All of these other Gundam answers are great. But…

open to non-Gundam Mecha suggestions

Alright, since you wrote this, I am taking that as permission to advocate for one of my favorite shows from last year that was largely slept on in the West, Brave Bang Bravern!.

It is a comedic take on the mecha/super robot genre and parodies it in many ways (the super robot even builds gunpla of himself at one point). However, despite all the comedy, it is still incredibly tragic and heartfelt. Most of humanity is dead by the end of episode 1 for instance.

I think that Bravern is like other great parodies of our time (Galaxy Quest, Spinal Tap, etc.) in that it is sometimes through parody that you find the best in a genre.

Honestly the universal century timeline is overall pretty great. There’s a few still during the 1 year war (0079): 08th ms team, thunderbolt, a few newer ones and also a couple pre 0079 following chars backstory and some fun cgi dealing with the tech crunch moving toward the one year war.

Then after those you have War in a Pocket immediately after the war (0080), stardust memory (0083), zeta, double zeta, chars counter attack, f91… then victory (not my favorite, overall not a bad story but oof it isn’t easy to get past the beginning), then unicorn. Sadly forget the years on a lot of those, there’s also a Netflix mini series after unicorn I think?

Outside the UC timeline Iron Blooded Orphans, Afterwar Gundam X, G Gundam (its silly fun, like WWE crossed with Gundam), 00, Gundam Wing are all fun.

Non Gundam mecha I’ve thoroughly enjoyed? Neon genesis Evangelion, Big O, martian successor nadessico, macross (another long haul series you can lose yourself in), just about any Mazinger, aldnoah zero… there’s quite a few more but I’m sitting at the bar and can’t even just glance over my dad’s muchless traverse my watch lists lol. Enjoy your trek through a fun side genre

Generally, I recommend to watch in release order the first time through. Try to get through the core UC (First/Zeta/ZZ/Char’s Counterattack) before tackling side stories or alternate universes. It sets up the backdrop from which everything else is built off of. Not required, just the recommendation of a fanboy.

Much more in depth discussion here:

https://slrpnk.net/comment/13125275

08th MS Team -

War In The Pocket -

Thunderbolt -

All take place during the during the “One Year War” and all three are fantastic. Thunderbolt, at least the first movie is probably my personal favorite Gundam.

P.S. You could also watch “Cucuruz Doan’s Island” which is based on the “lost episode” of the original show if you just enjoyed the characters.

If you’re looking for a serious story, Iron-Blooded Orphans is really good. It’s not quite as bleak as the title makes it sound.

On the other hand, if you want something a bit more light-hearted I highly recommend Mobile Fighter G Gundam. It’s just fun, and it has most of my favorite mobile suit designs in all of Gundam.

What would you recommend I check out next?

Gundam anime tend to be pretty good, so perhaps just read their synopses and pick the one that interests you the most

I loved Witch from Mercury

Also open to non-Gundam Mecha suggestions, I started The 86 and enjoyed the premise.

This thread has some amazing recommendations. I have compiled a list based on the responses in the thread as well as shows I’ve discovered.

A significant number of my favourite “Gundam” series are not Gundam. Here are some of them:

• 86 - You’ve already picked it up
• Lycoris Recoil - Most similar to Witch from Mercury IMO; no mech
• Vinland Saga - Besides war, slavery is another major theme; no mech
• Attack on Titan - It’s as Gundam as it gets