Impressions of Robot Design in Japanese Anime Series “Mobile Suit Gundam” – a Study Using Plastic Models –

International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.16 No.3 pp.165-171 (2017) doi: 10.5057/ijae.IJAE-D-16-00041 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Impressions of Robot Design in Japanese Anime Series “Mobile Suit Gundam” – A Study using Plastic Models – Naoto HAYASHI and Masashi YAMADA Graduate School of Engineering, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, 7-1 Ohgigaoka, Nonoichi, Ishikawa 921-8501, Japan Abstract: This study focused on the impressions of robot design in the Japanese robot anime series, “Mobile Suit Gundam”. In Experiment 1, the impressions of robot design were measured using semantic differential method. Results of the factor analysis showed that the impressions of the robot design were illustrated by a three dimensional space, which was spanned by ‘Massiveness,’ ‘Coolness’ and ‘Roundness.’ ‘Moe’ is one of the most important keywords in robot design. The results of a multiple-regression analysis showed that Moe was felt deeply for a massive, cool and box-shaped robot. In Experiment 2, the differences between robots of scale models and super-deformed models were investigated. The results showed that the scale models were designed to be cool and the super-deformed models were designed to be cute. Keywords: Gundam, Moe, Anime, Robot design, Semantic differential method robots. In these stories, the virtuous characters win in the 1. INTRODUCTION end, like conventional robot anime. In the present study, the differences of the impressions of robot design between In recent years, Japanese animated movies (anime), the Universal Century and the Another Gundam series video games and cartoons have been called “Cool Japan” were investigated. contents and have been exported overseas. Among these For robot anime, ‘Moe’ is one of the most important contents, “Mobile suits Gundam” series, which has succes- keywords. Moe is written as a Chinese-Japanese character sively been produced for over 30 years, has represented which implies burning, and is used in the case when one is Japanese anime. In addition to the anime, Gundam series excited by an artificial metal robot. Sometimes the same contents have been made into various products, e.g., plastic pronunciation of ‘Moe’ is used for the different idea of models, character goods, and video games [1]. In 2014, cuteness or ‘kawaii’ in Cool Japan contents. However, for cumulative sales of Gundam related contents reached 800 this case Moe is written with a Chinese-Japanese character million dollars [2]. Among these contents, plastic models which implies sprouting of plants. In the present study, of the robots which appeared in the series, called “Gun-pla” the relationship between the Moe, which represented robots, are very popular in Japan. The popularity of the excited feelings, and the impressions of robot design were Gundam series may deeply correlate with the design of the investigated. robots, which have appeared in the contents. Therefore, the Usual Gun-pla robots, which possess the same propor- correlation between the robot design and impressions of tion of the body parts of the robots which appeared the robots which appeared in the Gundam series were in the anime, are called “scale (SC) models.” As well clarified, using Gun-pla robots. as SC models, “Super-deformed (SD) models” which The Gundam series is divided into two groups by the possess proportionally small bodies to the heads are characteristics of the stories. One is the “Universal also popular [4]. In the present study, the effects of the Century” series and the other is the “Another Gundam” deformation were also clarified. series. The Universal Century series expresses compli- cated human emotions. In these stories, young characters 2. EXPERIMENT 1 struggle to find why they are fighting and become adults through their struggles. Each story in the Universal 2.1 Methods Century series is set on the same timeline of the world [3]. There were 52 robots driven by the protagonists and In the Another Gundam series, virtuous and vicious antagonists in the Gundam anime series. In Experiment 1, characters are clearly separated and they battle with their all of the SC model Gun-pla of the 52 robots were used as Received: 2016.09.14 / Accepted: 2017.01.16 Copyright © 2017 Japan Society of Kansei Engineering. J-STAGE Advance Published Date: 2017.03.28 165 All Rights Reserved. International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.16 No.3 stimuli. The stimuli were listed in Table 1. The pictures of Then, the participants rated their impressions of the robot the robots can be seen via the Bandai internet site [5]. using 22 semantic differential scales listed in Table 2 [6, 7]. Viewing all anime videos of Gundam series, whether a The scales were bipolar seven-step scales, e.g., ‘very robot was driven by a protagonist or antagonist was powerless,’ ‘fairly powerless,’ ‘slightly powerless,’ …, checked. ‘very powerful.’ The scales appeared on a response sheet Twelve students from the Kanazawa Institute of Technology in a random order for each combination of participants participated in the experiment. They included eight males and stimuli. The participants also rated the degree of Moe and four females, and they ranged from 20 to 23 years old. using a seven-step scale. In order to check the familiarity The participants sat on a chair and were requested to look for the robots, the participants used check sheets to mark at each Gun-pla robot placed on a table, then they were the name of each robot and anime story where the robot allowed to hold it in their hands freely for three minutes. appeared. If they did not know, they checked the ‘unknown’ Table 1: Gun-pla robots used in Experiment 1 In the Pilot column, P shows Protagonists and A shows Antagonists. Robot Name Title of Anime Story Release Year Series Pilot Model Gundam MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 1979 Universal P SC ZAKU II MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 1979 Universal A SC ZEONG MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 1979 Universal A SC Gundam Mk-II MOBILE SUIT Z GUNDAM 1985 Universal P SC THE-O MOBILE SUIT Z GUNDAM 1985 Universal A SC ZETA GUNDAM MOBILE SUIT Z GUNDAM 1985 Universal P SC Double Zeta Gundam MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM ZZ 1986 Universal P SC QUBELEY MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM ZZ 1986 Universal A SC ν-GUNDAM MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM Char’s Counterattack 1988 Universal P SC SAZABI MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM Char’s Counterattack 1988 Universal A SC Gundam NT-1 MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 0080 War in the Pocket 1989 Universal P SC Gundam NT-1(FA) MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 0080 War in the Pocket 1989 Universal P SC ZAKU IIFZ MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 0080 War in the Pocket 1989 Universal A SC Gundam GP01Fb MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM0083 STARDUST MEMORY 1991 Universal P SC Gundam GP02A MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM0083 STARDUST MEMORY 1991 Universal A SC Gundam F91 MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM Formula 91 1991 Universal P SC VICTORY GUNDAM MOBILE SUIT VICTORY GUNDAM 1993 Universal P SC Gundam Ez8 MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM The 08th MS Team 1996 Universal P SC Gouf Custom MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM The 08th MS Team 1996 Universal A SC Unicorn Gundam (UNICORN MODE) MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UNICORN 2010 Universal P SC Unicorn Gundam (DESTROY MODE) MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UNICORN 2010 Universal P SC Sinanju MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UNICORN 2010 Universal A SC SHINING GUNDAM MOBILE FIGHTER G GUNDAM 1994 Another P SC MASTER GUNDAM MOBILE FIGHTER G GUNDAM 1994 Another A SC GOD GUNDAM MOBILE FIGHTER G GUNDAM 1994 Another P SC Gundam X After War Gundam X 1996 Another P SC Gundam X Divider After War Gundam X 1996 Another P SC Wing Gundam Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz 1997 Another P SC Gundam Epyon Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz 1997 Another A SC Wing Gundam ZERO Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz 1997 Another P SC Turn A Gundam Turn A Gundam 1999 Another P SC Aile Strike Gundam Mobile Suit Gundam SEED 2002 Another P SC AEGIS Gundam Mobile Suit Gundam SEED 2002 Another A SC FREEDOM Gundam Mobile Suit Gundam SEED 2002 Another P SC JUSTICE Gundam Mobile Suit Gundam SEED 2002 Another A SC FORCE IMPULSE Gundam MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED DESTINY 2004 Another P SC STRIKE FREEDOM GUNDAM MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED DESTINY 2004 Another P SC DESTINY GUNDAM MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED DESTINY 2004 Another P SC Gundam Exia Mobile Suit Gundam 00 2007 Another P SC Graham’s UNION FLAG CUSTOM Mobile Suit Gundam 00 2007 Another A SC 00 Raiser Moblie Suit Gundam 00 SECOND SEASON 2008 Another P SC SUSANOWO Moblie Suit Gundam 00 SECOND SEASON 2008 Another A SC 00 QAN[T] Moblie Suit Gundam 00 -A wakening of the Trailblazer- 2010 Another P SC Brave Commander Test Type Moblie Suit Gundam 00 -A wakening of the Trailblazer- 2010 Another A SC AGE-1 Normal MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another P SC ZEDAS MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another A SC AGE-2 Normal MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another P SC Zeydra MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another A SC AGE-3 Normal MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another P SC GHIRARGA MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another A SC GUNDAM AGE-FX MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another P SC GUNDAM LEGILIS MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM AGE 2011 Another A SC 166 International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.16 No.3 Impressions of Robot Design in Japanese Anime Series “Mobile Suit Gundam” Table 2: Semantic differential scales and their factor loadings familiarity: 4%). Moreover, these cases did not show in Experiment 1 systematic tendency. Therefore, in the next stage of the Factor SD scales analysis, the rated scores were averaged over the all Massiveness Coolness Roundness participants and the obtained mean values were used Static - Dynamic 0.887 0.160 -0.158 Fragile - Tough 0.927 0.087 -0.273 for factor analysis with the principal factor method and Small - Massive 0.940 -0.118 -0.239 varimax rotation [8].

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