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Greetings All,

I have been in the mood for some good ol' fashion Mecha anime. I am by no means an expert on the genre, and just want to find some fun Mecha anime to help inspire me a bit for some game design.

I have all ready seen:

Macross/Robotech
Evangelion
Votoms (Probably not every OVA, but enough)
Kuromukuro
Ad Noah
Heavy Objects
Gundam (Again, not everything ever produced, but the originals and a handful of others)
Gargantia
Knights of Sidonia
Escaflowne (Not all, but enough)
Exo-squad
Battletech
Code: Geiss

I prefer more of the Grim Mecha/Real Robot style and would prefer not to have any Super-Robot genre in my life. I no longer have Netflix, but have plenty of other services like Tubi, Roku, Plex, etc. I would love it if you folks could recommend me some stuff, and point me in its general direction.

Thanks in advance

Patlabor is good - there's at least 2 series and a few films. Police force with mecha.


Trigun might suit your fancy but its one of those series that walks between being super serious and silly at the same time. Sometimes it works for people sometimes the two themes feel like they clash.

I don't know if it qualifies or not but maybe Giant Robo.

Giant Robo is typically considered Super Robot, which is not a genre I tend to enjoy.

Patlabor is right up my alley! I will have to check it out.

Bubblegum Crisis.
Bubblegum Crash( meeehhh...tis crap, but it follows on from Crisis )
Madox-01.
Patlabor: The Movie
Patlabor 2.
Patlabor OAV.
Detonator Orgun 01( not seen it but its on youtube and seems to have some mech tomfoolery ).

Oh man, I have seen Bubblegum Crisis and Crash and forgot to put them on my list. I apparently have seen more Mecha anime than I realized!

I will see what I can do about the others.

Not big stompy robots, but at least mechanised. Dominion Tank Police

 Flinty wrote:
Not big stompy robots, but at least mechanised. Dominion Tank Police

Seconded. And also, since somehow no one has brought it up, Appleseed.
Its something of a genre pillar. (though, the 1988 version, not the 2004 remake. Haven't heard great things about that).

Looks like you haven't seen the Fafnir franchise. It's kind of a cross between Knights of Sidonia and Evangelion. This series can be depressing but there's a fair bit of it.

There's also the Muv-Luv Alternative anime and Schwarzesmarken but I don't consider either of them to be very good. Same with Darling in the Franxx, which can be a bit cringy as it goes on but it's mecha.

The real crime here though (SHAME!) is that you have no seen Eureka Seven.

The full title is Psalms of Plants: Eureka Seven and is both a mecha series and a coming of age love story (a good one) with a lot of references to the culture and music of the 60s and 70s.

Go watch right now! Not the AO sequel anime or the movies that gak's all god awful but the OG Eureka Seven anime is like Evangelion if Evangelion weren't made on depression. It basically rips the depression out and replaces it with heartwarming.

 Flinty wrote:
Not big stompy robots, but at least mechanised. Dominion Tank Police

In a similar vein, Eighty Six (86) is a really good newer (spider) mecha series.

Tank Police..... perhaps one of the first anime I ever saw.

Good times.


Also: Thanks Hats! I knew you would come through for me!

Dominion is hilarious! Favourite bit is when Leona's alarm clock gets tangled in her hair.

Cyber City Oedo 808 is definitely worth checking out, especially the second episode "Psychic Trooper".

If you're looking into Patlabor, it's worth remembering the movies are super-serious. The series? A lot less serious, thought there are serious moments here and there. It's a pretty hefty tonal shift from one to the other, and that can be disconcerting if you're not expecting it.

Gundam 8th MS team
Zoids chaotic century was okay
for Real Robot mini-mecha, Bandai's "Obsolete"youtube series.
it's cgi anime, but explores what could happen if impartial aliens gave anyone on earth access to rugged utilitarian mecha in exchange for (insert unlikely resource) and how that might reshape global military power dynamics.

If you're after mecha like battletech, you can't miss Fang of the sun:Battle Armor Dougram and Crusher Joe.

Both shows also had mecha designs borrowed for Battletech before they went "unseen" as a result of the HG fustercluck.

The Griffon, Shadowhawk, Battlemaster, Wolverine, Thunderbolt and Goliath (Quad) came from Dougram.
The Locust and Scorpion (other quad) came from Crusher Joe.

I know you said no super robots, but I’m still gonna recommend Gurren Lagann because it’s one of my top two favorite animes.

What about Martian Successor Nadesico ?

I don't know just how serious you like your anime, it's one we like from time to time.

I can't think of many/any mecha anime I have been very into that haven't been listed already.

 warhead01 wrote:
What about Martian Successor Nadesico ?

I don't know just how serious you like your anime, it's one we like from time to time.

I can't think of many/any mecha anime I have been very into that haven't been listed already.

Nadesico...japanese madness at its finest! Gotta love the Aestivalis.

SamusDrake wrote:

 warhead01 wrote:
What about Martian Successor Nadesico ?

I don't know just how serious you like your anime, it's one we like from time to time.

I can't think of many/any mecha anime I have been very into that haven't been listed already.

Nadesico...japanese madness at its finest! Gotta love the Aestivalis.

Jiro Yamada is ok but Gai Daigoji is the best.

Gasaraki is a fantastic one, with small scale, relatively practical mecha.


M.D. Geist is technologically similar to Bubblegum crisis- humans(ish) in power armor fighting robots.

19 posts and nobody mentions Big O? What the hell is this world coming to?!?!?!?!

Big O has a good concept and start, but really goes downhill when they work to wrap it up.

 AduroT wrote:
Big O has a good concept and start, but really goes downhill when they work to wrap it up.

Oh, you won't hear me sing the accolades of its ending, but the series definitely ticks the OP's boxes.

Oh, here’s one no one’s mentioned yet, RahXephon. Has sort of Evangelion-esque vibes to it.

Full Metal Panic, anyone....

its spin off series; full metal panic fumoffu, is deffo on the lighter side of life.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

SamusDrake wrote:
Bubblegum Crisis.
Bubblegum Crash( meeehhh...tis crap, but it follows on from Crisis )
Madox-01.
Patlabor: The Movie
Patlabor 2.
Patlabor OAV.
Detonator Orgun 01( not seen it but its on youtube and seems to have some mech tomfoolery ).

Forgot AD Police and AD Police Files(oav). the oav is quite good.
Both are in the bubblegum crisis universe.

Does Gunbuster count? Haven't seen it in ages but remember it being awesome.

Well since you have already covered to 2 big ones- the macross saga (zero/plus/frontier being my favorites) and UC gundam

Here are a few more for you- almost all available to watch on otaku-streamers for free

expelled from paradise (movie)



Appleseed (movies)



Staying with the shiro theme-ghost in the shell (not the movies they are crap story wise) TV series of which there are many-stand alon complex, arise, laughing man incident the new 2042 era series on netflix etc..



Little know but great series-FLAG



Aldnoah zero a mix of realistic mecha design and super tech hero robots-2 tv seasons Thank goodness because that first season ending was a WTGAK moment)




Vypers creed



High praise for the gainax original OVA series-GUNBUSTER




A new entry that you need to see if you have not- 86