You all are wrong about Asia and John Wetton: or a defense of one of my heroes and his passion project

Last week was horribly busy for me, so I couldn't do much. So let me make up for it with this week's article. I talk about stuff from Asia all the time. Music, Gundam, etc. Now I will talk about Asia, not the country though, the band.

Now I was seeing a lot of people on Discord dogpiling on AOR as a shit genre, and crapping on it, and one person said "anybody who did prog rock and went on to make AOR in the 80s deserves to be shot on site". That's paraphrasing, but my favorite band, Asia, came to mind. I tried to explain why I like AOR to them. I don't know if I got through, but I am used to AOR getting crapped on, and my own tastes being opposite most other people's. I've heard every insult you can dish towards AOR, such as MOR (middle of the road) etc. However I don't think I could have fully explained the truth behind Asia and the music beyond whatever simple conversation I had.

The origins of Asia go back to King Crimson. bassist and vocalist John Wetton wrote the now famous piece "Starless" for the album Starless and Bible Black, where the other members rejected it and it wasn't included. Following some rewrites some of which done by Wetton's friend Richard Palmer James, it was included on Red. While making Red the band had become increasingly unstable. Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford were still willing to work together, but Fripp wasn't, leading to UK. UK was Wetton, Bruford, guitarist Alan Holdsworth and keyboardist and violinist Eddie Jobson. UK was still prog rock, but Wetton was writing increasingly shorter compositions. When Holdsworth and Bruford left, they got Terry Bozzio and made a second album. After making their second album songwriting sessions had begun for a third album. Wetton would write "When Will You Realize" and this song would lead to fighting with Jobson. Jobson had said he wanted to keep writing longer proggressive songs, and Wetton had admitted he simply had little love for that type of music anymore. John tried telling him felt more creatively satisfied with these shorter more direct songs, but the two just decided if they felt happy doing different types of music than it was best to part ways. John released "Caught in the Crossfire" shortly after UK's breakup, featuring Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre, Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke and some Roxy music personnel Phil Manzanera and Peter Sinfield (Sinfield was the orignial lyricist for King Crimson) A lot of these were songs he had written over the years including during his time with UK. (a rerecording of When Will You Realize is here) I like the album, the title track and some other stuff is really good, the rest is just okay. From here John looked to start a new band.

Yes was a band also at the end of it's rope by this time. Guitarist Steve Howe wanted to take the band in an increasingly more hard rock direction, as he had been seeking to make more direct rockers for a long time. This in part is what made Anderson and Wakeman leave. Some of this can be felt on stuff like "Machine Messiah", "Does it Really Happen" and "Tempus Fugit", though a lot of their progressive leanings were still present. Following the Drama tour Horn was let go, and Chris Squire and Alan White would leave soon after. Howe and the then keyboardist Geoff Downes had declined to continue Yes and they split up. Wetton had tried starting a project with Rick Wakeman and Carl Palmer, but Wakeman didn't see eye to eye musically with Wetton and the project was shelved. John Kalodner had seen Wetton struggling to get a new project together, due to his wanting to work with other prog musicians, but his growing distaste for prog rock made that an impossiblity. He introduced Wetton to Steve Howe who was feeling similarly to him. The two began writing and auditioning musicians. Carl Palmer auditioned at Wetton's suggestion because the two had tried starting supergroups before but failed. Palmer himself was a man who contributed a lot more rockers or straightforward stuff to ELP. Just look at "Tank", "L.A. Nights" and "New Orleans". Once Palmer passed they auditioned keyboard players, including Electric Light Orchestra's Richard Tandy. However for keyboard players they settled on Geoff Downes at Howe's request. Downes had a background in pop rock and synthpop, and actually turned out to get along so well with John Wetton that the two's songwriting partnership would become the backbone of the band, even though Wetton had written already written almost half an album's worth of songs with Howe. Wetton also got former Queen engineer Mike Stone (best known for producing Journey's album Escape) to produce, having been impressed with his prior work and meeting him at a party. With how many times Wetton tried to get this project going in the past it is clear that it was a huge passion project for him.

Now I hear people call this a sell out album or something engineered to make money, but that isn't true. Wetton has stated several times it was an uphill battle getting the album released. Geffen records said their wasn't a viable single, the band's logo (designed by Yes album artist Roger Dean) was illegible, the album artwork (also by Roger Dean) would be hard to find in a record store and not stand out, the music was something they couldn't market. At some point it seemed like the album may not get released or a push. Wetton said this lowered his expectations greatly as some people said they have too many keyboards and others said they need to tone down prog guitar elements in the music. That was until the lead single came out and become one of the most iconic hits of the entire decade. Everything changed. It sold 10 million copies, is one of a small handful of albums to have never been out of print ever, and it's success shaped mainstream rock of the 80s. I've heard people say so much bad things about this album. It is trash, Carl Palmer is wasted playing crap any 2 bit drummer could play, the album is over produced, the songwriting and musicianship is weak and something anyone could do, the album sounds like it was made by a computer, it's shallow and meaningless. I am here to debunk some of these criticisms at Asia's debut album and hopefully sell you on it by going through these songs track by track.

The album opens with "Heat of the Moment". The song was originally a country song in 6/8 John wrote as an apology to the girl he would eventually marry. When presented to Geoff Downes they changed the verses to make it a grand pop rock song with a standard time signature. Aside from being a total earworm brought to life with Wetton's soulful vocal performance, Carl Palmer's drum fills, and Steve Howe's guitar riff hooking the listener in, it is intentionally placed here at the beginning to serve a few purposes. One, to attract people who heard the hit song on the radio and bought the album for it. Two, to scare off prog rock elitists who may have tried to listen to this band assuming it to be some epic prog rock thing, And three, it appeased the record label, which unfortunately has the final say. It's not even the best song here, but it is a strong opener. Next song and second single "Only Time Will Tell" is like a lot of songs here is a super personal song Wetton had written awhile before the album was being worked on. It starts with  keyboard riff by Downes, then lead into some rocking guitar by Howe with some cowbell form Palmer and crunchy bass playing from Wetton. In the verses we have some of that keyboard playing keeping the song going with some hi hat by Palmer before moving on to  thumping bassline from Wetton driving the song into an anthemic chorus. You may notice Howe isn't much of a leading factor in this song aside from contributing to some bits leading into the next part of the song, as well as a call and response in the verses. I love this call and response, and I think it does good showing off Howe and Downes backing vocals. This makes sense it is a Wetton and Downes composition. Steve Howe and Geoff Downes get to do some backing vocals here that just sound lovely. I can't not love his song.

"Sole Survivor" is the the third single and another Wetton and Downes composition. I LOVE the opening in "Soul Survivor". It is super ballsy to make the listener wait through some technical showmanship leading to the song itself in one of your big singles. Aside from me relating to the lyrics here to an extreme degree, Wetton's vocals are just amazing. The bass line and drums driving the song forward in the verses is wonderful. The guitar is used where it is needed, and they keyboards know when to take a backseat. about two minutes and fourty seconds in we get this section that is mostly keyboards as the song stops. It builds and builds to this cool section where the guitar and keyboards really get to show off and the drums and bass just do there thing. Then verse 3 where John delivers one of the most elegantly delivered fuck you's in music with the line "and from the wreckage I will arise and cast the ashes back in their eyes". Knowing the exact kind of feeling he is talking about and having been a scenario like that myself makes hearing that line super satisfying to me. The following lyrics to are great. Then we end on an awesome chorus and a fade out.

"One Step Closer" is a song Wetton cowrote with Howe, which is obvious because the two's voices are singing together to create a harmony throughout most of the song. This gives the vocals here a unique sound. The verses are driven by the keyboards and bass, but we have this earworm of a chorus that has been unable to leave my head for pretty much my entire life. The guitar solo is short and sweet, and the drums are great too. It's actually one of the most simple songs here. However "Time Again" is where things get serious. This is the one song credited to all 4 band members  It starts with this guitar riff amplified by the bass and keyboards as it goes on and some drums coming in as it ends, then some harmonies by Wetton. A gong is sounded off by Palmer as the riff comes in, now with Carl Palmer's drums helping to build up the riff this time. Then with a symbol crash we get John's thumping bassline driving the song with leads from the guitar and keyboards adding all the flary melody to it. We don't get vocals until a minute and fourteen seconds into the song. Again a sort of call and response between Wetton and the guitar in the verses while his bass rives it forward. Carl Palmer's drums here are just awesome, I love them. The way it leads into the solo is just incredible. Wetton's vocals are of course incredible. I love how it ends the same way we began, just awesome.

Wetton and Downes' "Wildest Dreams" is a strangely political song. The song has this opening with the keyboards, drums and bass playing the same thing until about 30 seconds in. The first verse are mostly vocals and keyboard with some light drums, but then pre chorus comes in. The song builds up to the chorus, which is the song name with some awesome harmonies. Then the second verse, we get some frequent guitar and keyboards, then the prechorus and the song hanging on some keyboard for a bit before going to the chorus, which has more going on than before. Then the opening with a guitar solo over it. This leads into a bridge section where the drums and guitar help build to the third verse. Then the chorus, even bigger than before. Following this the opening of the song, with a key change and a short drum solo from Carl Palmer. A repeat of the bridge section and the keyboards giving us a nice outro. The fact that they crammed all these details and sections into a five minute song is incredible, and is masterfully done.

I absolutely love "Without You", a song written by Wetton and Howe, because it is a very subversive ballad. It's a pretty standard sounding ballad. drums and keyboards lead through an ambient intro, then the verses, lead by Wetton's bass and the drums. After a sort of chorus we have verse 2. Then after the chorus we get a some keyboard, bass and drums leading us into a bridge. About two and a half minutes into the song the bridge transitions to what sounds like a completely different song, with a completely different speed and with a new melody being played by the keyboards and the guitar. Then we build up to this new section where the instruments all play a altered version of the instrumental from the verses, but with Howe giving an absolutely majestic guitar riff and some cool sounds from the keyboards. Then Howe playing a Koto (Japanese string instrument) and leading us back into another verse. We have the final chorus and then the song goes into an outro section that once again sounds like it comes from a different song. I love it because you think it will be a typical ballad, but then it hits you with these parts that sound almost like they are from different songs, but they are woven in organically. 

I love "Cutting It Fine". It is a rocker that also goes in a completely different direction than you think it will. starts with typical acoustic intro from Howe but then goes to the main guitar riff and a verse section lead by Wetton's bass. Wetton delivers his lines with this attitude. After each verse we have the awesome guitar riff by Howe, a top 20 favorite guitar riff of mine. Then we build to a section after the second verse dominated by keyboard and guitar. The backing vocals with Howe and Downes are cool, especially when Downes does them with a vocoder. After the third verse is another keyboard section and it just stops. The you have this piano section that transitions to synths with this marching drum beat. the synths build and build with the drums and then it just fades. I apologize to all of you narrow minded fools who say this whole album sounds like it was tailor made for radio play, because "Cutting It Fine" could not make into the radio like this, and "Without You" probably wouldn't have been able to either.

Album closer "Here Comes the Feeling" is another Wetton and Howe composition. Opening with a main keyboard riff from Downes and cowbell from Palmer, then the main drums and some lead guitar with the keyboard riff. The verse sections start empty with just Wetton and the synths until the bass and drums kick in. Palme's drumming is simple but effective. I love the build up to that chorus, and the chorus itself is great. We have a standard verse with even more build up to that chorus, then a keyboard solo after the chorus. Then a nice guitar solo leading to our next verse. The verse chorus is what you expect by this point, but then we rehash the opening of the song, this time with the guitar, yet another chorus and then more of the opening, just with a focus on the guitar, then it ends.

However like most albums, Asia's debut had more stuff than there was room for. A subdued instrumental piece John wrote called "Deya" was rehearsed, but never made it on the album, and a Wetton Howe composition called "Ride Easy" was recorded, but didn't make it, leaving it resorted to a B side. "Ride Easy" has this cool intro leading to an ambient verse lead by ambient synths and sparse guitar until the rest of the instruments kick in half way leading to a great chorus. It's standard verse chorus from here, but the added instrumentation as it progresses is nice and the bridge section is wonderful. Then after another verse and chorus we have a wonderful guitar solo by Howe and fade out. It's not a particularly impressive, but John lamented it not making it onto the album because it is one of his favorite Asia songs, and I like it, so I felt I had to mention it.


Asia's debut is not pure AOR schlock like most people will lead you to believe, but rather it combines the prog sensibilities of many of the musicians involved and adds a proggressive flare and style to these fairly straight forward rock songs. Side 2 of the album is proof enough, and some songs on side 1 like Time Again also prove it. Yeah, it's not Yes or King Crimson, but it's not trying to be either. The musicians involved were people who watched the influential prog bands they were in basically implode and were burnt out on that type of music. Carl Palmer was offered to do an ELP reunion but chose to stay in Asia, which should tell you something. I'd best describe a lot of songs from Asia's debut as kind of like how Aaron Copeland described ELP's version of "Fanfare for the Common Man". It starts and exactly like how you expect, but it's the oddities and showmanship offered in between the middle and after the end that make it stand out. 

I'm not going to track by track every single Asia album, but I want to mention more history and the notable stuff in Wetton's stints with the band to help prove my point. So following the debut being one of the biggest rock albums of that decade the label demanded a follow up before any of the band members were ready. Conflict would arise between Wetton and Howe over who was responsible for the band's explosive success. Wetton claimed he was because he had writing credit on every song, sang lead, and was the guy who helped pen the explosive mega hit that propelled them to stardom in the first place. Howe claimed he was because he cowrote most of the progressive and interesting songs, as well as being the one who suggested hiring Downes, who cowrote the rest of the debut with Wetton. Both had their points, but it led to a rift in Wetton and Howe's songwriting partnership. This would strain would be worsened when Geffen records requested Wetton and Downes write most the album because the singles from the debut were all their compositions. Howe contributed the instrumental "Masquerade", which would later be reworked into an entirely acoustic guitar based song and released on Yes's Union album, where he would be nominated for a Grammy for best rock instrumental performance. Howe's original band version recorded with Asia didn't make the cut and would go unreleased for decades. Howe's other contribution was "Barren Land", a song about mistreatment of Native Americans, until he was convinced to rewrite the lyric's by John Kalodner because Kalodner feared the lyrics would be controversial. Wetton contributed the song "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes", originally an almost six minute ballad with a much more progressive structure. However it was shortened to 3 minutes (you can hear some notable cuts in this version). You can hear this original masterful version on the Symphonia live album to get an idea what it originally sounded like, albeit in a live setting. 

When the album was finished the record label refused to release it because it didn't have a hit single. Wetton and Downes quickly wrote "Don't Cry", which disappointed everyone with it's commercial sound. The band needed to rush out the album, but technical difficulties made mastering hard, and the end result was a wall of sound type production. The band demanded a remix to give it a less polished, less thick and less commercial sound, but that didn't change much. They wanted to spend more time fixing it, but the deadline was close and concert dates were scheduled, so they had to settle. This is the kind of album people accuse the debut of being. This right here is your pure AOR with blatant commercial sensibilities. However this album still has plenty of great moments, and the band would get their revenge in the form of a music video for "Don't Cry" that required a six figure budget for all the grand sets they used. 

"Don't Cry" is a total earworm, but not a strong showcase for the band. "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes"

as it is here, it is still a heartbreaking ballad and sold by a great vocal performance from Wetton. "My Own Time (I'll Do What I Want)" is a great ballad starting acoustic, then the drums and bass come in with ambient yet cheerful synths. Then the chorus comes in and feels so wonderful. The verse and chorus structure goes like how you expect, but it all sounds wonderful, but the second chorus is just even better than the first and leads to a wonderful bridge with excellent vocals from John. After a third chorus is the guitar doing the vocal melody of the chorus and then some wonderful keyboard flourishes. "The Heat Goes On" is the exact kind of song I'd want in a follow up to the debut. We open with piano, then synths leading us to the main guitar riff. Wetton has this attitude in his vocal delivery, and the bass absolutely kills in this song, just wonderful. After verse 2 is a quiet and subdued bridge section which leads us to Carl Palmer going hard on the cowbell and some guitar from Howe leading us to Verse 3. Then following this is an keyboard solo by Downes. After that we have an organ outro. "Eye to Eye" is a standard verse chorus AOR song until the last minute when Howe's guitar takes over and gives us an awesome solo accompanied by some awesome drumming from Palmer and some keyboards making for a sweet outro. That last minute really elevates the song. "Open Your Eyes" is my favorite song here. It is a beautiful and inspirational song. It has this beautiful ambient opening leading to the standard verse chorus structure. Though the bridge section starts with a slow and beautiful passage from Wetton that builds into this thumping beat and a guitar solo and when the verse comes back we have a key change. Then after another chorus it stops to reprise the intro. Then with the help of the drums it gradually builds up with John's vocals. The other instruments comeback. Howe has another solo as the song fades out. It is truly excellent and I would love to hear a longer version of the song if it exists. I think it is the best song here, and is just wonderful, a must listen, and a song I have a deep personal history with.

I also want to give attention to "Daylight" and "Lyin' To Yourself". I love both these songs and think "Lyin' to Yourself" in particular should have been on the album. As you can imagine I also wish Howe didn't change the lyrics.

Rare photo of the Greg Lake line up.

Following the tour they set up the big "Asia, live in Asia" event, which was to be a huge concert in Japan broadcast live to MTV. However Wetton would leave, unable to adjust to the huge fame the band had received and his differences with Howe. Carl Palmer asked Greg Lake to step in as bass player and vocalist, who agreed. Despite rumors, Lake said he never was a permanent replacement, he was just playing with them as a favor to Palmer and until they could find a permanent replacement. Wetton was finally convinced to comeback, on the condition that Howe would leave. He was replaced by Cobra guitarist Mandy Meyer. Meyer's style was heavier style than Howe's leading to a change in the guitar's role in the band, as well as a change in writing style. With no real expectations the band got to make the album they wanted.

"Go" is the lead single and a nice rocker. It builds up to the first verse which has this galloping riff by Meyer, but sparse instrumentation elsewhere. Wetton's vocals are fantastic as always, though his bass is a bit buried here. The song itself is mostly rocker, but it shows the less pop oriented nature of this album well. Such as Wetton's voice getting more of a spotlight because Howe isn't here to harmonize with him. I adore "Hard on Me" and Palmer's fills here, but it was a last minute addition to the album because Geffen complained about no potential hit. The atmosphere of this album is something I love. "Too Late" was cowritten by Palmer. Like "Sole Survivor" before it is this strong rock song with a great hook and melody. It is wonderful, but also like "Sole Survivor" it stops for a quiet ambient keyboard section. Though here it leads to a power guitar solo and a great chorus with a key change and Wetton singing his heart out. "Suspicion" is more slow paced and bare kind of song. I love it, the percussion the use of synths, the guitar only coming in during the chorus, or so it seems. After the second chorus we get this drum fill from Palmer leading to a keyboard solo from Downes and suddenly a new chorus completely different from before, and it builds up to an ambient outro starting as the song ended. I love this song so much. Wetton has stated as much himself that the showpiece for this album is "Rock and Roll Dream". Has a slow and bare verse section that is just sequencer and drum machine with sparse guitar. However the prechorus has nice synthesizer and some great vocals. Then we lead into a more full sounding second verse. Then after a second prechorus Downes has some energetic keyboards leading us to a wonderful chorus. Then Palmer's big sounding drums carry us into this majestic solo by Meyer. Then it slows and goes back to the more ambient sound of before. Then the royal philharmonic orchestra comes in after the third verse. We go from prechorus to the synths leading us to an absolutely grand and epic sounding chorus. Then some interplay between the keyboards and the orchestra leading us to a powerful final chorus. The way this song ends is just epic. It doesn't do much progressive, but boy is it grand and epic. It builds and has this power and weight to it. "After the War" ends the album and it is an awesome rocker and cold war protest song, but it doesn't do too much of interest. Wetton has stated though that Astra his favorite Asia album.

After Geffen did squat to promote the album the band broke up. Downes and Wetton wrote new songs for a new lineup of Asia with Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, but those plans fell through when the only place they could get a contract was in Japan. (these songs were released as an album in 2002) The Astra lineup reunited for a tour and a best of with new material. While I love all the new songs featured, especially the ambient "Am I in Love?" the album sold close to a million but still wasn't enough to convince John or Mandy to stay. The two left to be replaced by Roger Daltry's bassist and backing vocalist John Payne and future Savatage guitarist Al Pitrelli, as well as a returning Steve Howe.

Okay so those second and third albums weren't quite as impressive as the debut, so I'll fast forward to where things get interesting here in a bit. First I wanted to highlight what John considers his magnum opus. "Battle Lines" is often maligned because people see names like Robert Fripp and Simon Phillips in the liner notes and expect something epic, only to get disappointed. John said "Battle Lines" was an extremely personal album of songs he was scared of releasing because of just how personal they were. So he waited until it was prime time for a solo album, and he rewrote them with Bob Marlette. The cold reception to Asia and later this album is a big part of what would lead John into a downward spiral in terms of how he how he lived and would lead to the decline in his health that followed. Every time he would be happy with a project it always seemed people who knew him as a prog rock legend would crap on it for being basically AOR or pop rock. John released an album where on nearly every song he was airing out super personal emotions and feelings, and people just decided it was bad. I urge you to listen to Battle Lines, and see it not as a solo album by a prog rock legend, but as a personal and deeply moving experience for John in the form of music. How can anyone listen to the ode to his mother "Hold Me Now", a heartbreaking glimpse into his past, and then just write it off as schlock? 

Wetton has other solo albums too, but I'll gloss over those, as this is an an article about Asia. Wetton remained on good terms with Downes and Palmer. He formed Quango as a successor to Asia, featuring himself on bass and vocals, Palmer on drums, John Young on keyboards and Dave Kilminster on guitar. The band was met with issues on the outset and were not gaining any momentum, leading to a breakup after a single live album. Later Downes contributed two songs to one of Wetton's "Rock of Faith" album and the two started writing together again. They then started the Icon project. While making a seventh Asia album with John Payne, Downes and Wetton met up with Howe and Palmer, and the four reconnected after years in a way they hadn't in a long time. John Payne, Guthrie Govan and Jay Schellen (who is actually the current Yes drummer as of writing this) were sacked and the original lineup was back together. Asia rose like a phoenix from the ashes, and that was the inspiration behind the new album's name, and in my opinion a candidate for their best album, and I will track by track for that reason.

"Never Again" is a real great opener showing how the band members have matured over the years and how that influenced the sound and lyrics of their songs. Wetton's solo writing contribution "Nothing's Forever" is a song I hardcore relate to. The song starts with the chorus and an intro. The intro is mostly synths and Palmer doing some great drumming to build up to the first verse. About 45 seconds in we get the first verse. A stripped down section driven by bass and drums, with Wetton's lines leading to a call and response with the synths and acoustic guitar. The chorus is just wonderful, with a great message. Typical verse chorus follows, then the intro is reprised while Howe does some lead guitar over it and we get to the third chorus. The outro has the same drumming as the intro, but Wetton's vocals and some lovely guitar close out the song as we fade out. I love it. "Heroine" is a beautifully restrained ballad with Howe doing some cool stuff on the guitar. "Sleeping Giant/No Way Back/Sleeping Giant (reprise)" is a cool song. It opens with an ambient synth oriented composition called "Sleeping Giant". Downes playing the same synthesizer riff while Wetton does some great harmonies over it and Howe does occasional guitar fills. Then his guitar takes the lead with some acoustic, before going back to how it was before. The song then fades out and we fade into "No Way Back" starting with some synths building to Wetton singing the chorus. The song has your typical bass and drums leading it in the verse, while Wetton does a call and response with the keyboards. The chorus is guilty of being an impossible earworm. Howe's also surprisingly not very present here. I always preferred Howe's playing in Asia compared to Yes, because Howe is always having to find ways to use his guitar to enhance a song that is great without it. Things like the call and responses or his leads and fills. This song is a good example. "No Way Back" fades out for a reprise of "Sleeping Giant" in a different key and more guitar. 

"Alibis" was written by all the band members. It's a pleasant song driven by bass and drums with nice keyboard melodies over it. The song is just pleasant. After the second chorus we get a guitar solo. The we go into verse 3 and chorus 3. Then a trade off between they keyboards and guitar in a solo section before chorus 4. After the song just stops and we get an acoustic guitar riff from Howe and some percussion from Palmer, seeing him utilize parts of his kit he hasn't used on an Asia album before. Then a electric guitar solo and a keyboard riff from Downes taking us into the fade out. Yeah... real arena rock schlock am I right? Sorry if I am coming off like I am trying to start I fight I am not. "I Will Remember You" is a beautiful stripped down ballad remembering a lost loved one, which never fails to hit me in the feels. Palmer's drums here are nice, and the guitar solo near the end with Wetton's harmonies is excellent. "Shadow of a Doubt" is a fantastic pop rock song with some nice acoustic guitar and drumming in the verses giving it this gentle nature, then an electric chorus with a energetic chorus with this nice sense of momentum. The song has a guitar solo in the middle that is nice and leads to some cool guitar leads in the final chorus, but nothing too special.

"Parallel Worlds/Vortex/Deya" is incredible. It starts with a wonderful stripped down ballad where Wetton is singing his heart out. The keyboards and guitar. The bass playing here is nice too. About two and a half minutes in it ends and we get to "Vortex". Acoustic guitar and piano guide us to the main melody. Then Carl Palmer gives us some fast double kick drum, and Howe leads us with some great guitar playing. The synths are doing some great stuff here too. Palmer accentuates every new part very well with his drumming. 4 minutes in he starts using symbols frequently and then gives us a drum roll and he combines that with the double kick part before playing the double kick part with the snare and using all the toms on his kit with the symbols in addition to it. He gives us an epic drum roll and then with a hit of one of his gongs it ends and we get to "Deya", the instrumental John rehearsed during the sessions for their debut. It is driven mostly by acoustic guitar, but the drums come in and the synths provide nice flourishes to add to the ambiance. Palmer does some nice stuff on the drums leading to some soloing from Howe. The songs ends with some wonderful acoustic from Howe. Easily the most progressive piece Asia has done. Play this for some prog snob who has crapped on this band as being cheesy arena rock garbage and watch their cocky smirk turn into a scowl. 

"Wish I'd Known All Along" is a Howe solo composition. I love the intro, especially Palmer's percussion and Wetton's vocals. The verses do a very nice call and response between the vocals and keyboards. The chorus is great too. After the second chorus we have a guitar solo from Howe leading us to an interesting bridge section where the song shifts gears completely. Then a keyboard solo over the instrumentation from the verse. (kind of like what they did in "Without You") After another chorus we have a wonderful outro and it ends. "Orchard of Mines" is a cover of a song by epic music band Globus. Their cover is pretty straight forward, but made to accommodate a more restrained production and the fact that Asia is a four piece. This is a very weird choice of song to cover, but it works. The band does a great job here. A real highlight for me. "Over and Over Again" is another Howe solo composition. Wetton shines here, and the song itself is solid. Howe's solo here after the first chorus is wonderful. Then a nice electric guitar solo follows later after some once again amazing vocals from Wetton. The last minute is just instrumental. Howe showing off on the guitar and some great work with the synths. 

Lastly is Wetton's most personal Asia song. During the 90s after the mediocre reception to Battle Lines Wetton was drinking a lot and spiraling out of control. (Getting out of this cycle was why there was the big gap between the release of his solo albums "Archangel" and "Sinister") His health took a dive and he needed open heart surgery. His doctor told there is a small chance he will die during it, and Wetton came to grips with the thought that he may not be alive the next day. So he got really reflective and had a new outlook on life he never had before, and it had positively influenced the way he lived and thought. No regrets, live everyday like it is your last because it just might be. A beautiful message I hardcore relate to, and one that I think everyone can learn from. Wetton wrote "Extraordinary Life" to share that philosophy and mind set with the world. The intro is wonderful, but also reminds me of the soundtrack of "Pikmin 2". A minute in the song really gets going. Wetton's vocals are great, and the chorus section is just wonderful. 3 minutes in we get a nice bridge section where the song switches gears and comes to a crawl, before going to another upbeat chorus. Howe gives us a nice solo, and we end with one final chorus.

Phoenix was polarizing when it came out. Some said the band matured, and this album is a beautiful next step that showed this band had a lot to offer, or that their time away brought something new to the table. However other critics hated it, saying the catchiness or edge of the first couple albums was gone and there was no song worthy of standing next to "Heat of the Moment" or "Only Time Will Tell". Me, the world's biggest Asia fan, am just gonna say it. Phoenix is the best Asia album. It does so much interesting stuff that the first couple albums just didn't, as well as taking notes on what made the debut so great and carrying over many of those elements. They expanded upon the debut with a more mature and laid back follow up that I think stands as their best work.

Following Phoenix and the successful tour for it, they made "Omega" with producer Mike Paxman, which to me is just okay. Very disappointing as a follow up to Phoenix. Opening track "Finger on the Trigger" is a rerecording of a song from second album by Downes and Wetton's Icon side project. It's rerecorded here as a more raw and hard edged rocker, and it is better, and a solid track but nothing special aside from Wetton saying "balls" in the context of genitals in one part of the song. "Through My Veins" is an excellent slow and  groove oriented track penned by Howe and Wetton. "Holy War" is excellent. It builds up to the first verse with the keyboards and has this great sense of momentum in the verses. The chorus is nice and song is well done. The song kind of stops 3 minutes in so Palmer can have an awesome drum solo. Then the song carries on like normal after that. I love Palmer getting a chance to shine here. As cheesy as they are I have a soft spot for "Listen Children" and "End of the World". Wetton an Howe's other collaboration "Light the Way" is a great quick tempo rock song with nice keyboard playing, especially a section in the middle where the plays this interesting melody leading to a guitar solo. After another chorus we just get another solo as the song ends. I am only mentioning "Emily" because it is a pretty bad song and is about Wetton falling in love with a Lesbian. Also in Japan this song was replaced with the Japan exclusive song "Drop a Stone", a writing collaboration between all the band members, which is a fun groovy and almost southern sounding song.

Asia redeemed themselves though, don't worry. "XXX" is the true follow up to Phoenix and another incredible album, once again produced by Mike Paxman, and I will once again track by track it. "Tomorrow the World" has this piano focused opening that ends fifty seconds in as the song starts for real. It goes standard verse and chorus, but three and a half minutes in the song stops, with the piano melody from the opening, not with some sparse percussion and guitar leads. Then the keyboard melody from the verses comes in and we have a guitar solo over it. When the chorus comes in out sounds epic. Howe's guitar solos on a bit before we reach a an outro with some organ, drumming and guitar, closing us out gracefully. "Bury Me in Willow" is a beautiful ballad, and 2 and a half minutes in giving us a symphonic bridge section. following another chorus we have a beautiful subdued solo from Howe. The list minute and a half is this beautiful outro driven by bass and drums, with the piano playing a beautiful melody over it. Howe Wetton and Downes cowrote "No Religion" and it is excellent. We have a dangerously catchy chorus in a standard verse chorus followed by a superb keyboard section. The following section is a slow and ambient reprise of the chorus, then then the instrumentation from the verse with a guitar solo over it leading to the next verse. The last minute is this awesome keyboard solo followed by the slowed down chorus from earlier accompanied by piano.

"Faithful" started life as a power ballad until John Wetton requested they strip it down to avoid it being stupidly cheesy. It is like this until three minutes in when suddenly we get a fast rock instrumental version of the chorus, with Howe playing the vocal melody on the guitar. Wetton gives us some vocals and then Howe comes in with guitar solo over some great drumming by Palmer. The song then becomes this upbeat rocker with the same melodies and such as before. Then it ends with just Wetton and some piano. "I Know How You Feel" is a standard bass driven song with some keyboards from Downes helping to carry it. Then a keyboard section about two minutes and fifty seconds in with Wetton saying "I Know" gently. Then a beautiful acoustic guitar solo form Howe. "Face on the Bridge" was the lead single and it is great. Wetton's bass drives the song forward and it is wonderful. Nothing to special going on aside from the instrumentation going pretty hard near the end Howe soloing. "Al Gatta Nero" is an undeniably earworm, but not much of interest is done here. "Judas" is another Howe, Wetton and Downes track. Once again nothing too special done, but it is a great more straight forward rock song. the main riff, the verses and the catchy chorus, as well as the keyboard playing in the outro. "Ghost of  a Chance" starts as a boring mostly acoustic ballad, typical stuff. Then half way through all the electric instruments come in and the keyboards playing the vocal melody from before sounds amazing. Then the guitar does it. The whole vibe and atmosphere of this last half of the song really is what makes it. when Wetton comes in at the end to deliver the final verse, it feels so earned and incredible. 

"XXX" was the last album to feature Steve Howe, who would say that with Yes becoming a big touring entity again during the early 2010s, he was unable to keep up with both bands, and chose Yes. They sought guitar GOAT Paul Gilbert, who was too busy and recommended guitarist Sam Coulson, who was famous for his videos of him playing on YouTube, leading to him playing on Asia's final album Gravitas, which kept up with being decently progressive.

"Valkyrie" is a beautiful emotional opener with a whole new meaning now that Wetton has passed on. However it's thunder is stolen by "Gravitas". It opens with the first movement: "Lento". It's an instrumental with the keyboard simulating a lot of symphonic stuff until the piano comes in. Then about two minutes twenty seconds in we get the second movement "Gravitas". We open with guitar and organ, then getting a pretty solid pop rock song. We have a wonderful ambient section in the bridge before a guitar solo leads us to a closing chorus. "The Closer I Get to You" is a ballad that runs a little long for my tastes, but the instrumentation here is fantastic. "Russian Dolls" is a wonderful somewhat acoustic song with an upbeat chorus where the instruments really kick in. Three minutes in this short bass solo and they keyboards really create his beautiful atmosphere and Carl Palmer's drums carry us through an excellent outro. "Heaven Help Me Now" is weird. The first movement "Wings of Angels" occupies the first twenty five seconds and then the second movement "Prelude" occupies the next minute. Finally the third movement "Heaven Help Me Now" comes in. I love Wetton's voice here. Just superb. The outro and intro too, just chef's kiss. "I Would Die for You" is a rerecording of a demo written during that one era of the band with Scott Gorham that never did anything significant. The song itself is okay. "Till We Meet Again" is a beautiful song to end the album now that Wetton has gone. A nice heartfelt song for him to end his career with. Regrettably John passed away after writing the next Asia album.

I'm not saying Asia is some secret treasure of progressive rock, but that people are wrong about them. So many people waste time dogging on this band like they have no right to even exist. Don't blame this band as a sell out project engineered to sell records, blame yourself for being narrowminded and unwilling to just let John Wetton's passion project be. So many great songs, so much interesting musicianship and things done. If you can't look past something that isn't some big obvious ten minute prog epic to see talented musicianship and interesting things being done musically, it's your own problem. Regardless of whether or not you give this band a second chance, I wanted to get this of my chest. I hope you at least got some enjoyment out of this article and especially hope you decided to reconsider your stance on Asia or even check them out if you haven't already. If you want a follow up where I talk about the John Payne era and that whole can of worms please comment or contact me and let me know.

How to Gundam or a guide to getting into Japan's sci-fi juggernaut

 PC power problem fixed, kind of... point is I'm back. I'm working on a side project voted on by my blog's readers, which will be posted here on a slower week. I instead had a burst of inspiration and decided to dedicate the next article to this as a lead in to my review of Turn A Gundam which will be another article I get to in the not too distant future. In all my life I have been told twice one of the most difficult things I've ever had to answer. "You're so passionate about Gudam it makes me want to get into it, where should I start?". The question that fills me with so much happiness for a few seconds before I am overcome with dread and anxiety and soon cursing myself for not having an answer, as well as worrying I am being seen more and more as one of those insufferable people who makes one or two things they like their entire personality. The reason I've never had an answer? The franchise is big, enough said. That's a gross oversimplification, but it is the main reason. It's a huge franchise spanning 40 years, so I wanted to sit myself down and force myself to answer the question, which I will finally answer here and now. Also I recommend listening to the original version of "Ai Senshi" while reading this.

I've gone over the franchise's history before, but I will do it once more for those who haven't read any of my other Gundam articles, this time in more detail to explain some of my points regarding the various series and it's place in this question. This will help lead me into where to start and how you should approach it. Yoshiyuki Tomino, a writer on the original Astroboy/Mighty Atom anime series, had his directorial debut with an anime adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's (Tezuka is the Japanese Walt Disney and his works have been plagiarized by Disney) Triton of the Sea manga. He would become more involved in the mecha scene during the mid seventies in directing the first half of "Brave Raideen", which would really kickstart his working relationship with Sunrise, and then he would produce "Super Electromagnetic Machine Voltes V", part of a trilogy of shows by the other "Brave Raideen" director: Tadao Nagahama. This trilogy was revolutionary for adding human drama and a level of seriousness and darkness to the Super Robot Genre. Tomino himself would run with this for his own shows Sunrise let him create including "Invincible Super Man Zambot 3" and "Invincible Steel Man Daiturn 3", huge successes over seas, but moderate successes at best in Japan. His next series tried to be a grounded and gritty war series, trying to reason the so called "giant robots" as not the righteous answer to some menace, but big metal war machines used in grunt warfare. He asked mechanical designer Kunio Okawara to make more realistic, practical and compact designs in contrast to the "super robots" of mecha shows at the time, and created the revolutionary "Mobile Suit Gundam" with Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, (Most of the art in this article is his) the character designer of several super robot shows like "Comabattler V" (predecessor to "Voltes V") and "Zambot 3" as well as creating his own series years before.

"Mobile Suit Gundam" flopped and was cancelled because it was too different from what people were used to. A serious character driven series that is slow and takes its time to get to the action was just weird, especially when Tomino wanted viewers to take away their own message from the series. However toy sales were through the roof and because money talks, the remaining episodes were aired and the show did exceedingly well in reruns, creating the "real robot" genre,  a genre that would become home to many more famous works in the future such as "Neon Genesis Evangellion", "Full Metal Panic", "Code Geass" and so many more. Following the sudden surge in popularity Tomino would compile the series into three movies with newly added footage, and then go on to make many other mecha shows like "Aura Battler Dunbine", "Heavy Metal L-Gaim", "Combat Mecha Xabungle", and arguably his most important non Gundam work "Space Runaway Ideon", a show Evangellion's creator skipped his first day of collage for just so he could watch its premier. Tomino was eventually convinced to make a sequel series: "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam", thusly franchising Gundam and further cementing it as Japan's premier sci-fi series. He would keep working on the series as a franchise until quitting in 1993, and leaving the franchise behind after Sunrise kept asking him to soft reboot the franchise for the sake of attracting a new audience that never came until after they hard rebooted it many times without him. Since then Sunrise has made several stand alone Gundam shows and Tomino has returned to the franchise a couple times, and that leads us back around to the question that started this article to begin with... "Where do you start with Gundam?"

Now the first and most obvious thing is to approach the franchise's original timeline: The Universal Century, chronologically. I am a weird person, and I like "Mobile Suit Gundam" a lot. A rag tag group of teens having to take up arms to stop the tyranny of Zeon while being pursued by the legendary Char Aznable, one of the most famous anime characters ever. It is an interesting series, but it is weird. However I will tell you right now that everyone who says to get into this franchise you must tackle it chronologically and start with that show is wrong. Yasuhiko was overworked half to death making that show and he was hospitalized working on it. The show's production was even more hellish without him, and what was supposed to be 52 episodes was cut to 39 and they had to fight to get it up to 43. It is seen as a turning point in animation over in Japan, however it does NOT hold up as well as I wish it did. I low key hate the way modern anime looks, so the art style of this show appeals to me, but I know it will probably scare off viewers who hate the way old animation looks for no good reason. Also the pacing is off. I am kind of glad it didn't reach 52 episodes, because barring some hardly explored backstory for some characters that is set up multiple times for a further explanation that never comes, the show seems to want to dedicate some episodes to just filler stuff. Some of these like the episode where Amuro disables a bunch of bombs on his Gundam are actually surprisingly interesting, while some like the episode where they look for salt is kind of worthless barring a nice interaction or two. Some say watch the compilation films, because they are considered the canon way to watch the series, but I will tell you no. Because you miss so much notable stuff, like Ramba Ral, A lot of Matilda's interactions with the Whitebase crew that really built up to one of Amuro's most pivotal character growth moments in the series, and more. So how should you approach this?

Ladies and gentlemen you may remember when I mentioned Yoshikazu Yasuhiko being hospitalized through overworking on "Mobile Suit Gundam". Well afterwards he kind of laid low in regards to animation. He did his own mecha series: "Giant Gorg" in 1984, as well as directing the anime adaptation of "Kaze to Ki no Uta", but he mostly focused on manga. He did return to the franchise do character design on Zeta Gundam and Gundam F91. However his focus was almost exclusively on manga, with "Venus Wars" being a big success for him and he even made an anime film adaptation. While all that is great, especially "Venus Wars", his definitive work came after the turn of the century. Sunrise approached him with the offer to retell "Mobile Suit Gundam" in manga form as an anniversary project.. Yasuhiko being a major creative force on that series and his hospitalization hurting the production greatly, he felt like he was responsible for it and after a lot of time sitting on the idea, he decided this this manga would be his chance to make things better. After a lot of time thinking about it he accepted the offer. He said he wanted to published a hundred pages at a time and with water color so they created the Gundam exclusive magazine "Gundam Ace" to publish his manga the way he wanted and to show his beautiful water color lustrations as he intended. This manga adaptation: "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin" is the definitive way to experience that series. The action looks great, the illustrations are amazing, and you can tell so much more in a book format than you can a TV series or movie. The manga not only shows an ideal version of "Mobile Suit Gundam" not hindered by production woes, but also makes many creative changes for the better, like having Sleggar Law join the crew much earlier, or multiple volumes dedicated to showing us just what lead to this war and how many of our important characters got to where they are. You might think this backstory is trivial, but no, I assure you it goes a very long way and is executed and told masterfully. If you're worried about the changes to the series made in adapting it to manga making this it's own timeline disconnected from the canon, I must tell you that it doesn't matter. Hardly any of the changes made have any impact on future events of the series. So you can comfortably read this and then go to the "Zeta Gundam" anime series or "Stardust Memory", a 14 episode anime OVA showing the events leading up to Zeta. Following you reading Origin you could do many things.

So I mentioned going directly in chronological order with the anime stuff after reading Origin, which is what I recommend, however let's assume you want to keep reading because reading is awesome. Let me tell you about Hiroyuki Kitazume. Kitazume got his start as an animation director for Tomino's works "Aura Battler Dunbine" and "Heavy Metal L-Gaim", then doing character design on "Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross". He was the animation director on Zeta Gundam and like Yasuhiko before him felt the strains of a rough production, though not nearly to the same extent, as a lot of the hardships there originated from Tomino himself and the intense depression he got into while making Zeta. Kitazume did all that again making Zeta's sequel series "Gundam ZZ", now doing character design in place of Yasuhiko as well as the film "Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack", where he had the same job. He would fall out of relevance following two of his own OVAs "Moldiver" and "Genesis Survivor Gaiarth", and "Yamato 2520" getting cancelled in the midst of a lawsuit. So he stopped doing big jobs and resigned himself to key animation on things like "Dragonball Z" and "Ah! My Goddess" until the 2000s when he was offered his own Gundam manga despite never working on manga before. Kitazume made "Char's Deleted Affair", a follow up to "Mobile Suit Gundam" where that show's main antagonist Char Aznable is hiding out with most of Zeon's remaining forces after the explosive final battle of Mobile Suit Gundam. It gives backstory to a lot of what changed him and happened with him before Zeta, which is nice because there are many scenes where there is implied history with him and other characters and things that we just don't learn more of in that series or ZZ. From here you could go chronologically when you are finished, and go right to the "Stardust Memory", or... maybe you want to keep reading because reading is awesome. The OVA taking place between "Mobile Suit Gundam 0083" and "Zeta Gundam" would get remade in manga form with that OVA's writer contributing to the writing side of things. That remake "0083 Rebellion" is incredible and just finished a few months ago as of writing this. 

Kitazume would keep working on manga with "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Define", which is to Zeta as Origin is to "Mobile Suit Gundam", only Zeta Define is not a total replacement for Zeta like Origin is for it's respective series. It is a manga retelling of Zeta that makes some creative and story changes, and as the world's biggest Zeta fan I can tell you that this manga is incredible. He works on it with Kenichi Matsuzaki overseeing and editing it. Matsuzaki was a script writer on  "Mobile Suit Gundam", "Space Runaway Ideon", "Macross" and the 1980s "Astroboy/Mighty Atom" anime series. Him being here assures less weirder things happening than there were in Char's Deleted affair and some more quality control and editing, as well as a new creative helping to bounce around ideas. Though there is a few issues. Yes, Kitazume's style doesn't translate to manga the best, leaving his illustrations to look like anime screenshots with flat textures, but it is really good. As of writing this it is still going, having surpassed Origin in number of years it has been running. As of posting this it is about 2/3 way through the show's story. A part of that is because so many episodes were important to Zeta that there isn't much excess to trim like there was with "Mobile Suit Gundam". It is not an actual sequel to Origin, but you can read both Zeta Define and Char's Deleted Affair right after Origin just like that with no issue, same thing if you want to squeeze in 0083 Rebellion as well. While we have nothing for ZZ and probably never will get anything for it, there is something for "Char's Counterattack". While making the movie tying up all the loose ends and arcs in the original Gundam saga, Tomino's script was rejected and he had to rework it, leading to his script becoming the novel "Char's Counterattack Beltorchika's Children", which has also had a manga adaptation. This adaptation is great and really brings the novel to life in a more accessible form, another very recommended read.

Cover art to Zeta Define volume 1 drawn by Hiroyuki Kitazume

So maybe you don't want to read, be it a lack of interest or the TikTok Youtube Shorts brain rot destroying your attention span. Yasuhiko was asked by Sunrise to adapt Origin, to which he directed a 4 episode OVA series focused flashback stuff. It is absolutely incredible and is peak Gundam. Yasuhiko made a follow up film adapting the episode "Cucuruz Doan's Island" into an anime film with the team behind the Origin, intent on remaking that episode as a movie. The episode was removed from releases and airing by Tomino because he felt it showed the production of Mobile Suit Gundam at its worst, making it a sort of lost episode. People grew attached to it, and thought the idea of Amuro befriending and respecting a Zeon soldier who saw the horrors of war first hand was great. The movie is incredible and a great watch. If you want you could probably just watch Origin's OVA, the first "Mobile Suit Gundam" compilation film, the Doan's Island movie and then the last two "Mobile Suit Gundam compilation films, and just go chronologically from there. It works so long as you can overlook Slegger being the Whitebase crew in Doan's Island when he wouldn't have been with the crew by that point in the canon timeline. 

So let's pump the breaks and stop for a second. Maybe this is all too big an ask for you, and that is understandable. So what if you don't want to dedicate so much time to Gundam before you even figure out if you're truly interested? Well this is where things get really open ended. Watching the entire universal century is a huge undertaking, especially counting F91 and Victory, and especially more so if you check out most of the side mangas and stuff. So let me tell you a more manageable approach, and the one Sunrise and Bandai themselves want you to take. So starting in 1994 Bandai has hard rebooted Gundam with every new series. (with the exception of Seed Destiny) Tomino himself has even continued this trend when he returned to the series with Turn A and Reconguista in G, the latter being after the Universal Century (or after Turn A depending on who you ask) and Turn A giving an in universe explanation for all of these stand alone shows and timelines placing everything o one timeline. The first of these standalone hard reboots: "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" is a bit divisive, with a lot of that being the show is a more absurd self serious super robot anime, in comparison to Gundam everywhere else being exclusively real robot. The show is basically Gundam meets Dragonball, and that is no exaggeration. From there we ended up getting many new standalone shows. If you want to just watch one of these I just recommend looking into them and picking whichever one seems interesting to you, be it the plot, look, word of mouth, etc. Maybe you want to watch Witch From Mercury because of the positive word of mouth and being the most popular Gundam series since Seed, (or because lesbians) go nuts. Though if you're still interested in the Universal Century or you don't have a lot of free time and want a smaller thing that is less of a commitment, than you're still in luck. There are many stand alone stories that you are more then welcome to experience, with the various OVAs. "War in the Pocket" is a cool 6 episode OVA about a kid who befriends a Zeon soldier sent on a suicide mission. "08th MS Team" is a great 12 episode standalone series about a team of Federation soldiers working in the jungle during the war from Mobile Suit Gundam, and it has a great compilation film adding an all new character to serve as a clever framing device, and making it a perfect companion piece to that series. Unicorn for some weird reason is something that seems to be a magnet to newcomers to this franchise, and to its credit, it is great, putting a capstone on the Zeon vs Federation thing. Gundam Thunderbolt is an awesome 8 episode OVA adapting of the first six volumes of one of the franchise's best mangas, and bringing us one of the most gripping and morally grey stories in the entire franchise. I already mentioned Stardust Memory. So many options to choose how you want to experience this franchise.

You may notice most of the artwork I shared didn't predominantly feature cool robots in action poses or anything like that. That's because despite being the key factor in the billion dollar Gundam model kit business that has has kept this franchise going since the beginning, they aren't what Gundam is about. Ultimately Gundam is a show about its characters and its commentaries and messages first, and about whatever mecha stuff second. If you come in purely for cool robot and mecha action, there is plenty to go around, but you may be disappointed and In the end though, you can just disregard this. This is just my answer to a question I've been asked a few times. You can approach the franchise however you want or just forget this entire thing completely, it doesn't matter. Though if this franchise strikes a cord with you, than you're in for one incredible ride if you want to whole heartedly tackle this franchise, one so near and dear to my heart, and one I will ever stop professing my love of.

If you have any follow up questions feel free to reach out to me with the contact information provided in the blog's first post. Have a great rest of your day.