Top 10 Anime Mecha Series

Humanity has been exiled to the stars following the destruction of Earth at the hands...uh…tentacles of the Guana. Now hunted to the edge of extinction, the only defence mankind has comes in the form of spear-wielding mechs known as the Gardes.

The action is frantic, each episode is layered with an overwhelming desperation, and you have robots stabbing aliens through their placentas at every glance. What more could you ask for?

When it comes to unhinged anime… GaoGaiGar steals the show. Its got all the tools for an excellent super-robo series; evil organisations, alien threats, giant transformation sequences, and unsurprisingly a looooooot of wanton destruction. But it was the nineties, who’s keeping count? While the story and action more than speak for themselves, the true feather in its cap is that it may quite possibly have the catchiest theme song of all time!

Anyone can make a mecha look badass, but it takes a true artist to give it a true sense of scale, and in that regard the Big O is a true masterpiece.

Tasked with defending the amnesiac-stricken Paradigm City, Roger “The Negotiator” Smith takes all manner of villainous forces with his beast of a machine known as Big O. If you are looking to see Kaiju levels of calamity, then this is the one for you.

While the mecha action often takes a backseat to the immersive and sweet romance between Renton and Eureka, seeing the Nirvash sky-surf and engaging in aerial combat never gets old.

The animation is gorgeous, the characters are extremely likable, and again, giant surfing robot! C’mon. Though don’t expect everything in this series to be ‘gnarly’, it does manage to find a way to tackle some pretty heavy subject matter.

Looking for a short but sweet series that’s jam-packed with content? You’d do well to check out these galactic exploits. While on the surface it looks like your average mecha vs. aliens brawl, you only need to look past the first episode to see there’s so much more. The way the anime handles the unexpected aspect of how every cosmic battle distorts their sense of time soon becomes so moving and upsetting that you’ll soon forget about the damn space bugs.

Take your pick! With a gargantuan franchise with plenty of series and movies under its belt, the Macross name has something for everyone.

Focused around a sprawling spaceship known as Macross, each of these entries tend to deal with a mixture of mecha battles, social issues…love triangles…idol concerts – I’m sorry, what?

There’s plenty of variety with each iteration, some packed with action, others a melting pot for topics ingrained into Japanese culture.

One man’s rebellion against his homeland brought with it all manner of death, despair and giant robots.

After assuming the masked mantle of Zero and taking on the full might of the Britannian Empire, Lelouch Vi Britannia leads the remnants of Japan against his own kin, using the mind-altering power of the Geass. Of course, you can’t win a war without firepower, and in the case of this anime there are plenty of mecha on hand to provide the carnage.

Don’t expect to see many smiles in this series. You’ll find that in-between every battle, Evangelion is loaded with sheer depression. Not only do the likes of Shinji, Asuka and the rest have to stop the threat of the hostile Angel invasion, but also have to deal with hormones, anime’s worst Dad, and more christian symbolism than we know what to do with. Jokes aside, Evangelion is an essential piece in anime history and still regarded as one of the most influential series of all time.

Oppressed by the fearsome Lordgenome and the Beastmen, the last human resistance finds hope in the form of the meek Simon and the epitome of manliness Kamina. Rallying humans together, the newly formed Team Dai-Gurren manage to turn the tide of the conflict. And then things get a little crazy. Gurren Lagann is the ultimate power-crawl anime, starting with small town skirmishes to battles of galactic proportions. Kick reason to the curb and watch this show.



Before we reveal our number one pick, here are a few honourable mentions.



“Full Metal Panic!” (2002)



“The Vision of Escaflowne” (1996)



“Star Driver” (2010-11)

Zeta, Seed, 00, Unicorn, War in the Pocket, The 08th MS Team, Thunderbolt, Iron-Blooded Orphans. Take your pick. This franchise is mecha perfection.

While each have their own lore, you can always count on a Gundam series to tell the tale of war, loss and politics. In-between amazing robot battles of course. Whether you’re a diehard fan of the Universal Century or can’t get enough of seeing Barbatos cleave its way through Gjallerhorn, the daddy of giant robots will not disappoint you.