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Television

Mecha Anime Starter Guide: Going Beyond Voltron and Robotech

By Liz Ohanesian, Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 12:07PM
Comments (25)
Categories: Nerdy in LA

With last night's debut of Titan Maximum, the new stop-motion animated comedy from the team behind Robot Chicken, we got to thinking about mecha, the giant robots in anime that have the power to both destroy and save civilization. While we figured that even those who aren't fans of Japanese animation are readily familiar with Voltron and Robotech, there are dozens of both TV and film titles that employ these (usually) human-operated machines. Below is a small sampling of our mecha anime picks. If you think we're missing something, leave your choices in the comment section.
eureka7.jpg
​

1. Eureka Seven

Eureka Seven is the mecha anime for surfers and ravers. Members of the rebel group Gekkostate pilot mecha who ride surfboard-like apparatuses. Episodes are named after dance hits by Primal Scream ("Higher Than the Sun"), Soul II Soul ("Keep on Movin'")" and many others and the mecha used by the military are known as KLF. Last week, the film Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers debuted across the US. Check out the closing theme below.

iLL "Space Rock"

gurrenlagann.jpg
​

2. Gurren Lagann

With its inventive plot and mixture of humor and action, Gurren Lagann has become the big hit amongst new anime series in the US. The series takes place in a future where humans are forced to live in underground villages that are plagued by earthquakes. Young Simon works as a "digger" and in the course of his job, he finds a mysterious key and, later, a head, thus sparking a journey above-ground with his friends Kamina and Yoko.

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Tags:

Andrew W.K., Anime, Eureka Seven, Gurren Lagann, Liz Ohanesian, Mecha, Mobile Suit Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Big O, Titan Maximum
Comments (25) Write Comment
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Comments (25)

Mike Olivarez says:

As for talking the classics within and without the mecha anime canon, we should also consider all-time favorites like:


Giant Robo ( Mecha goes water margin epic based on Yokoyama's 60s classics. Still stunning by today's standards.)

Mazinger Z (the pioneer of human piloted mecha by mad genius Go Nagai!)

Space Runaway Ideon ( Tomino's post Gundam masterpiece. A heavy influence on Evangelion and numerous other shows. Famous for an unforgettable conclusion)

Top Wo Nerae! GUNBUSTER ( The OAV that introduced Eva creators, GAINAX & fan service to the world vernacular combining fanboy love for classic sci-fi & epic storytelling rarely achieved.)

Rahxephon (Yutaka Izibuchi's beautiful, lyrical response to Evangelion that nearly outdoes its competitor, and puts even favorites like The Matrix to shame.)

Patlabor ( HEADGEAR's anime version of Masami Yuuki's manga fave dealing with a realistic look at mecha as the tools of a ragtag group of city police. Great shows, great movies!)

Tenku No Escaflowne ( More a wild hybrid of girls romance and epic fantasy, Macross co-creator, Shoji Kawamori and pals roll the dice on an ambitious spin on multiple genre tropes with heavy mechanized armor. Also notable for a classic soundtrack by Yoko Kanno & Hajime Mizoguchi.)

Plenty more where this came from, but just felt a need to share. A nice teaser to get started with though!

Posted On: Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 3:08PM
[tlr] says:

nice! I am gonna have to check these out, especially that first one!

Posted On: Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 3:14PM
Chuckus Ruckus says:

Thanks for rounding out the list Mike!

Posted On: Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 5:05PM
Mike Olivarez says:

Worth mentioning(IE: Some that slipped my mind)

Armored Trooper VOTOMS ( Gritty, hard-boiled take on the mecha war genre with a soldier on the run with a mysterious humanoid quarry, and his trusty Scopedog, one mean green mutha. Imagine Helinein's Starship Troopers, and up the melancholy meter!)

Megazone 23 ( Want to know where the Wachowski's took a lot of inspiration? The team behind Macross tackles virtual worlds, virtual idol singers, sunglasses wearing agents, and some seriously cool 80s action!)

Macross Plus & Macross Frontier (Robotech/Macross fans rejoice, of the many spinoff-cum-sequels, these are the ones to beat. Complete with all the high production, love triangle drama, awesome music & dogfighting one could possibly hope for.)

Sorry. I loves me some mech, and there's so many diverse types to choose from. It's practically a medium unto itself. ;)

Posted On: Monday, Sep. 28 2009 @ 6:01PM
chris says:

Nice list, the Macross and Gundam series' kept me entertained for a long time indeed! Gonna check me out some of them other ones now... :)

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 12:29AM
Wes Oosht says:

Don't forget Code Geass (2006-2007) and Code Geass R2 (2008) for some mindbending robot kung fu warfighting with some seriously bitchin power mecha. I believe it aired on Adult Swim as well. Could well be better than all of these aforementioned series (except Macross/Robotech of course)

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 12:30AM
SadistiX says:

How about Rahxephon? It's mecha n very lyrical/poetic/artistic.

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 1:31AM
M@Sk says:

Code Geass?

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 4:23AM
djgoldengorilla says:

Another mech anime is the new one usng basketball as a middleman called "BASQUASH", people in mechs playing basketball...It really works.

Although not tecnically an anime... i think the guys who make robot chicken are gonna a voltron'esque funny show....
that would be a funny series.

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 5:24AM
John Wright says:

Oh wow that was a lot of fun dude!

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 5:40AM
Anonymous says:

well I haven't seen any one brought them up:

SRW (Super Robot Wars)

Heavy Metal L.Gaim

Aura Battler Dunbine

"Brave Saga." (composed of the following 8 shows: Exkaiser, Fighbird, Da Garn, Might Gaine, J-Decker, Goldran, Dagwon, GaoGaiGar)

Space Knight: Tekkaman

Diebuster (A.K.A. Top o Nerae 2! - Diebuster, A.K.A. Aim for the Top! 2)

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 5:58AM
Anonymous says:

OH! almost forgot, as Gunbuster and Diebuster another good Super Robot Show that is also is a satire/Parody on Super Robot Shows: Megas XLR

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 6:07AM
David says:

Great choices for mecha anime. I really need to watch Gurren Lagann!

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 6:45AM
Mikey says:

Patlabor, Godannar, Gravion and Aquarion are 4 other great mecha series, not to mention the non US-Released Transformer series: Headmasters, Masterforce and Victory

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 7:21AM
Liz Ohanesian says:

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I think these comments will be really helpful for anyone on the search for anime. As for myself, I'm really curious about Basquash!
For those who mentioned Code Geass, I dig it as well. The character design in particular is quite striking (love Clamp!). It's still playing on Adult Swim on Saturday nights.

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 8:10AM
ganjatron says:

What, no love for Blue Gender?

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 9:40AM
Anonymous says:

Martian Successor Nadesico is another one that was missed. Go Aestevalis! Also, the "anime within the anime" from that series, Gekigengar III. Nadesico makes fun of a good number of the most common giant mecha tropes, but manages to also bring it's own sense of style to the table.

Another good mech anime is Full Metal Panic! They actually try to explain some of the technology, which is nice.

Both series are definitely worth checking out.

Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 29 2009 @ 12:11PM
Naruto Shippuden says:

Eureka Seven is the mecha anime for surfers and ravers. Members of the rebel group Gekkostate pilot mecha who ride surfboard-like apparatuses. Episodes are named after dance hits by Primal Scream ("Higher Than the Sun"), Soul II Soul ("Keep on Movin'")" and many others and the mecha used by the military are known as KLF. Last week, the film Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers debuted across the US. Check out the closing theme below.

Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 1 2009 @ 1:06PM
Martin Saulsberry says:

I agree with Gurren Lagan for the awesome spectucal that left me completly satified far more than some anime that I will not mention (mainly because so many other's have already mention them so highly).

To not see a single mention of the many and incredible Gundam series out there is highly distrubing people
Gundam was the first of it's genra to actually be taken seriously and to see it get no love.... no love what so ever.

Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 6 2009 @ 12:28AM
Sakura says:

awwwww, they didn't mention ZOIDS!!!!!

Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 7 2009 @ 12:45PM
Anonymous says:

My favourite series is still Gundam Seed & Gundam Seed Destiny!! I also love Code Geass but it's not so much of mecha..

Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 14 2009 @ 10:31AM
Twilight says:

My favourite series is still Gundam Seed & Gundam Seed Destiny!! I also love Code Geass but it's not so much of mecha..

Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 14 2009 @ 10:32AM
Call Center Guy says:

After watching Gurren Lagann you will feel so awesome. Believe in me who believes in you, pierce the heavens etc.

Posted On: Monday, Oct. 26 2009 @ 6:19PM
Doctorset says:

This is the welcome page for the dentaldoctor.us Association web site.

Posted On: Friday, Nov. 20 2009 @ 8:49AM
withnico says:

Looking for mecha anime, believed to have been shown on syfy long time ago, starts with a a boy seeing big robots that aren't really there then he somehow goes to the world where the giant mobile suits are and he is the only male able to pilot one thus his suit for himself not robot has fake boobs to hide that fact

Posted On: Friday, Feb. 5 2010 @ 2:36AM

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