What is the best mecha anime?

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MrChom said:
Woah woah woah, I thought the first 52 episodes of Seed were pretty good. Destiny was a train wreck, but hey, that's Destiny. As for Wing, it's an excellent series, as is the later effective reboot or it with Gundam 00!

As for bad Gundam we have F-91, AGE, and Reconguista. Personally I'd add 0080 but enough people like that for me to ignore my dislike there, and 08th MS team also did nothing for me...but again enough other people seem to like it that there's a chance OP might.

As for my top 3...

Escaflowne
Full Metal Panic
Gunbuster
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seed felt like a derivative of the original gundam even having the same arcs. The handling of those plotpoints that it took from the original gundam was even handled poorly in my opinion.
 
Umibozu said:
seed felt like a derivative of the original gundam even having the same arcs. The handling of those plotpoints that it took from the original gundam was even handled poorly in my opinion.
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i think you're onto something here.

probably gunbuster. i've never actually finished votoms (!) or even watched the patlabor OVAs (!!) so i need to do that ASAP.
 
mecha anime is best anime. Favorite Real Robot is VOTOMS, favorite super is Gurren Laagan. Gotta give a should out to Gundam 0079 and Mazinger Z though!

my favorite anime doesn't have mecha however
 
Mexen said:
Great mentions so far. Choosing the best mecha anime is difficult because I think a lot of shows deserve to share that position.
Just to raise a few hairs, I'm gonna mention Mazinger Z.
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When I was a child, I didn't understand how weird it was when Manzinger Z (Tranzor Z in the US)'s girlfriend's robot shot her tits out as missiles and he used them to take flight.
 
Valverave

seriously, just watch it. After watching it you have now seen the highlight moments in every mecha anime made because the show has 0 fucking original ideas or moments.

Outside that the main mechs actually look cool, but seriously everything about it was straight up ripped from something else.
 
The Vision of Escaflowne

KMk2MHJ.jpg
 
Furyous said:
Gundam 00 because it's the most realistic. It is an example of what would actually happen if mechs descended upon the planet. Plus, it has one child soldier.
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Really? Dude. Seriously?

In a world with Patlabor, SDF Macross, and UC Gundam, you think Gundam 00 is the most realistic?
 
Has anyone mentioned gundam build fighters? Not a pure mecha anime, but the story is good, fights are good, and the music is top notch.
 
Daingurse said:
The 08th MS Team is great. My favorite Gundam series.
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I really liked this one as well. Short, sweet, and serious. As someone who has a hard time following super long shows I found this one to be a breath of fresh air. Certainly a good example of quality over quantity.

All-time favorite is the original Macross though.
 
There's one a netflix that I think is pretty good. No one ever seems to talk about it, and even my friends that like anime don't seem to know/care about it.

It's called The Knights Of Sidonia. It was a manga that got adapted; came out in 2014 on netflix exclusively I think; season 2 is being made for release at the end of the year maybe? I think it might already be out in japan though.

It's about a guy that is one of the last 50-100K people left alive inside of a giant space ship in space (shocker). He lives "below" everyone else though since his father brought him down there and raised him out of sight. Eventually he makes it back up, he can pilot an old model ship really well since he had a very old training pod for that model and he gets put into service.

It's only 16eps long I think; can be watched in one weekend, or an entire day if you really want (like I did). The battles are really cool, the mechs are pretty neat but kind of standard, the enemies are interesting and the story is interesting enough.

I highly recommend it.
 
Valkerionseven said:
World's best
girl anime
hidden behind a giant robot. Took 16 episodes for me to realize it haha. It was like an epiphany once I realized it.
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It's actually a shonen but, yeah they added a lot of shojo elements to broaden the audience.

I love the soundtrack for the anime (Yoko Kanno!).
 
Basic preliminary guide to determine if a mecha anime is worth a watch.

Is Yoko Kanno doing the musics?
If yes, it is worth a watch.
 
What's a good Gundam to get back into the series with? Last things I saw was Wing, which I really liked. Also, I'd rather it not be a super long series.
 
DryEyeRelief said:
A silly question, since they vary a lot in terms of realism, scale, seriousness...but I'm interested in polling opinions since there's such a variety of them.
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"What is the best mecha anime" is a question that I don't think can really be answered by listing a single title, even though that seems to be what your question is demanding. You, yourself, seem to be aware of this, as you describe it as a "silly question".

The problem is, 'mecha' is such a woefully lose genre description. It doesn't tell you anything about a shows setting, or tone, or true genre. For example, Patlabor features mecha, but in reality its a comedic police procedural that just happens to feature giant robots. Escaflowne features mecha, but they're basically just playing the parts of nights in a fantasy story. Gundam 0080 is a war drama. The Big O is just Batman, with a robot. Evangelion is a psychological drama with tokutasu, i mean, 'mecha'. Etc etc etc. "Mecha" really just means "features a robot somewhere in the show".

It would certainly have easier to answer your question back in the early 70's, back when just about every mecha show had a similar template. Back when they were all pure action shows for little boys where, rather than being a superhero, the main character would pilot a vehicle that basically makes them a superhero. But the 'genre' is just so much more diverse now.

At the very least, a sizeable list is required to answer your question, not just a single title.
 
genjiZERO said:
What's a good Gundam to get back into the series with? Last things I saw was Wing, which I really liked. Also, I'd rather it not be a super long series.
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0080: a war in the pocket is movie length. 08th ms team and 0080: stardust memory are both 13 episodes
 
Umibozu said:
care to elaborate...
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The show is super generic. Like, generic to the max.

The positives:

The animation is nice. I uh, I like the character designs. People actually have noses and stuff. The main Gundam looks pretty good, for a Gundam.

The main character isn't some high school kid who has to juggle his high school life with his fighting-a-war-with-a-giant-robot.

The negatives:

Um, how about everything else?

It's silly. At one point, the lady scientist dramatically goes "Oh no, please! Not both my Gundams!" like both WTC towers just got hit. How can you take something like this at face value.

It's blunt and hamfisted as hell. The same scientist is freaking out, so another character helpfully says:

"Nina, this is what it's really like, on the front, not in a factory. Civilians don't see this, only soldiers."

This is about only one step away from being a Hideo Kojima monologue about the tragedy of war and how we must all love one another.

The villain suffers from the Standard Villain Outbursts that a lot of generic mecha shows trot out. Observe:

"Who do you think you are, you can't possibly take me on! You're an amateur!"

"Without the Federation behind you, you couldn't do a thing! As a soldier, you're pathetic!"

"I have nothing more to say to you, you imbecile! Not to a man who doesn't even know what he's fighting for!"

"It takes a man to be a soldier, you're nothing but a kid!"
*villain proceeds to flail around for a bit and then flee the scene from the hero*
Click to expand...

Rinse and repeat. This is not a good way to build up your villain.

The situations are ridiculous and unbelievable. There's a giant floating spaceship, and it's apparently under serious danger because it's being attacked by 5 or 6 enemy Mechs? This is apparently a huge problem... for a giant spaceship with naval cannons? Huh?

The main character is a huge bore. He's just real, real generic. Instead of actually building him up into a real character that the audience can connect with, the show just tries to bring everybody else down, so he's the one who looks good. He's somehow just got this really good connection with the prototype Gundam, so even though he's a rookie, he's able to "bring out its full potential", whatever that means. No hard work, no real character, just... hey, like this kid because he's super amazing and awesome with the hero Gundam. Oh boy. How many eye rolls can I make during this show.

Compare that with the main character of Exosquad, JT Marsh. Marsh isn't some super amazing elite pilot who's above everyone else, he's just pretty good in a normal way, because he's a veteran squad leader with years of experience. He's able to bring out the best of the rest of his squad with good leadership skills and that's why they're successful, not due to some uber amazing god skill that allows him to pop out of a trench and dust four enemy Mechs in quick succession in the blink of an eye (yes, this actually happens in 0083).

They bring in some veteran pilots, and right off the bat, they're all set up to look like fools. There's a randy misogynist guy who makes an ass out of himself by hitting on every female and competes with the hero for the prototype Gundam. They eventually set up a competition to see who wins the thing. Well gosh, it's a choice between our hero character, and this sexist, arrogant, overbearing asshole. I wonder what's going to happen? My, the suspense. Boy, I'm on the edge of my seat here.

Oh wait, just the opposite. Of course we know what's going to happen. Of course the asshole ends up losing and the hero wins. This shit is just the worst. Where is the excitement and the... the thing to hold my interest? There's absolutely nothing here you can't see coming. The show's just trotting out these bad caricatures to try and build up this main character, but it's such a lame and uninspired technique that I just end up feeling pretty down about the whole thing.
 
Negaduck said:
My favorite is Eureka Seven

e7_wp1_1280x1024.jpg


Mechs surfing in the sky. So badass.
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You know, as much as I love Eureka 7, I'm still confused how Reyton suddenly became badass. He was an amateur pilot, out of no where he became an invincible total badass that dismembered enemies like Kira Yamato in Freedom Gundam.
 
Delta Assault said:
The show is super generic. Like, generic to the max.

The positives:

The animation is nice. I uh, I like the character designs. People actually have noses and stuff. The main Gundam looks pretty good, for a Gundam.

The main character isn't some high school kid who has to juggle his high school life with his fighting-a-war-with-a-giant-robot.

The negatives:

Um, how about everything else?

It's silly. At one point, the lady scientist dramatically goes "Oh no, please! Not both my Gundams!" like both WTC towers just got hit. How can you take something like this at face value.

It's blunt and hamfisted as hell. The same scientist is freaking out, so another character helpfully says:

"Nina, this is what it's really like, on the front, not in a factory. Civilians don't see this, only soldiers."

This is about only one step away from being a Hideo Kojima monologue about the tragedy of war and how we must all love one another.

The villain suffers from the Standard Villain Outbursts that a lot of generic mecha shows trot out. Observe:

Rinse and repeat. This is not a good way to build up your villain.

The situations are ridiculous and unbelievable. There's a giant floating spaceship, and it's apparently under serious danger because it's being attacked by 5 or 6 enemy Mechs? This is apparently a huge problem... for a giant spaceship with naval cannons? Huh?

The main character is a huge bore. He's just real, real generic. Instead of actually building him up into a real character that the audience can connect with, the show just tries to bring everybody else down, so he's the one who looks good. He's somehow just got this really good connection with the prototype Gundam, so even though he's a rookie, he's able to "bring out its full potential", whatever that means. No hard work, no real character, just... hey, like this kid because he's super amazing and awesome with the hero Gundam. Oh boy. How many eye rolls can I make during this show.

Compare that with the main character of Exosquad, JT Marsh. Marsh isn't some super amazing elite pilot who's above everyone else, he's just pretty good in a normal way, because he's a veteran squad leader with years of experience. He's able to bring out the best of the rest of his squad with good leadership skills and that's why they're successful, not due to some uber amazing god skill that allows him to pop out of a trench and dust four enemy Mechs in quick succession in the blink of an eye (yes, this actually happens in 0083).

They bring in some veteran pilots, and right off the bat, they're all set up to look like fools. There's a randy misogynist guy who makes an ass out of himself by hitting on every female and competes with the hero for the prototype Gundam. They eventually set up a competition to see who wins the thing. Well gosh, it's a choice between our hero character, and this sexist, arrogant, overbearing asshole. I wonder what's going to happen? My, the suspense. Boy, I'm on the edge of my seat here.

Oh wait, just the opposite. Of course we know what's going to happen. Of course the asshole ends up losing and the hero wins. This shit is just the worst. Where is the excitement and the... the thing to hold my interest? There's absolutely nothing here you can't see coming. The show's just trotting out these bad caricatures to try and build up this main character, but it's such a lame and uninspired technique that I just end up feeling pretty down about the whole thing.
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First off, thank you for the thought out response.
I agree that the story might be generic and have the many tropes seen in anime and other gundam series.
We both both are in agreement that the animation is welldone as well.
I will also agree that the writing isn't the best either, the thought processes of the characters might be weird, they might say things that no human in real life would say, and the spaceship having trouble with five or six mechs. The problem I have with this is that these same criticisms can be made with almost every other gundam/anime so why should this series be the only one with these criticisms brought forth.
The same exact complaints you made can be said about wing, which the poster asked about other gundams asked about.
I actually liked that the protagonist wasn't the most likeable/relatable character, and not every character should or would see growth. Most war/mech series are hamfisted with their deliveries/messages.
The series didn't set out to reinvent the wheel. What it did, as predictable as it was I felt it did well given the episode limit. I'm not saying it was perfect or it couldn't see improvement either.
Even the gundams that follow stardust would hold the same tropes complaints and could be just as predictable.
I would have recommended turn A gundam to the poster who asked for gundam series but they asked for short ones.

This isn't directed at you but I just find it a little weird that stardust memory would get flack while series like gurren lagan get lauded on this forum and others. Especially when much like the points in your comment the only positive that can be said about it is the animation.


Back on topic I just remembered another mech series that some might enjoy. Megazone23
 
Umibozu said:
First off, thank you for the thought out response.
I agree that the story might be generic and have the many tropes seen in anime and other gundam series.
We both both are in agreement that the animation is welldone as well.
I will also agree that the writing isn't the best either, the thought processes of the characters might be weird, they might say things that no human in real life would say, and the spaceship having trouble with five or six mechs. The problem I have with this is that these same criticisms can be made with almost every other gundam/anime so why should this series be the only one with these criticisms brought forth.
The same exact complaints you made can be said about wing, which the poster asked about other gundams asked about.
I actually liked that the protagonist wasn't the most likeable/relatable character, and not every character should or would see growth. Most war/mech series are hamfisted with their deliveries/messages.
The series didn't set out to reinvent the wheel. What it did, as predictable as it was I felt it did well given the episode limit. I'm not saying it was perfect or it couldn't see improvement either.
Even the gundams that follow stardust would hold the same tropes complaints and could be just as predictable.
I would have recommended turn A gundam to the poster who asked for gundam series but they asked for short ones.

This isn't directed at you but I just find it a little weird that stardust memory would get flack while series like gurren lagan get lauded on this forum and others. Especially when much like the points in your comment the only positive that can be said about it is the animation.
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Well, I haven't seen Wing, so that's why I didn't criticize it. If I have, and it's just like 0083, then I'd criticize that one as well.

I try and stay away from dumb generic anime.

War in the Pocket and 08th MS Team are good though. Gundam isn't all bad.
 
ctrl+F'd and nobody said Diebuster.

This must be a generational thing, I mean everybody's recommending good stuff, but ya'll apparently don't know what's the best. Gunbuster is 10/10 and Diebuster is 11/10.

actually I prefer Gurren Lagann or Big O, but c'mon seriously no one even mentioned this?
 
javac said:
Patlabor isn't just the best mecha series, it’s the best anime series, and by a country mile and then some. Let’s start off with the soundtrack, which is sublime. The catalogue of music for Patlabor is as deep as it is wide, with an assortment of classic, hard to get out of your head music littered throughout both the classic TV/OVA series and films such as Sea-Side Highway and If You Want It to beautiful, emotional pieces such as The Sunset of Ancient Times (Video contains Spoilers, sorry!) and just plain awesome tracks like Paradise no Kakuritsu. The TV/OVA soundtrack is both energetic and lively, while the Movie soundtrack has a sense of melancholy surrounding it such as The Second Movies Opening, with more upbeat music like Into the morning sunshine in juxtaposition to bookend the films more energetic scenes.

The animation in Patlabor has aged beautifully, looking stunning on Blu-ray. The mechanical designs are both grounded and tangible while still looking fun and exciting in motion.



The characters in Patlabor are seriously the best you'll ever see in any anime series, with the strongest female cast ever seen, and perhaps ever will see. Each character is lovable, interesting and fun to watch, packed with plenty of personality. Each character gets their time in the sun, with standout episodes for each and every one of them. It's also fair to say that the character designs are amazing too, again full of personality. Just seeing these characters again makes me smile, from the razor sharp Goto and the professional Nagumo to the hard boiled Kanuka and the main character, Noa who is both energetic and enthusiastic, with a passion for Labors, the name given to the mecha in this series.

Patlabor is without a doubt the most diverse series available, showcasing its ability to tackle any type of story, perfectly juggling drama and comedy with tones of action in the mix, it truly has something for everybody. From a groundhog day-esque episode to an Ultraman parody, episodes featuring sea monsters, haunted bath houses and even an episode where two people just talk to one another in a car during a storm, the diversity in narrative are truly unparalleled.

An episode where porn is banned, a clear satire of Japan’s student protests in the 1960's to an episode that deals with something as simple as a toothache. A bomber is on the loose; hiding in a public bath house, with the only bit of description they have is the mole that he has under his armpit. Some episodes surreal, others romantic, with many of them being funny, Patlabor does all of this and more in strides. The greatest achievement of anime is the ability to tell many different types of stories, with no boundaries in sight, and in this regard Patlabor is the greatest of them all. Patlabor is proof of the near limitlessness amounts of stories that anime is capable of telling, even all of these years later. The greatest mecha anime of all time? More like the greatest anime, period.



Macross/DYRL, Gunbuster and Gaint Robo are also cream of the crop.
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I think I found Shouta's alt
 
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