What is it? Infinite stratos remake or just copypaste type "new" anime?
A significant chunk of fantasy/sci-fi light novels nowadays follow one of the following two patterns:
1) Infinite Stratos ripoff. Guy starts off mediocre and manages to piss off the female ace (usually a blonde or a fiery redhead) straight away in a magical/technological combat school setting.
2. a) Isekai AKA alternate world, where the guy (sometimes girl) dies (usually to Mr. Truck) and ends up reincarnated in a new world. This is distressingly popular on webnovels (on syosetu).
2b) Digital isekai variant ala SAO ripoff, where the world is (or was) an MMO game and the participants wind up trapped in it.
The first variant has a tendency to become insipidly uninspired. Machine Doll, Rakudai Kishi, Asterisk, Rettousei, Elementalers, even Hundred, they are all carbon copies of Infinite Stratos, with some of them trying to be "edgier".
A significant chunk of fantasy/sci-fi light novels nowadays follow one of the following two patterns:
1) Infinite Stratos ripoff. Guy starts off mediocre and manages to piss off the female ace (usually a blonde or a fiery redhead) straight away in a magical/technological combat school setting.
2. a) Isekai AKA alternate world, where the guy (sometimes girl) dies (usually to Mr. Truck) and ends up reincarnated in a new world. This is distressingly popular on webnovels (on syosetu).
2b) Digital isekai variant ala SAO ripoff, where the world is (or was) an MMO game and the participants wind up trapped in it.
The first variant has a tendency to become insipidly uninspired. Machine Doll, Rakudai Kishi, Asterisk, Rettousei, Elementalers, even Hundred, they are all carbon copies of Infinite Stratos, with some of them trying to be "edgier".
To be exact, the Infinite Stratos was not the first that employs humanoid exoskeleton mecha as plot point, it's Sky Girls, which basically precursor of Strike Witches as well; but yes, if you're talking the 'male mc gets special power to operate X which only girls can use' then IS would be the first.
Also based on the grouping of the themes, yes, we're kinda stuck on some genres here...what happens to the diversity of LN themes? There's also some 'underground' themes like 'die in this world, resurrected in another, get stronger by copying skills/crafting items/eating enemies' like Slime Tensei or RE:Monster, some are more light like the LN 'Sendai Yuusha', which tells about how the preceding hero got summoned again to the same world (Theme already copied into Reunion with Twelve Fascinating Goddess). Some managed to combine those two into one though, so you're going to drive/make mecha in alternate world (Knights and Magic), a gun otaku made firearms, a doctor made medicine, etc, etc, etc...
And you think To-Love-Ru is a cliche. Also, Mahouka's MC is OP from start, so he didn't count! XD
You all talk about scenes and plots like these since 2007 or so, but while I don't know anything about current anime, I couldn't think on anything else but something almost 10 years earlier: Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Rathurue said: To be exact, the Infinite Stratos was not the first that employs humanoid exoskeleton mecha as plot point, it's Sky Girls, which basically precursor of Strike Witches as well; but yes, if you're talking the 'male mc gets special power to operate X which only girls can use' then IS would be the first.
IS is HARDLY the first one. It's simply just a modern version of it. This type of mecha story(special power) has been around since the 90s where special Guy can use Power X that girls are only supposed to use but he's special somehow. "Dual! Parallel Runrun Monogatari" is one example. Even Tenshi Muyou did a little bit of it.
The way I label something an IS ripoff is as follows:
1) The setting is a school for training students in non-mundane combat (either magical or technology verging on magical).
2) The protagonist is a Japanese male admitted to the school under special circumstances, and is generally considered to be mediocre (whether he's actually starts off mediocre varies).
3) The protag manages to piss off an ace/honor student (almost always a redhead or blonde) within the first few episodes/chapters, culminating in a duel.
While the above setting isn't bad per se, it's been done to death far too many times.
Whether mecha are involved or not is purely incidental.
rom_collector said:
You all talk about scenes and plots like these since 2007 or so, but while I don't know anything about current anime, I couldn't think on anything else but something almost 10 years earlier: Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Whey NGE did kick off the dysfunctional tsundere and kuudere character archetypes. Rei and Asuka were intended as deconstructions on the genre (showing how dysfunctional a tsudnere and kuudere would be), but those specific archetypes become popular instead.
And, well, Asuka wasn't introduced until Ep. 8, IIRC.
--
As an aside, I propose a twist/deconstruction on this done-to-death IS-styled plot. The Japanese male shall first appear to be the protagonist, before getting killed off accidentally by the ace/honor student in the duel. Now the ace is the true protag and has to deal with the fallout of her actions.
IS is HARDLY the first one. It's simply just a modern version of it. This type of mecha story(special power) has been around since the 90s where special Guy can use Power X that girls are only supposed to use but he's special somehow. "Dual! Parallel Runrun Monogatari" is one example. Even Tenshi Muyou did a little bit of it.
The point being 'exoskeleton-like mecha which doubles as plot device' btw. Dual! was considered a 'isekai' genre since the MC was slipped into a pararell dimension of its own. It was also spin-off of Tenchiverse.
I remember the first time I watched this, I thought she was going to hit him in the balls. At around the 6-7 mark it looks like that's what she was going for. I'm glad she chose to go for the stomach and not win by cheap shot. That would have ruined her character as a "noble".
