While Eva is famous as a deconstruction of Super Robot shows, its protagonist also resembles that of Mobile Suit Gundam's. Both MCs are "whiny", hate their fathers, and are forced to accept their responsibilities as mech pilots. Also, their early fighting is clumsy but they start pulling off awesome moments.
Mobile Suit Gundam is the principal predecessor to evangleion by a long shot. It's all about the WWII relevance, the pilot's tale, and the walls of our hearts. Though I consider eva to be the masterwork of modern anime. Mobile suit gundam and in fact all of the Universal Century gundam franchise is what made my childhood meaningful.
Both NGE and MSG explore not just the basics of mecha combat but branch off into the psyches of the protagonists as they learn to come to grips with not only the situation they are in but also the actions they have taken. This avoids the average caricature of them needlessly blasting their way through the series mercilessly (Which they do anyway) but develops them as characters throughout the series due to the events as any teenager in their situations would.
It is clear that Mobile Suit Gundam was a powerful influence on Evangelion. Both were ahead of their time and set a standard for future mecha in their respective eras, Gundam with a more realistic take on warfare rather than super robots, and Evangelion with more character focused drama.
Both main characters are one of the few remaining people who can pilot said series' mech, but are young and not mentally prepared for war and death, so they go through a struggle of handling it psychologically. A must watch especially if you care about what made mecha in to what it is today, as they are landmark pieces of their specific time periods. read more
Gundam is one of the main inspirations behind Evangelion, and as such, both anime share many similarities. Both anime focus on teenagers forced to pilot robots and fight in a war, as well as the mental strain this puts on them. Loss, grief and depression are key themes treated in both anime.
If you have started to see mecha animes by Evangelion and like it, I recommend that you see the first Mobile Suit Gundam (or the 3 films that compile the story). Through the MSG you will see many fundamental pillars for the mecha anime that came later, especially Evangelion (This you will understand in the final stretch of MGS)
Though Votoms is aimed at a more mature audience then Gundam, both are about civilizations that have been at war for many years and are now looking to further evolve humans in order to gain the upper hand. Whether they call them Newtypes (Mobile Suit Gundam) or Perfect Soldiers (Soukou Kihei Votoms), both series present characters who have a naturally or genetically enhanced battle potential compared to normal humans. They have heightened senses and are thus feared on the battlefield by other pilots.
Both series are very character driven and have a lot of development for especially the protagonists.
Yoshiyuki Tomino and Ryosuke Takahashi are two of the greatest exponents of the realistic robotic genre.
It changes the conception of the mecha, no longer a divine machine but normal combat machines used by men.
It also loses the concept of antagonist in favor of a more complex definition of war that overwhelms people forced to kill for institutional duty.
More mature themes are introduced.
Classic Sunrise mecha anime and prime examples of the real robot subgenre. Both anime deal with more mature aspects of war, and have somewhat similar transhumanist ideas (Newtypes & Perfect Soldiers).
Code Geass main character ( Lelouch ) and Mobile Suit Gundam main antagonist ( Char Aznable ) are a lot alike, they both fight for getting revenge, they're intelligent and make good strategies, and they have little sisters to fight for.
Absolute masterpieces of the mecha genre. Of course they both have so much more to offer, but if you enjoy giant fighting robots, these would be a good watch.
Code Geass is one of those animes that struggles to find anything of similar quality to it simply because of how good it is. This is where Mobile Suit Gundam 00 comes in.
Both shows have-
-A strong protaganist who seeks to eradicate war and create a safe world
-A broken and warring world in the future which will lead to its own destruction
-More than one main antagonist often up to 3 or 4 all of whom you will despise
-A strong questioning of ethics and what is right and wrong
-Almost no filler episodes
-Antagonists who may change sides to help the protagonists
-A huge amount of emotion between characters and the losses they endure
-A story that involves a massive amount of emotion, twists and turns, and character development in a very short amount of time
-An incredible song that forms the very basis of each protagonists troubles and goals "Tomorrow-Marina Ismail and the children singing" and "Yuukyou Seishunka-Ali Project(The first ending song)"
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Both anime are set in a far future in which humanity has colonized space, and both focus on an intergalactic war between two sides with opposing ideologies. Apart from plot similarities, there's also a huge similarity between two of the main characters in both anime, Char Aznable and Reinhard von Lohengramm, as they both have similar personalities, backgrounds, and motivations.
Both anime are centered on intergalactic warfare.
When humanity has travelled out to space and explored and civilized space,
humanity suddenly splits. Republicans vs an Empire.
When both fractions meet in space the soldiers realize that they are fighting for the same values but both live in a different fraction and have to overcome their ideals that strive them and need to fight to protect the people they love.
Love, war and politics are the themes of both anime.
These are the Star Wars of anime.
Fang of the Sun Dougram has a handful of parallels to the original Mobile Suit Gundam series but in return, the execution and storytelling is tighter, more detailed, and more mature. Not to say Gundam is bad! But if you want a real Gundam for adults? Dougram is it. Classic Ryosuke Takahashi rocks.
There are several similarities between Mobile Suit Gundam and Fang of the Sun Dougram. Both series are set during a war between Earth and its colonies, where one side is fighting for control and the other independence; both have an extremely likable cast; and both involve a prototype mech that's more advance than its predecessors. However, Dougram focuses more on politics and battle tactics than Mobile Suit Gundam, and it also follows a small group of rebels fighting for independence, rather than members of Earth military. Both are essential viewing for any mecha fan.
Aldnoah copies so much from Gundam that it may as well be Gundam.
Humanity has been broken up into two factions: one on Earth (and colonies, in Gundam), the other in space (and Mars, in Aldnoah). The half of humanity living in space consider themselves superior to the 'inferior' Earthlings to the extent they think of them as a subspecies. They're basically space Nazis fond of red uniforms.
War starts as a temporary peace gets shattered and a young male / school kid finds himself in the middle of it from the get-go. Through a set of circumstances, the respective leads end up fighting for their lives whilst on the run from pursuers aboard a military vessel; trying to get to safety.
...see what I mean about the 'similarities'?
The main difference is that there's no Gundam in Aldnoah... yet. In Gundam series there's always some new, EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY robot that an inexperienced-heroic lead finds himself piloting. In Aldnoah the lead is a Gary Stu: always knowing what to do and how to do it; defeating veteran enemy commanders in an inferior training robot when no-one else can / everyone else dies. Only the space Nazis have super robots. Going for intelligence over an overpowered machine is fine... just not when there's no way a school kid should know or be able to do so much. THE MILITARY HAS YET TO DESTROY ONE ENEMY! A tad unfair for a war...
The biggest problem Aldnoah has is its length. 12 episodes only leaves room for lots of action. The space Nazis may as well just be EVIL cackling villains, with a 1ep u-turn 'stop the war... no, on second thought, kill them all!' leader. There's no time for their development. Its a 'mecha battle of the week' series, with little in the way of anything else and utterly derivative... until the predictably twisty late twist.read more
Aldnoah copies so much from Gundam that it may as well be Gundam.
Humanity has been broken up into two factions: one on Earth (and colonies, in Gundam), the other in space (and Mars, in Aldnoah). The half of humanity living in space consider themselves superior to the 'inferior' Earthlings to the extent they think of them as a subspecies. They're basically space Nazis fond of red uniforms.
War starts as a temporary peace gets shattered and a young male / school kid finds himself in the middle of it from the get-go. Through a set of circumstances, the respective leads end up fighting for their lives whilst on the run from pursuers aboard a military vessel; trying to get to safety.
...see what I mean about the 'similarities'?
The main difference is that there's no Gundam in Aldnoah... yet. In Gundam series there's always some new, EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY robot that an inexperienced-heroic lead finds himself piloting. In Aldnoah the lead is a Gary Stu: always knowing what to do and how to do it; defeating veteran enemy commanders in an inferior training robot when no-one else can / everyone else dies. Only the space Nazis have super robots. Going for intelligence over an overpowered machine is fine... just not when there's no way a school kid should know or be able to do so much. THE MILITARY HAS YET TO DESTROY ONE ENEMY! A tad unfair for a war...
The biggest problem Aldnoah has is its length. 12 episodes only leaves room for lots of action. The space Nazis may as well just be EVIL cackling villains, with a 1ep u-turn 'stop the war... no, on second thought, kill them all!' leader. There's no time for their development. Its a 'mecha battle of the week' series, with little in the way of anything else and utterly derivative... until the predictably twisty late twist.read more
Mazinger Z and Mobile Suit Gundam are both one of the oldest and greatest Mecha/Super Robot anime's there is, both of these classics involve teens dragged into piloting a giant robot to fight other giant robots. Both Amuro and Kouji are apart of the Super Robot pilots "holy trinity" (which was started by Super Robot Taisen).
If you're into mecha and you want to dvelve into the history of the genre, you definitely shouldn't miss these two series who both played huge part in setting the tropes of the genre. Mazinger Z being the first piloted mecha while Gundam being the fist mecha aiming for more realistic portrayal of the technology.
Same creator, same concept. Densetsu Kyojin Ideon was the series Yoshiyuki Tomino did after Mobile Suite Gundam ended. It has the same setup: Teenage boy is the only one who can pilot the giant mecha. A group of humans are forced to leave their homes and wander space, always on the run from the same bad guys, go through personal stuff, etc. Teenage boy piloting the mecha must protect the group, with assistance from a handful of companions. It's a slightly different take on the character types and relationships, and the Ideon is made up of three separate component vehicles, originally created by some alien civilization.read more
Both animes are from the same creator, and because of that alot of the themes in MSG are present in Ideon as well. There are a few major diferentiations, but both shows are representing the mindset of large crew when facing against insurmountable obstacles, and also these shows are very good representation of the inhumane and uselessly cruel nature of the humankind, when being in a state of war.
These two stories are similar coming of age tales, both featuring boys / young men thrown into a world much larger than anything they are used to. Amuro Ray and Renton also both have brilliant scientist fathers, and while the family dynamics are different, they both become pilots of a very poweful giant robot. They also join a state of the art ship piloted by a ragtag crew. The love interest (Eureka 7 -- Eureka) and (MSGundam -- Lalah, Sayla) is mysterious and holds sway over Amuro / Renton. Although MSG is much older than Eureka Seven (20+ years), the similarities in the main plot elements should provide a similar, but completely unique and enjoyable viewing experience.read more
In one, you have a group of former army goons trying to live a casual life, and in the other, you have a group of untrained civilians struggling to defend themselves against the enemy. However, the chemistry and makeup of the crew members on the Gekko are very similar to the crew on White Base. The growth of Amuro Ray's character in Gundam left a legacy for the mecha genre, and this influence can be seen in the actions and growth of Renton's character throughout Eureka Seven. Fans of Eureka Seven should definitely check out Gundam 0079, and vice versa!
The directors of both shows had worked together on many projects up until this point (Heidi, Haha wo, Akage no Anne). Gundam was created almost as a reaction to Conan, mimicking it in many respects, while still having much to say of it's own.
Both shows have a worldview strongly influenced by their directors, on account of both directors storyboarding almost the entirety of their respective shows. Both shows also have remarkably high quality animation, having some of the best animators of their times push themselves to their absolute limits with uncommon production methods (layouts).
Similar core themes of humanity's self destructive nature, and questioning if that human nature is set in stone, but hugely different approaches. Both are absolute must-watches for anyone interested in Anime's history.read more
If you want to see an anime with a striking resemblance to Mobile Suit Gundam's story formula but with good humor and light hearted atmosphere, then give this a try.
What these two have in common:
-Protagonists suffering from PTSD fight at a young age wounds up in a conflict that entails terrorism involving youth.
-Masked characters with red scheme follows their father's will in a terrorist organization with the resolve to revolt against what they stand for.
-Gets darker and ends in a depressing fashion.
Both shows tackle the humankind's struggle to understand whether the wars are the absolute evil, or the necessery good. Also both shows explore in depth the character's motivation to struggle and to fight.
Both shows display well the hardships and the personal struggles of those, forced into participating, and also both shows tackle the political moves of the factions, as well as a good portrayal of a moral greyness and ambiguity of the characters. Gundam of course, over countless decades has fleshed out in all of it's sequels and spinoffs or reimaginings all of these topics, while Break Blade has only 6 lenghty episodes to do this, which makes it impossible to be compared, but even so, both shows in it's core share similar tone, and themes.
If Mobile Suit Gundam is "Military Unit Fights to Survive With the Help of a Big White Robot Amidst a War Stalemate in Space," then Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen is "Military Unit Fights to Survive With the Help of a Big White Robot Amidst a War Stalemate on Earth." (Although I suppose Argevollen might actually be silver considering the title of the show, but I digress.) I personally think both shows strike a good balance between mecha action and the struggles of war both on the battlefield and behind the scenes in the government quite well. Alongside this, the dynamic between the protagonist and one of the antagonists is quite similar (Amuro and Char from Gundam and Tokimune and Richthofen from Argevollen) where a rookie pilot who is thrust the responsibility of using a state-of-the-art mech clashes with an ace pilot from the opposing military whose experience surpasses the need to rely on a machine with the best current technology.read more
Both are about war and how it impacts peoples lives, they're also both aimed at a similar audience and have a young main character. Tomino also stated that the idea of the White Base was directly inspired by Yamato.
I'm surprised no one has made this incredibly obvious comparison. Well yes, SEED is pretty much a modern remake of 0079. More so than any other AU Gundam series out there.
There are Federation forces for both SEED and 0079 that both lack mobile suits in the beginning. Kira is a schoolboy who finds himself piloting the Gundam to protect his friends just like Amuro. Kira's Strike Gundam looks almost exactly like Amuro's Gundam. Kira works with a space plane pilot named Mwu just like how Amuro worked with two space plane pilots, Ryu and Sleggar. Kira protects a white spaceship called the Archangel which looks just like Amuro's spaceship the White Base/Trojan Horse. Both shows have a red mobile suit rival, Athrun and Char for SEED and 0079 respectively. SEED's Rau Le Creuset is a masked villain like Char. There's a sibling connection reveal for both shows. Kira develops SEED mode like how Amuro develops his Newtype powers. SEED's mobile suit designs look like 0079's mobile suit designs. There's so many more comparisons between the two but I'll leave it at that. Go watch 0079, it's a better SEED. Or rather, SEED is an inferior 0079. read more
If you liked Buddy Complex can't go wrong with an older mecha series. Sometimes older series lose interest of a younger fan base because of animation style and the time period of the writing. Still worth a watch.
Both have a similar beginning. In first episode, both protagonist find your "weapon" to fight (Gundam for Amuro, Pegasus Armor for Seiya). Also, they share some voice cast. The protagonists Amuro and Seiya are dubbed by Furuya Toru and Hirotaka Suzuoki dubbed Bright Noa and Shiryu.
For Gundam fans: If you've ever wanted a comedy anime that shamelessly panders to fans of Gundam, especially U.C. Gundam series, Keroro is the series for you. From Keroro cosplaying as Char to Keroro piloting a 1:1 scale RX-78-2 Gunpla in the third movie, there are plenty of amusing references to the franchise throughout the series.
For Keroro fans: If you've ever wondered why it is that Keroro is so obsessed with Gundam, viewing either the original Mobile Suit Gundam series or movie trilogy is a great way to find out. After all, what kind of Keroro fan doesn't know the difference between a Zaku and a GM?read more
While Crest of the Stars is less recognizable than Mobile Suit Gundam, both franchises are must watch franchises for space epics. Crest of the Stars is closer to a space opera whereas Mobile Suit Gundam is closer to a military science fiction in space. The cause of their conflicts are different, which creates different themes. War and politics are still at the forefront of the series.
Precure is basically the shoujo version of Gundam (or vice versa) - gigantic franchises with numerous spin-offs/alternative versions that both started as one series with the idea to sell toys to younger audiences, but went on to become more and acquire quite large franchises. Both could be said to feature episodical fights against various foes (showcased for the forementioned toys), the action sequences still being entertaining.
In a futuristic world, people have colonized space, yet some still live on Earth. Control of the human settlements is split between two major powers. Our story centers around a shonen living in a small, independent space colony. When it comes under attack by one of the powers, he hops into the nearest mech, which happens to be a superweapon, and proceeds to take the fight the invaders. Both series feature a supernatural power which is downplayed initially, newtypes in Gundam and vampirism in Valvrave.
The main difference is that Gundam is a more military-focused anime about defeating the invading nation, while Valvrave is about preserving their own colony and spends the downtime focusing on slice of life elements. read more
While Blade technically doesn't have mecha, it plays out like a typical Gundam series in that it focuses on a heavy plot, fleshing out characters, and explosive action sequences.
