The Least Scientifically Accurate Mecha Anime (That Are Still Great) – CBR – Comic Book Resources

There are many great mecha anime, as it is one of the oldest subgenres in anime, but its history also means that there is a great variety within the subgenre. As might be obvious, many of these are nowhere near scientifically accurate, but they don't let realism get in the way of telling a good story.

These anime take their mecha action to the next level, dwarfing everything else in their scale or incorporating magical or mystical superpowers. From wars against alien empires to giant combining robots, these anime might not be the most realistic, but they are most certainly excellent.

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This '80s OVA is much different from the satirical, nonsensical version of the Starship Troopers film. Far more accurate to the original novel's vision of the Mobile Infantry as a mechanized force capable of incredible destruction, it turns the Mobile Infantry from cannon fodder into killing machines.

The sheer power of the Mobile Infantry defies belief, able to wield small-scale nuclear weapons, and with armor so powerful it cannot be damaged by anything short of an anti-tank explosive round and grants them extreme speed and flight. This kind of technology is pure fantasy, but it makes for great action and a surprisingly good adaptation of Heinlein's novel.

Although there are some elements of Knights of Sidonia that are surprisingly scientifically accurate for a mecha anime, these are not consistent throughout the series. While the destructive effects of the gravity shift caused by activating the massive colony ship's engines are scarily realistic, these rules are not applied equally across the series.

If the sudden shift in momentum caused such destruction to the Sidonia, then the pilots of the Gardes should be squished like bugs with how they maneuver in space. Furthermore, the Guana, the massive alien lifeforms that have reduced humanity to a nomadic life in the stars, defy all laws of biology. Luckily, the show's action is more than enough to distract from these contradictions.

Voltron is one of the most famous mecha franchises, and it was one of the first to achieve widespread fame in the Western world. Drawing inspiration from Super Sentai, the show focuses on a team of young teens who each control a giant robotic lion, which combine to form the mighty Voltron.

The Netflix reboot of the classic series has been incredibly well-received and praised for its action sequences and character development. With much of the technology powered by magic and quintessence, it's far from accurate, but with a story compelling enough to make the audience forget about concerns of realism.

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The world of Eureka Seven is a strange one 10,000 years into the future, humanity has been forced to abandon Earth after it was terraformed by the strange sentient species known as Scub Coral, which, through its sheer mass, produces huge amounts of psychic energy known as Trapars. Humanity has learned to harness this new source of energy, using it to power liftboards, which their mechas ride on through the air like a surfer.

Eureka Seven is quite a unique style of mecha, and while the need for harnessing an external power source is more realistic than most mecha anime, the fact that this power source is a form of psychic energy is totally out of left field. Nonetheless, the romance, action, and character drama are the draw of this fantastic anime, not its commitment to science.

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Forged from Super Element Z, a rare mineral formed of the element Japanium found only in the soil of Mt. Fuji, Mazinger Z was built to combat the evil forces of the German archeologist Dr. Hell, who had rediscovered the power of the ancient Mycne empire and planned to use their giant steel robots to take over the world. Koji Kabuto pilots Mazinger Z after his grandfather, the creator of Mazinger Z and a former colleague of Dr. Hell, is murdered by the half-man, half-woman assassin Baron Ashura.

The word realism doesn't come close to applying to this classic anime, but it doesn't matter. The story is so outlandish that it borders on nonsensical, but then again, the backstory is just meant to explain why there are giant robots fighting each other, which is what the audience came for in the first place. In many ways, this classic series still holds up, but scientific accuracy isn't one of them.

Super Dimension Fortress Macross is a series that has gone by many names over the decades. Its plot follows humanity in its first war with an alien species, the Zentradi, after reverse engineering a mecha they call the SDF-1 Macross from a crashed alien spaceship. Unfortunately, the ship was from an old enemy of the Zentradi, and the alien computer overrides the human control to fire on the Zentradi, beginning a war.

Although a bit more grounded than some of its contemporaries, Super Dimension Fortress Macross is still largely unrealistic, with its depictions of faster-than-light travel, alien life, and space travel itself being especially outdated. However, the story, characters, music, and action more than make up for it, and the drama between and the growth of its characters were why the series became so iconic, not its realism.

Mobile Suit Gundam is a series that is synonymous with and, to many fans, the epitome of the mecha anime subgenre. Iron-Blooded Orphans is one of the most famous modern incarnations of this iconic franchise, and also one of the best, with its themes of war, colonialism, and unflinching portrayal of child soldiers making it into an instant classic.

Iron-Blooded Orphans is actually largely scientifically plausible, but the terraformation of Mars is a bit too advanced, and much of the technology and worldbuilding draws on its more outlandish predecessors in the franchise. This stains what could have been an almost entirely accurate mecha anime, but that won't exactly be on the minds of most viewers, as the story is more than compelling enough to forgive its lack of realism.

Code Geass sees the exiled prince Lelouch Lamperouge using his powers of mind control and his tactical brilliance to help the Japanese resistance earn its freedom from the Empire of Britannia. The mecha of this series, known as Knightmares, are actually somewhat accurate in their depiction, as many rely on treads or tracks to move rather than walking around. However, what really makes this series stand out is Lelouch's Geass.

The Geass is a superpower that Lelouch and a few other humans possess. In Lelouch's case, it allows him to hijack someone's mind and give them a single command that they will not be able to refuse. This could be anything from forgetting that he had been at the scene of a battle to giving him the answers to a test and even to something as dark as suicide. However, the deep lore, tactical battles, character development, and brilliant twists and turns in the story are what made Code Geass into one of the most beloved mecha anime.

Gurren Lagann is anathema to realism or scientific accuracy. In fact, it's often commented on by the characters that what they are doing should be scientifically impossible. The mecha of this series, known as gunmen, are powered by spiral energy, the innate drive for life, hope, and the fighting spirit of all sentient life.

The world itself is also fantastical, populated by hybrid human animals known as beastmen, who serve the Spiral King and oppress the human race, along with a myriad of strange, mutated animals like giant pig moles. But Gurren Lagann is famous and beloved for its nonsensical nature, and many fans take pride in the fact that the show is so completely and unabashedly unrealistic.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion is almost universally considered to be one of the best anime of all time. While it does take some admirable steps to try and justify the Eva's and the Angels scientifically, it's largely futile. While the power sources of the Eva's being limited to only a few minutes, needing to be connected by a power chord for most combat encounters, make them far more realistic than most other mecha, the series is still largely fantastical.

The alien, quasi-religious nature of the Angels and the unique apocalypse that is the Human Instrumentality Project are entirely impossible. But science isn't what Neon Genesis Evangelion is famous for, and viewers are much better off paying attention to the background details of the characters and trying to notice the patterns in the episodes and the behavior of the Angels than trying to justify the show scientifically.

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