Mecha & Manga, Big Eyes Small Mouth, OVA - lots of RPGs have marketed themselves as "anime" over the years, but can that even really be done? Every once in a while I see a thread dedicated to one of them on /tg/ and a common sentiment seems to be that regardless of anything else, making an "anime RPG" is fundamentally impossible since the definition is so broad you might as well just make the game generic.
What are your thoughts about anime games, /tg/?
I think you're mostly correct, trying to create an 'Anime game' doesn't really work. You need to define which part of anime you're trying to emulate.
>>43851415
>making an "anime RPG" is fundamentally impossible since the definition is so broad you might as well just make the game generic
Pretty much this.
As a simple example, what would the difference be in a giant robot game focused on psychological drama (Evangelion) and one focused around hot-blooded determination (TTGL)? They're both anime, but do you think a single system can handle them both? If so, how does that system deal with military-style giant robots that may or may not be effectively magical (Gundam).
I'm in a BESM game right now, and it's about as generic a system as you can get. Not even MaidRPG is as generic.
>>43851450
I could never get behind BESM, it's like a more cumbersome version of GURPS.
>>43851415
I would play the fuck out of a Hunter x Hunter game with well-defined powers and such.
But since that's not a system that exists yet, I think I'll stick to Mutants and Masterminds to satisfy my power fantasies.
>>43851450
>They're both anime, but do you think a single system can handle them both?
It would have to if you wanted to run a Gunbuster game.
>>43851450
>may or may not be effectively magical
Other than Minovsky particles and Newtype shit it's pretty grounded. Or at least it started that way
>>43851667
I'm pretty sure OVA could easily do that. So long as you're not looking for accurate simulations, it's a fairly serviceable system. The only glaring weakness I can see in it as an anime game is that it's curiously lacking in rules for handling vehicles and vehicle combat, meaning it would suck trying to use it for mecha. It's true that the revised/2nd edition does touch upon it a little with the scale rules, but given how prominent mecha are in the West's understanding of anime, it seems like a really odd thing to omit.
>>43851450
>>43851415
Counterpoint: it's possible to have a good anime RPG, it just won't be a good "whatever anime you can possibly think of" RPG. Anime is a broad and expansive medium.
But this is fine! By way of example, consider fantasy RPGs. Fantasy is a broad and expansive genre (urban fantasy, heroic high fantasy, swords-and-sorcery, gritty low fantasy, fairytale, etc). But when we say "D&D 4th Ed is a fantasy RPG", we don't mean that it's the PERFECT GAME for all of these types of fantasy, just that it's a game that falls somewhere within this genre (and like most systems, it's to some extent adaptable so it can be used for things other than precisely what it is most suited for). And we don't judge it for not being the perfect all-encompassing fantasy RPG.
Well, okay, we do a bit. But that's because we're divisive argumentative little shits and the exact design goals of D&D are slightly poorly defined.
Maybe I should've used sci-fi as an example here and talked about Traveller. That would have been smarter, yeah. Nobody gives Traveller shit for not being Eclipse Phase or vice versa, and nobody says "well, it's impossible to have a good sci-fi RPG because there are so many different types of sci-fi that you can't do Traveller and Eclipse Phase in one system".
So yeah. Maid RPG is a great anime RPG for the specific anime goal of, er, maids. There is rich possibility for other games to exist that do other anime things. It's just kind of dumb to imagine that a single game could do All Anime Things without being GURPS: Weeaboo Edition and losing so much flavor that it's effectively a whatever-you-want RPG rather than an anime RPG.
>>43851667
god i want this
>>43852363
Yeah, but that's not what the people are selling. I think it's telling that Japanese roleplaying games themselves are extremely rarely "generic anime", being instead focused either on a very specific genre or even a specific setting which has anime influences (Tenra Bansho Zero, Double Cross, Alshard, etc.)
>>43851415
The only thing you need to make a good anime RPG is a good Ass-Pull™ mechanic
>>43851415
Wouldn't it be possible to go the way of GURPS and just make a solid base with further additions for specific genre conventions.
>>43851450
Battle Century G is capable of running all of those styles of mecha. Of course, BCG isn't really just an "anime" system but is a straight up mecha system.
>>43851415
>lots of RPGs have marketed themselves as "anime" over the years, but can that even really be done?
Considering it's a loanword from French that literally means "animated", anything that isn't animated isn't anime.
The irony is that the term "anime" in Japan also applies to Western cartoons, like how our "animation" can include animation of all traditions and geographical origins.
If your anime RPG doesn't include a DVD with cute girls, you're being scammed.
>>43855304
And here comes the guy who contributes nothing to the conversation AND wildly embarrasses himself with his inability to understand semantic drift.
>>43855345
>Implying
What "anime" refers to is very clear, outside of marketing that tries to shove their goods under that label so it'll sell better. I'm surprised there aren't "anime" washcloths out there yet.
>Inb4 some obscure import shop that actually sells 'em
>>43854076
Fate points and the like?
Just throw enough of those in the general direction of anything and you can overcome it, whatever it may be.
