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(mechanical roar)
(lively pop music)
Now perhaps the only thing Japan loves more
than creating wildly improbable plush costumed mascots
for every town within its borders, are giant robots.
Massive pilotable mechs have long dominated
in the Japanese pop cultural landscape,
as well as the city of Tokyo's actual landscape.
For years there's been a giant Gundam statue
overlooking Tokyo's Odaiba Bay.
Now with Pacific Rim Uprising coming to theaters,
we're getting a celebration of all things
giant robot on the big screen.
And it makes sense.
This movie has anime in it's DNA.
It feels like a live action anime in the best way possible.
But how do you keep that feeling rolling
after the credits roll?
Well, today on The Dan Cave I'm gonna run down some
of the most essential mecha anime that you need to see,
after you see Pacific Rim Uprising.
(mechanical roar)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.
Man, anime has the dumbest names.
All great mecha anime needs at least one of the following:
Machiavelli and geopolitical power struggles,
massive robots doing righteous battle,
and intrusive Pizza Hut product placement.
Well guess what, Code Geass has all three,
in spade!
It's the story of Lelouch, a young exiled
Britannian prince who leads a rebellion
in occupied Japan against imperial Britannian forces.
See, he's mad at his family.
Except unlike other insurgents, Lelouch has
a special power called the Geass which lets him
command an individual to do anything he wants one time,
by making super intense eye contact.
You know, a power that you definitely
wouldn't have used for evil.
Anyway, come for the political intrigue
but stay for the giant robot fights
and then wonder what the hell happened
when you blacken hours later surrounded by
three hundred dollars worth of pizza
with tiny hotdogs on the crust
like vestigial pig tails.
Macross Frontier
Now you might be saying to yourself,
"but, but, but Dan, where's Robotech?"
Well first of all, your voice sucks.
Second of all, the answer is, the real Robotech
is the anime we met along the way,
and one of the shows that made up
that frankensteinian hodgepodge was Macross,
so, watch the original.
There's so many versions of Macross
that it can be a bit daunting at times,
but to paraphrase Richer Eisenbeis' excellent primer
on Kotaku, it boils down to a couple of core elements.
A overwrought love triangle, fighter jets
that turn into giant robots, and some certified jams.
If you're confused about where to start,
I don't blame you, but I would recommend Macross Frontier.
The story of three people; a pop star,
a kabuki actor turned military pilot,
and an aspiring singer with a tragic past.
They were all onboard a human space fleet
that's looking for a habitable planet to colonize
and as you might surmise, hi jinks
and some serious kick ass mecha on alien action ensue.
Full Metal Panic.
You know that one kid in high school who was like,
a little too into military history?
Well this is the anime all about that kid
if he was actually a member of a covert
paramilitary organization devoted
to fighting terrorism all over the globe.
It follows 17 year old, Sousuke Sagara,
who's cast by the organization Mithril,
protecting a Japanese school girl name Kaname Chidori,
who's being targeting by enemy agents due
to her incredible ability to create advanced machinery.
Because, ya know, anime.
The only problem,
apart from people trying to kidnap Kaname,
is that Sousuke is about as well adjusted
as a ferral child.
So navigating high school can prove even trickery
than saving the world.
So if you like your high school comedy
tempered with a heaping helping of giant robots
just kicking the ever loving crap out of one another,
than this is the anime for you.
Gurren Lagann.
Row Row Fight The Powers that be that have kept you
from experiencing the majesty of Gurren Lagann.
Its a show that all about believing in yourself.
Well, actually not quite.
If you quote the show back in it's own words,
"don't believe in yourself, believe in the me
who believes in you."
It's the story of two minors, Simon and Kamina,
who live in an underground village under
the iron-fisted rule of the Spiral King.
All of that changes though, when they unearth
an ancient mech which they used to fend off
the surprise attack by beast men from the surface world
with the help of another surface dweller,
a girl named Yoko.
And together, this trio uses their mechanized might
to fight back against this cruel king
and reclaim mankind's rightful place,
above ground.
Is it the best anime ever made?
Well, no.
But is it an absolute blast full of increasingly
epic robot fights and inspirational speeches?
You bet your Gurren Lag-ass it is baby.
Mobile Police Patlabor: The Movie.
Now six years before he would make Ghost in the Shell,
Oshii Mamoru told a heavy cerebral story
of robots run amuck, murders most foul,
and a race against time to save Tokyo
from total destruction.
Members of the Tokyo police department
second special vehicle section must use
highly advanced robots knows as Labors
to stop these berserk bots before its too late.
While the mech battle in this aren't as flashy
or as over the top as some
of the other entries on this list,
it's grounded mature style of sci-fi story telling
makes it one of the best in the genre.
And the best part, its set in the year 1999
so go ahead and laugh your ass off at how different
our future actually was from Patlabors.
I mean, did they even get to experience
Will Smith's seminal album Willennium?
November 1999?
If not, I mean, this is truly the darkest timeline.
Some serious jams on there.
Gunbuster.
Neon Genesis Evangelion may have been more popular,
but the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno's
also one the greatest mecha anime of all time.
It's kinda like Top Gun in space with giant robots.
Gunbuster tell the story of humans piloting
giant robots known as RX-7 machine weapons
to repel an alien menace from destroying our planet.
And humanity's best hope is Noriko Takaya,
a clumsy teenage girl who only got the job
in the first place because her dad was like,
a famous space admiral, and her polar opposite,
Kazumi Amano, whose about as elite as pilot candidates come,
and is just way better than her in pretty much every way.
Can they overcome their differences to work together
to save humanity, or are we as dead as so many Gooses'
in so many training incidents.
Do they even play space volleyball?
You'll just have to watch to find out.
Giant Robo: The Animation.
The day the earth stood still.
If you put kung fu, wushu, super hero movies,
and massive mechanized combat into a big ass blender,
you would get the wild cocktail that is Giant Robo,
the day the earth stood still.
This original video animation tells the story
of a world that is overly reliant on a single energy source
which inevitably gets threatened by a shadowy cabal
with super powered soldiers hellbent on world domination.
And of course, this naturally leaves it up to
the international police organization to put together
a group called the Experts of Justice.
Consisting of elite warriors, super powered individuals
of their own, and of course a 12 year old boy
who owns an insanely powerful robot
called Giant Robo so they can save the day.
You know, that'll just not,
that 12 year old preteen robocop just not.
Not only is this an awesome anime in it's own right,
but it's also a massive tribute to the works
of Mitsuteru Yokoyama who created the OG Giant Robo manga,
so go ahead and educate yourself and enjoy
the mecha madness that is Giant Robo.
Neon Genesis Evangelion, I mean,
do you really need me to tell you to watch this?
No. You don't, so why don't you make like Shinji
and get in the (beep)ing robot anime
so you can finally understand dank memes like these.
(japanese pop music)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
Now honestly you can pretty much put
any Gundam series on this list
as they're all delightful in their own way,
except for G-Reco but who's counting?
Unlike many of the Gundam series though,
this one takes place primarily on Earth
and pits the Earth Federation against the
Principality of Zeon in a battle for global domination.
With the Zeon forces routed and on the run,
we follow the 08th MS team, a small squadron
of Gundam pilots embarking on a guerrilla mission
to locate a powerful Zeon weapon.
Instead, what they find is an up close and personal look
at the horrors of war as they experience them first hand.
This series gives a gritty unvarnished look at life
on the front lines of a never ending conflict,
and it'll give you sense of the human cost
behind these massive mech battles.
And you know, if you don't like it,
just watch literally any other Gundam series,
except for G-Reco.
Boom, you're welcome.
And those are some of the greatest mecha anime ever made
but tell me, what's your favorite.
What would you add to this list?
Let me know in the comments below
and give me a mechanized thumbs up while you're there.
And also give me a bite of your popcorn
when Pacific Rim Uprising hits theaters on March 23rd.
Now be sure to like and subscribe,
or you might miss next week's episode about
the story of a butler murdering British adventurer,
who teams up with whip totting archeology professor
to beat Nazi's to outer space so they can
break an astroid with Steve Buscemi
in Tomb Raiders of the Lost Armageddon.
Until next time, keep on digging.
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(gentle chiming music)