Ranked #1598

Armor Hunter Mellowlink

For any fan of Ryosuke Takahashi's Armored Trooper Votoms franchise, you'll feel right at home with this series. It's set in the same world, and Chirico even makes a short cameo as well, though their paths never really intertwine.

As a revenge tale, you shouldn't expect anything profound from the plot. Simplicity is the name of the game here, so the setup is fairly obvious...you get pieces of info along Mellowlink's journey that unveil why he's hunting down these high-ranked officers.

The main draw of the show, IMO, is the clever, tactical ways in which Mellow dispatches his enemies. Whether it's using misdirection ploys or baiting pursuers into a trap of mines, he's always got some scheme going on to get the upper-hand. And seeing how he's just a lone man against giant mechas most of the time, it's absolutely essential he turns the battle into a match of wits rather than outright strength. Some of its episodes are better than others at depicting this, but overall, the action here engrosses with its gritty guerrilla warfare...a stark contrast to other mecha anime like Gurren Lagann and recent Gundam shows.

Concerning the animation, I think it's important to point out it was made back in the late '80s. As a bit of an old-school fan myself, I don't mind it at all, but younger anime fans accustomed to shiny CGI and sparkly colors may be put off by the gritty, earthy look of the show. read more