Anime RPG books?

Misc. anime/manga-related merchandise
Post Reply
danth
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:00 am
Anime Fan Since: Robotech

Anime RPG books?

Post by danth »

Because anime isn't nerdy enough, I think we should talk about anime RPGs.

This was the first RPG I bought as a kid, not because I cared about RPGs, but because it said Robotech and had awesome pictures:
Image
It was from this book that I learned that Robotech was made from 3 Japanese cartoons, which kinda blew my mind. I read everything I could about all the characters and mecha and kind of glossed over the RPG stuff. I bought some more of the books for the pictures and info. I eventually even played the game with some friends. The rules system totally sucked ass and a lot of the information in the books was just wrong, but I loved those books. They had about half original Japanese line art and half artwork from some American dude named Kevin Long. The one with the most Mospeada line art was this one:
Image

The next anime RPG I bought was Bubble Gum Crisis.
Image
Again I bought this for the pictures and info. Tons of sweet, sweet line art. Mecha and characters. I played this a couple times too but my friends weren't into it. The rules system was far better than Robotech's. I had another sourcebook for the game as well.

My friend rescued this one for me from a library's trash:
Image
Again, this was awesome for the line art and information. I never knew how much there was to know about Tenchi Muyo and all the different powers and planets and organizations. Who knows how much stuff was just made up, how much was canon, and which info came from which continuity (OAV, TV, movies, doujinshi). It was an awesome book though, chalk full of info. Looked like a pretty good game, too, but I never got to play it. I think it used the Big Eyes Small Mouth system.

I think I may have the El Hazard RPG hiding somewhere but I'm not sure.

I just bought this out of curiosity:
Image
All I know is it uses the Silhouette system, which is used by the Heavy Gear games. I hope it has lots of cool line art. We'll see.
User avatar
yusaku
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 11:37 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1988
Location: Kansas City
Contact:

Re: Anime RPG books?

Post by yusaku »

I have played some D&D, but anime RPGing would be more fun. I usually chat in the anime RPG chat rooms back in the day. I will have to look into anime RPG some more.
***^__^***
User avatar
greg
Posts: 2159
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989 (consciously)
Location: Shizuoka-ken, Japan
Contact:

Re: Anime RPG books?

Post by greg »

I bought the Robotech one just for the artwork. I played maybe one quick RPG session with my friend one afternoon and decided I didn't like it. We played it with some miniatures he'd brought. (I think they were Battletech miniatures, since they plagiarized Macross and so many other anime series that it was ridiculous.) The book is full of nice information though. That's where I first learned of a Macross movie! Wow, it was like someone was telling me magical secrets or something.

I have the BGC one, too. Again, I got it for the artwork. I don't really know much about rules or whatnot.
My presence on the Net, with plenty of random geekiness:
My homepage
My YouTube channel
My Flickr photostream
My Tumblr page
danth
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:00 am
Anime Fan Since: Robotech

Re: Anime RPG books?

Post by danth »

Yeah, the Robotech and BGC books had tons of great line art. The Tenchi Muyo book doesn't have any, but lots of great color stills from the show.

I just looked under my bed and found all of these!

Image

I can't believe there is actually a Dominion Tank Police RPG. That's pretty darn niche. I mean it's not like the show was ever that popular, and it's not like there is a big fleshed out world with different kinds of characters to play. You're basically either a Tank cop or a high-tech crook.

The Tenchi Muyo, El Hazard, and Dominion Tank Police books all use the Tri-Stat system (first seen in Big Eyes Small Mouth).

I kinda want to sit down and read through all of these.
User avatar
usamimi
Posts: 2783
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1987
Location: The Lonestar State
Contact:

Re: Anime RPG books?

Post by usamimi »

Sailor Moon had RPG books, too!

Main book
Book of Yoma (it says "vol 1" but to my knowledge they never made another)

And they released "character diaries" to write down your character info too:
Sailor Scout Diary (apparently the hardest to find now...yikes, look at that price. :shock: )
Dark Warrior Character Diary
Knight Character Diary

I found a PDF file of the original core book online, if anyone's curious: http://www.sendspace.com/file/1i0u1e
I always wanted to get these books when I was younger, but I could never find them in any bookstore at the time. :( Same with the Bubblegum Crisis books, I totally wanted those, lol.
*:・゚・✧ TwitterThe Anime Nostalgia Tumblr & Podcast ✧・゚・:*
danth
Posts: 308
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:00 am
Anime Fan Since: Robotech

Re: Anime RPG books?

Post by danth »

So I went to my local nerd store today and bought this:

Image

I had no idea it existed until I saw it on the shelf. It uses the same system as the BGC game and also has tons of cool line art.

I also saw these but didn't get them:

Image
Image

Those are totally new to me. Never seen them before.
User avatar
greg
Posts: 2159
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1989 (consciously)
Location: Shizuoka-ken, Japan
Contact:

Re: Anime RPG books?

Post by greg »

:o :shock: A Votoms RPG? That is so cool! I had no idea that a Votoms or a Sailor Moon RPG book ever existed until this thread! So neat!
My presence on the Net, with plenty of random geekiness:
My homepage
My YouTube channel
My Flickr photostream
My Tumblr page
User avatar
usamimi
Posts: 2783
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:00 pm
Anime Fan Since: 1987
Location: The Lonestar State
Contact:

Re: Anime RPG books?

Post by usamimi »

WHOA I didn't know there was a Votoms one, either, that's awesome!
*:・゚・✧ TwitterThe Anime Nostalgia Tumblr & Podcast ✧・゚・:*
Post Reply