If there is one anime genre that you could describe as “wildly popular,” it would be the newly founded isekai genre. However, the same can’t be said for the mecha genre, whose heyday has long passed and is now relegated almost exclusively to the odd Gundam premiere.
However, while mecha may not see much love these days, you can still find it clinging to life inside the isekai genre that loves everything nerdy – giant robots included.
Mecha isekai anime is fairly rare, but not too uncommon. You definitely have to look a lot harder for it, though. If you enjoy both mecha and isekai, and want to see what mecha isekai creations have to offer for fans of both genres, then give these anime recommendations a try.
Mecha Isekai Anime
Aura Battler Dunbine
Considering the series premiered in 1983, there is a very real possibility that Aura Battler Dunbine is among the first isekai anime – and boy, does it look its age.
This series follows a series of boys summoned to another world due to their strong aura powers where they pilot insectoid mechs for the kingdom that summoned them. It isn’t long before the loyalties of the various pilots start to change and they start to rebel against the lord’s political agenda.
The series packs in a lot of mecha action and the Aura Battlers themselves are unique designed, but the animation is a high hurdle to overcome for those spoiled by the sheer beauty of modern anime.
Knight’s and Magic
For the modern isekai fan that is looking for anime that perfectly combines mecha and isekai, they are looking for Knight’s and Magic. The biggest flaw with mecha isekai anime is that – while isekai is very popular – the mecha genre is not very popular these days. So many mecha isekai anime are actually very, very old.
And yet, Knight’s and Magic is a love letter to the mecha otaku wrapped up in an isekai blanket.
Knight’s and Magic follows a gunpla otaku who is killed and reincarnated in a fantasy land. He is thrilled to find out that this fantasy world looks like it is a standard “swords and sorcery” affair, but the major weapons they use are, in fact, giant mechs. Instead of being excited to pilot them, this mech otaku is instead excited to build them – and build he does!
Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs
Sometimes you find mecha in isekai in the most unexpected places, and it certainly was unexpected to find it in a series about a man reincarnated in an otome game.
While otome game-based isekai is a growing trend, it is rare to find a male main character take the lead. In Trapped in a Dating Sim, the otome game follows a society where women choose who they marry and men are often simply spouses while women rule the household. The main character, wanting to avoid being married off to an older woman, tries to live as a background character while making a modest fortune so he can live peacefully in the game he was isekai’d into after his untimely death. He fails at being a background character after coming to the defense of the villainess of the game, who turns out to be quite kind.
While character relationships are the focus in this series, the main character often ends up at odds with the male love interests from the game – who are all kind of jerks. When it comes to battle, disputes and conflict is often settled in battles done in mechs, surprisingly enough.
Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar
While Tenchi Muyo is an unassumingly expansive series with a chronology that can make it daunting to get into, thankfully War on Geminar is a largely standalone series where you can ignore much of the rest of the franchise.
Tenchi Muyo follows a boy who is transported to the fantasy world of Geminar to pilot a powerful mech suit to save the realm of conveniently almost all female characters.
Why yes, not only is War on Geminar a mecha isekai, but it is also one of those “men are rare on this planet” style harem comedies as well. If ecchi comedy is not for you, it may be wise to give this a pass, but thankfully the politically-fueled mech action is at the forefront in this series.
Magic Knights Rayearth
Created well before isekai was even a genre, Magic Knights Rayearth combines isekai with two genres that were infinitely more popular at the time – mecha and magical girls.
It is a shame that the animation can be a bit hard on the eyes these days because Magic Knights Rayearth does craft a truly unique – and truly captivating – mecha magical girl isekai story.
The series follows three girls who are suddenly transported to the world of Cephiro. As isekai heroes often do, they find themselves thrust into the sacred role of legendary Magic Knights tasked with rescuing the princess and saving the world. However, instead of just “getting in the robot” like most mecha isekai, this series allows you to enjoy some Sailor Moon-style magical girl transformations whenever it is time to battle.
Escaflowne
Outside of War on Geminar, I’d say that Escaflowne is probably one of the only other mecha isekai from the batch of old school isekai that modern fans could really enjoy. It doesn’t look as bad as Aura Battler Dunbine, and it has a very standard isekai story even though it was made well before the craze.
Escaflowne follows a girl who meets a boy that falls from the sky, soon followed by the vicious dragon that attacks them both. While her premonitions help him kill the dragon, they are both transported back to his homeland, a fantasy world of sky islands. Trying to find a way home, she gets entangled with this boy who is actually the prince of a kingdom that is threatened by an invading nation. By helping him get to his ancient guymelef Escaflowne, a mechanized battle suit, he is able to fight back, but still watches his kingdom get destroyed.
The series follows them on the run as he tries to fight against the empire, and she tries to get back home. Of course, there are plenty of epic duels between humanoid mechs as the empire tries to awaken a devastating ancient power.
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
It is definitely a stretch to call Gargantia on the Verderous Planet an “isekai” since the main character is really just transported through space via a wormhole, but it lives in same space as an isekai and shares similar “stranger in a strange land” themes with more traditional isekai.
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet follows humanity that fled from an alien enemy into deep space, where they still battle them every day. During one such battle, the main character and his AI-assisted mech suit are flung into a wormhole where they land on a planet of all water. To his surprise, he finds humans on this planet who live on fleets of large ships.
From there, he tries to learn to adapt to this peaceful planet after a lifetime on the battlefield, stumbling into a few curious secrets along the way.
In Another World With My Smartphone
A lot of isekai anime loves using the same tropes as its peers, but In Another World With My Smartphone apparently wanted to use all the tropes of its peers – mecha included.
Unlike other mecha isekai anime, In Another World With My Smartphone isn’t a mecha isekai anime at first. It is about a character whose special isekai power is to be able to use his smartphone in a fantasy world to make calls and Google things. However, you’ll learn that he most often relies on his magnificent magical abilities or the battle skills of his harem.
Anyway, while In Another World With My Smartphone is a pretty standard isekai experience, in the second season it undergoes a shift in which it suddenly decides it wants to be Knight’s and Magic. It suddenly introduces Dwarven-built mechs called Frame-Gears and becomes about the main character overseeing the production of his own personal one.
So while it may not be the full mecha isekai experience that people are looking for, it does dash in some mecha later on.
Do you have more anime recommendations for people looking for anime that combine the best bits of the mecha and isekai genres together? Let fans know in the comments section below.
