that explains why you under state the power of the Azur Lane brand they have con appearances with cosplayers dressed as the actual historic ship there on board.
Just like real life, when the WW2/Korean War/Vietnam veterans felt great shame watching their grandsons hugging KanColle/Girls Frontline/Azur Lane body pillow.
Sounds like the best possible ending, not gonna lie. Embracing war through games or spicy merchandise will always be better than glorifying war itself.
@@First-Name_Last-Name I wouldn't say so. A crew member of the Yahagi fully endorses KanColle Yahagi. And a large group of USS Iowa veterans fully endorsed KanColle Iowa, going so far as stating that if KanColle existed back then, pinups of her would be pasted all over the ship.
@@Henrex2000 You know that Bandai has a China branch too, right? Their China branch didn't just make model kits, but also other toys such as Tokusatsu related toys (like the DX weapon)
@@Henrex2000Most Koto Megami Device/F.A Girls are made in China too, so probably the factory that currently manufactures 30MS FP parts has subcons/engineer/staff that previously worked with Koto China based factory, or probably an OEM for both Bandai and Koto too.
Not sure what makes me laugh more. The fact that the artist actually did make WW2 accurate pinup art emblems for the MSV designs, or that the poor Zaku Tank was named Bottoms given they have no legs.
@@matteste its from the game 'Goddess of victory:Nikke' , i highly recommend playing this for the story, the scene there is from the 'overzone' event storyline
Gotta love how the MGL Nanoha character designs are influenced by mecha designs. Season 1 sees influences from the RX-78-2 and the Deathscythe. The Nakajima sisters in Season 3 are references to GaoGaiGar.
I wonder if Bandai will have a crack at actual mecha girl series. I mean they did that Idolmaster mecha anime. Though not quite it and it's from 17 years ago now.
I first found out about mecha musume from "certain" websites back in college. As for what I think: I think that as a kid, I would never have been caught playing with toys resembling women. But now as a working adult, I spend a good amount of my salary into buying "female robots". Wait, you mean this isn't a therapy session?
@@phantomking81 It's basically Megami Device's lore, just as a robot fighting sport instead of actual war. The produck page even have stat sheet of each.
It's difficult to search for Gundam wallpaper images without inevitably stumbling into MS girl designs, and at that point you just need to see the designs out there for your favourite Suit. They have similar appeal to detailed high-end cosplay, I suppose. That delight of recognition in seeing the elements of a mech you know well combined with the personality of the one modelling it.
At this point Azurlane is more popular than Kancolle no? The mobile game prints money for them, its available out of japan, and has a bunch of new figures every year. And it was successful enough for their company to branch out and make some other pretty popular mobile games like Blue Archive and Ark Knights. In the west at least, Kancolle is beyond niche. I don't even know what an English speaking Kancolle fan would look like because everything outside of the anime is only available in Japanese.
@@Headbringer @kantai being niche than Azur yeah... considering Kancolle started as a Region Locked browser game(under flash) till even to this day(they already shifted to HTML5) while Azur and other games under the ship musume genre got released as a mobile game. not surprised you heard about Azur Lane first before Kancolle. edit: on the topic of region lock- we Teitokus either use VPNs or use at least 2 chrome extensions to bypass the region lock and play it anywhere, anytime. If you want to play on mobile, either you still have DMM's app or GOTO browser and the like to access the game page. I lived in the philippines and able to play the game with the said extensions and/or app. hell, i did managed my account while i'm in the US using GOTO broswer.
This was my favorite video yet. I'm a huge mecha musume fan, and a big Bishoujo builder. Thank you kakarot! Some small criticism is that kantai collection isnt eaisly accessible in the west, so for a lot of people shipgirls are more synonymous with Azur lane than kantai collection, but all in all this was a great video, especially considering its status as an april fools joke.
I remember having light exposer to mecha musume early on and even got the Wing/Wing Zero Armor Girls from Bandai. However it was randomly stumbling upon Frame Arms Girls that actually got me back into modelkitting as an adult, I hadn't been building since i was in Highschool at that point. I've even been working on a custom Gourai build base on the popular Heavy Arms Dreadnought build.
@SoulstrikerV Pretty much! Though she's not the only one: Some of Shirabe's attacks make reference to 0083 and _Victory,_ for instance, one of which is literally the Einerad. Meanwhile, Maria references both _SEED_ and _Wing_ in her X-Drive and Amalgam, respectively. Namely, Providence-inspired "blade funnels" for the former and literally Shenlong's Dragon Fang for the latter. At least, that's what her Amalgam reminds me of, anyway. There's probably more, of course, but that's all that comes to mind for me off the bat.
I got on board with mecha musume right around the time I started getting into Gundam officially* with the purchase of the AGP Unicorn Gundam (Awakened form). She just had the cutest flustered face, and I couldn't say no. That was right around the time that those figures were starting to get hard to find, too. After that, I started picking up the various Gundam gachapon figures, a couple of StandArt figures, almost the full line of Assault Kingdom figures... and from that into HG kit building... to MG kit building... and finally back to mecha musume with the Frame Arms Girl, Gourai. I've been getting deeper and deeper into mecha musume ever since... especially since Bandai seems reluctant to make any more MG kits. At least mecha musume is overflowing with excellent, high culture options right now. I bought a Nuke Matrix kit recently that came with two sets of rubber bikinis... and three different bust sizes to choose from! I'm also going to build that hand scale Magatsuki and have her drive the Hexa Gear forklift. There are so many possibilities in this market - it's insane! I love it! *I say "officially" because when I was very young and living in Japan for a few years, I picked up some Gundam stuff (gashapon toys mostly) and never had an opportunity to get into Gundam at the time. It always drew my interest, even as I got into high school in the late 90s. There just weren't any good resources out there at the time unless you lived somewhere with a shop that catered to very niche modeling interests and had connections... not before Wing hit Toonami, anyway. After that, you could find Gundam figures in Toys R Us for years after... but _only_ Wing or, if you were really lucky, G Gundam stuff. I'm incredibly grateful for what ecommerce has made possible, and you kids today have no idea how bad it used to be.
The lack of mention of The Centurions, a cartoon from 1986 is a bit disappointing. The Centurions, while not a mecha musume, is probably the first animated media to feature a transformation that involves weaponry, vehicle, and mech parts, that isn't a full armored suit like Iron Man or Tekkaman. I have to give you extra points for using Battle Mirai OST from Zipang tho. I love that show and song.
Since the main trio are males so mecha danshi is the term I supposed. It's the male counterpart of mecha musume. There aren't a lot of media depicting mecha danshi. Ichika and Hayato may count but still.
The first Mecha Musu I saw was the GundamMk.2 Mecha Musu by Akitaka sensei artwork back in the late 2001 when I visited Japan with my Family. A poster on one of the shops in Akihabara
And one thing that I feel deserves a mention is that the modern style of Mecha Musume with interchangeable parts might be inspired by the western cartoon and toy line Centurions. This especially given how the show was animated by Sunrise.
Ehh, might disagree on the KanColle part. Yes it was the first and most influential, but nowadays, at least in the west from what I've seen, it really isn't *the* shipgirl media, with that title instead going to Azur Lane. Yes, it's still popular in Asia, but to say it has a major monopoly is a bit off since there is definitely some more competition.
Funimation Dubbed both anime more people cared about Azur Lane's simulcast getting a censored print and the final pressing being stuck with the broadcast print because a small corner store released some scuttlebutt
KanColle still has a much more Japanwide reach than Azur Lane though. Yeah sure, you aren't gonna find KanColle stuff in Akihabara (Because Yostar store is there) but go to towns/cities with rich Naval History background like Kure, Sasebo, Yokosuka, Maizuru, etc., you'll find KanColle themed shops there. Heck, some are even found in shrines, yes Shinto shrines. Azur Lane focuses on attracting normal otakus whiile KanColle sticks to its base of Military and HIstory otakus. Hence why recent AL artstyle focuses more on fanservice (Which is a shame, I consider early AL designs to be better than recent ones) while KC is still sticking to its roots of the shipgirl designs need to reference the ship herself. And KanColle still beats AL in the doujin scene. Last Comiket saw KanColle has 650 circles while AL has like 100 circles.
13:40 Funny you compare the two. One of the character designers of 30 Minutes Sisters is Humikane Shimada. Yes, the same one who is working on the Frame Arms Girls.
I stumbled upon mecha musume through gunpla funnily enough during a store-wide sale that advertised a couple of girlpla kits. Long story short, I buy more mecha musume kits now than gunpla...As a side note, it would be cool for Kakarot to cover some more mecha musume stuff from time to time, it seems enough people in the gundam/mecha community are into them from what I've seen.
I have the Mika Akitaka mook. More people have browsed through that book in my collection than any other book I have. Nice to see pictures of them showing up today. My favorite is the front facing F91 MS Girl!
The Video was great, I kinda wish the Devs for Alice Gear Aegis would import the game overseas already Like we know about the game cause of the Megami Device Collab, plus Gourai and Stylet are in the Game
You always make the best April Fools videos! The topic may be silly, but you put the same love and passion into researching this as you have with all your regular mecha videos.
As an artist and Gunpla enthusiast, watching this makes me want to create these girls again with my new tools and practice. I drew many designs and pinups, inspired by the WWII/ Vargas bomber style, for the shoulder or shield. Always wanted to do a Tallgeese version again to see my progress over the years. Hopefully I can share it with you in the future.
Kakarot! Don't be a coward! Review the mecha musume kits! I know you'll do Avatar Fumina eventually, so give us Gunpla- er... PLAMO HISTORY WITH MECHA MUSUME, even if you're only touching the Bandai stuff.
The best A.G.P for me is the Unicorn Gundam Girl. It has a cute shy unicorn girl and the fiery spirited destroy mode edit : also the AGP Fate Saber Artoria Pendragon that has giant Excalibur created using the armors and when added the weapon as well the the configuration also changes but still a long big excalibur
Not only is mecha a niche genre, mecha musume is even more niche. Beyond kits like Frame arm girls or 30 minute sisters, video games have yet to truly embrace mecha musume. Used to play a ton of Alice Gear Aegis, but rarely do I see any other mecha musume games even remotely as popular. There's a ton in the Phantasy Star series due to female CASTs and there are mobile games about mecha musume but I hope to see mecha musume expand much farther and become a much more popular thing. Its such a shame too because aesthetically and conceptually, they're amazing.
I initially thought Gundams were people in armor. Like an Ironman suit. This was early 90s, pre-internet, I was 5, and got import toys from a comic shop. Had no idea there were shows/movies. So, I personally am not into cheeky MechaGirls, but I would love a Gundam series to have suits Bubblegum Crisis style instead of giants.
Started for me with the original 80s illustrations by Akita on the GearsOnline website. Also I always found Kancole far too limiting by just using the IJN for their ships compared to the virtual globally sourced arsenal that Azur Lane has available to draw from. In addition to the IJN (Sakura Empire), they draw from the USN (Eagle Union), the British (Royal Navy), the Krigsmarine (Iron Blood), and several other smaller navies.
To be fair, KanColle was start as a "torch and run" franchise that Kadokawa and SEGA need a quick cash grab for the mean time. It was initially plan to run for just a year or two then EoS, hence the focus on IJN because its target audiences are the Japanese. Hence the regret that they released Yamato and Musashi too early. But then it exploded in popularity and the devs did started put in Allied ships, even before Azur Lane was a thing. And by number of navies included, KanColle has more. KanColle has the IJN, US Navy, Royal Navy, Kriegsmarine, Reglia Marina, French Navy (KC group the two of them together), Soviet, China, Dutch, Swedish and Australian navies. That's 12 navies even though 4 of them only has 1 ship each. AL has the IJN, US Navy, Royal Navy, Kriegsmarine, Reglia Marina, French Navy (AL separates the French into 2 groups), Soviet, China, and a faction for age of sail ships. Though AL's list for each navy is more extensive to the point they have to draw upon paper ships just to be relevant. But AL's team building is more faction oriented.
I think my first exposure to Mecha Musume was in the early 1990s. Ben Dunn's "American manga" series Ninja High School featured a few characters with heavy sci-fi backgrounds. They had mecha bikini battle armor based on later 80s Gundam and Japanese Transformers designs.
Kancolle continues to operate to this day. In fact at the time of this post there is a (roughly once per quarter) event campaign going on. This time focused on submarines. We currently have around 10-11 countries with at least one representative shipgirl. Ranging from the kindergarten aged Daitou class destroyer escorts to voluptuous bombshell battleships like Musashi, Iowa, and Bismarck. Currently by numbers the USN makes up the bulk of foreign units, but there’s easily at least 60 of them in total.
nice, an educational video for april fools day! i got into mecha musume when shopping for gunpla at a local store that happens to distro koto stuff. they had some frame arms girl and megami device kits. at first i felt kinda weird buying them but quickly got over it because a) who cares what people think and b) they are typically really great kits in their own right. cheers for spreading the word.
kind of expected a bland jokey april fools video with this but it was actually really good and informative! I had no idea there were mecha girl kits that far back in Bandai's history.
I think Lilith from L-Gaim deserves some minor credit in mecha masume history. There was a one time gag in an episode where she drafted up her own mini L-Gaim power armor.
i wasn't into mecha musume until i played battle rondo which made me spent a whole lot because i love how they turn the shinkis into living toys and what else is better than having your cute little toys talk to you? and i love how busou shinki introduced the studio where you can make scenes of the shinkis you have.. kinda sad though that Moon Angel was a 15min movie... they could've done better... i hope 30MS will get an anime too..
Kakarot197 I think you left a important mecha-girl anime that inspire the gundam build fighters / divers universe and gunpla battle as a concept called angelic layer
For me, the major points of exposure goes like: Busou Shinki > Infinite Stratos > Gundam Build Fighters > Kantai Collection > Strike Witches > F.A. Girls > 30 Minutes Sisters I watched some minor similar shows along the line.
My wife never really cared for model kits, until she discovered 30MS, and now she has a plethora of Mecha girl kits. 😅 I wish I could have gotten her some of the Gundam Mecha girl figures they did, but oh well. They'll probably do some again in the future.
I started with Frame Arms Girls and then later the Megami Device line. I also recently started playing the Alice Gear Agesis game on Nintendo Switch which is a surprisingly fun mech battle game that I honestly wish gundam breaker games would take lessons from
Yu-Gi-Oh! also has cards that feature mecha musume, namely "Sky Striker". It's based on a story of Raye, the last human (and ofc, a female) in a post-apocalypse world full of robots. Normally she wore your typical high schooler uniform, but when it's time for combat, she equip one of her mechanical armors, which she choose depending on the situation.
speaking of Mazinger Z don't forget the mechamusume parody based on Go Nagai, Ken Ishikawa, Dynamic Planning franchises that is Robot Girls Z, strangely enough Fumikane Shimada also worked on.
On the topic of Mecha Musume, a new game called Doll's Nest which bears heavy inspiration from the Armored Core series is in the works and looking very very promising, I highly recommend fans of the genre and even just Armored Core fans to give it a look!
I got into gunpla last month ago, built couple models and was looking for something different. I've checked the Armored Core from Kotobukiya on the website and then I found about the Megami Device AUV Susanowo Guren and preordered that, because it's an amazing kit. Then the youtube algorithm proposed me your video and we went full circle. Thank you, was a quick and informative video about the genre.
oldest i remember is valkgals, robotech/macross mechs done like this. never got into gundam cause i could see macross mechs actually working, not well, but working.
I've known about mecha musume since around 2004-2005 when I noticed scans of some of the earliest concepts on the now defunct Gundam Plus. I wouldn't think much of it until years and years later when I started getting into 30 minute sisters and started building and customizing my own. After watching this video I'm thinking about creating number 6 for my collection.
mecha musume is great for me, I discovered Mecha Musume from either Kancolle or fan art of the Destiny Gundam as a mecha musume, regardless I've been a fan of mecha musume ever since
When you got to the initial Fumina release you had me in stitches lol. I've been a titanic mecha musume connoisseur since the Shinki days, but I never knew about any of those ancient MS Girls. Fun little history tidbits there.
Grew up watching the Tranzor Z adaptation of Mazinger Z and seeing some of Hajime Sorayama's art, but the first mecha musume style art I recall seeing was on Transformers message boards right around 2000 give or take a couple of years.
Thanks for covering this topic People really need to know how Heated the fight between Bandai's 30Minutes Missions/Sisters and Kotobukia's Megami Device and Frame arms
How many years has it been since that day? How many years have I waited for this moment? For the one video from Kakarot that scratches my mecha and my cuteness itch? XD Been a fan of mecha musume for a loooong time and it's only recently that the concept has really taken hold outside a very niche community. Glad to see it getting more coverage and a dive into their history. Editing: Got into it with Infinite Stratos, but really got hooked with Busou Shinki in the late 00s; wound up making a kitbash between a Wing Zero and the Frame Arms Hresvelgr=Ater with an Arnval base. I really love how you touched on a bunch of different aspects of the fandom considering that it's really easy to focus in on one specific line or series when in reality, mecha musume is VAST in what it can cover. However, a bit of additional trivia and note; for reasons that weren't 100% clear back then and likely have only become more obscure now, Busou Shinki wound up getting discontinued by Konami after their release of both the Moon Angel OVA and the anime and a VERY brief stint overseas. There was a rumor about a fire destroying the production factory which I chalk up to internet rumor - I believe that the greater issue was this was during Konami's complete restructuring of their company and weaker sales numbers over time as Busou Shinki figures were capital-E Expensive. Their trademark Multi-Movable-System (MMS) frame was seen as one of the best parts about the line, which was largely inherited by the later Megami Device and newer Frame Arms Girl kits, while also allowing them to be full model kits instead of riveted figures.
I saw pictures here and there growing up when I started to get heavy I to Gundam but I don’t really get into it until I started watching Zakuaurelius’s reviews of some megami device kits. Once I tried one out it was game over.
I knew about it but didn't get any interaction with it till an MMORPG called Cosmic Break that featured Mecha and mech girls side by side. Both were highly customizable and gameplay was smooth and intense multi-player brawls. However it was a gachah game that suffered the curse of power creep. A mech you got would later get a different version with a variation to it's weapon that often outperform the previous version. Later releases ended up looking more and more human with less Mecha parts and often had all the parts locked to the core preventing customization. I still miss the early version of that game
Nice! I think I found out about Mecha Masume on Pixiv, I was a big Vocaloid fan back then, and I found out that Deino had a Pixiv account. So, I looked at that. Then other stuff with the Mechabare tag, and then I found Mecha Masume. That was around 2022 I think. Now, I've got two megami device kits near or on my desk- AUV Susanowo, and Arnival, which I had no context for when I got. I'm going to start working on a Mobile Movmentress kit next, once I'm done with paint and decals for the Tsugumori kit I've been working on(I have not painted a kit in years, but... the fingertips need to be red).
I actually had the opportunity to go to a panel with Mika Akitaka as the speaker. He's such a cool guy and really funny! This was at anime expo btw, 2022.
Happy April Fool's Day!
Stay safe out there.
How about pin up girls? First 2d waifus. Since they predate anime.
that explains why you under state the power of the Azur Lane brand they have con appearances with cosplayers dressed as the actual historic ship there on board.
@@JeffreyPiatt we getting Azure Promilia from them
Honestly I was expecting the sequel to last year's April fools day
This was my favorite video yet! I'm a huge mecha musume fan, and a big Bishoujo builder. Thank you kakarot!
Imagine fighting in the OYE, Stardust memory, titans and neo zeon wars, retiring after CCA only to have a gradson with a Zaku Girl hugging pillow
Not the worst.
HAMMAN SAMA, BANZAI!
Just like real life, when the WW2/Korean War/Vietnam veterans felt great shame watching their grandsons hugging KanColle/Girls Frontline/Azur Lane body pillow.
Sounds like the best possible ending, not gonna lie. Embracing war through games or spicy merchandise will always be better than glorifying war itself.
@@First-Name_Last-Name I wouldn't say so. A crew member of the Yahagi fully endorses KanColle Yahagi.
And a large group of USS Iowa veterans fully endorsed KanColle Iowa, going so far as stating that if KanColle existed back then, pinups of her would be pasted all over the ship.
Facts can't stop people from loving Nazis. As long as the past is romanticized, people will cling onto an ideal.
This is the fastest i've ever clicked a video in my life
I'm with you.
You too are a man of culture.
Same brother
Same
Ah, yes. My fellow fans of culture.
unironically an important piece of Gundam history. And not just because Mika Akitaka, the legend, is so closely tied to it.
Unfortunately
That gouf in that thumbnail, you made me remember someone made a custom of that but with scantily clad Ramba Ral instead
Me too
Damn you, I had that memory safely locked away.
@@kakarot197Coward.
I want a model kit of that Ramba Ral, Bandai! I don't care if it's P-Bandai...just do it!
@@kakarot197 coward.
Only took Bandai half a decade to remember how to do faces for mecha musume kits
I don't know if this is still the case but 30MS's printed faces were made in China
@@Henrex2000 You know that Bandai has a China branch too, right? Their China branch didn't just make model kits, but also other toys such as Tokusatsu related toys (like the DX weapon)
@@Henrex2000Most Koto Megami Device/F.A Girls are made in China too, so probably the factory that currently manufactures 30MS FP parts has subcons/engineer/staff that previously worked with Koto China based factory, or probably an OEM for both Bandai and Koto too.
@@yanjirujan193 My point is that Bandai's Japanese factory for some reason seems to not have the capability of making printed parts
@@Henrex2000it's more the fact it's cheaper to produce them in China. Models are still made in house by Bandai in Japan..
Not sure what makes me laugh more. The fact that the artist actually did make WW2 accurate pinup art emblems for the MSV designs, or that the poor Zaku Tank was named Bottoms given they have no legs.
2:34 Ah yes PTSD my favorite
What series is that from?
@@matteste it appears to be girls Frontline but i can be wrong
That is Pinne from Nikke. 😭
@@SunLightWbasically more hornier GFL
@@matteste its from the game 'Goddess of victory:Nikke' , i highly recommend playing this for the story, the scene there is from the 'overzone' event storyline
Honorable mentions:
1. Infinite Stratos
2. Symphogear
3. Gonna be the Twin-Tails
4. Chu Feng B.E.E. (aka School Shock)
5. Undefeated Bahamut Chronicles
6. Hybrid × Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia
7. Hundred
8. Magical Lyrical Nanoha
9. Vividred Operation
10. Honkai Impact 3rd
11. Alice Gear Aegis
12. Sentou Shoujo Yukikaze
13. Yuna Yuki is a Hero
14. LBX Girls
15. Date-a-Live
6. Might as well be a Hentai.
Gotta love how the MGL Nanoha character designs are influenced by mecha designs. Season 1 sees influences from the RX-78-2 and the Deathscythe. The Nakajima sisters in Season 3 are references to GaoGaiGar.
@@wescoleman6390 Fate Testarossa in A's and StrikerS are more like DyGenGuar.
Also, Bubblegum Crisis.
I wonder if Bandai will have a crack at actual mecha girl series. I mean they did that Idolmaster mecha anime. Though not quite it and it's from 17 years ago now.
I first found out about mecha musume from "certain" websites back in college.
As for what I think: I think that as a kid, I would never have been caught playing with toys resembling women. But now as a working adult, I spend a good amount of my salary into buying "female robots".
Wait, you mean this isn't a therapy session?
It's a group session.
I once had an idea to get a bunch of the mechs, then one frame-arms girl, and have her lead them...
And then my wallet found out...
@@kakarot197 ah. I guess we're all sharing, then. Hehehe.
Stare at my a whole display of MD FA:G Chitocerium 30MS Nukematrix...Hmmm...
What is this "certain" website?
The first mecha musume that I saw was probably KOSMOS from Xenosaga and maybe Shurelia from Ar tonelico.
sadly though, kosmos wasn't known as a mecha musume just like 2B...
Aren't they just Androids? Humanoid Robots? I believe Mecha Musume refers to Female Characters wearing robotic armor and weapons.
Bruh, no girl's frontline?
The shotgun classes DEFINITELY qualify.
Ahem...
Hanyang Type 88
Yeyegor Frontline
@@get_serious4953 Type 88 is GFL's mecha musume, she literally has a mecha musume skin
I came expecting an April fools joke left with mecha girl knowledge. Thanks Kakarot
Hell yes. I'd kill for a mecha musume game like ace combat or strike Witches. Even a Nanoha or symphogear action game would be nice.
Or a Armored Core like mecha musume game will be my dream game with the insane level of customization options.
@@phantomking81 i think the closest one is the new Alice Gear Aegis CX
Strike Witches had their own game in XBox I believe, and almost a year EoS World WItches United Front
@@phantomking81 It's basically Megami Device's lore, just as a robot fighting sport instead of actual war. The produck page even have stat sheet of each.
It's difficult to search for Gundam wallpaper images without inevitably stumbling into MS girl designs, and at that point you just need to see the designs out there for your favourite Suit. They have similar appeal to detailed high-end cosplay, I suppose. That delight of recognition in seeing the elements of a mech you know well combined with the personality of the one modelling it.
5:36 Child soldiers. Can't escape them. lol
Woah never expected kakarot to talk about mecha musume or mention mazinger nice
Stumble across “by accident”
Right…
At this point Azurlane is more popular than Kancolle no? The mobile game prints money for them, its available out of japan, and has a bunch of new figures every year. And it was successful enough for their company to branch out and make some other pretty popular mobile games like Blue Archive and Ark Knights. In the west at least, Kancolle is beyond niche. I don't even know what an English speaking Kancolle fan would look like because everything outside of the anime is only available in Japanese.
I would have to agree with this, I heard of Azur Lane long before I heard of Kancolle.
i've seen post in one of the discord channel of someone giving the ring to certain american ships while on the actual museum ship themselves.
@@MegaOS_Ver_NEET That is dope as hell.
@@Headbringer @kantai being niche than Azur
yeah... considering Kancolle started as a Region Locked browser game(under flash) till even to this day(they already shifted to HTML5) while Azur and other games under the ship musume genre got released as a mobile game.
not surprised you heard about Azur Lane first before Kancolle.
edit:
on the topic of region lock-
we Teitokus either use VPNs or use at least 2 chrome extensions to bypass the region lock and play it anywhere, anytime. If you want to play on mobile, either you still have DMM's app or GOTO browser and the like to access the game page.
I lived in the philippines and able to play the game with the said extensions and/or app. hell, i did managed my account while i'm in the US using GOTO broswer.
@@MegaOS_Ver_NEET I didn’t even know it was based on flash. That is kind of based.
This was my favorite video yet. I'm a huge mecha musume fan, and a big Bishoujo builder. Thank you kakarot!
Some small criticism is that kantai collection isnt eaisly accessible in the west, so for a lot of people shipgirls are more synonymous with Azur lane than kantai collection, but all in all this was a great video, especially considering its status as an april fools joke.
I remember having light exposer to mecha musume early on and even got the Wing/Wing Zero Armor Girls from Bandai. However it was randomly stumbling upon Frame Arms Girls that actually got me back into modelkitting as an adult, I hadn't been building since i was in Highschool at that point. I've even been working on a custom Gourai build base on the popular Heavy Arms Dreadnought build.
Even your April fools are excellent. You sir, are a 10/10
Ay yo! Symphogear dev history when?
Yes! (Dess!)
Symphogear is like a hybrid between Mecha Girl and Magical Girl. And Chris makes a lot of Gundam reference in her arsenal.
@SoulstrikerV Pretty much! Though she's not the only one: Some of Shirabe's attacks make reference to 0083 and _Victory,_ for instance, one of which is literally the Einerad.
Meanwhile, Maria references both _SEED_ and _Wing_ in her X-Drive and Amalgam, respectively. Namely, Providence-inspired "blade funnels" for the former and literally Shenlong's Dragon Fang for the latter.
At least, that's what her Amalgam reminds me of, anyway. There's probably more, of course, but that's all that comes to mind for me off the bat.
I got on board with mecha musume right around the time I started getting into Gundam officially* with the purchase of the AGP Unicorn Gundam (Awakened form). She just had the cutest flustered face, and I couldn't say no. That was right around the time that those figures were starting to get hard to find, too. After that, I started picking up the various Gundam gachapon figures, a couple of StandArt figures, almost the full line of Assault Kingdom figures... and from that into HG kit building... to MG kit building... and finally back to mecha musume with the Frame Arms Girl, Gourai.
I've been getting deeper and deeper into mecha musume ever since... especially since Bandai seems reluctant to make any more MG kits. At least mecha musume is overflowing with excellent, high culture options right now. I bought a Nuke Matrix kit recently that came with two sets of rubber bikinis... and three different bust sizes to choose from! I'm also going to build that hand scale Magatsuki and have her drive the Hexa Gear forklift.
There are so many possibilities in this market - it's insane! I love it!
*I say "officially" because when I was very young and living in Japan for a few years, I picked up some Gundam stuff (gashapon toys mostly) and never had an opportunity to get into Gundam at the time. It always drew my interest, even as I got into high school in the late 90s. There just weren't any good resources out there at the time unless you lived somewhere with a shop that catered to very niche modeling interests and had connections... not before Wing hit Toonami, anyway. After that, you could find Gundam figures in Toys R Us for years after... but _only_ Wing or, if you were really lucky, G Gundam stuff.
I'm incredibly grateful for what ecommerce has made possible, and you kids today have no idea how bad it used to be.
The lack of mention of The Centurions, a cartoon from 1986 is a bit disappointing.
The Centurions, while not a mecha musume, is probably the first animated media to feature a transformation that involves weaponry, vehicle, and mech parts, that isn't a full armored suit like Iron Man or Tekkaman.
I have to give you extra points for using Battle Mirai OST from Zipang tho. I love that show and song.
Since the main trio are males so mecha danshi is the term I supposed. It's the male counterpart of mecha musume. There aren't a lot of media depicting mecha danshi. Ichika and Hayato may count but still.
The first Mecha Musu I saw was the GundamMk.2 Mecha Musu by Akitaka sensei artwork back in the late 2001 when I visited Japan with my Family.
A poster on one of the shops in Akihabara
And one thing that I feel deserves a mention is that the modern style of Mecha Musume with interchangeable parts might be inspired by the western cartoon and toy line Centurions.
This especially given how the show was animated by Sunrise.
A revelation that made my day
Showa Era - The Pinnacle of Robot Anime.
did my brief share of animating some gundam mecha musume fan animation, recreating the hygogg battle scene lol
There has to be a reason TH-cam sent this too me so quickly. They knew I'd be on it immediately
Ehh, might disagree on the KanColle part. Yes it was the first and most influential, but nowadays, at least in the west from what I've seen, it really isn't *the* shipgirl media, with that title instead going to Azur Lane. Yes, it's still popular in Asia, but to say it has a major monopoly is a bit off since there is definitely some more competition.
Funimation Dubbed both anime more people cared about Azur Lane's simulcast getting a censored print and the final pressing being stuck with the broadcast print because a small corner store released some scuttlebutt
KanColle still has a much more Japanwide reach than Azur Lane though. Yeah sure, you aren't gonna find KanColle stuff in Akihabara (Because Yostar store is there) but go to towns/cities with rich Naval History background like Kure, Sasebo, Yokosuka, Maizuru, etc., you'll find KanColle themed shops there. Heck, some are even found in shrines, yes Shinto shrines.
Azur Lane focuses on attracting normal otakus whiile KanColle sticks to its base of Military and HIstory otakus. Hence why recent AL artstyle focuses more on fanservice (Which is a shame, I consider early AL designs to be better than recent ones) while KC is still sticking to its roots of the shipgirl designs need to reference the ship herself.
And KanColle still beats AL in the doujin scene. Last Comiket saw KanColle has 650 circles while AL has like 100 circles.
@@karthus006 Not to mention Kancolle is literally the mascot of the JMSDF
13:40 Funny you compare the two. One of the character designers of 30 Minutes Sisters is Humikane Shimada. Yes, the same one who is working on the Frame Arms Girls.
He also worked on Kancolle
He designed Taihou and the German ships
not going to lie it was Busou Shinki for me when I was a kid, I am just happy to see how popular mecha musume has gotten.
remembering Galaxy Feulen Yuna
I stumbled upon mecha musume through gunpla funnily enough during a store-wide sale that advertised a couple of girlpla kits. Long story short, I buy more mecha musume kits now than gunpla...As a side note, it would be cool for Kakarot to cover some more mecha musume stuff from time to time, it seems enough people in the gundam/mecha community are into them from what I've seen.
I have the Mika Akitaka mook. More people have browsed through that book in my collection than any other book I have. Nice to see pictures of them showing up today. My favorite is the front facing F91 MS Girl!
The Video was great, I kinda wish the Devs for Alice Gear Aegis would import the game overseas already
Like we know about the game cause of the Megami Device Collab, plus Gourai and Stylet are in the Game
You always make the best April Fools videos! The topic may be silly, but you put the same love and passion into researching this as you have with all your regular mecha videos.
As an artist and Gunpla enthusiast, watching this makes me want to create these girls again with my new tools and practice.
I drew many designs and pinups, inspired by the WWII/ Vargas bomber style, for the shoulder or shield.
Always wanted to do a Tallgeese version again to see my progress over the years. Hopefully I can share it with you in the future.
Kakarot! Don't be a coward! Review the mecha musume kits! I know you'll do Avatar Fumina eventually, so give us Gunpla- er... PLAMO HISTORY WITH MECHA MUSUME, even if you're only touching the Bandai stuff.
12:27 Brother, Bring the Flamer, the Heavy Flamer, All the Heavy Flamers
Might need to resort to Exterminatus.
The best A.G.P for me is the Unicorn Gundam Girl. It has a cute shy unicorn girl and the fiery spirited destroy mode
edit : also the AGP Fate Saber Artoria Pendragon that has giant Excalibur created using the armors and when added the weapon as well the the configuration also changes but still a long big excalibur
Yes! Aside from gunpla and super robo kits, I LOVE mecha musume kits. Thanks for the history lesson. I hope more people get into this genre.
Not only is mecha a niche genre, mecha musume is even more niche. Beyond kits like Frame arm girls or 30 minute sisters, video games have yet to truly embrace mecha musume.
Used to play a ton of Alice Gear Aegis, but rarely do I see any other mecha musume games even remotely as popular. There's a ton in the Phantasy Star series due to female CASTs and there are mobile games about mecha musume but I hope to see mecha musume expand much farther and become a much more popular thing. Its such a shame too because aesthetically and conceptually, they're amazing.
I forgot about Shinkis...lord those things were expensive even at the time.
I initially thought Gundams were people in armor. Like an Ironman suit.
This was early 90s, pre-internet, I was 5, and got import toys from a comic shop. Had no idea there were shows/movies.
So, I personally am not into cheeky MechaGirls, but I would love a Gundam series to have suits Bubblegum Crisis style instead of giants.
Fun fact is, Tomino indeed meant to made Gundam as power armor but as giant robot was popular back then it's became giant robot as demanded by sponsor
I actualy wanted a video on this. This is a great april:)
Started for me with the original 80s illustrations by Akita on the GearsOnline website.
Also I always found Kancole far too limiting by just using the IJN for their ships compared to the virtual globally sourced arsenal that Azur Lane has available to draw from. In addition to the IJN (Sakura Empire), they draw from the USN (Eagle Union), the British (Royal Navy), the Krigsmarine (Iron Blood), and several other smaller navies.
To be fair, KanColle was start as a "torch and run" franchise that Kadokawa and SEGA need a quick cash grab for the mean time. It was initially plan to run for just a year or two then EoS, hence the focus on IJN because its target audiences are the Japanese. Hence the regret that they released Yamato and Musashi too early.
But then it exploded in popularity and the devs did started put in Allied ships, even before Azur Lane was a thing. And by number of navies included, KanColle has more.
KanColle has the IJN, US Navy, Royal Navy, Kriegsmarine, Reglia Marina, French Navy (KC group the two of them together), Soviet, China, Dutch, Swedish and Australian navies. That's 12 navies even though 4 of them only has 1 ship each.
AL has the IJN, US Navy, Royal Navy, Kriegsmarine, Reglia Marina, French Navy (AL separates the French into 2 groups), Soviet, China, and a faction for age of sail ships. Though AL's list for each navy is more extensive to the point they have to draw upon paper ships just to be relevant.
But AL's team building is more faction oriented.
was expecting a bait and switch. thank you for playing it straight and just uploading a normal video
I think my first exposure to Mecha Musume was in the early 1990s. Ben Dunn's "American manga" series Ninja High School featured a few characters with heavy sci-fi backgrounds. They had mecha bikini battle armor based on later 80s Gundam and Japanese Transformers designs.
Closest thing I have is the Hello Kitty Zaku 2. Nikke gunpla doesn’t sound like a bad idea…
Kancolle continues to operate to this day. In fact at the time of this post there is a (roughly once per quarter) event campaign going on. This time focused on submarines.
We currently have around 10-11 countries with at least one representative shipgirl. Ranging from the kindergarten aged Daitou class destroyer escorts to voluptuous bombshell battleships like Musashi, Iowa, and Bismarck.
Currently by numbers the USN makes up the bulk of foreign units, but there’s easily at least 60 of them in total.
the first time I saw Mecha Musume was in a Barber Shop, the barber was watching Strike Witches on TV while giving me a cut.
Finally someone that talk about the history of Mecha musume
nice, an educational video for april fools day! i got into mecha musume when shopping for gunpla at a local store that happens to distro koto stuff. they had some frame arms girl and megami device kits. at first i felt kinda weird buying them but quickly got over it because a) who cares what people think and b) they are typically really great kits in their own right. cheers for spreading the word.
i always loved Mika Akitaka’s works
kind of expected a bland jokey april fools video with this but it was actually really good and informative! I had no idea there were mecha girl kits that far back in Bandai's history.
Was expecting Packer to come in at the end and squish the bike lol
I think Lilith from L-Gaim deserves some minor credit in mecha masume history. There was a one time gag in an episode where she drafted up her own mini L-Gaim power armor.
i wasn't into mecha musume until i played battle rondo which made me spent a whole lot because i love how they turn the shinkis into living toys and what else is better than having your cute little toys talk to you? and i love how busou shinki introduced the studio where you can make scenes of the shinkis you have..
kinda sad though that Moon Angel was a 15min movie... they could've done better...
i hope 30MS will get an anime too..
Maaaazingaa Zeeeee, Lupe's song Mazinga Z song fire btw
Armored Girl Project is absolute kino
I think I took psychic damage from the fact that you pointed out the super fumina came out in 2015
Kakarot197 I think you left a important mecha-girl anime that inspire the gundam build fighters / divers universe and gunpla battle as a concept called angelic layer
I discovered Mecha Musume back in the mid 2000's. And have been a fan since.
For me, the major points of exposure goes like: Busou Shinki > Infinite Stratos > Gundam Build Fighters > Kantai Collection > Strike Witches > F.A. Girls > 30 Minutes Sisters
I watched some minor similar shows along the line.
I think my first experience with the Mecha Musume girls was probably spotting the Frame Arms Girls. This was pretty educational, though.
One of the most important aspect of mecha history
My wife never really cared for model kits, until she discovered 30MS, and now she has a plethora of Mecha girl kits. 😅
I wish I could have gotten her some of the Gundam Mecha girl figures they did, but oh well. They'll probably do some again in the future.
love yuna song in this clip
It's still a mystery why Bandai don't go all in and make actual MS Girls model kits
i would assume this has to do with licensing somehow.
I started with Frame Arms Girls and then later the Megami Device line. I also recently started playing the Alice Gear Agesis game on Nintendo Switch which is a surprisingly fun mech battle game that I honestly wish gundam breaker games would take lessons from
I discovered it just now, and spent most of my watch time asking various flavors of "What?" I don't know how to feel about this.
Yu-Gi-Oh! also has cards that feature mecha musume, namely "Sky Striker". It's based on a story of Raye, the last human (and ofc, a female) in a post-apocalypse world full of robots. Normally she wore your typical high schooler uniform, but when it's time for combat, she equip one of her mechanical armors, which she choose depending on the situation.
I've been coping for so long for a Sky Striker plamo. A 30MS collab kit would be golden
speaking of Mazinger Z don't forget the mechamusume parody based on Go Nagai, Ken Ishikawa, Dynamic Planning franchises that is Robot Girls Z, strangely enough Fumikane Shimada also worked on.
On the topic of Mecha Musume, a new game called Doll's Nest which bears heavy inspiration from the Armored Core series is in the works and looking very very promising, I highly recommend fans of the genre and even just Armored Core fans to give it a look!
I got into gunpla last month ago, built couple models and was looking for something different. I've checked the Armored Core from Kotobukiya on the website and then I found about the Megami Device AUV Susanowo Guren and preordered that, because it's an amazing kit. Then the youtube algorithm proposed me your video and we went full circle.
Thank you, was a quick and informative video about the genre.
oldest i remember is valkgals, robotech/macross mechs done like this. never got into gundam cause i could see macross mechs actually working, not well, but working.
"Infamous"
Good shit
I've known about mecha musume since around 2004-2005 when I noticed scans of some of the earliest concepts on the now defunct Gundam Plus. I wouldn't think much of it until years and years later when I started getting into 30 minute sisters and started building and customizing my own. After watching this video I'm thinking about creating number 6 for my collection.
mecha musume is great for me, I discovered Mecha Musume from either Kancolle or fan art of the Destiny Gundam as a mecha musume, regardless I've been a fan of mecha musume ever since
I discovered this because the Gundam model section was just a few step to the right of where models like these were put
I should buy one tbh
When you got to the initial Fumina release you had me in stitches lol. I've been a titanic mecha musume connoisseur since the Shinki days, but I never knew about any of those ancient MS Girls. Fun little history tidbits there.
Grew up watching the Tranzor Z adaptation of Mazinger Z and seeing some of Hajime Sorayama's art, but the first mecha musume style art I recall seeing was on Transformers message boards right around 2000 give or take a couple of years.
Thanks for covering this topic
People really need to know how Heated the fight between Bandai's 30Minutes Missions/Sisters and Kotobukia's Megami Device and Frame arms
How many years has it been since that day? How many years have I waited for this moment? For the one video from Kakarot that scratches my mecha and my cuteness itch? XD
Been a fan of mecha musume for a loooong time and it's only recently that the concept has really taken hold outside a very niche community. Glad to see it getting more coverage and a dive into their history.
Editing: Got into it with Infinite Stratos, but really got hooked with Busou Shinki in the late 00s; wound up making a kitbash between a Wing Zero and the Frame Arms Hresvelgr=Ater with an Arnval base. I really love how you touched on a bunch of different aspects of the fandom considering that it's really easy to focus in on one specific line or series when in reality, mecha musume is VAST in what it can cover.
However, a bit of additional trivia and note; for reasons that weren't 100% clear back then and likely have only become more obscure now, Busou Shinki wound up getting discontinued by Konami after their release of both the Moon Angel OVA and the anime and a VERY brief stint overseas. There was a rumor about a fire destroying the production factory which I chalk up to internet rumor - I believe that the greater issue was this was during Konami's complete restructuring of their company and weaker sales numbers over time as Busou Shinki figures were capital-E Expensive. Their trademark Multi-Movable-System (MMS) frame was seen as one of the best parts about the line, which was largely inherited by the later Megami Device and newer Frame Arms Girl kits, while also allowing them to be full model kits instead of riveted figures.
The Zipang soundtrack for the ship girls arc of the video was an excellent touch.
I saw pictures here and there growing up when I started to get heavy I to Gundam but I don’t really get into it until I started watching Zakuaurelius’s reviews of some megami device kits. Once I tried one out it was game over.
12:26 gonna need a clip for future use, boss
Cant forget about PSO and PSO2:NGS giving us the ability to play a hack and slash mmorpg as our own mechamusume and it is still going on today
Intro'ed intot he genre by Gundam girls, but they were just off and on, on the internet. Then I discovered 30 Minute Sisters. The rest is history.
learning the most important history!
I knew about it but didn't get any interaction with it till an MMORPG called Cosmic Break that featured Mecha and mech girls side by side. Both were highly customizable and gameplay was smooth and intense multi-player brawls.
However it was a gachah game that suffered the curse of power creep. A mech you got would later get a different version with a variation to it's weapon that often outperform the previous version. Later releases ended up looking more and more human with less Mecha parts and often had all the parts locked to the core preventing customization.
I still miss the early version of that game
Dang I actually gasped when the clip form Battle Rondo played, Busou Shinki was my introduction to the idea of mecha musume and been a fan since.
You frickin maniac!!! You slick man you actaully did it!!!😂❤😂
There was also a moe girl version of Mugenbine robots called Moebine during Busou Shinki's heyday.
Nice! I think I found out about Mecha Masume on Pixiv, I was a big Vocaloid fan back then, and I found out that Deino had a Pixiv account. So, I looked at that. Then other stuff with the Mechabare tag, and then I found Mecha Masume. That was around 2022 I think. Now, I've got two megami device kits near or on my desk- AUV Susanowo, and Arnival, which I had no context for when I got. I'm going to start working on a Mobile Movmentress kit next, once I'm done with paint and decals for the Tsugumori kit I've been working on(I have not painted a kit in years, but... the fingertips need to be red).
I actually had the opportunity to go to a panel with Mika Akitaka as the speaker. He's such a cool guy and really funny! This was at anime expo btw, 2022.
Heck yeah! Frame Arms Girls! Stylet my beloved! 💕
weirdly enough, i think my first exposure to mecha musume was...... keroro gunso