to /m/ankind.

    Keroro Gunso aka The best gunpla builder known to /m/ankind.

  • An old recommendation chart for some /m/ shows.

    An old recommendation chart for some /m/ shows.

  • A new recommendation chart for some /m/ shows and movies.

    A new recommendation chart for some /m/ shows and movies.

  • A variety of /m/ video games including Battletech, Front Mission, and others.

    A variety of /m/ video games including Battletech, Front Mission, and others.

  • Kira Yamato frequently gets compared to Jesus on /m/.

    Kira Yamato frequently gets compared to Jesus on /m/.

See Also

External Links

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