Break Blade

Both are Mecha Series. Take place in a world where Mecha are controlled by Magic. Have equally op main characters. A friendship cast of main characters. Unique Mecha's. 

Main Character doesn't want to be a soldier but ends up rising through the ranks of the military. Main character uses unconventional tactics to outwit superior forces. Main character's motives for fighting are forced by women in their lives. Main character is initially an outcast. Both series portray war in a brutal gritty fashion. 

Extremely engaging and good mecha anime, stories and robots united in various explosions and fighting. 

Mechas, explosions, wars and great plots.The characters in both stories are good and you can feel very involved with them. 

Mecha anime that focus on guerilla warfare, and small squadron battles. Both also have hints of romance  

- A world in which almost everyone wins at birth some energy. - Our protagonist was not born with that power to fight. Until it finds its own power , a power so awesome to stop conflicts. 

- The Mecha is activated by the power they have some. - The protagonist uses a Mecha without the need for power. - Two nations in constant conflict . - A nation wants the resources of the other nation and invest in their quality of life . 

You like break blade huh? Then you'll like Escaflowne. These two animes are very similar, especially when it comes to mecha combat and the warring nations feel to it. Escaflowne has a stronger romantic sub plot, but also has a more epic feel to it. The main characters are different, however the overall feel of the animes are similar. Break blade is a great anime in it's own regard, but if you like Break blade, you'll like Escaflowne. It is IMO a better anime 

A single mysterious ancient mecha is found in ruins, which is far superior to every other modern mechs or weaponry, that the main protagonists operates. There's also a minor romance subplot where the main heroine (whom are also queens) has romantic feelings for our male protagonists.  

> Both are about mechas > The MC in both have a special mecha,that can take over the enemies > Both have nations that fight one against the others with the mechas( Athens and Krishina in Broken Blade/Arandas and Ingelmia in Shirogane no Ishi) > Both talk about political aspects and make a reflection about the life 

Both series has a main mecha that was created way before the characters in the story are born. These mechas are both remnants of a previous war many years ago and their combat abilities surpass than the other mechas in their respectful series. However, the mechas function are very different in both the series. The ones in Iron-Blooded Orphans functions through the use of energy and fuel while the ones in Break Blade functions through the use of sorcery with crystals. The main protagonist are also different as the one in the gundam is a child soldier while the one in Break Blade is a farmer. Both series also has royalties that appear to be attracted to the main characters.  read more 

Both MCs have the same issue of being unable to manipulate mana, though the approach to this disability is much different.  

If not for the Break Blade movie series breaking up the content into six parts, I would've made this recommendation far sooner. What links these series is the main characters and the unglorified manner in which they deal with the 'mecha' (technically, neither are mecha shows, with rock/quartz manipulation instead of mechanical control in Break; Rygart aside) genre. Neither lead wants to be a pilot in a 'robot'. In other shows you'd have a young boy that dreamed of piloting a giant war machine, with maybe some harsh lessons learned along the way, but you'd still describe them as heroic. In stark contrast, both Shinji in Eva and Rygart in Break Blade instantly want to escape what is depicted as being a realistically horrible situation. And they both try to leave before finding themselves trying to endure: resulting in mental breakdowns further down the line. Shinji was a student; Rygart was a farmer. Both have personalities that avoid fighting. And they find themselves thrust into kill-or-be-killed situations--expected to act like trained soldiers. In Eva the battles are against alien entities that attack individually, where as in Break Blade it's simply a war between nations, but both take their leads in PTSD directions where everything eventually weighs too much on their shoulders. Rygart is older and doesn't cry or act quite so pathetically (though realistic) as Shinji, but how they deal with their situations is still very similar. In a nutshell, the sheer reluctance to do what other characters in mecha series WANT to do, when paired with the psychological distress, makes these two almost anti-mecha series. Like, the same message WWII anime films such as 'Grave of the Fireflies' and 'Barefoot Gen' carry, but with a different angle: aimed at an anime genre. read more