Summary
- Not all impressive mecha manga receive an anime adaptation due to factors like length and popularity.
- Front Mission: Dog Life & Dog Style follows civilians and military personnel in a conflict between opposing sides.
- Red Eyes tells the story of Captain Mills seeking revenge against his treacherous colleagues in his mecha suit.
Mecha has been part of anime and manga since its earliest days, rising right when space age sci-fi was all the rage during the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, it’s produced a range of iconic series, like Mazinger Z, Mobile Suit Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
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Some started as manga, others got manga adaptations after starting as anime, and many more were left behind in print. Usually because only some of them can be stellar enough to impress a studio to invest in them, but these mecha manga, while lacking an anime, managed to impress readers in print.
6 I'm The Evil Lord Of An Intergalactic Empire!
MyAnimeList Score: 6.98
- Written by Yomu Mishima.
- Illustrated by Kai Nadajima.
- 5+ Volumes, 33+ Chapters.
- Available in English via Seven Seas Entertainment.
Though not as popular as its original light novel, I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire maintains the same premise as its wordier predecessor. In his old life, Liam held onto his scruples and tried to be as responsible as possible. However, the nice guy finished last, as he was betrayed by his wife and died riddled with debt.
Reborn into a royal family ruling a vast galactic empire with his old memories, he decides that being good is for the birds and aims to live only for himself. If others get stomped on in the process, that’s their problem. Not that things work out this way, as each time he attempts to be a tyrant, he ends up producing peace and prosperity instead. In trying to be evil, he ends up doing good. Just his luck.
5 Ad Astra Per Aspera
MyAnimeList Score: 7.09
- Written & Illustrated by Kenjiro Hata.
- 1 Volume, 7 Chapters.
- Fan translations only.
The big issue likely keeping Ad Astra Per Aspera from being animated is that its manga is only one volume and a bit long. It ran for seven months from 2015 to 2016, with one chapter per month, until Hata left it on hiatus. He said he’d continue the series with a "second season" someday, though as of nine years since it began, he hasn’t started on it yet. It’s an ironic fate, given the manga’s first chapter cheekily brings up series stuck on hiatus like Hunter X Hunter.
It takes place on an Earth where humanity was conquered by aliens. They end up solving all of humanity’s problems, so people just live peacefully, albeit with no ambitions. Except Shinobu, a boy bullied for being raised by a robot, who aims to reach the stars despite all hardships. A chance he soon gets when he comes across one of the aliens’ crashed mechs. He finds out the hard way that humans aren't allowed to operate space tech on pain of death, and ends up in a struggle to survive while learning how to pilot his new piece of tech.
4 The Circumstances Leading To A Simple Killer Princess's Marriage Was A Certain Magical Heavy Zashiki Warashi
MyAnimeList Score: 7.13
- Written by Ryu Nishino and Kazuma Kamachi,
- Illustrated by Hajime Fushimachi.
- 2 Volumes, 9 Chapters.
- Fan translations only.
Kazuma Kamachi is famous for his light novels, many of which were adapted into manga and anime, like A Certain Magical Index, Heavy Object, and The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village. So, what happens when they’re all combined with his other work, The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute’s Marriage? They get The Circumstances Leading to a Simple Killer Princess's Marriage Was A Certain Magical Heavy Zashiki Warashi.
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The original light novel was made as a tenth anniversary special of Kamachi’s work, where the mechs of Heavy Object meet Index’s Touma, A Simple’s Anzai, Killer Princess’ Satsuki, and the Intellectual Village’s Zashiki Warashi (basically a ghost girl) in Waltraute’s universe. It was popular enough to get a manga adaptation and an animated trailer, though it hasn’t received the full anime treatment.
3 Front Mission: Dog Life & Dog Style
MyAnimeList Score: 7.32
- Written by Yasuo Ootagaki.
- Illustrated by C.H Line.
- 10 Volumes, 86 Chapters.
- Fan translations only.
Based on the cult classic tactical RPGs by Square Enix, Front Mission: Dog Life & Dog Style takes place on Huffman Island, a land split between opposing sides: the United States of the New Continent (USN) and the Oceania Cooperative Union (OCU). The two have had a ceasefire that has held for twenty years, but tensions rose when the USN accused the OCU of attacking a factory and killing sixty-two of its workers.
The manga follows the conflict from the perspectives of different people caught up in the rising conflict, from civilians to military personnel. But it mostly revolves around a journalist, Kenichi, who’s separated from his colleagues in the chaos, and tries to document as much of the action from the front lines to the world via his anonymous blog.
2 Red Eyes
MyAnimeList Score: 7.53
- Written & Illustrated by Jun Shindo.
- 26+ Volumes, 96+ Chapters.
- Fan translations only. Available in French, German, and Italian by Panini Comics.
It’s surprising Red Eyes hasn’t caught more people’s notice since its release in 1999, as mecha tales of revenge usually prove quite popular. Captain Mills of the SAA Jackal Special Forces is betrayed by his men and framed for a conspiracy he knew nothing of. Tried without defense, he was sentenced to death. But he’s not about to go quietly.
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He breaks out of the detention center, gets into his mecha suit, and blasts a bunch of his treacherous former colleagues in the process. To find out why he was betrayed, and who’s truly behind the conspiracy he was blamed for, he starts a one-man war against his own side, becoming feared under his new alias "Genocide."
1 Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam
MyAnimeList Score: 7.64
- Written by Toshiyuki Tomino.
- Illustrated by Yuichi Hasegawa.
- 6 Volumes, 27 Chapters.
- Fan translations only.
There are so many different Mobile Suit Gundam series, timelines, universes, etc., that it can be hard to keep track of them. Some can also fall through the cracks and end up remaining in one form or another. Like the Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam subseries, which hasn’t directly been adapted into its own anime series, movie, OVA, etc. At least not yet.
Taking place after Mobile Suit Gundam F91, it sees Cecily take up her old name, Berah, to lead the Crossbone Vanguard against Crux’s Jupiter Energy Fleet. The Vanguard aims to stop Crux’s plans of world domination by launching raids against their advances undercover as space pirates. It did well enough to get sequels, like MSCG: Skull Heart and MSCG: Steel 7, each following different chapters in their adventures.
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