Plazmatic said:
thats technically western mech by design regardless of what country made it, also mechs in general are impractical, since they would, in reality, be extremely slow, and easy targets for current tanks (and those supposedly fast ones do not count since the design for an actual fast one is impossible). However Japanese mechs are the MOST IMPRACTICAL, and IMPOSSIBLE, due to their design. They also do not look as good as western mechs.
Also note that Mech also refers to large robots(unmanned)
ED-209 was designed by a chap called Craig Davies [http://www.robocoparchive.com/info/making1-ed209.htm] and who based his design on American cars at the time, as Robocop was set in Detroit. So on the surface it appears to be an all American piece of mecha.
However, and this is the issue, Davies inadvertently channelled Japanese industrial design in his pencil sketches for ED-209. There is also the argument that ED-209 is a product of industrial design rather than mecha design, much like Ron Cobb's work on Star Wars et al (though at least Cobb comes clean on his influences, as does Syd Mead). Though the Japanese influences themselves are still plainly obvious.
As for Japanese mecha design being impractical, you are aware that mecha is surfing, right (btw it looks
very Japanese in styling, like an early rendition of Thexder)?
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Syd Mead much at all in this thread, as he's the only "mecha" designer in the West. After all he actually penned the Turn A Gundam (though it was inspired by Kunio Ogawara's original Gundam obviously - so again the main influence is Japanese).
Khell_Sennet said:
He can't, because it wasn't.
The anime-borrowed designs are the Locust, Stinger, Wasp, Phoenix Hawk, Shadow Hawk, Griffin, Thunderbolt, Warhammer, Marauder, Battlemaster, Crusader, Rifleman, Archer, Valkyrie, the three "Ost" designs I can never remember the right names of, plus all the II/IIC and LAM varients of mentioned designs.
The Atlas is derived from
several Dougram designs. It's not attributable to one, like the examples you've listed, but was the amalgamation of multiple mecha. It wasn't just the Atlas either, lots of other designs are actually the product of a similar methodology (the Mad Cat being notable in this regard). This is the predominant issue with Battletech, as the rule sets that form the foundation of the games stem from Japanese designs. So the very functional nature of these mecha is inextricably linked to the Japanese approach on mecha design.
Western mecha design doesn't technically exist on its own terms as it's almost wholly derived from Japanese influences.
