Mecha Recommendations

[Avatar of Heart]

Always have enjoyed robots and AI, but Armored Core 6 has already gotten me down the pipeline. There is a good selection of immaculate vibes to be had, from the more gritty military to the space sword fights, have been meaning to get into the genre. Already planning on watching Evangelion, as I know that's a very high tier one. Any others in particular others know about that are genre classics?

 

[RustyShackle]

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans is EXCELLLENT if you want a more gritty take on mecha, with a ton of similarities to Armored Core in terms of tone. Code Geass is also a great choice if you want a pretty fun sci fi political thriller with some high school slice of life thrown in

 

[M.G.B.]

A mecha thread, what a rare treat.

One of the first classics I have to recommend is Patlabor. OVA released in 1988 about a new Japanese police unit developed to fight "labor enhanced terrorism and crime," Labors being the big robots of the show. The design of the Patlabors is one of my absolute favorites in the genre, and it's a very down to earth take. They have to really worry about firing guns because of how expensive those huge rounds are, how much damage they can cause (even the expended cartridges can cause collateral damage) and they can't just shonen gung ho everything. They've gotta consider the public image of the department as well as budget cuts if it looks like they're mishandling the equipment. And everyone in the department has their fun quirks, as the show still has plenty of light-hearted moments despite all the realism. The original OVA is only seven episodes, but it leads into the Patlabor movies, which are generally more serious but the animation, I think particularly for Patlabor the Movie 2 is absolutely jaw dropping. There are three in total, highly recommended.

There's a full TV anime after that which I would also recommend, though it's a bit more slice-of-life than the OVA and much more on the comedy side. Fun fact, the creator of Patlabor I believe went on to make Appleseed and is credited for popularizing the rabbit antenna look on robots and mechs (like mine).

If you don't mind I'd like to come back later with some other recs, this is a genre very near and dear to my mechanical engine heart.

 

[Baka]

As someone who has gone to watch a lot of mecha-anime (surprisingly not because of Armored Core 6. Need to check the franchise and game out soon) lately here's some I've liked. Some I've seen recently. Others many years ago:

1. Universal Century Gundam - Currently going through this, but for example Origin was amazing, and Zeta is extremely promising. Undisputed classic of the genre focusing on the war between space-colonies and their new, independent government and Earth's Federation wanting to keep their foothold in these colonies. Original Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) hasn't aged all that well if you ask me, but it's worth experiencing in one form or another if you want the full UC-story. Going against every Gundam-experts advices I myself recommend three compilations movies at first, and then return to watch the original TV-series when/if you've gotten more into Gundam (and those wondering: Yes. Seen both TV-series and movies).

2. Mobile Suit Gundam: Witch From Mercury - One of the many AU-Gundams, and only one I've seen so far out of the AU-series. Has it share of more serious themes, but wouldn't consider it to be as serious as UC-Gundam is. Lot of nice characters and the animation is good.

3. 86 - Another more serious mecha-anime. Tackles the themes of racism and child-soldiers sent to their certain demise. First season I think was better than the second one, but I do think that this is probably the best mecha-series to come out recently.

4. Gurren Lagann - More over the top-one. Excellent animation and simple message told in a flashy way. Has it's serious moments, but does focus more on being fun and over-the-top in my opinion.

5. SSSS.Gridman/Dynazenon - Another one that's not-so-serious. This time kaiju's are the enemies. It's from Studio TRIGGER so it looks amazing and animation is top-notch.

6. Gunbuster and Diebuster - Honestly I can't remember much about these other than liking them. Hideaki Anno aka. the man behind Evangelion was responsible for the Gunbuster, and remember it being more serious out of the two. Diebuster was alright sequel, but the tone was different from what I can remember. Gunbuster especially is often considered a classic OVA.

I also second Patlabor (though I've only seen OVA at the moment. Need to watch movies and TV-anime) and Code Geass, though I usually recommend it for different reasons than majority of the other fans of the show.

 

[Revelations]

In addition to what most others have recommended, I would recommend Gasaraki, a somewhat older (1999ish?) anime about mecha in a supernatural near future setting. Saying too much would be spoiling it, but I recall it being pretty enjoyable.

 

[Nihilistic_Impact]

I'm a fan of the original series for Armed Troopers Votoms, though it straddles the line between mecha and power armor. There's also Fang of the Sun Dougram which is a series I've not yet finished, shows its age, but is a serious attempt at mecha like UC Gundam is.

If you're willing to read some manga I would also recommend Five Star Stories which leans into mecha pilots as knights.

 

[Avatar of Heart]

Wow! Each of these sound very good! Gundam in general has also been on the list, but know how expansive that setting can be. Patlabor sounds very interesting, such grounding has always been something fun to write out and explore, so seeing a series doing so for an urban environment as opposed to warzones and space instillation sounds unique! Gurren Lagann's over the top nature sounds like a good contrast to it - something I've enjoyed about the genre so far is how far that mood can swing. As well as the probable themes people running around in giant mech suits may invite.

Extremely thankful for each recommendation! Will have to follow up soon!

 

[Strange Days]

Someone has prob beaten me to it but -

Code Geass.

I know this is me being biased since it's still my #1 anime ever since I first saw it almost ten years ago now, but I still maintain that it's one of the few series that manages to spread out its resources on worldbuilding, giant robot battles, politics and character development. Lelouch is a somewhat controversial MC but I personally like most of the cast, although due to the scope of the series some end up being less developed than others - or come in late. It does have certain episodes that serve more as SOL filler, but they usually end up being funny and/or worthwhile enough to get through, with only a few exceptions throughout the runtime.
Other runner-ups would be Aldnoah.zero (same writer as Fate/Zero and Madoka Magica, The Urobutcher himself), Guilty Crown, Mobile Suit Gundam : The Origin, War In The Pocket, and Thunderbolt, Ultraman if you are into Tokusatsu... but, if you do not mind doing some digging -

I'd also recommend Kotetsushin Jeeg, Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. All three were massive hits here in Italy and have entered popular culture to the point almost every adult from the 80s/90s can recite the theme songs by heart, or shout out the finishing moves. They're all a fun watch, but the Italian opening theme? CHRIST, LISTEN TO IT :


View: https://youtu.be/FRnmA41SOq4?si=Ke0I35NSR4AHd0w3

 

[Violet or Vi]

I can only echo what was said before about Patlabor. While it has been a few years since I've seen the movies, I still can only recommend them, especially the first one. I won't go into spoilers as to why but it stuck with me more than the second one.

 

[Silverknight]

This