Unlocking the Fascinating World of Space Anime

As mentioned, I am fascinated by space which is why I decided to design mechanical systems for satellites and want to develop space technologies. I am also a big anime fan which is why I decided to make merch that combines both. I do enjoy watching anime with space sections or based on space.

Here are some of my favourite anime with some involvement in space, be aware this is just an overview and not an in depth review.

Gun Sword

 Figure 1 Daan of Thursday (Gunsword fandom)

Gun Sword focusses on a protagonist, Van who travels around the world to seek revenge on the antagonist who murdered his bride. During the anime he is joined by various characters who cross his path who were also wronged by the clawed man. During these encounters Van will be reluctant to help but will get involved eventually. This will eventually involve Daan of Thursday (Figure 1) a mech that is stored in a satellite orbiting the planet. As a sucker for mechs I always look forward to the encounters with the villains as I get to see robots duking it out.

Gun Sword isn’t exactly a space anime, but it has some elements with the mechs being sent down from space. I do enjoy the action and Van is one of my favourite protagonists due to his aloofness and his badass sword and mech.

 

Cowboy Bebop

Figure 2 The Bebop (Geek Screen)

Cowboy Bebop is a popular classic and no wonder as not only do I love the cast of complex characters with their own agendas, the story but it’s banger of soundtrack. The anime got me interest into jazz as I mainly listen to metal and electronic music. The anime is set into the future where Earth becomes inhospitable after it was bombarded by asteroids and humanity is living in colonies around the Solar System. The main characters are Spike and Jet who are bounty hunters who are joined by a scammer Faye and Edward the hacker. The crew travel around the Solar System onboard the Bebop (Figure 2) tracking bounties. As the season goes on, we learn about their past traumas where they must face towards the end of the show. As I said the soundtrack is great and I do love how the characters develop as the show goes on. This is one of my favourite space sci fi anime shows and I recommend anyone who hasn’t watched it yet.

 

Armoured trooper Votoms

Figure 3 ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS (Sunrise)

An anime I have just recently finished. Armoured Trooper Votoms centres on the main protagonist, Chirico an AT pilot who becomes a pawn in a grand conspiracy which involves in raiding and destroying an allied space station without knowing the true objective of the mission. He encounters a mysterious woman during the mission and gets captured by government forces after a failed attempt of being murdered by his squad. Chirico will travel around world and into space to uncover the mystery behind the woman he encountered and who is pulling the strings behind the scenes. The anime has a slow buildup, and I thought the ending was a bit weird but enjoyed it none the less. I loved the design of the mechs and the major battles on the ground and in space that eschewed. While I felt Chirico was a bit lacking in character I loved the side characters around him.

 

Gundam Wing

Figure 4 Gundam Wing  (My shiny robots)

Gundam Wing is a classic for me and as you can see from the previous entries, I am a sucker for mechs. Don’t know why just something about robots fighting interests me. Gundam Wing main plot is about the colonies around Earth fighting against oppression from the United Earth Sphere Alliance. Each colony sends a Gundam down to Earth to fight the Organization of the Zodiac (OZ) to free themselves. My main issue with the anime is the constant shifting of alliances and I wasn’t a fan of Heero Yuy the main protagonist. I found him to lack much character while Duo must be up there with one of my fave characters in anime. Also, Duo’s Gundam with the dual scythes is my fave mech design. Despite the flaws I still recommend watching it.

Tenchi Universe

Figure 5 Tenchi Universe Ryo-Ohki fighting Ayekas ship (Game rant)

Tenchi Muyo has a lot of iterations and spin offs but my favourite of them all is Tenchi Universe. Tenchi Muyo seems to be an ordinary Japanese schoolkid how ends up sharing a home with his father, mad scientist (Washu), two princesses (Ayeka & Sasami) , a space pirate (Ryoko) and two Galaxy Police officers (Mihoshi & Kiyone). While there are some filler episodes revolving around Ayeka and Ryoko trying to win over Tenchi I feel it picks up in the space arc where they must flee Jurian military and have to then sneak into the planet to clear their names and defeat the villainous Kagato. I loved the space battles and I’d say the final 5 episodes are my favourite part with a mix of stealth and the gang having to go toe to toe in combat.

 

Gurren Lagann

Figure 6 Gurren Lagann (Slant)

Gurren Lagann was the perfect anime for me when I was in a rough patch, and it got me out of a rut. Gurren Lagann’s plot is that humans are living underground hiding from the Beastmen otherwise they would be hunted if returned to the surface. Simon a small child who was good at drilling tunnels befriends the charismatic Kamina who acts like his older brother. Together they dig back up to the surface and fiend off the Beastmen.  Soon after they are joined by a sniper called Yoko and other humans who are resisting their overlords and reclaim Earth.

There is an arc in space which kinda jumped the shark by being over the top however it was still very enjoyable. With it’s larger than life characters there is some deep feels moments sprinkled in which makes it memorable for me. In amongst the mix of madness and growth of Simon was what I loved about this anime. Initially I disliked Simon but after having his character fleshed out and develop by having to overcome tragedy and being forced into the spotlight against his will to defeat the beastmen has taught me to give characters a chance in later shows. Also did I mention there are cool mech battles?

These are all the anime with space I have watched at the moment that I recommend watching. I plan to watch more and be inspired by them for not only to design space mechanisms for satellites but also for merchandising as well.

What would you recommend for me to watch next?

Complete your space anime look with our cosmic gaming accessories or fuel up with our dragon coffee mugs.