Mighty Orbots

Akio Sugino is hailed as one of the most prominent animation directors and character designers in the industry, known in Japan as one half of anime's "golden combo" alongside Osamu Dezaki. Their frequent collaborations led to many of the early defining works in the medium, and are iconic masterpieces that have significantly held up over time. Sugino's output was integral to legitimizing anime as an art form and turning itself more distinct from Western animation, evolving and reimagining his Mushi Pro, Tezuka-inspired roots.

Sugino's character art replicates Greek sculptures of the old, appropriating its design philosophy to Japanese animation by paying heed to anatomical correctness. Sugino's characters have imposing presences that are accentuated by their long limbs, broad shoulders, and chiseled facial features. Upon seeing a Sugino-designed character you are immediately given the impression of a walking legend, an almost mythical feeling to their appearance on the screen.

This interest stack tracks down his iconic career and features a selection of his most valuable contributions as a character designer. Works are in chronological order.

Additional Sugino sources:
A 6-part interview that focuses on his career: https://karageko.com/2019/07/14/the-other-half-of-the-golden-combo-akio-sugino-interview-mushi-production-era-part-1/
A shorter interview that also talks about Dezaki: https://karageko.com/2022/02/16/akio-suginos-brief-reflections-on-a-long-career/

Series I hope will get added to future super robot wars games.

I tried to make this list using mostly lesser-known fanservice-free anime. Most of these make the list based on having MAL ratings lower than PG-13 or having clean ratings for no sexual content or nudity on doesthedogdie.com. Some of the selections in the list do have fanservice in the original Japanese version that was omitted for the Western release.

Part 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/30553

Every anime Kenny Lauderdale has reviewed (or at least talked about)!

Shows you may have seen on Western kids' channels but remain unknown and/or underwatched.

Mecha anime that features sentient mecha rather than mecha that act as inanimate oversized armour suits.