cross-posted from: https://ani.social/post/5022680

Please suggest some Gundam-like shows to watch

Hi all, I came back to anime after a long hiatus thanks to Witch from Mercury.

Since then, I’ve watched a bunch of anime - including many masterpieces - but nothing could scratch that itch like a Gundam series could.

So now I’m look for more Gundam shows to watch.

It doesn’t have to be Gundam exactly (or even anime!). As long as it shares the main features, I would consider it to be Gundam.

From what I observed, the following themes are essential to Gundam series:

War - To be specific, it shows how war is bad, and that nobody truly wins in a war.

Child soldiers - Usually forced to fight, or manipulated into fighting (by people who would usually get revealed to be the real villains later).

Politics - What started the war, or kept the war going. The politicians tend to be the ones manipulating others.

“Mecha” - I am using the term mecha loosely here, because it doesn’t really have to be a robot that’s piloted. It can simply be some kind of enhancement or weapon of war, or something symbolic.

Tragedy - In war, people are obviously going to die. Personally I would prefer if the main cast gets a happy ending though.

Discrimination - It can be discrimination over race, class, etc.

Other themes that I have noticed are common but not really essential include:

romance subplot - Looks like in war, love gives people hope, as well as the drive to keep on living.

dystopian setting - It could be the lasting effect of previous wars, or the consequences of politics.

Finally, these are not really themes, but I’ve noticed these trends:

  • there’s usually an ensemble cast
  • the protagonist’s team tend to switch sides in the later stage of the show to fight against the true villains
  • the mechas would progressively get upgraded over the course of the show

To avoid overlaps, here are the Gundam-like series that I have watched / plan to watch.

Watched:

Planning to watch (based on hearsay about their similarity to Gundam):

Thanks in advance for the recommendations.