Real Robot
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Real Robot is a term first seen in the Super Robot Wars series of video games, to describe robots or mecha that are treated as realistic tools rather than as heroic semi-characters, or super robots.
It can also refer to a genre of Japanese animation. Tomino Yoshiyuki's Mobile Suit Gundam series is the arch-example of the real robot genre and is largely considered the first series to introduce the real robot genre. It established the concepts behind "real robots" that set it apart from previous robot anime, such as:
- The robot is used as an industrial machine including arms and is manufactured by nations and commercial enterprises.
- The concept of industrial production and commercial manufacturing processes appeared for the first time in the history of robot shows, introducing manufacturing language like "Mass production unit", and "Prototype".
- While classic Super Robots typically use special attacks activated by voice commands, Real Robots more commonly make use of scaled-up versions of human weapons such as lasers, guns, shield and swords.
Other series such as Patlabor explore non-military uses for real robots, like law enforcement and construction.
Some examples include Macross, Front Mission, Armored Trooper VOTOMS, Nadesico, Southern Cross, Sei Jushi Bismarck, Full Metal Panic, the Patlabor movies and of course the afore mentioned Gundam.
What Japanese speakers refer to as real robots are popularly referred to by English-speaking fans as mecha, a re-borrowing of a Japanese abbreviation for the English term "mechanical." In Japanese, "mecha" refers to all robotic and non-robotic mechanical objects, including real robots, super robots, and everyday objects such as cars and toasters.
Inevitably, there are some types of mecha that are difficult to classify as either a real robot or a super robot. Some of these include the Aura Battlers from Aura Battler Dunbine, which followed the general motif of real robots but their very origin and certain levels of power borderline on super robot. The Mortar Headds from Five Star Stories are treated like individual works of art by the fictional society present in the story, and their power often borderlines on super robot. However, their intricate engineering and the motif of their weaponry is often scientifically explained by series creator Mamoru Nagano which makes them very real robot-esque in other ways.
The titular craft of Neon Genesis Evangelion are difficult to classify. The fact that they are mainly organic notwithstanding, the Evas use weapons and tactics that are very scientific and in the vein of the real robot genre; furthermore, the United Nations even pursues mass production of the Evangelion units. However, they draw several similarities to super robots in regard to their creation, their humanlike nature, and EVA-01's tendency to enter an immensely destructive "berserker" state during combat. Because of this blending of characteristics, they are sometimes referred to as "hybrid robots."
As this hybriding of both methodologies is becoming increasingly popular in anime, it is often difficult to classify mecha as either real or super, although they often tend to lean more in one direction than the other. Even Gundam sometimes borderlines on super robot tendencies from time to time, such as the end of Zeta Gundam when the protagonist summons the spirits of his dead comrades and enemies to massively increase the potency of his mobile suit to defeat the primary antagonist.ja:リアルロボット zh:寫實機器人