Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
What weapon is the best?
Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?
You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!
Our next segment is on model kits and how important they are in Otaku culture.
Gunpla and the Advent of Otaku
1979 saw the arrival of Gundam in a market already familiar with space but even more so with the arrival of Star Wars, it created this young adult following which was seen as quite small scale but much of the merchandise was limited as toy companies would sponsor anime to get merchandise rights, standard practice for any series. This led to the creation of garage kits which was another name for model kits that allowed fans to make replica robots from plastic easily snap together parts. The rest was history but it formed part of Otaku culture further explained by Gainax's half mockumentary Otaku no Video.
I built many kits as a kid.
Animal Robot Wars
The Zoids franchise started as a toy line, the difference between this and other model kits is that these animal robots moved. They started life as Mechabonica around the same time as Gunpla but didn't gain popularity until it became Zoids, and the anime was amazing. I regret not buying the kits when they were out.
Time to Robattle!
Medabots took the model building to it's next logical stage, customization, being able to switch out different arms, legs, torso and head was revolutionary at the time but most people liked to keep things unchanged as the designs were a little too good to spoil. I still have a Sumilidon in storage.
The Doll Fighters We Wanted
Leave it to Clamp to release a toy anime that had no toy attached in Angelic Layer and the concept alone would make a fortune if it can be made in real life. Of course Angelic Layer only serves as a Clamp universe prequel to Chobits.
Gunpla's Now Have Their Own Anime
The history of Gundam anniversary years are best described as surreal as among them included G Gundam and SD Gundam but then they turned their model kits into a toy anime called Build Fighters which actually borrows a lot from Angelic Layer thinking about it. Build Fighters also pays big homages to Gundams past.
My Waifu Wears Heavy Metal
Ever wondered who pioneered the waifus wearing fighter jets or battleship guns?
Busou Shinki entered as a brand of action figures depicting it's characters in armour resembling military vehicles, while the anime has no fighting the figures helped pioneer future titles in the genre including Kancolle, Infinite Stratos, Strike Witches and Azur Lane. Something about waifus in battle armour just struck a cord with Otaku as it remains popular today.
After reviewing Shaman King, I was left wondering why it didn't seem to catch on despite modest popularity and it made me realise there are quite a few titles like that.
Shaman King
To bring up what's already been said quickly, Shaman King slotted in nicely among Shonen Jump's Golden Era, it filled the void left by Yu Yu Hakusho and Bleach was still finding it's feet.
What Happened?
Bleach found it's footing way quicker than expected making other Shonen Jump titles stand up and take notes but not one to let his series become generic, not helped by a poor end to the anime, Hiroyuki Takei pulled the plug and has only recently finished the ending and epilogue.
Medabots
A large staple of FoxKids' run of anime following Digimon gave it a decent amount of coverage and is one of the more fondly remembered dubs of it's day.
What Happened?
It's 2nd season bombed, anything after the Medabots tournament arc had out lived it's lifespan and what new they could've brought in failed to capture the imagination.
Tokyo Mew Mew
A very colourful magical girl show that at the time filled a massive void left by Sailor Moon with a very creative art style and a unique concept and likely inspiration for Precure.
What Happened?
4kids that's what; the hack job from 4kids killed Magical Girl anime in the west which it still hasn't recovered from.
Inazuma 11
Level-5's Soccer epic combined everything you ever wanted in a sports anime with some of the most spectacular choreography you'll ever witness.
What Happened?
It's lack of appeal to America mostly, also widely ignored in the UK then relegated to the old 3DS anime channel before being cancelled.
Negima
Ken Akamatsu's magnum opus, a spectacular series of wizards and fanservice with enough action to give Harry Potter a run for it's money.
What Happened?
Poor anime, a plot that got so stuck in it's own lore it forgot how to story and faded out when the Harry Potter film series ended.
Modern Gundam
Name any series post Gundam Wing and you got some of the best mecha anime at your finger tips
What Happened?
Gundam never had the same success as Wing or G Gundam in the west, this can mostly be down to being released at the wrong time or ignoring series that had no impact to begin with like X and Age.
Slayers
Best fantasy anime of all time and the greatest soundtrack of all time.
What Happened?
As much of a travesty this is, alot of Slayers short comings came from an era saturated by alot of fantasy anime, a battle it did win but got lost among other titles due to sci fi anime doing much better in the west.
Mermaid Melody
Looked at one point to be the one to succeed Tokyo Mew Mew and give the west another crack following modest sales in Europe.
What Happened?
This one still has me puzzled, what makes it even more so is the fact that the dub is finished and unreleased.
Beyblade
Competed strongly with it's rivals in the toy anime category and often got the better of it's rivals when most of them had already peaked.
What Happened?
After the original cast of Beyblade ended a strong three series run it was put to sleep before making a poor comeback with bland characters and a franchise that by then was already done.
Sonic X
Even at it's absolute worst form of games, Sonic X kept Sonic relevant in the early 2000s.
What Happened?
I've yet to meet someone who was really into Sonic X when it came out talk about it today without being on their back foot.
With the internet these days, it's much easier to pick out who succeeds and who doesn't but this topic may yet be revisted.
