With anime, it feels like every decade seems to focus on a specific genre more than others. In the 2010s it was isekai fantasy, in the 2000’s it was slice of life, in the 1990s it was action series. But in the 80’s, giant robots was the order of the decade. It wasn’t just that Gundam was coming to its own as a juggernaut in the anime industry, but we got other well-known series like Macross as well.
And while most fans by now have seen both of those, there’s still a ton of mecha series from the ’80s that were great that nobody talks about these days. Fortunately, this list exists to run down all those series, turning any novice pilot into a true ace.
10 TRANSFORMERS MASTERFORCE
Transformers of course is one of the most well-known mecha series of all time, but typically people just think of the Generation One cartoon before immediately thinking of Beast Wars and everything afterward. But Transformers maintained it’s popularity in Japan as well, and in 1988 they aired the second of their Japanese-exclusive series in Masterforce.
Masterforce continued the idea behind the Headmasters, in that many of the Autobots in this series are children and young adults who possess the power to turn into Transformers themselves.
9 ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS
Introduced in April 1983, VOTOMS is a sci-fi series following the story of Chirico Cuvie. Chirico finds himself on the wrong side of an intergalactic war after being betrayed by his own people. Though he manages to escape, all this does is put eyes on him from both sides of the war, leaving him on the run and attempting to discover why his own military betrayed him in the first place.
VOTOMS is a series more people know about than most, but it still flies under the radar when it comes to popular mecha series. Despite this, it has received films and OVAs since the original series finished in the ’80s, with several airing in the last decade.
8 SPT LAYZNER
First airing in the fall of 1985, SPT Layzner takes place roughly ten years into its own future in the year 1996. It’s a unique world where the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Russia never ended but carried on even as the superpowers went into space.
However, even as the tensions between the two nations continue to boil, things take a sharp turn as suddenly the alien race known as the Grados arrive in an attempt to conquer and subjugate the planet. The only hope for humanity lies in Eiji Asuka, a half-human, half-Gradosian man piloting the mecha known as the Layzner.
7 GENESIS CLIMBER MOSPEADA
Premiering in October 1983, people tend to remember Mospeada as part of “Robotech: The New Generation”, but originally the series had nothing to do with Macross at all. Instead, the series involves an Earth in 2050 after an alien race known as the Invid invade, completely defeating humanity with their superior technology.
Despite humanity’s militaries’ multiple attempts to fight back—even using forces from a colony on Mars—all attempts are futile. Mospeada chooses to focus on a small resistance’s desperate attempts to get the Invid to leave Earth before they doom both races.
6 HEAVY METAL L-GAIM
Created in 1984, L-Gaim is one of the series Yoshiyuki Tomino created between Gundam series. L-Gaim tells the story of Daba Myroad, a young prince over the Yaman Clan of the planet Mizum. Mizum, much like every other planet in the solar system, was taken over by the immortal Poseidal and his Temple Knights, years ago.
But Daba refuses to see his clan go quietly, and takes the L-Gaim, a suit he inherited, into battle while leading a force from the other five planets against the Temple Knights and their leader.
5 SUPER DIMENSION CAVALRY SOUTHERN CROSS
Originally known as Robotech: The Masters Saga, it’s unsurprising that Southern Cross is much better when it isn’t being forcibly molded into a different series’ canon. First airing in 1984, Southern Cross starts in the year 2120, when humanity has long left Earth and reached planets outside our solar system.
After successfully terraforming the planet Glorie, humanity is suddenly set at war when the original natives of Glorie, the Zor, return. At the center of this conflict is Jeanne Francaix, leader of the 15th squadron, who often leads with her heart rather than following the rules. Probably most unique about the series is how it not only works for mecha fans, but armor geeks as well, as each character has specialized armor to help them outside of their robots.
4 AURA BATTLER DUNBINE
Another Tomino classic, Dunbine began in February 1983 and is an adaptation of The Wings of Rean novel. It follows Shou Zama after he gets summoned to the fantasy world of Byston Well.
Byston Well uses people like Shou to pilot Aura Battlers, and Shou is indeed asked to do so by lord Drake Luft. But when Shou discovers Drake’s aims aren’t benevolent, he winds up betraying Drake and becoming a member of the Resistance. Aside from some of the worst names in anime history, the series is still known for its beautiful mecha design and gorgeous battle scenes.
3 FIVE STAR STORIES
The only film on this list, Five Star Stories premiered in March of 1988, and is a very loose adaptation of Mamoru Nagano’s mecha/space fantasy series that’s been running since 1986 and is still running to this day. Featuring beautiful 80’s style animation courtesy of Sunrise, Five Star Stories follows Ladios Sopp, the pseudonym of the god of light, Amaterasu.
Amaterasu is destined to become the emperor of the Joker Star System the story takes place in, and Five Star Stories covers his Ladios’ story after he’s moved to rescue the Fatimas (humanoid androids) known as Lachesis and Clotho. One of the most detailed, dense manga ever created, the Five Star Stories film serves as a decent introduction to the wider universe fans can explore afterward.
2 METAL ARMOR DRAGONAR
One of the youngest series on this list, Dragonar began in February 1987, which works in its favor as it’s animation is more akin to the more complex look of 90’s series than the simplified 80’s designs. The series begins in the 2080s, with the Earth Federation forces at war with the Lunar Empire Giganos.
A trio of teenagers get dragged into the war thanks to finding some experimental weapons known as Dragonars. It’s very reminiscent of the plot of the original Gundam, but aside from having a far sweeter opening theme, it also isn’t afraid to delve into romance a bit more and offer a bit more focus onto it’s supporting cast.
1 SPACE RUNAWAY IDEON
Space Runaway Ideon kicks the decade off right, premiering in May of 1980. The series is another of Yoshiyuki Tomino’s series that he worked on before Gundam truly took off, and might be one of the most legendary because of it’s sequel movie’s “shock” ending, cementing his “Kill ‘Em All” rep once and for all. But even in the main series, Ideon pulls zero punches—when some colonist humans meet the alien “Buff Clan,” it gets incredibly dicey really fast.
The colonists manage to find the Ideon and the Solo Ship, which helps them escape from the Buff Clan...but escaping is harder than it seems. The Ideon’s weaponry and the Buff Clan’s savagery cause deaths to escalate on both sides, really driving home the idea that in this universe, no one is safe.