Character Design | Mechanical Design | Scene Painting < Anime Aesthetic

Mecha | Product Design | Architecture

The Macross VF-1 Valkyrie designed by Shoji Kawamori

The word "Mecha" refers to the big robots and other types of machinery that are abundant in science fiction anime. One of the most famous and groundbreaking mecha designs is that of the transformable Macross VF-1 Valkyrie pictured above. The VF was not the first transformable mecha but it has become the most famous making it's designer, Shoji Kawamori, one of the hottest mecha designers. Essentially, it was a plane (based of the F-14 Tomcat) which transformed into a robot but could also transform into an intermediary mode known as GERWALK. This idea of functionary design helped usher in even more realism and attention to detail. Check out his design blue print for the Valkyrie in fighter plane mode pictured above.