Proving that my mind knows no ability to stay focused anymore, I’ve found myself on a completely different train of thought since Saturday morning. A friend of mine showed me the trailer for the new Sakura Wars game that is coming out in April, and I was reminded that I hadn’t gone back and listened to the original version of the opening theme that I fell in love with back in the 90s. Queue me digging through the old DVDs for the original OVA that came out state-side back in the late 90s/early 2000s, whenever it was. But, while watching the various versions of the openings from the games, a video came up showing someone’s top 10 picks for the best mecha anime openings of the 80s, which of course I watched.
I was a little disappointed not to see Zeta Gundam’s first opening on there, but that’s hardly the point here.
The point is that I had another idea spark. I’ve been working (slow as my progress is) on a sci-fi/fantasy world and, some time ago, had had an idea for a group of musicians that travel the spaceways and have adventures along the way. I’d already come up with something of a story inspired by Interstella 5555 but hadn’t gone anywhere with it yet. Several years ago, I’d always wanted to have a group show up in one of my tabletop games, not unlike the Flower Division from Sakura Wars, but never could quite find the right time and place to make it happen. Then, while watching that video about the 80s mecha openings, the Macross opening played, and several ideas sort of collided all at once into an idea that I might be happy with developing further.
You’ve probably already figured it out…that group of musicians become like the Flower Division, and since it’s a space-heavy setting, they can travel the stars fighting back monsters while performing for their adoring fans!
But…there’s something missing. And again, you may have figured it out…giant robots! What we need are giant robots, with big swords and even bigger guns! In bright, flowery colors!
Wouldn’t that mess with my sci-fi/fantasy setting, though? Not as much as you’d think, actually. See, I’d had an idea a while back relating to the very concept of giant robots. Generally, they run on rule of cool, otherwise, they’d collapse under their own weight in most cases once they hit a gravity well. But, that’s where the fantasy element comes in! Magic can solve all the problems! Specifically, though, I’m talking about the magic that powers golems, those (sometimes quite large) guardians that have confounded adventurers for decades. Going back again, I recall having found a third-party D&D 3E supplement that had a thing called a “Golem Armor” inside it. This was a suit of armor that could be worn as normal, but was also a golem, able to function on its own while also conveying some of the benefits of a golem to the one wearing it. Just upscale that, and you’ve got G-Frames, or Golem Frames, giant robots powered by magical energies fused with the newest technology in the galaxy that could potentially function on their own, or with an AI.
Needless to say, I have to develop this idea a lot more, but the seed has been planted, and I’m liking where this is going. All the various races can have their own style to their mechs, and those who are able to still harness the greater forces of the arcane could have an incredible advantage over the mundane munitions the regular grunts carry. But, would this be a setting unto itself? Would it be a different time period during the universal history of my setting? Would this be limited to a region of space that still has a high amount of latent magical energies floating around?
The surface has thus far only been scratched, but I’ve got another page in my worldbuilding notebook, and a new group of characters to start developing!
What do you think? Too much? Been done before? Not interesting enough? Let me know!
Until next time!
And if the setting allows it, then “mysteriously” all female G-Frame pilots are bound inside, gagged, and have a pair of special moving plugs that get inserted between their legs. Maybe it’s a strange design difference that gives females a bit of extra control over their G-Frames, granting greater speed?
“Physical Navigation System” and “Plumbing Connections”, lol. I suppose the extra restraint is explained as a way to enhance their psychic abilities…or a safety feature.