Shmup influence on the Mecha Anime Genre and Vice Versa.

Blade · Post by **Blade** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:51 pm

The more I see the likes of Aleste, M.U.S.H.A., Arrowflash, etc. the more I think there's some cross-influence between Mecha Anime and Shmups in general. So much so I daresay the likes of Macross and the Gundam sagas have left little hints in their design that say SHMUP!

I've been getting more involved into Mecha Anime ever since getting a Japanese Game by the name of Super Robot Wars, but there's a lot of ship shooting elements in this game even if it is a Tactical RPG. Hence I go to a place known as www.srwg.org and do research on the history of giant robots and war technology in general.

I find it interesting to see these series and how they develop their designs, not just the anime per se, but shmups are influenced by certain series as well.

Just wondered what people thought and if they found any similarities as well.

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 6:16 pm

I would imagine that a few mecha anime's where influenced by shmups. I wonder when Macross II came out? That one seems very shmup like in the space battle scenes and presentation. It might be too old, though. Games didn't have very good graphics until around like, 88 i suppose. (given a few exceptions, of course) It's not likely that much design influence would have come out of those old shmups like Scramble...

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 6:52 pm

Well, mecha anime designs obviously inspired mecha games of all types. That's no surprise at all considering some of them were licensed anyway. I don't see any cross-influence on anime though.

I wouldn't consider SRW's automated shooting sequences in batles shooter-like but whatever. All super robots are inspired to some point by Go Nagai's Getter and Mazinger and all real robots are inspired by Kunio Okawara's Gundam (and Shouji Kawamori's Macross). You'd be hard-pressed to find any mecha designer who denies their contributions.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:34 pm

Well, Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato definitely had an obvious influence on Layer Section. Just check the big battleships on the first level to see what I mean.

DeBurgo · Post by **DeBurgo** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:30 pm

Yeah I see a lot of similarities, too, especially with regards to things like super-powerful energy beam attacks and stuff. That's personally one of the most conspicuous things I find shooters have in common with the mecha genre.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:59 pm

I would imagine that few shmups have had an influence on anime (or anything else, really)...about the closest to that which I can recall is a panel from some manga or other (I forget which one) that someone here posted awhile back, which had a probable Darius parody ("Huge Battleship is Approaching Fast!") thrown in there someplace. Shmups have been a niche genre for some time now, while anime in general has grown rapidly in popularity...I doubt that they cross over very often, at least "directly," for lack of a better word.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 11:17 pm

Actually, now that I think about it, the ultimate shmuppin' mecha anime would have to be Gunbuster. Watch the last couple of episodes (5 and 6) in particular to see what I mean. I know there's been a Gunbuster game made (forget which platform), but not a shmup as far as I know, which is kind of surprising because the plotline would have been a perfect fit for a shmup.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 4:23 am

Gunbuster has a PS2 game, which is an adventure title IIRC... Of course, it's also appeared in quite a few SRWs.