“How disgusting.” Remembering what Asuka said after Shinji does the unthinkable in Hideaki Anno's widely lauded finale to the Evangelion saga, The End of Evangelion [1997], one can't stop but think about how there's a disgusting amount of mecha anime out there outside of his most celebrated work.

Always eclipsed by the towering EVA Unit-01 and the granddaddy of mobile suits, RX-78-2 Gundam, some lesser-known robot shows will be highlighted here by Sabukaru. Most often overshadowed, but never to be forgotten. Usually shying away from the contemporary anime fan’s top 10, but never unappreciated. The robots here come in just about every shape and size, and more importantly, in different characteristics. There are surfing robots. There are robots that pierce the heavens. There are even robots that turn into dragons.

The ever-famous sci-fi genre has been around since the 50s, way before many of you were born. Bipedal robots as tall as buildings, weapons that shoot pink laser beams, speeds that could break the sound barrier, and massive space colonies dropping on Sydney, Australia. Themes that were oh-so-futuristic and unusual then, but are extremely common now.

Before anything else, let’s talk about the two types of robots in this electronically hypnotising breed of sci-fi anime: the super robots and the real robots. Super robots are almost always what comes to mind when it comes to mecha anime. These are the gigantic robots that “volt in” and save the world from Boazanians and the apocalypse. On the other hand, Osamu Tezuka showed everyone the world’s greatest robot through Astro Boy, and Mamoru Oshii’s adaptation of Ghost in the Shell [1995] gave us a look into the future where the advancement of technology can have its consequences.

These real robots, or cyborgs in its more colloquial term, are more realistic, science-based, and are dead ringers to their organic counterparts. In this sweeping look into the vast world of mecha anime, we’re going to talk more about the former. Who doesn’t want high octane fights between gigantic robots and monsters over bionic people discovering that they actually do have souls, right? Nah, we’re just kidding. We love both, but let’s focus on the colossal ones for now.

For those expecting Gundam shows here, sorry. It would be cheating if we added some since we are pretty sure that everyone has an inkling of what that amazing franchise is. But if you really must, please do check out the remarkably underrated Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team [1996].

Without further ado, here is a mecha anime list curated for the kids and the kids-at-heart who have always dreamt of being inside a robot’s chest cavity where the cockpit is located, saving humanity from the impending doom, and to the people who are just tired of seeing Evangelion in every robot list that has ever been and will be.

GUNBUSTER [1998]

What’s a robot anime list without Hideaki Anno, right?

Without any exaggerations, and outside the live action works he creates, Gunbuster might be Hideaki Anno’s best offering to the colorful medium of anime. To say the least, it was superb, and one can see the labor of love, and the hours put in everything, from the animations to the OST, that the team behind it has put in, especially in the earlier episodes inside the robot’s cockpit and to that amazing finale.

A tour de force all packed in six episodes, Gunbuster has everything—a phenomenal story, lovable characters, an intricate mech design, and an intense final episode with an ending that seamlessly ties in with its sequel, Diebuster [2004]. It is also a lingering thought as to why Neon Genesis Evangelion had the longer run and not Gunbuster.

DIEBUSTER [2004]

In the realm of sequels, there are hits and misses, and there are rare cases like this one that just does it right in unimaginable ways. The cute exterior may steer original Gunbuster [1988] fans away, but do not be fooled by it.

Diebuster is a sequel made right. It came out 16 years after the original series, a rather long pause between seasons. Like its predecessor, it runs in six episodes, and all six make up a colorful, enjoyable, loud, and exciting watch.

The soundtrack is full of early 2000s—danceable beats, full of ‘oohs and ahhs’, warm distorted guitars drowned in reverbs and choruses, and vocals very reminiscent of that simple time where the only thing we cared about were robots and pocket monsters. The opening, Groovin' Magic, is just a perpetual bop; it may remind you of Cardcaptor Sakura OPs.

Viewers will also see how these two shows influenced Gurren Lagann wherein all of them came from Studio Gainax. [There’s also this tiny bit towards the last few episodes of Diebuster that will definitely remind its watchers of the final moments in Darling in the FranXX.]

EUREKA SEVEN [2005 -2006]

With a main character named after Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and episode titles with references to The Beatles, Oasis, and New Order among others, what's not to love? Fun, exciting, and robots with surfboards. Again, what's not to love?

With missiles locked on surfing robots, the aerial fight scenes make great use of what they call the Itano Circus, wherein the targeted hunk of metal gets followed by missiles that leave a trail of smoke. It was made famous by Ichiro Itano for Macross [another notable mecha anime. Now that would be breathtaking to see in real life [minus all the deadly explosions of course.]

Aside from that, the OST is all sorts of amazing and nostalgic. Its rave-inducing soundtrack has lots of guitars drowned in reverb, and upbeat drums that make the viewers not want to stop tapping their feet and bobbing their heads. And then the viewers hear Supercar’s Storywriter, which starts off with ambient noises most likely from an electro harmonix small stone phaser, and then comes the over driven downward strummed guitars, and then the iconic guitar riff. That’s when you know something fun is about to happen.

What makes Eureka Seven such an iconic show is that it never shied away from using too many mecha and shounen tropes. What with finding your true love inside a mysterious flying machine, and then leaving the person who raised you to travel with people you’ve only read about in magazines, and MAYBE, just maybe saving humanity and the world from total annihilation in the thick of it. It’s just hard not to love everything about it.

PATLABOR [1988 OVA, 1989 Movie, 1993 Movie]

What the Sabukaru team will be talking about here are the 1988 OVA, The Early Days, and the movies that followed it.

Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii's less-talked about work is a slow and steady character-driven mystery/drama with some huge bipedal robots in it. The Patlabor movies can stand on their own, and the 1988 OVA “The Early Days” is not a requirement so to speak. However, watching it would really help in identifying the nuances of each character in the features that came after it.

Please do note, if you are the contemporary mecha fan who lives off of high octane robot fights and care less for the plot, then it may be best to look elsewhere and come back to these gems another time. But, if you like dialogue and less of the adrenaline-fueled action, an amazing score, and appreciate crisp 80s animation, then you’re in for one hell of a ride.

Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still [1992 - 1998]

What is considered as Yasuhiro Imagawa’s [G Gundam] magnum opus is a pastiche of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's works which includes giant robots, magical girls, and ninjas [to name a few], and a cast of characters that look like they came out of an Osamu Tezuka or a Go Nagai manga.

It's the theatrical soundtrack and the operatic final episode that made this such an unforgettable show. An OVA that stood out when OVAs were being churned out from every corner of the then-booming anime industry. The outlandish, and oftentimes all-over-the-place plot while introducing all kinds of characters each episode, is surprisingly not hard to follow. Without a doubt, every mecha fan will love the robot designs here. Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still stands the test of time.

TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN [ 2007]

We don't know... It’s colorful, it's downright outrageous, and yeah well you know...

It's fun in a pierce-the-heavens-little-brother-believe-in-me-that-believes-in-you encouraging quotes ]amongst others] kind of way with that added pizzazz from every character, however major or minor they are.

Ah yes, lest we forget. Gurren Lagann is just pure mayhem, wreaking havoc every episode, but also touching the heartstrings of its viewers from time to time, as well as ripping their heart to shreds. Piqued your interests already? There’s more. It’s got some of the most peculiar robot designs out there: faces for bodies, sunglasses for boomerangs, holographic heads with no bodies, and towering giant robots getting EVEN more gigantic than ever. Oh, they also have pig-moles. Well, what’s stopping you from checking it out, right?

The Sabukaru team can’t stress this enough, but we suggest to you, our faithful readers, to just watch it.

GETTER ROBO ARMAGEDDON [1998-1999]

First of all, big round robots with flowing tattered capes are EXTREMELY cool.

The robot designs, the apocalyptic backdrop, and the big bad quasi-monsters of the week are some of Getter Robo Armageddon’s best features. Sadly, the outstanding stuff it has in those aspects are what lacks in the main story.

This version of Getter Robo, which was helmed by Yasuhiro Imagawa in its first three episodes, is utterly weird, opens in medias res, and might be a tad bit hard to follow for people who are not familiar with its story. Prior events are told in a few flashbacks here and there, but not the whole of it.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and say this was mediocre at best, because what Getter Robo Armageddon lacks in the plot and in its storytelling, it makes up for in the awesome fight scenes and badass characters. This is not one to drop because of the few mishaps mentioned above, because if you do so, you will be tremendously missing out on one of the coolest-looking mech this genre has ever seen.

THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE [1996]

No OP protagonists from the get-go, it’s isekai done right before isekai became a thing, but with robots and dragons and you guessed it, more robots. And dragons. Robot dragons. And a terrific romance subplot to boot.

Showing in Animax back in the early 2000s, The Vision of Escaflowne might have been one of the few mecha anime in everyone’s formative years, along with Gundam Seed and the early Zoids shows in Cartoon Network.

Escaflowne had lots of flying, out-of-this-world ships, and magnificent sword-fighting done so effortlessly by the giant machines and their pilots. Viewers are guaranteed to be on the edge of their seats throughout the whole series. To say the least, the storytelling, and and everything that came with it including the score, the background sceneries, and the characterizations, gave every viewer one unforgettable adventure.

Nothing short of amazing, Escaflowne is just one of those shows that gets one very nostalgic, and reminisces of a time where everything was calmer and brighter much like it.

BOKURANO [2007]

Chairs. A lot of it. Although it may not be a Wassily, Eames, or whatever chair you see plastered on those Instagram moodboards, Bokurano never runs out of them. Well, until you watch it that is.

The show starts off at the beach with the chosen children baffled as to why they were there. They follow a path to a cave, and meet a weird being inside, with high tech stuff to boot. In classic mecha tropes, they soon find themselves inside a robot. One thing to learn from this encounter is to NOT TALK TO STRANGERS. EVER.

On a serious note, Bokurano was actually good. The show went on a different approach with the whole giant-robots-fight-monster-of-the-week trope that everybody loves, much like how Madoka Magica did with the mahou shoujo genre.

To some extent, and for every romance anime geek out there, Bokurano feels like season one of Kyoto Animation’s Clannad, wherein the viewers get introduced to each character and their backstories, but now with robots, and none of the romance.

VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR [2002]

With the successes of Kimi no na wa. [2016] and Weathering With You [2019], we are pretty sure everyone and their mothers have an inkling of who Makoto Shinkai is.

Voices of a Distant Star is one of Shinkai’s early works, but, yes you guessed it right, with robots in it. His signature melodramatic themes are present and still as prominent much like in his later works.

Expect what you’d expect from most of his movies—trains, train tracks, crying, cellphones, more trains, clouds, thoughts of your first love, more clouds, yearning, and even more clouds.

THE BIG O [1999 - 2003]

What do you get when you mix Bruce Wayne, Batman, Alfred, giant robots, androids, post-apocalyptic cities, abandoned underground railways, cone-headed fake mummies, and Spike Spiegel? You get the electrifying, black-on-black-on-black, almost always nonchalant but way over-the-top show that is The Big O.

The Big O just does not feel right to be introduced with an opening that starts with “the show,” just because it’s so over-the-top that it warrants people to say its full title. Such a show only comes a few times, and this is one of those.

The Big O tells the story of Roger Smith, and his menacing robot, The Big O, trapped in a world the past 50 years and before that are forgotten by anyone and everyone around. Got you thinking, right? It’s engaging and fun. To be fair, robot shows will never not be fun, but this one’s just absurd.

The Big O, with its nice story, also comes with its flaws. There are times you’d just scratch your head, and audibly say “what” at your screen. But flaws aside, it does leave you in awe most of the time.

PROMARE [2019]

Now, when people talk about Studio Trigger, oftentimes the anime that gets talked most about are the wildly fun and innuendo-ridden Kill la Kill, the oh-so-full-of-lore Darling in the Franxx, and their own brand of magical girls in the form of Little Witch Academia. Promare was the culmination of all of it. Robots, colourful sceneries, and a bop of an OST.

Promare is flamboyant, loud, has one too many lens flares, and some of the best uses of colors in the medium. We get to meet Galo and Lio, the stars of this enormous feature. They are both from opposite sides of what is supposed to be “good” and “bad” respectively, but the lines between those so-called sides are easily blurred as the movie progresses. Some big names change sides, and a few get stuck in the middle of it all.

EIGHTY SIX[86] - [2021]

In a world where the color of your eyes and hair reign supreme, eight-legged mechs as agile as its organic counterparts, and humans that are only considered as operating systems for said mechs rather than actual human beings, one may think that with these concepts overlapping each other won’t work as a show, but surprise. Eighty-Six makes it work, and it keeps you hooked ‘til the next episode. And the next after it.

Eighty-Six goes outside of the usual mecha tropes, and takes inspiration from real-world problems. Racism and race are often the key elements that drive the story to progress even further—where the powerful stay in power, the bystanders only watch, and the oppressed stay oppressed. It tackles each with such delicate storytelling that it does not feel contrived. As these real-world problems often end in heartbreaks and anger, the same goes in the show. Aside from the robots, there is hope [here and there], and there are people [who you’d least expect] who will stand up for those oppressed by the powerful.

As one of the newer mecha shows in this list, it comes to a surprise that this little show called Eighty-Six has lots of heart, a great story to tell, and deals with a handful of gigantic societal issues camouflaged by its robots. And it’s done so with crisp animation, breathtaking sceneries [episode 10 is such a treat], and some of the most gut-wrenching characters out there.

To someone who prefers the Nirvash and the Blade Liger over the Evas, it comes to a surprise that maybe this was more of a love letter to Neon Genesis Evangelion. No one can deny how influential the show is, but perhaps some are in denial of how good it actually is. With that, a list of surrounding series could help prove how good it really is.

Oftentimes when loneliness creeps in, hopefully the people that identified themselves with the show and its titular cast growing up know that they aren’t alone. With the emotional rollercoaster that it has given its viewers [old and new], and to how it humanised its flawed characters, along with its towering giants, we can all agree that this whole NGE thing is more about growing up than robots, and a lot of moving towards being better than just being.

To Hideaki Anno, how we’ve seen the auteur grow at his rawest form from the original 1995 series to the End of Evangelion, is incomparable. And finally, almost a decade after the third Rebuild of Evangelion movie, we see a significant growth with Thrice Upon a Time—a more mature yet poignant ending to all of Eva; a closure, a goodbye, and an ending well deserved for one gargantuan series.

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About the author: Josh Morente wears t-shirts two sizes larger, worships Masaaki Yuasa and Red Velvet, is currently addicted to Kiko Kostadinov, stans LOONA, loves places that are further than the universe, and occasionally writes through Instagram stories.