Today, countless examples of mechas and robots can be found in Japanese fiction. From the Gundam Whistle Mobile, to the famous anthropomorphic units of the Mazinger Z anime, mecha have an illustrious history in Japanese film and anime. But mecha robots have always been a symbol of something beyond the epic battles we have seen in these media; A symbol of scientific and military ambitions, political propaganda, fears and hopes of humanity for a technological future. Since the early days of this genre, mecha anime creators have used giant robots to explore different stories; Stories of politics, humanity and love. The best mecha anime have revolutionized the landscape of the anime world and influenced storytelling on the platform.
Mecha genre in anime is a popular genre in which many titles are published every year. It has a long history, which we have discussed elsewhere. Among the many titles of Mecca, there are masterpiece animes that have left an important mark on the history of this genre and changed the audience’s view of anime. If you are a big fan of mecha anime, you probably know some of the best mecha anime to enter the world of these giant robots. But if you are new to this genre and you don’t know which animes you should go to first, stay with us as we list the best and most influential Mecca animes.
The best mecha anime for newcomers to the world of humanoid robots
10. Full Metal Panic! (Full Metal Panic)
- Director: Shoji Gato
- Release year: 2002 to 2006
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 7.6 out of 10
If you just want to step into the world of mecha anime and you are not sure if you are comfortable with the presence of robots in your anime, you can “Full Metal Panic!” get started Its first season, made by Gonzo Studio, focuses more on the robots and military side of the story. But in the later seasons, which were created by the Kyoto Animation studio, the comedy of the series prevails over everything else.
The story of “Full Metal Panic!” It is about the seventeen-year-old Sousuke Sagara; A teenager who has only known war and struggle all his life, and because of this, he is confused in normal situations in society and high school. He is assigned by the Mithril organization to protect a Japanese schoolgirl named Kaname Chidori, who has been targeted by enemy agents because of her incredible ability to build advanced machines. Aside from all the bad guys trying to steal Kaname, there’s another big problem. Sousuke struggles with school the most; It may be more difficult than dealing with kidnappers. So, if you like high school anime, this is the anime for you; Of course, a high school anime with a lot of giant robots fighting each other.
9. Mazinger Z
- Director: Tomoharu Katsumata
- Release year: 1972 to 1974
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 7.8 out of 10
In 1972, Go Nagai (the author of manga such as “Duel Man” and “Cutie Honey” in 1973) created a manga called Mazinger Zee. A few months later in the same year, Toei Animation studio made an anime adaptation based on it, in which the main character Koji Kabuto sits behind Mazinger Zee, a robot he inherited from his late (murdered) grandfather.
With the help of his girlfriend and younger brother, Kabuto seeks revenge and sets out to fight the evil Dr. Hell and his mechanical beasts. This anime series was very successful and influential in the seventies and is still considered one of the best and most important anime of Mecca. The impact of this anime was such that since then many sequels, films and products have been made based on it around the world. Unlike previous Mecha anime, where a person controlled the robot from the outside, “Mazinger Z” was the first time that a pilot sat inside the robot and steered it like a car or plane. It was from here that the definition of Mecca genre changed.
8. Giant Robo the Animation: The Day the Earth Stood Still
- Director: Mitsutero Yokoyama, Yasushirou Imagawa
- Release year: 1992 to 1998
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 7.8 out of 10
Amidst the popularity of mecha anime, Toei asked Mitsotro Yokoyama to create a unique manga about giant robots that was to be the basis of a live-action TV series. The result was Giant Robo, a series about a giant humanoid weapon piloted by a twelve-year-old spy detective. The Toei series, which was later re-released and dubbed into English as Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, was a huge success and gained a large following in the West. But it took until the nineties to finally make an anime adaptation based on it.
“Giant Robo” takes place in the far future; When humanity no longer uses oil and nuclear energy and instead uses a new and mysterious source of renewable energy called “Shizuma Drive”; A source that has brought a new era of prosperity and technology. However, the peace of this society is disrupted by the intrigues of a terrorist group; A group called Big Fire wants to subjugate the entire humanity to its evil goals. To combat this threat, the International Police Organization, along with its network of superpowered agents known as “Justice Specialists”, forms a task force to thwart Big Fire’s plans and capture its leaders. Among this elite group is a seemingly ordinary boy named Daisuko Kusama who commands the most powerful fighting robot on the planet, the Giant Robo.
At first glance, the anime “Giant Robo: The Day the World Stood Still” seems like just a rougher and darker adaptation of the seventies manga classic “Giant Robo”. But actually this anime is a huge crossover for the most popular manga and anime of Mitsutsuru Yokoyama. This anime features main and secondary characters from classic works such as “Gigantor” and “Sally the Witch”. Even today, Yokoyama’s influence can be felt in modern anime. His ideas were repeated so much in the anime that they have become normal to us. For this reason, many have forgotten why the “Giant Robo” animation was so important in the nineties.
7. Macross Plus
- Director: Shoji Kawamori, Shinichiro Watanabe
- Release year: 1994 to 1995
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 7.8 out of 10
Makras emerged as a franchise in the early 1980s and was seen as a sleeker, more cheerful counterpart to Mobile Suit Gundam. The “Makras” franchise is very wide and choosing an anime among all its titles is a difficult task. But the 1994 anime “Makras” is the best and most entertaining title for those who just want to start watching mecca anime. This anime is a direct sequel to the original Makras series, which has taken all its features and made them better.
This 4-part anime was jointly created by Shoji Kawamori and Shinichiro Watanabe, the creators of Cowboy Bebop. A major part of the story focuses on the three main characters, who form a classic love triangle between them. This love triangle goes hand in hand with competition and galactic wars. As usual in the Makras franchise, pop music plays an equally important role in this anime as giant robots. Makras Plus’ soundtrack is fantastic and elevates a great anime to the status of one of the best classic mecha anime.
Although “Makras Plus” has a simple story and everything happens around this story line, but most of all, its amazing images remain in our minds, which, in the combination of traditional painting and pioneering CGI of that time, are eye-catching even by today’s standards. Makras Plus is now considered as an example of the best mecha and sci-fi anime of the 90s.
6. Gunbuster (Aim for the Top! Gunbuster)
- Director: Hideaki Anu
- Release year: 1988 to 1989
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 6.8 out of 10
Maybe you know the anime “Neon Genesis Evangelion”; A philosophical anime that is considered one of the best Mecca anime of all time. “Gun Buster” is the directorial debut of Evangelion, Hideaki Anno. You can think of this anime as “Top Gun” in space, where the heroes sit behind giant robots instead of fighter jets.
Anu is known in the anime industry for his innovations, which has shown itself in the kaiju genre in addition to the mecha genre. Although “Gun Buster” among Hideaki Anno’s other animes adheres more to the principles of the genre (here the Mecca genre), it still contains montages of training and training scenes that seem to have come straight out of the 1986 film “Top Gun”. If you want to get to know the Mecha genre properly, “Gun Buster” is one of the best animes of this genre, and it won’t take you much time to watch it in 6 episodes.
“Gun Buster” is about those who pilot giant robots, known as RX-7 Machine Weapons, to stop alien and space threats that want to destroy our planet. Humanity is now pinning its hopes on a clumsy teenage girl named Noriko Takaya, who only became a pilot because her father was a famous military man. His opposite point is Kazumi Amano, who cannot be found better than him in the space pilot world. Can they overcome their differences and work together to save humanity? Do they play space volleyball together? You have to watch to find out!
In the form of a six-episode OVA, Gunbuster combines 80s clichés with the horror of war against a seemingly unstoppable enemy. The success of this OVA led to a sequel called “Diebuster” with a new group of characters and robots that go into battle against hordes of space monsters.
5. Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
- Director: Takeyuki Kanda, Umanosuke Ida
- Release year: 1996 to 1999
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 7.9 out of 10
You can put almost any Gundam anime on this list; Because they all have their own advantages. Unlike most Gundam anime, Team Eight MS takes place mostly on Earth, pitting the Earth Federation against the Zeon principality in a battle for world domination. With the Zeon forces defeated and on the run, the story follows the 8th MS Team, a small squadron of Gundam pilots, as they embark on a guerrilla mission to find Zeon’s most powerful weapon. “Mobile Suit Gundam: Team Eight MS” takes place in the original universe that started this franchise.
Focusing on the team’s guerilla warfare style, “Team Eight MS” tells a Romeo and Juliet-style story in which Shiro Amada from Earth falls in love with Aina Sakhalin from Zeon and complications arise. In what follows, the team encounters the horrors of war up close and gives an unvarnished look at life on the front lines of an endless conflict. Unlike most mecha anime, which focus on the epic and heroic battles of these robots, the anime “Team Eight MS” talks about the human costs behind these robot battles.
4. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion)
- Director: Guru Taniguchi
- Release year: 2006 to 2007
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 8.7 out of 10
“Code Geass” made by “Sunrise” studio – which has produced many mecha anime such as various “Gundam” titles or even the “Pat Leiber” anime – initially draws you in with its character design; But once you see it, you will quickly understand why this anime is considered one of the best Mecca anime. The story of the anime “Code Geass” is steeped in political intrigue, its animation and combat are first-class, and to keep the story interesting between battles, we constantly see changing alliances, betrayals, and paranoia, in the middle of which giant iron robots tear each other to pieces.
This anime follows the story of the exiled Prince Lelouch VI of Britain, who suffers a family tragedy due to the loss of his mother and the resulting physical devastation to his sister Nunnally. Sent to Japan as part of a political plot, the two spend little time in the country before the British capture and destroy it. Lelouch swears revenge on Britannia and its emperor, his father Charles Z Britannia.
After a seven-year time jump, we see Lelouch on his way to revenge, caught in a terrorist attack and saved by a girl named C.C. CC grants Lelouch the power of Geass, also known as the “Power of Kings”; The power that allows Lelouch to bring others under his command with the force of his will. It is from here that Lelouch rebels against his former country with knight-like mechas.
3. Patlabor: The Mobile Police
- Director: Nayuki Yoshinaga
- Release year: 1989 to 1990
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 7.4 out of 10
The story of “PetLiber” started with an OVA directed by Mamoru Oshii. This OVA was released in 1988, right when the popularity of the mecha genre was on the decline. Instead of being a full season long TV anime, PetLiber was made in only six 30-minute episodes to keep production costs down. In another innovation, the early versions of this OVA also had commercials, making it more like a TV anime.
In 1988, “PetLiber” became a huge success. That year, Bandai made a bold decision and instead of producing a television anime, they greenlit a movie anime, which was also directed by Oshii. In a rare occurrence, instead of an anime series spawning a film adaptation, it was the film “Pet Lieber” that led to its television anime in 1990. In other words, OVAs helped the mecha genre return to the television world.
Naoyuki Yoshinaga’s Pet Lieber TV anime was a success even without Oshii’s crazy creative ideas as director. This 47-episode series took the charms of Buddy Cop movies and brought it to the background of Tokyo in the future; A future where robots play an important role.
The story of the anime “PetLiber” takes place between 1998 and 2002, and mechanical units known as “Labors” are used in various parts of daily life, including construction and law enforcement. Law Enforcement Labors, or Patrol Labors, are tasked with tracking down criminals and internal threats to the people of Tokyo and the Metropolitan Police.
2. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
- Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi
- Release year: 2007
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 8.3 out of 10
“Gainax” studio is usually known for anime like “FLCL”, “Gun Buster” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion”. “Goren Lagann” is another of their best animes that brings the special and unique style of “Gainax” to the world of Mecca; An explosion of epic robot battles and inspirational speeches that will make you fall in love with Goren Lagann.
The story of “Goren Lagann” is about two miners, Simon and Kamina, who live in an underground village under the strict rule of the Spiral King. Their lives change when they find an old robot. With the help of another girl named Yoko, they use this robot to fend off surprise attacks by savages from the surface world. These three friends, with the help of the robot’s power, went to fight against the cruel king and want to restore humanity’s rightful place on earth.
The best feature of “Goren Lagann” is that it can advance multiple genres at the same time; From the mecha genre, to super robot, sinen, shounen and several other genres. The ending of the story is insanely high and even in one of the films of the franchise, you will find the biggest mecca of the anime world; A place where planets and galaxies are like marbles.
“Goren Lagann” is one of the best Mecca anime that combines its strange drawing style with an even stranger story; A story whose great energy is transferred to you from the image. Therefore, if you like exaggerated anime like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, you will enjoy Goren Lagann.
1. Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Director: Hideaki Anu
- Release year: 1995 to 1996
- Users score IMDb To the anime: 8.5 out of 10
Earlier, we mentioned Hideaki Anno’s first work, “Gun Buster”, which took the mecha genre to a new direction in the late eighties. The year 2025 coincides with the 30th anniversary of the release of one of the best and most influential mecha anime in history, namely “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, which once again changed the mecha genre, and basically the anime world as a whole.
“Englion” is not considered a revolution in the anime industry for no reason. By the mid-nineties, anime, particularly the mecha genre, had experienced a significant slump, and creative ideas seemed to have dried up. But “Neon Genesis Evangelion” not only revived anime in the period of creative stagnation, but with its philosophical and psychological story, also for a TV series, it once again showed the power of media such as anime.
In Neon Genesis Evangelion, Hideaki Anno combines a complex and surreal psychological drama with the mecha genre, depicting a dark, apocalyptic world where children sit behind giant mechas called Eva. One of these kids is Shinji Ikari, who is struggling with depression and sending him to the battlefield doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Even though it’s been 30 years since Neon Genesis Evangelion first aired, this anime has not only aged well, but as a classic, it’s a must-see for any anime fan, not just those who love the mecha genre. The series is important for its cultural significance and story substrata, and since its airing, it has become so popular that it has become a franchise. The Evangelion films that followed the original anime not only overshadowed the 1990s series, they helped expand the Evangelion universe. While respecting the loyalty of old fans, these films introduce this dystopian world and mecha genre to a new generation of anime fans.
Source: Digikala Mag and Nerdist
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