Kido Shatai

Kido Shatai (機動車体) is a Yamataian science fiction media franchise created by Ashikaga Kyoko, Yano Kenta, and Sakaki Seitaro. The franchise is owned by Taiyo Studio, which is a subsidiary of aiueo Entertainment.

Kido Shatai features the eponymous "Mobile Frame" s, and was a pioneer in introducing various concepts into Yamataian media. It is considered a highly influential work from the "Mecha Age", a period in Yamatai and Chisei when mecha media became highly popular after the release of the Chiseian dōga Freedom Fighter Karakamu. Kido Shatai is known for being the first franchise to feature mecha in mundane industrial, construction and law enforcement roles, as opposed to the heroic roles that preceding media featured mechas in.

The franchise began with the highly popular manga Kido Shatai in 1982, which was serialised in the WakaHiya (若々飛躍) magazine. Its popularity grew immensely after the 1985 douga series Kido Shatai: The Series, and the franchise has since grown to include over 34 TV series, films, and OVAs, numerous print media ranging from manga to novels, video games, and a large industry of plastic model kits by Nishitani Toys.

The popularity of Kido Shatai led to an expansion of mecha media within Yamatai, and would later inspire franchises such as After Impact.

Overview
Kido Shatai was developed by writer Ashikaga Kyoko, manga artist Yano Kenta, mecha designer and engineer Sakaki Seitaro, and various other Taiyo creators. The franchise is mainly set in the then-near future of the 1990s and early 2000s, though later series and adaptations have brought the timeline even further into the mid-2000s. The connecting theme of the various media is the development of human-piloted bipedal humanoid vehicles, examining the potential applications and impact of such technology on society. The term Kido Shatai translates to "Mobile Frame", which is the class of such bipedal vehicles, and a key aspect of the series is how these mechas are typically treated as mass-produced machines and equipment, rather than unique heroic machines as in other mecha series. In many pieces of media in Kido Shatai, the mechas are treated as a mundane and incidental part of the setting, with the main plot focus typically on interpersonal relations between characters or various types of procedural dramas.

The amount of media related to Kido Shatai has resulted in various unconnected "timelines" emerging.

One notable stylistic aspect of the franchise is a tendency for modern works set in the 2000s typically adopting varying levels of "retro" stylistic themes with regards to the depiction of "near future" Yamatai in order to capture the feel of the original series. Thus, tape-reel computers, plastic diskettes, punch cards and other such classic early-information age technology from the 80s can often be seen in use even in stories created and set in the 2010s. However, not all franchise media follow this rule, and in the "core timeline" itself computer and information technology - and Mobile Frames - have progressed to similar standards as the real world.

The original manga series, Kido Shatai, was a weekly serial in the Hiyaku Magazine that started as a series of vignettes on the use of Mobile Frames in near-future Yamatai. As the series progressed, writer Yano began to introduce longer plotlines that stretched across multiple weeks, which were highly popular and prompted the creators to move towards longer, connected storylines. The first Kido Shatai doga, Kido Shatai: New World, was created in 1984 with 12 episodes, focusing on a young protagonist as he trains and later works as a Mobile Frame pilot on a major land reclaiming job in Niihama.

Concept
Most Mobile Frames are large, bipedal, humanoid vehicles controlled from a cockpit by a human pilot. The cockpit is located in the torso, while the head, if there is one, serves as a camera pod to transmit images back to the cockpit. Most Mobile Frames are used for heavy-duty industrial and construction work, and some are also used by the military or law enforcement. The depiction of Mobile Frames tends towards realism by having the machines obey some laws of physics, and facing limitations in their use due to wear and tear, needing regular maintenance, being regulated by government safety boards, having limited ammunition, and other such factors.