The two Taiwanese manufacturers MSI and ASUS have recently launched complete ranges of computer components stamped Evangelion and Gundam, two flagship licenses in the world of Japanese animation. Discover the ins and outs of this new trend that is anything but temporary…
Nowadays, manga and anime are present everywhere. The cultural glass ceiling has been shattered and manga-style design can be found for anything and everything. This phenomenon is even accelerating because many brands of clothes and shoes joined the movement. Even the US Army revisits his posters recruitment icons… It seems almost surprising that PC manufacturers are only attacking this segment now. Indeed, many ties exist between the communities of computer fans and anime fans. Especially since the PC modding scene is very active and often very eager for manga and anime licenses.
Vera Chen, the international partnership manager at MSI, and the ASUS Design Center team (ADC Team) agreed to answer questions from L’Internaute to understand why it was now viable to launch this type of partnership, and above all why did you choose the licenses evangelion and Gundam.
A matter of timing and opportunity
For several years now, the design teams of computer component manufacturers have been eyeing anime and manga licenses. It must be said that the majority of ASUS designers are fans of the genre. “Let me tell you a secret, offers the ASUS ADC Team. For years, our gaming products have been inspired by the Gundam license. Our designers often take this license as a reference when designing new products. So having been able to cooperate with the Gundam license was therefore an incredible experience. It is a major project that involved six business units and resulted in around twenty products. We have set up three teams: the Gundam Creative team, the Gundam Design team and finally the Gundam Review team.”
On the MSI side, the partnership with Hideaki Anno’s flagship license, evangelion, is a happy alignment of the planets. In March 2021, with the release of the film Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a TimeØyvind Engevik, a Norwegian graphic designer, proposed a concept art with an MSI screen in the colors of the Eva-01, Shogoki, the most emblematic EVA. “It was immediately obvious to us, and we received a lot of feedback from fans around this concept art. We have contacted the rights holders of the license evangelion and started discussions. They were very enthusiastic and the contractualization was very fast”, explains Vera Chen. Since then, Øyvind Engevik has become MSI brand ambassadormaking this story a double happy ending.
The demographics of mecha fans coincide quite strongly with that of PC editing enthusiasts
Gundam and evangelion belong (or are assimilated) to the genus of mecha, this very particular universe of Japanese pop culture which stages in a universe of science fiction giant robotic armor, humanoid in shape, piloted by one (or more) human(s) inside. In France, Grendizer and Robotech (Macross) are the two licenses to have established the popularity of the genre. “The demographics of mecha fans coincide quite strongly with that of PC builders, explains Vera Chen. “
Once manufacturers have decided on a license and the types of components to work the license on, the hard part is still to come. It is necessary to choose the exact components (positioning of ranges and prices) on which to apply this partnership and of course to design the new designs.
Components and design
PC fans did not wait for manufacturers to marry their computers with the licenses dear to their hearts. More often than not, they customize or “mod” their PC cases. For the ASUS ADC Team, the existence of these mods is not only a source of motivation but also a constraint: “We wanted to make products that consumers could not create by themselves. It’s for that, for example, that we asked the factory which manufactures the circuits of the motherboards to print a visual of Gundam“. Even if the Taiwanese manufacturer still inserted decals and stickers in the boxes of its components, then left blank spaces for users to customize their “builds”.
For the MSI teams, it is important to make their universe coexist with that ofevangelionto go beyond the simple addition of color or sticker: “For this collaboration to be a success, it is crucial that the incorporation of the license evangelion be as organic as possible. That each brand can sublimate the other, explains Vera Chen. Our designers love evangelion, they worked not only with professionalism but also with passion and love. We received a lot ofassets from the Kahra teams (Editor’s note: the animation studio founded by Hideaki Anno), who made many suggestions to us. For example how to make the Eva and MSI logos coexist. Capturing the essence of mecha and applying it to our products took time and a lot of back and forth, but it all turned out in a super positive way.”
Sure of the potential of this partnership, the Taiwanese manufacturer has not contented itself with targeting existing best-selling products, but has customized new products such as the motherboard which uses a B660 chipset or the liquid cooling system which is a new generation, so that users can build a configuration that will last several years. “We have also chosen to target mid-range products so that they are accessible to as many fans as possible,” adds Vera Chen.
The Gundam license has been around since 1979 and is incredibly rich, with over 50 anime series, OVAs and movies, video games, manga and more. 2000 different figurine models. Therefore, a problem arises: how to choose a model among this multitude of possibilities? “Initially, we thought of adapting the models Gundam Unicorn as the bansheebut after many analyses, the models RX-78-2 and Zaku II came across as the most iconic to fans. Since the color red is dominant in the esports scene, we have chosen this variant for the Zaku IIwhich reinforces the duality with the RX-78-2 white, the most iconic model”, says the ASUS ADC Team. No question of simply applying a color code to existing products. Watercooling Zaku II is equipped with a small horn, in homage to the famous tank “3 times faster“. Cocorico, the character name of Char Aznable is a tribute to Charles Aznavour.
Coupling these constant evolutions of robots Gundam to the innovative image of the ASUS brand is one of the key factors in choosing this license. ASUS teams are more than happy with the feedback from PC fans and are already promising new products to come. “We are preparing surprises for you with the experts of the world Gundam“, announces the ASUS ADC Team.
Europe is a candidate for a wave of Eva X MSI product shipments
If the manufacturers initially targeted the Asian market, many fans and wholesalers around the world inquired – as soon as the announcements were made – about the availability of products in their countries. “For the first wave of March, we will deliver Eva x MSI products in Asia, but we are studying a second wave of delivery in North America where we have had very good feedback following our announcement. Europe is a candidate for a third wave”, analyzes Vera Chen.
The goal, explains MSI’s international partnership manager, is for the two brands to gain an audience: “The majority of subscribers on Netflix are between 25 and 35 years old, it’s a new generation of fans of the license. evangelion. Which matches with our PC assembler customers. We hope with this partnership to satisfy both old and new fans.
YouTubers Benzaie and Ganesh2 made a quirky PC editing video with the Gundam collection.
A trend that could well prevail in the long term
Confidentiality clause obliges, the two manufacturers cannot communicate on the next licenses with which partnerships are being negotiated or even realized. The ASUS ADC teams, however, ensure that “different products from both our ASUS and ROG ranges will arrive, covering different license crossover themes”.
For Vera Chen, it is still too early to think about the next co-branded products at MSI, the range evangelion being marketed only in March. We will have to wait a bit to get back. “We have had very enthusiastic feedback since the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show. But this is a first partnership so it is very important for us to confirm that this online enthusiasm is reflected in the sales figures. is the case, we will explore other manga or animation licenses. dragonball is a very good candidate outside the genre of the mecha”.