With over 45 years of history, there’s no denying that Gundam is one of the biggest and most influential anime of all time. The imagery and storylines of nearly every installment have become some of the most iconic parts of anime, as have its signature Gunpla model kits, and if a story of any medium decides to reference a mecha anime, odds are it will reference Gundam over anything else.

Few anime franchises can match Gundam’s legacy, but that doesn’t mean there are no anime with similar appeals. Gundam is hardly the only anime to have a good balance of intense action and rich, character-driven drama, and as such, there are countless great anime that do a perfect job of capturing the same sort of appeal that made Gundam such an iconic part of anime. A few of those anime, in particular, are especially worth highlighting, and they...