A recent Forbes article notes the potential for a major mecha anime franchise to truly compete with Mobile Suit Gundam on a global scale.

Besides the classic RX-78-2, there have been several iconic and incredible mobile suits in the Gundam franchise piloted by heroes and villains.

Gundam and its ilk worked because its mecha design sat across the super robot and real robot tendencies. It channeled elements of the samurai in its mecha design, and the anime was mostly there to ...