I’ve been talking a good deal about both giant robots and slice of life anime as of late, and in doing so it was perhaps inevitable that the notion of combining both would start to percolate in my head.
At first, mecha and slice of life would appear to contradict each other. Mecha is generally about some kind of story and conflict, be it good vs evil, big vs small, one team vs another, whereas slice of life has its focus in the non-events of life. Is it possible to reconcile the two? I say yes, and all you have to do is start with Patlabor.
Now for those unfamiliar with Patlabor, the basic premise is that in the near future giant robots are used in labor jobs such as construction and demolition, and have essentially become a part of everyday life. Some unscrupulous people get the bright idea to start using these mecha to commit crimes, and so a robot-based police force called “Patlabor” is formed.
So envision the Patlabor scenario in your mind. Now, get rid of the robot crime and by extension get rid of the robot police force. There’s your slice of life mecha show. Instead of focusing on capturing criminals, the story becomes about the daily hijinks of working a normal job as a robot pilot. If you want, have the characters younger and center the story around the training process, like Gunbuster‘s early episodes minus the competitiveness. On that note, make the characters all cute girls if you want, though honestly speaking I don’t think such a thing is necessary for slice of life.
So basically, giant robots without the fighting. I know, pretty exciting, right?
OGIUE MANIAX 
Mecha fans would hate it!
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If there were fighting, would the slices of life become invalidated? I thought Turn A Gundam was excellent at this!
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A slice of life mecha series eh?
Hmmm. Let’s see..
A construction company full of moe school girls using Patlabor style robots to do big pork barrel government projects. Constructing dams that destroy centuries old villages, roads that go nowhere, bridges for the sake of building them and tunnels being burrowed into mountains that are never finished. All the while we watch the cast of high school girls, who look like elementary school girls, grow closer to each other while going through their daily lives.
And don’t forget the cats that ride shotgun when the girls go out in their ‘labors to do another job.
Why are there cats ? Because they’re cute and soothing that’s why!
And the fetishes/stereotypes for the girls will all be there: the dojikko, the tsundere, the meganekko, the ojosama, the moeblob and a surprise shota!
The boss will be an sweet old school oneesama (Belledandy-like) with a dark sukeban side when she drinks too much.
Ah, the mono no aware of it all as we watch them ganbarre, grow up and away from us.
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Neo-Ranga. That is all.
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actually, shit, that’s not really mecha, but kaiju. Damn, sorry, dropped the ball there.
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In other words, Sora no woto. Mecha fans do hate it with a passion, apparently.
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I’m burning with passion… to receive my Labor license!
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Wasn’t there Candidate of the Goddess or something called that a few years back? And wasn’t that a space mecha/slice of life? And wasn’t that totally unwatchable?
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Oh my goodness.
Devlin Stone and his “Swords for Ploughshares” policy. After the Word Of Blake Jihad. Animated. In Glorious HD.
The inner Battletech fan is ngoing to want to see this. By AKIYUKI SHINBO. And hate it with a passion.
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I take it you haven’t watched Dai-Guard yet? :P
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