Category: Mecha

Pacific Rim: Sie Sind Das Essen Und Wir Sind Die Jäger!

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When Guillermo del Toro does an American super robot movie where huge mecha battle equally huge monsters, a single website cannot cover it effectively. Therefore it takes the combined might of The Cockpit, Ogiue Maniax, and us at the Reverse Thieves to handle the Category 5 Kaiju that is Pacific Rim. While the movie was hardly perfect we generally gush about it while taking apart some of its weaker aspects. The greatest regret is we did not bring up Godannar more in the podcast.

If anyone was curious this Wiki has a fairly good trivia section for each Kaiju in the movie and what classic monster inspired them. If you want to see the inspiration for the Jaeger names, I have to assume it was this.

If nothing else, this is the only Pacific Rim podcast you will listen to with a Natalie Merchant joke in it. So come drift with us.

The Cockpit – Episode 4 – Pacific Rim

The Speakeasy #040: Ladies Night, Women of UC Gundam

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Drink #040: Ladies Night
Women of UC Gundam

There is a lot for fans of the Universal Century to celebrate this month: the 34th anniversary of the original Gundam series, the re-release of the first book of Gundam: The Origin in English, and the release of the 6th episode of Gundam Unicorn. In that spirit, we has decided to look at the women in the original Gundam universe. That means the good, the bad, and the awesome when it comes to the female characters of Gundam. Everyone from Emma Sheen to Nina Purpleton to Shakti Kareen. We left the various women of the AU Gundam lines for another day.

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And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

Ladies Night

2 oz strawberry vodka
1 cup 7-Up
3 oz fruit juice
Chill all ingredients. Add together in a beautiful champagne glass and share with the ladies.

Point of Entry: Gundam the Origin

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On April 7, 1979 a show debuted on the Nagoya Broadcasting Network that would that would change the mecha genre forever. 34 years later Mobile Suit Gundam would inspire a dozen TV shows, several movies and miniseries, dozens of novels and comics, and a plethora of toys and video games. So the question asked as often as there are stars in the sky is, “I am new to this whole Gundam thing so where should I start.”  Gundam fandom being hardly known for its congenial nature or unified voice argues about this question constantly.

As a person who has done several panels and posts about how to recommended series to other people I know there is no one right answer. There is no magic bullet that works on everyone. One person might be more interested in the characters or themes of one iteration while another might be turned away by the animation or robot design of another. There are distinctly some shows that have a much higher chance of success but no guarantees.  A martial arts fan that might have been bored out of his skull if his first exposure to Gundam was through Zeta might have a very different expedience if they watch G Gundam. I’m sure there is even someone who optimal first series would be Gundam oo83. I just never wish to meet this monster.

In the post we will examine the recently released Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin by whose first volume was  just released by Vertical. Who will enjoy this title and more importantly who can you show this as their first encounter with Gundam?

I’d be surprised if any anime or manga fan wasn’t at least mildly curious about the juggernaut franchise known as Gundam. But there are a ton of interactions, the fans are rabid, and no one seems to agree where the best place to start is. Plus, if you aren’t into robots you may be put off further.

But none of that matters, truly. Gundam the Origin is where it’s at!

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