Though They Arent All Winners - Tumblr Posts

Alright then, as a follow up to me talking about artist stylings and my general preference for specialists over generalists, I should probably furnish some actual examples, shouldn’t I?

While all the designs in the above post I’m quite fond of, I believe I can pull out some specific comparisons that may illustrate my tastes a little better.

First up, a comparison of the Zaku-analogues from the cosmic era, the GINN and ZAKU Warrior. As previously stated, I really love the Ginn’s design. I think it does a solid job of updating the Zaku’s key features, while emphasising mobility, armour and just generally being iconic in its own right. However, I don’t really extend the same sentiments to the Zaku Warrior (or really any of ZAFT’s New Millenium Series). For me it’s a difference between evoking something and just referencing it. I honestly struggle to judge the Zaku Warrior on its own merits, simply because I like the Zaku II so much. I’m not going to say it’s bereft of features - the shield’s lovely and I like how the grenades are better integrated, but it lacks its own sense of identity. Whenever I think of the Zaku Warrior my mind immediately turns to how much cooler the original Zaku II is, so I don’t actually think about the Zaku Warrior. The Ginn, on the other hand, is distinct enough that I can appreciate what it does differently to its inspiration. Gundam being an old and self-referential property, this can happen quite frequently. The Ginn has its own unique strengths - the wings, the sword, the opening where you see Zaft deploy them onto the earth. But the Zaku Warrior feels almost like a reference, and I still find it the most distinct of ZAFT’s New Millenium series (the Gouf Ignited has a little set of wings, the Dom Trooper has a shield it pinched from the Freedom and neither of them are particularly noteworthy beyond that, in some cases I struggle to tell them apart from their sources).

Another design I’d like to discuss is the Gundam Kimaris and the Gyan. This isn’t the last time I’m going to talk about knightly-looking suits, but the Kimaris head and colour scheme evoke the Gyan for me. I like both designs very much, because they’re examples of the same basis (knight mech) taken in two different directions, but you can still see similarities. The Gyan has a slim silhouette, suited for nimble dodging, whereas the Kimaris has its wings to emphasise its speed (and it swooping down from on high). The Gyan favours fighting up close with its saber, while the Kimaris has a Lance for hit and run. Both have integrated weaponry (the missile shield for the Gyan and Slash Disks for the Kimaris), but they’re utilised so differently. I also like both of their pilots (though I’ll probably cover that another day). (And I’ll probably cover them both separately at some point, since both have variants).

I’m typically quite fond of prototypes and variants to existing units, since they’re typically either a) more of what I like (IE The Full Armour Gundam (Thunderbolt Sector) essentially being a chunkier Full Armour Gundam with a more thruster heavy and contemporary design) b) common features intermingled with new ones (such as the Zeta Plus Series, which has features of the Zeta with a more rounded feel, and the Grey colours give it a minimalist vibe) c) a design I’m not too fond of, but improved upon (I find the Barzam to be….. functional but not electrifying, but the Refined Barzam is one of my favourite titans mobile suits, since it just feels like a mass-produced MK-II to me).

In a nutshell, Gundam has a wide variety of designs, and you can normally find variations on specific designs, so there’s quite a lot to appreciate. It being a comparatively old property lends it this wonderful recursive appeal, different things cross-pollinating, a blend of the new and the old.

With all the things you've posted looking at the mobile suits of various series, I wondered if you had any specific tastes in mecha design. Are there particular details or design cues that you're especially fond of?

@wordsandrobots, I fully expect to follow this up at sone point (and likely run out of pictures/want to ramble even more), so I’m going to pull it out as a proper post:

That is an *excellent* question, actually, since I hadn’t considered my tastes in such a broad scale before (and well-timed too, since I’ve got a post talking about Gusion in the works). It’s why I typically like talking about design series, since I can compare and contrast within that scope.

I typically focus on Gundam, since I generally like it as a series and there’s a massive variety of designs to appreciate, with a broad range. I’m largely influenced by the Anime, model kits and occasionally videogames, though in a lot of cases I can like a character, and that can lead to a greater appreciation of their mobile suit.

Specific design notes…. I tend to notice them more in the context of an artist - I adore a lot of Ippei Gyoubu’s design touches, from the bright colours to the detailed hands to the panel lines and little touches that you’d never notice. Kazuhisa Kondo has the organic shape and uniquely rounded weaponry and it’s styled in such a way as to apprear blurry, almost ephemeral, like you’re glimpsing it through a haze of smoke and gunfire and dirt, while frantically turning to get away, get away from the conflict. And yet the designs are still recognisable, and in a lot of respects draw from contemporary sources.

I’m similarly fond of Makoto Kobayashi and Kuino Okawara, though I typically struggle to explain how (Makoto Kobayashi tends to have really good composition? I think. So they look simple and detailed all at once, and they’re part of a scene, so it’s what you choose to focus on? And Okawara just makes it look so…. Effortless)

Hajime Katoiki I do like as well, I just struggle to nail down why. I suppose it’s because of how clean his designs look.

Moving away from the preference of artists (and honestly, it’s only that some of their design hallmarks are very distinct), I often have a preference for specific “types” of mobile suit. I talked about this a little in regards to the Code: Fairy designs, but I often find myself drawn to specialist mobile suits over generalist ones. From a modelling perspective, I often like each one to be distinct in a lineup in some way (unless they’re similar models, then I just put them together so the differences show). Often this can just be a distinct weapon, but it’s just as often the form of the mobile suit (the Gusion’s a good example here, since it draws the eye due to its heavyset build, understated colour scheme and giant hammer) or even the colour (see: the Infinite Justice being bright pink). This tends to encompass a lot of close-quarters units (like the Pixy and the Efreets) simply because there’s a lot of ways to do that well. Another reason is that whereas generalist suits tend to show up in large roles throughout the series, specialist ones tend towards “monster-of-the-week”, typically being an obstacle to be defeated or just having one or two cool scenes (like the Efreet Schneid). So I find they stick in my head a lot better.

I can like a lot of designs from a series as well, but of course I tend to have a lot of different criteria as to what designs I like, depending on the suit’s billing and purpose (what makes a great grunt suit and what makes a great protagonist suit are quite different after all). I do very much like a lot of the UC Grunt suits (though I’ll probably touch on that in more detail at a later point), for example, but I only really like one from Anno Domini, the Tieran (since it looks so much like a walking tank as opposed to the spindly nature of the Flags and Enacts). That said, I don’t think that the Flags, Enacts and GN-X’s are bad designs, they’re just not really the sort of thing I like.

In fact, I reckon that’s why I’m particularly fond of Iron-Blooded Orphans’ Aesthetics, since a lot of the units from that series would be close-quarters specialists in any other series. But because melee is so common in Post Disaster, virtually everything carries a nice solid sharp stick. The only exceptions I can think of are Gusion Rebake (which is more of an all-rounder), Flauros (and even that has hatchets that leave cqc a viable option) and Dainsleif Grazes (which only have one arm, so….).