Gundam Wing
In the heyday of the 90s, anime mecha became a hugely popular genre, and Gundam Wing easily sat on top of the throne. This is the series that catapulted the Gundam franchise to popularity in the west, and it’s gone down as one of the all-time classic anime, not just in the mecha genre.
Gundam Wing takes place in the distant future of Earth, where humanity now resides both on the planet and in massive floating colonies out in space. As with most Gundam stories, the colonies suffer under tyrannical rule from the Earth government, known as the Organization of the Zodiac, or Oz for short.
Five brilliant scientists defect from Oz, secretly train youths to be ace pilots, and send them to Earth in highly advanced mobiles suits called Gundam, in order to fight a guerilla war against Oz.
Although Gundam Wing may not have the same dark themes of Evangelion, it is filled with higher level storytelling. The show is rife with political warfare and ideology, in particular questioning the nature of violence, war, and pacifism.
Each of the five main characters of the show are incredibly troubled and conflicted youths, and they each have their own fleshed out plotlines. If you like mecha in any way, Gundam Wing is one of the kings of the genre, and needs to be watched if you haven’t done so already.
