

So this may seem like a weird question, but bear with me.

Loads and loads of anime are based on manga, and it's a fact that has become
well-known in the anime community. However, the mecha genre seems to be a tad
different.

I've seen a decent amount of mecha anime in the past. However, one trend that
sticks out to me is that a lot of mecha anime are original works, and not
based on manga, or light novels.

Here are some examples that I was able to gather by going through the mecha
genres on MyAnimeList:

  * Gundam franchise- is technically a multimedia franchise, but started as a TV anime
  * Code Geass - another huge mecha franchise
  * Macross franchise - huge and old mecha franchise
  * Neon Genesis Evangelion 
  * Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann 
  * Darling in the FranXX
  * Eureka Seven
  * Aldnoah.Zero
  * Suisei no Gargantia
  * Kakumeiki Valvrave
  * Cross Ange
  * Hoshi no Koe
  * Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari
  * Tenkuu no Escaflowne
  * Star Driver
  * Kuromukuro
  * Aquarion series
  * Heroic Age - this one's kinda iffy since the giant beings they transform into are organic (kinda like Attack on Titan), but MAL categorizes it as mecha

All of these are original anime, or started as original anime. However, when
you look through other genres on MAL, there aren't a lot other genres with
this many original works.

So why do mecha anime tend to be original works, more so than other genres?
Why aren't there as many mecha manga or light novels?


CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-18T21:23:23.033
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2018-11-18T12:02:20.403
2018-10-18T22:26:43.940
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anime-production anime-history
Why do mecha anime tend to be original works?


Well, Gundam in particular is designed to sell the Gundam model kits. Unlike
American TV where ratings and selling advertising is the focus, anime
generally makes money from selling Blu-rays or toys (or the original
manga/light novel). So Gundam anime exists solely so they can push new model
kits.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-19T11:58:47.667
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2018-10-19T11:58:47.667
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answer