[spyderrock48]

so im in need of a new anime to watch, preferably a mecha or futuristic military themed, ive already watched all of gundam ( literally ), code geass, and new genesis evangelion

[General Battuta]

so im in need of a new anime to watch, preferably a mecha or futuristic military themed, ive already watched all of gundam ( literally ), code geass, and new genesis evangelion

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex.

[spyderrock48]

ahh, that is indeed on the list of animes i want to see, and i even have it avaliable in HD on netflix xD

[The E]

Macross Zero, Plus and Frontier are also worth watching.

[spyderrock48]

ive seen pics of macross, never heard of the other two, will definatly look into them though

[Bobboau]

I'm assuming you've already watched Gurren Lagann, and gone out and got the flag of the Dai Gurren Dan, and mounted it above your bed, and salute it every morning with many tears welling up in your eyes.

I normally stay away from the mecha shows, it's too specific a fixation. I've been going more for the suspense and adventure oriented ones lately. For example you should try Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, it's like a cross between groundhog's day and The Shining, with adorable characters, who try (often successfully) to murder each other, in horrible ways, for no apparent reason.

actually, I just thought of something you might like, Noein, it's about an interdimentional time war between two fantastically advanced parallel futures. with the main focus being, of course, on a front fought in our time.

and by "new genesis evangelion" I'm assuming you are referring to 2.22, that was ****ing godly.

[Dark Hunter]

I recommend RahXephon. It is amazing. Very different from your average mecha, in that the focus is almost entirely on the complex and multi-layered characters rather than the action. It's kind of like Evangelion in that way, except with less action, less depression, meaningful symbolism, and it takes itself much more seriously. Oh, and Yoko Kanno composed the opening, so that's always a plus (the rest of the show has very good music as well, just not composed by Kanno).

I also second Noein. If you know anything about quantum physics you will probably and   at how it's represented, but it's an excellent show regardless. Good action, good characters, awesome music, the best English dub outtakes EVER, etc.

[DarkBasilisk]

Gurren Lagann is pretty much a must

I'll also throw in:
-Appleseed : great animation, good plot, good movie. The majority of it is small-scale mecha use, so it's a bit inbetween futurisitic military and true giant mecha.
-Big O - It's mecha, but steampunk, and the main character is 80% Batman. Awesome ensues.
-Rahxephon seconded: If you liked Evangelion, you'll probably like this. It takes a lot of similar themes and plot directions but manages to remain it's own idea. That's the best thing really, it has a very similar feel but the story is NOT anywhere near a copy. Fighter jets, giant robots, beautiful music, action, true love, everything you need

I will also second Bob's recomendation of Higurashi. It's great. And Stand Alone complex was what i was thinking off immediately when i read futuristic military themed.

[watsisname]

I know this doesn't exactly fit the categories provided (well, it's sort of futuristic I guess), but if you haven't seen Akira, you should watch it.  Immediately.  That movie pretty much set the standard to which all later anime films are compared.  That and it's pretty ****ing awesome.  Great characters, great story, outstanding animation.

I also second third Gurren Lagann.  Sure the animation quality might be a little sketchy, but the show totally makes up for that by being ****ing awesome.

The others previously mentioned I am unfamiliar with -- don't watch enough Anime.

[kode]

Legend of the galactic heroes, dammit.

[wtf_cl0vvn]

Not precisely what you're asking for, but Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise is a pretty good film; most of the crew that would become Gainax wrote that one.

Blue Submarine N° 6 wasn't bad either; been a while since I've seen it though. I may just be remembering it as very good.

Also, definitely watch the GitS films; different storyline than Stand-Alone Complex, but still very good.

A bit more introspective though, less focus on the action.

[Ghostavo]

Banner of the Stars.

Although it's futuristic military themed as ordered, it's focus is on the growth of the relationship between the main characters.

Oh, and the setting's equivalent to hyperspace is a 2D space.

[Hades]

Have you watched Cowboy Bepop by any chance? May not have mecha but it's futuristic and awesome.

[Snail]

Bebop

[butter_pat_head]

I can also vouch for the shows mentioned already.  They are all good shows.  You could do a lot worse than try these ones:

Dai-Guard : A super robot built using near sub-real-robot technology while being run by comity and on a budget
GaoGaiGar: Nuff said
Fafner : Evangalion as a real robot show.  To make up the difference the go for quantity over quality with more whiny kid pilots and robots.
Zegapain : Can't describe this one without giving away major plot points.  Has practically everything your post Eva series has.
Nanoha : Take a robot show that has world glassing beam spam and remove the robots and replace with magical girls.
Godannar : (Nearly) everything combines, has GaoGaiGar levels of stock footage FTW.
Giant Robo : Nuff said.
The Third, The girl with the blue eye : Post Apocalyptic.  A girl has a sword that cuts anything and lives inside a AI controlled tank.
Gunbuster 1 & 2 : Don't get the movie editions.  If you can find them get the OVA boxset for GB1 and the 3 volumes of GB2.
Mahoromatic : Military combat android with a remaining lifespan measured in 100s of days decides to become a live-in maid.

[NGTM-1R]

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: This is a mecha show. Don't lie to me, I know it is. They just look like schoolgirls through holographic trickery! Skip straight to As and StrikerS if you start to doubt in the original series' early run.

Nadesico if you can find it. It's...well it's very Japanese. The characters all think they're in an idealistic super robot show like Gao Gai Gar, but they're actually in a cynical real robot show. This is played for both comedy and surprisingly heavy messages alternately.

If you're feeling oldschool: Armored Trooper VOTOMS, Fang of the Sun Dougram. These are contemporaries of the first Macross series that don't get mentioned a lot, which is a damn shame. Particularly in VOTOMS' case.

[Flaser]

Legend of the galactic heroes, dammit.

Ah! Finally a man of refined tastes. LOGH is anime for grown ups, as the characters are not over the top, the plot is slow paced and often pondering. There are hundreds of named characters and the show assumes you're intelligent enough not to have everything spelled out for you.

Yes, I know the space-combat ideas are dated, so is some of the imagery and some things can look very anachronistic in 2010. However I can't recommend this show enough as what it's about is *very* relevant in any age.

The eternal battle between the forces of corruption and justice in *any* government is explored in depth as you have traitors, career officers and politicians as well as all round rascals both in the FPA and the GE, as well as glowing revolutionaries, honest mans of principle and ruthless pragmatists who each work according their own principles sometimes toward a common goal sometimes at odds.

The question deeply pondered is who should a government be composed of. We're show both the pitfalls and triumphs of democracy as well as the highs and lows of an autocratic governments and the kinds of men it takes to build or pervert either one.

This stuff *matters*, so if you have the patience this show will reward you in leaps and bounds.


Some more classics to watch:

Area 88 (the OVA) - The Count of Monte Cristo with fighter planes! Shin Kazama is betrayed by his friend and made to sign a mercenary contract in drunken stupor. Now he has to survive either three years or pay a penalty of a million dollars to get out of his contract. However, to his horror, he finds that with each day spent battling for his freedom he comes further and further away from the man he once were and takes anther step to become a hardened killer.

Venus Wars - Classical war story taking place on Venus. Hiro and his friends are aimless youth who spend their time with violent motor sport. Their boredom is forever shattered when the neighboring Ishtar finally invades Aphrodesia and the city is quickly taken. Now the kids are caught up in the turmoils of occupation and the war later on. They face a hard doze of reality and the need to finally take responsibility for their lives.

[Rodo]

You could try Full Metal Panic, it's quite militaristic (not the fomoffu one!)

[Bobboau]

I was thinking FMP would be right up his alley too.

[Sarafan]

Ah! Finally a man of refined tastes. LOGH is anime for grown ups, as the characters are not over the top, the plot is slow paced and often pondering. There are hundreds of named characters and the show assumes you're intelligent enough not to have everything spelled out for you.

Yes, I know the space-combat ideas are dated, so is some of the imagery and some things can look very anachronistic in 2010. However I can't recommend this show enough as what it's about is *very* relevant in any age.

The eternal battle between the forces of corruption and justice in *any* government is explored in depth as you have traitors, career officers and politicians as well as all round rascals both in the FPA and the GE, as well as glowing revolutionaries, honest mans of principle and ruthless pragmatists who each work according their own principles sometimes toward a common goal sometimes at odds.

The question deeply pondered is who should a government be composed of. We're show both the pitfalls and triumphs of democracy as well as the highs and lows of an autocratic governments and the kinds of men it takes to build or pervert either one.

This stuff *matters*, so if you have the patience this show will reward you in leaps and bounds.

+1

Best anime I've ever seen.