Reinventing sci-fi: combining worlds and genres in Mekong

"In the secure heartland of the Viangchan Sector, four unsuspecting pilots find themselves thrust into a battle for survival when their passenger starliner falls prey to a malevolent force from the dark beyond the stars. As they launch their anthropomorphic war machines into the skies above Chao Phraya, the pilots must confront not only monsters, but the sinking horror of a prophecy revealed. The Con Ma have returned, and the entire Mekong Empire is at risk."

In January 2024, Queen’s Court Games launched Mekong, a mecha space opera set in a universe inspired by Southeast Asian culture and mythology. Using the Forged in the Dark system Beam Saber, first time AP storyteller Jerry La leads industry regulars Andrew J. Alandy (Port Saga), Ryan Omega (Geek Public), Pooja Sharma (Happy Jacks RPG), and Clara Allison (QCG) through a tale that weaves together the cosmic scale and political conflict of films like Star Wars and Dune with the overt anti-imperialist themes and visual aesthetics of anime like Evangelion and Gundam. 

The combination of these two global science-fantasy genres permeates every element of Mekong’s production. The rusted metallic overlay background is trimmed with traditional Southeast Asian patterns, while the individual performer windows are filled with a galaxy print—which is replaced through an animated transition by the internal cockpit of the mech each time the crew goes into battle. The familiar visual language of the mecha genre translates beautifully into the remote AP format, while the sound design immerses the audience in the story’s world. Each of the series' eleven episodes ranges from two to three and a half hours in length, so while still shorter than many ongoing live streamed shows, for an edited AP this story certainly is epic in scale. 

Rascal sat down with the cast and crew to talk through the inspirations behind the show’s creation, transforming tropes of genre and culture, and how synthesizing adjacent western and eastern creative traditions allows Mekong to explore the unique themes of sitting between two worlds.

This interview has been edited for clarity, length, and flow.