Watching some fun mecha music videos on Youtube maked me realize how silly mecha are when you make them serious weapons. Armored Core, for instance, has mecha that spend more time skating and jet boosting than walking. It would make more sense just to have a hover assault craft, doing away with the gangly legs and arms. Now, this point doesn't prevent enjoying giant robot fights, but I think giant hover tank duels could be just as cool.
When set in a funny or ridiculous world, mecha and giant robots work great. But in grim worlds, they annoy me. Maybe its the balance between sci-fi nerd and military geek that does it. Once I get started tearing apart concepts, the flitterring gangly mech has become a sleek assault craft, more like a spacefighter than anything else. In a purely fantastical world, though, tearing apart concepts seems petty and mean. This is probably why I like fantasy a bit more. I can't argue with "a wizard did it" or "magic dilithium crystals" and can go on to enjoy the show.
Yes, I just called Star Trek fantasy. The humans are noble and pure, the aliens are humans with funny ears, and the technology is based on magic crystals. Star Wars is fantasy as well, but everyone knows that.
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