gen:LOCK

This article is about the show. For the technology, see gen:LOCK (technology).

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gen:LOCK is a 3D animated mecha sci-fi series^[1] produced by Rooster Teeth. It was announced at RTX Austin on July 7th, 2017.^[2] The first episode was released on January 26th, 2019.^[3]

Summary

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Global Culture War

In gen:LOCK, a war of beliefs is being fought within populations around the world. There are no direct land borders, but clashes instead occur between those of alternate perspectives within the same location. The Union organizes in order to do a territory grab and form mono-culture areas, and the opposing side, the Polity, resists them.

The cultural nature of the war is based on identity and the ability to fight while still preserving your own. This is tied into the pairing of people and the world's gen:LOCK technology, which is a technological breakthrough on the protagonists' side of the war.^[4]

Main Characters

Trailers

Prior to Season 1, four trailers were to be released to introduce characters and concepts before the premiere. Unlike regular previews, the trailers for gen:LOCK were not cut using animation from the series, instead being "virtual reality phone calls" held between Doctor Weller and Colonel Marin.

Character Reveal Teaser 1, which released at the end of the RWBY Volume 5 finale on January 20th, 2018 for FIRST members, revealed Julian Chase. It featured Monica Rial as Marin, though she had not been revealed as the voice yet. However, David Tennant had not yet signed on to voice Weller. The trailer was later re-released with Tennant's voice on November 23rd, 2018.

Character Reveal Teaser 2, which released on the Rooster Teeth website on August 3rd, 2018, revealed Yasamin "Yaz" Madrani.

Character Reveal Teaser 3, which released on the Rooster Teeth website on September 15th, 2018, revealed Cameron "Cammie" MacCloud and Kazu Iida.

Character Reveal Teaser 4, which released on the Rooster Teeth website on November 26th, 2018, revealed Valentina Romanyszyn and Rob Sinclair.

Episodes

For main article, see Episodes.

Season 1

Originally announced as premiering in 2018, the first season of the show was pushed to January 26th, 2019. It aired on the same day as the final episode of RWBY Volume 6 and is anticipated to have eight episodes.^[5]^[6] Both the first and second episode premiered together. While the first was free to watch upon release, the remaining seven episodes require a Rooster Teeth FIRST membership.^[7]

Production

Conception and influences

The original concept for gen:LOCK was pitched in the summer of 2016, with pre-production beginning in late 2016.^[8] The series explores high-concept science fiction and features more mature themes compared to the concurrently running Rooster Teeth show RWBY.

An emphasis is placed on the self-consistency and logic of the rules and technology of the world.^[9] To this end, a detailed series bible containing concept art and backstory was created for the show.^[1] The show bears more similarity to "realistic" mech, drawing closer comparisons to Gundam and Aldnoah.Zero than "super" mech shows like Gurren Lagann.^[8]

Other anime cited as influences include the cyberpunk series Ghost in the Shell and Psycho Pass, the strongly character-oriented storytelling of Kiznaiver, as well as the science fiction anime work of Gen Urobuchi. However, writer/director Gray G. Haddock emphasized that it will not adhere strictly to any genre conventions and will draw from a diverse range of inspirations and ideas.^[9]

Art

While both are 3D animated shows, the art style of gen:LOCK is intended to be more realistic and detailed than RWBY.^[9] In addition to concept art created internally by Rooster Teeth artists, the team sought out collaborations with other artists such as Bach "Dishwasher1910" Do^[10]—whose fan art gained the attention of the company—and concept artist Gavin Manners.^[11]

Music

The show's soundtrack is composed by David Levy. Artists such as electronic rock band Battle Tapes^[12] and nerdcore rapper Richie Branson have also contributed songs.

Publicity

gen:LOCK was publicly announced at RTX Austin on July 7th, 2017.^[2] A teaser was shown at Rooster Teeth's RWBY panel at New York Comic Con on October 6th, 2017.^[13] gen:LOCK was also included in the list of new shows in Rooster Teeth's 2018 lineup, though still no release date was given.^[14] On June 20th, 2018, Rooster Teeth announced a window of January 2019 for gen:LOCK's release. At New York Comic-Con 2018, they set the premiere date as January 26th, 2019.