Top 10 Saddest Mecha Anime You Should Not Miss

1

Darling In The FranXX

Darling in the FranXX - Trailer

• Director: Atsushi Nishigori
  Music: Tachibana Asami
  Episodes: 24 
  Status: Full
  Genre: Science fiction, Mecha, romantic comedy,
  Premiere: January 14, 2018 – January 26, 2020
  DARLING in the FRANXX, abbreviated as DarliFra, is a 2018 Japanese science fiction anime television series produced by CloverWorks and animated by Trigger that premiered on January 13, 2018. The film was announced at the Anime Expo 2017 in July 2017.

Darling in the FranXX is a mecha anime adapted from the Robot Battle manga but there is quite a lot of heated debate among the fandoms of the series. In the future, the world is almost completely destroyed. Humanity must build a mobile city called Plantation to survive and serve as a headquarters to fight the klaxosaur – a recluse living creature, attacking humanity. In that world, the children are born and trained to be a Parasite – the controller of the FranXX. All children carry character codes, not their names. One day, a group of neophytes were preparing for their first FranXX rehearsal, when a klaxosaur suddenly appeared and attacked. In a critical situation, a FranXX suddenly appears and rescues them.

Darling in the FranXX officially switched to the melodrama genre with a tragic ending. The ending separates Zero Two and Hiro from their friends, which is undeniably poignant, but also deeply moving.

2

M.D. Geist

M.D. Geist: Director's Cut (JP) - Battle with the Final Terminator

• Characters: Vaiya, Krauser, Kurtz, Hans, M.D. Geist, Golem, Geist,...
  Written by: Riku Sanjo
  Directors: Ôhata Khôichi, Hayato Ikeda
  Released: May 21, 1986
  Genre: Adventure, robotics, action, fiction
  Sokihei M.D. Geist is a manga and anime series about a post-apocalyptic world. The Geist is MD-02, a Most Dangerous Soldier, genetically engineered to act as a killing machine, but everyone in the MDS units goes insane. 

As a result, the Geist is placed in a cartoon suspended in a bridge vault orbiting the planet Jerra until it crashes a few years later, awakening him and sending him into another war on this planet.

M.D. Geist effectively combines fantasies of mechanical power and the horror genre by transporting the audience into a post-apocalyptic world where violence reigns. Geist is the protagonist and one of several genetically engineered warriors who wear powerful mechanical MDS suits to wipe out evil.

However, most of these MDSs are insane and become even more dangerous than the monsters they must eliminate. 

3

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis | Evangelion Eva-00,Eva-02 Battle

• Director: Hideaki Anno
  First episode: October 4, 1995
  Episodes: 26 
  Title song: A Cruel Angel's Thesis
  Creators: Anno Hideaki, Gainax, TV Tokyo, Tatsunoko Production, Nihon Ad Systems
  Adapted from: Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021), 
  Composer: Hidetoshi Sato
  Genre: Apocalypse and post-apocalypse, Mecha, Fiction, psychological
  Shin Seiki Evangelion, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Anno Hideaki. The series first aired on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996.

The series explores the experiences and emotions of the Evangelion companies and members of the Nerv as they try to stop the Angels from causing multiple cataclysms. In this process, they are called to understand the ultimate cause of events and human motives. 

Neon Genesis Evangelion is not only an important mecha series but also considered by many to be a must-watch anime. Evangelion has no shortage of action between robots and aliens. The series is a surreal and psychologically challenging experience

4

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: A Soldier's Sacrifice [AMV]

• Type: ONA
  Status: Broadcast finished
  Air: 25/12/2015 to 22/4/2016
  Source: Manga
  Genre: Action , Drama , Science fiction
  Topics: Mechanical, Military, Space
  Duration: 18 minutes/ episode
  Mobile Suit Gundam has over 50 different Gundam franchises in existence. Most Gundam series have a sadness but some try to be even more desperately sad. Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt is an eight-episode OVA series that features beautiful animation and takes advantage of explosive jazz soundtracks.

UC 0079, at the end of the One Year War, the Federal Army and Zeon disputed an area called Thunderbolt Sector in Side 4 Moore. This OVA follows the battle between Io Flemming of the Union and Daryl Lorenz of the Zeon faction

What makes Thunderbolt the saddest mecha anime series is that the determined pilot, Daryl Lorenz, actually dedicates his body to his own purpose. Each conflict with the Gundam causes him much damage until he loses most of his limbs, but is unable to give up his position as Gundam.

5

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

MOBIL SUIT GUNDAM IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS English Dub Trailer

• Genre: Mechanical, military science fiction
  Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai
  Air: 4 October 2015 - 2 April 2017
  Duration: 24 minutes/episode
  Episodes: 25/25
  Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, also known as Gundam IBO and G-Tekketsu, is a 2015 Japanese anime series about a mechanic and the fourteenth major installment in the Gundam franchise. It aired in Japan on MBS and other JNN stations from October 4, 2015 to March 27, 2016. 

Iron-Blooded Orphans follows the exploits of a group of underage soldiers who form their own security company after rebelling against the adults who have betrayed them on a Mars with futuristic terrain. The series deals with several real-life issues such as war, slavery, child soldiers, poverty, neocolonialism, and corruption. The catchphrase of the series is "Survival on the battlefield."

Many Mobile Suit Gundam series choose to focus on the cost of war and the cost of humanity. A lot of Gundam franchises explore this emerging theme effectively, but Iron-Blooded Orphans is a devastating piece as casualties keep mounting.