In anime, super mechanical apparatus as the robot in action first appeared as early as 1940 with the short Manga “Electric Octopus”. Tetsujin 28-go (1956) brings us the first Steam-Powered humanoid Mecha with some weaponry. In todays article, we will enjoy some Gundam Anime Alternative as Mobile Anime.
Now a day, we are habituated to human-controlled giant Mecha suits in Gundam films that first appeared at Mazinger Z (1972). The concept that humans can control a Mecha Suit like a car gained popularity due to this film.
History of Gundam Anime
The 1970s was an innovative and exciting decade because the Mecha Genere we love had taken its shape during this time. However, the popularity of this concept was still limited to children.
All of that changed with the advent of a new genre in 1979. You may know it by the name Gundam Animes. Yoshiyuki Tomino revolutionized the Mecha Genre with the single anime series, “Mobile Suit Gundam”.
This space saga is frequently stated as the Star Wars of Japan. In this series, robots are more realistic, sophisticated, and technologically advanced. With incredible popularity, this genre makes a revenue of over 28 billion dollars in a short time.
If you see one of the Gundam films, you may be familiar with the concepts “Freedom”, Earth Federation, “White Base”, and so on.
In Gundam films, some young people commonly control super-powerful mecha suits and fight for their freedom from a Larger oppressor or a conflict to restore each party’s interest. Each character has his back stories and particular reason for fighting the authority.
Compared to other mecha cousins of Gundam, you may find it the more realistic representation of Robots where mecha suits run out of ammunition or are prone to malfunction. This anime is more scientific and plausible than its counterpart.
You can enjoy watching Mecha Animes, but Gundam films will always hold the top position as a sub-genre. There are numerous Gundam series and movies, along with other mecha anime. We tried to find the most notable Gundam series for you, along with other mobile-suit mecha anime that you can consider as an alternative to Gundam.
Best 20 Gundam Anime Alternative as Mobile Anime
You can watch the following Gundam films, and for a change, you should try the alternatives we suggested.
1. Mobile Suit Gundam
This film ushered in a new era in Mecha Anime. Following Gundams with a lot of innovation, imitate the first one. 
The story begins with the small colony Zeon’s declaration of independence. Zeon may be a small colony but gained the upper hand through advanced mobile suit technology. However, Zion attacked one of the Earth Federation’s colonies, and a prolonged conflict started between them.
The colonizer has only a prototype suit, RX-78, that can fight against more advanced suits from Zeon. To find the fate of Ray Amuro against the Zeons legend Char Aznable, you must watch this anime.
2. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Three hundred years have passed after Calamity War that almost wiped out the human population. Now the universe is in its darkest period, along with poverty and violence. 
Among all the catastrophes, a few teenagers decided to carve out their place in this harsh universe. The Iron-Blood Orphans turned into war heroes and tried to make their mark.
This anime has some characters with in-depth stories and a unique suit build-up that makes it even more enjoyable.
3. Turn A Gundam Mobile Anime
A member of Moonrise, Loran Cehack, has deployed to the earth to assess the condition for resettlement. In his reconnaissance mission, he build-up a good relationship with earthlings. 
Loran finds the earth appropriate for living and expects peaceful resettlement. However, the Moonrise thinks differently and violently initiates their return using the mobile suit.
The earth people find hidden suits for battle all over the earth. With the help of Loran, they fought back, and after multiple negotiation attempts, the war continued to get fierce.
4. Mobile Suit Gundam 00
The earth is divided into three groups based on an energy crisis, which constantly conflict with each other. At this point, a private armed organization called Celestial Being reveals itself as the authority to stop all this conflict via advanced Gundam warfare. 
They engage in different conflicts to stop the conflict forever. Contrarily, the situation gets complicated with their intervention.
This anime is a more polished take from Gundam Wing, where characters a more focused and presented. You may like the character’s actions and backstories that attract you to end the series at once.
5. Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
The nations of the earth formed United Earth Sphere Alliance (USA) and built a vast army to oppress the other colonies that still wanted their independence. Al colonies against the USA united under the leadership of Heero Yuy. 
Unfortunately, they assassinated Heero Yuy, prompting five disaffected scientists from the Organization of the Zodiac (OZ). Five scientists left OZ and planned for “Operation Meteor.”
Each scientist builds a suit from Gundam Alloy and trains a boy for that. Five Gundam masters, unaware of each other, go back to earth with the mission of bringing an end to the USA and their tyranny to the colonies forever.
6. Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt
The exact timeline of the One Year War happened in the original Mobile Suit Gundam. This part of the story focused on a fierce battle of a particular sector called Thunderbolt. 
Earth Federation’s Moore Brotherhood and Zeon’s Living Dead Division engage in a fierce battle in the “Thunderbolt Sector” based on their contradicting principle. Apropos, this sectoral war is more fierce and violent, a good message for anti-war sentiment.
Out of all those vicious sufferings, you can focus on the confrontation between Federation soldier Io Fleming and Zeon’s best sniper, Daryl Lorenz. These ferocious battles are not based on a unique story, but the audience visually loves it.
7. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
An example is that a sequel can be better than the original story. The source story was excellent, but this season makes it even better. 
7 years have passed after the one-year war. The Federation created an elite army called Titan to hunt down the survivor of the Zeon Forces to maintain the peace.
However, the Titans do their job but become more powerful and work as an enforcer of government policy to brutally destroy the government’s opposition.
Titan eliminates 10 million opponent residents in Colony No. 30 as revenge on oppositions due to their demonstration of force. That ignites the all-out war.
In this anime, they work about the uncertain gray areas where it is difficult to identify good or evil. This unorthodox representation is delightful to watch.
8. After War Gundam X Mobile Anime
At the end of the 7th space war, humanity faced catastrophic destruction, which whipped out 99% of the population. In the post-apocalyptic earth, humans started all over again. 
To prevent the reiteration of the former mistakes, Jamil Neate brings together some member of an organization called vulture and try to stop the post-war leftover weapons fall into the wrong hand.
As they carry out their endeavor, the previous government rises from the ashes and tries to unite the small pockets of the population and regain former power. They formed the United Nations Earth and waged war against the resistance called the Revolutionary army.
9. Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway
It is twelve years after the Neo-Zeon war. Earth Federation initially recognized the Zeon back in colonies, but their greed and distrust finally disturbed the stability. 
Federation formed the organization ‘Man Huter to deport the underprivileged and undesirable citizens back to the outer colonies. When the situation worsened, a terrorist organization named Mafty started to seek revenge among the Federation ranks.
The ladder of Mafty called Hathaway Noa operates Gundam RX-105 to terrorize the federation officials. To prevent Noa, the Federation formed Circe Unit and employed Lane Aim as leader and pilot of RX-104FF Penelope.
10. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
After the reconstruction of post-war earth Cosmic era has just begun. Humans are diversified into two groups, the natural and genetically engineered Coordinators. The Coordinator is superior to humans in every way. That causes jealousy and violence.
Coordinators were exiled to space and built their satellite called Planet. They may be small in number but technologically advanced and have some extraordinary mobile suits that give them the edge in battle.
Naturals from the earth provoked the war by destroying the Junius – 7 with a Nuke. In answer, the Coordinates counterattacked, and a war started.
11. Mobile Fighter G Gundam
In an alternate Future Century Universe, the earth becomes inhospitable and abandoned. All countries have a colony in space. There is no conventional warfare. Instead, a Gundam Fight has to organize every four years. The country won the fight and became the ruler of the earth for the next four years.
At this time, a Japanese scientist Dr. Kasshu invented the Ultimate Gundam, which was stolen by his son Kyoji Kasshu. His younger son Domon Kasshu gets in Gomdum Fight on behalf of Japan to save his father from the punishment of cryogenic sleep.
Domon fought for Japan and found his brother. However, his brother turns the Ultimate Gundam into a monstrous JDG-00X Devil Gundam and uses it the against the fight of Domon.
12. Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
The battle between earth and its colonies comes to an end. Earth is comparatively in a peaceful state. Earth Sphere Unified Nation (ESUN) has formed to maintain the peace and every Gundam master returned their Suit to ESUN, and the older order ended.
But this peace did not last, and in a new colony, L3 X-18999 faced another rebellion under the command of Mariemaia Khushrenada. Finally, the rebellion turns out to be a part of a bigger contingency plan.
A waged war happened between the Gundam pilot from ESUN and the rebellion. More secrets are exposed as the war goes on.
13. Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
This anime is the prequel of Zeta Gundam and the extension of Mobile suit Gundam. This season, you can find out how cruel and corrupted the Federation can get. The plot is not impressive, but you will be impressed by the visualization.
After the defeat of the Principality of Zeon, their remanence formed The Delaz Fleet. That attacked the Federation and stole the prototype Gundam GP02A called Physalis with nuclear launch capability.
The Federation commissioned Kou Uraki to pilot the Gundam GP01 “Zephyranthes” to capture the stolen prototype and prevent the ultimate goal of The Delaz Fleet, Operation Stardust, which is planned to topple the Federation and restore the balance.
14. Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
The earth federation lost its former might and still controls the earth loosely. In this weakened administration, an attack came from a military organization called BEPSA associated with Zanscare Empire.
This empire expanded rapidly and occupy the all former colonies of the Federation. It exposed their reign of terror to the population. Finally, they attacked the earth initiate, and only League Militaire stands between BESPA and the earth’s destruction.
Earth’s only hope is the secret weapon Victory Gundam developed by League Militaire. Üso Ewin and other pilots like him operate the Victory Gundam against BEPSA and discover the horror of war.
15. Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
The story is about when space colonialization was still in its infancy. Laplace, the residence, and a space station of the Federations Prime Minister get destroyed by an anti-federation group.
Then come out mysterious Laplace’s Box, which holds power as political leverage that could bring down the ruling structure of the Earth Federation.
Moreover, the story revolves around a boy named Banagher Links. He becomes a new version of Gundam Pilot directly connected with Laplace’s Box.
16. Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
The story starts from the end of Zeta Gundam, where Gryps’s conflict just ended. Anti Earth Union Group (AEUG) and the Federation are in their weaker state, but conflicts are on.
To fight Axis Zeon or Neo Zeon, Captain Bright Noa recruited some Junk collectors led by Judau Ashta to pilot the Argama’s mobile suits. He trains them to fight in the Battle of Axis.
Moreover, the old pattern of war broke out, but this time, multiple Gundam masters fought alongside each other more than usual. That makes this series more action-packed and enjoyable.
17. Neon Genesis Evangelion
This anime is a story about Shinji Ikari, a student recruited to pilot a giant biochemical robot called Evangelion (EVA). With his EVA, he tried to stop some mysterious creature called angels.
His Father, Gendo Ikari, is a high-end official at a secret government program called NERV that designs and operates the Evangelions to stop Angels from destroying the earth and something very sinister.
Shinji Ikari has a complicated relationship with his father and has to pilot an EVA because it was built on his mother’s DNA which matches him. To know more details about the origin of Angel, EVA, and the conflict between Giant, you must watch this series.
18. Gunbuster Mobile Anime
If you like the anime Neon Genesis Genesis Evangelion, you should watch its spiritual predecessor, “Gunbuster”. Gunbuster is a dual human piloting 240m colossus robot known as RX-7 that works as an alien deterrent.
Six years ago, some Alien monsters destroyed fleet-6 and threatened the existence of humanity. Gunbuster is their only hope to save them. But they need two pilots to operate this.
However, two upcoming pilots, Noriko Takaya and Kazumi Amano, utterly different in every aspect, are trying to work out the situation. You must watch the series yourself to know more about their bonding and evading the alien.
19. Patlabor Mobile Anime: The TV Series
In the future, Tokyo city authorities will employ laborers and high-tech robots to do heavy construction work. Later, to reduce the high crime rate and save the city from destruction, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police introduced its fleet of Patrol Labors or “Patlabor” like a Patrol Car.
Patlabor not only prevents crime but also contains or captures the berserk and malfunctioning robots from different industries.
In this series, there are a total of 47 episodes, and every episode has its thrilling story of solving crime with the help of Patlabor. You can also enjoy these thrilling activities of mini Mecha or Patlabor.
20. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
The Holy Empire of Britannia has conquered the world, including Japan, and labeled it Area 11. Lelouch and Nunnally are members of the royal family. Their father exiled them to Area 11 after their mother’s death.
Lelouch meets a mysterious girl named C.C., who has given him the power of Geass. That allows him to control something with a single command. With the power, he becomes the rebel Zero and gives hope to the oppressed against his family’s rule.
In this process, he becomes the dark knight of rebels and wages war against his family. He becomes the leader of the rebellion and leads the battle. In this endeavor, he loses his close one and brings an end to the destruction.
These are the best 20 mecha anime directly or closely related to Gundam animes. You can find numerous other animes related to the Gundam genre. However, these few may help you to navigate among all those options.
Final Thought
These animes have rich stories, enticing action scenes, and ideas that can thoroughly entertain you. Some of the mechas are excellently designed, and with the more plausible representation, you will love them.
Apart from the Gundam sub-genre, there are only a few extraordinary mecha films ever made. They can give you experiences like Gundam anime and sometimes even more as mobile anime.
So in the later part of the article, we inserted a handful of other mecha anime closely related to the Gundam genre. Hopefully, they will entertain you even more.
