T5W#566-Top 5 Favorite Studio Sunrise Titles (That Arent Gundam)

Studio Sunrise, what kind of an Anime fan would I be without them?  Incase you’ve never noticed by the adorable little green robot that rolls across their logo in most features, Sunrise is most well known as the stewards and creators of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise.  Since then and before then, they have been one of the biggest Anime studios of all time, in particular they are the masters of the Mecha Anime Genre.  While Mecha might be their bread and butter, Sunrise does a lot more in it’s downtime between Gundam titles.  Since the Studio is turning 50 next year and there’s talk of some celebratory projects in the works, figured I’d give Sunrise a shoutout on this weeks Top 5 Wednesday.  And just to be fair and a little less predictable…Gundam will not be on the list (I mean it’s my all time favorite by default, that’d be cheating even if it is honest),  So without further ado, here are my Top 5 Favorite Studio Sunrise Titles (That Arent Gundam). 

 
#5-Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (aka Ronin Warriors)

Long before I ever saw Gundam or even Dragon Ball Z (actually I might have seen DBZ by then, it was forever ago), there was Ronin Warriors.  They’re an Anime answer to Power Ranger (or Super Sentai in this case) with a team of five bad ass young men with attitudes using mystical power armor to combat the forces of the evil Talpa and his Dynasty.  While the Armor isn’t Mecha in any way, the Armor designs themselves look as sleek, polished and very Mecha inspired, so much you can tell this is a Sunrise project.  Still haven’t looked at the sequel series yet but trust me, it’s coming. 

 
#4-Inuyasha

I actually didn’t know til recently that Sunrise was behind this one.  Inuyasha still remains one of the biggest entry points for Anime fans across the ages thanks to its combination of fantasy Isekai action and romance intrigue between many of its core players, especially Inuyasha and Kagome.  As I said, Sunrise is best known for Mecha Epics so it’s nice to see them branch out and both Inuyasha and it’s later follow up series, “The Final Act” are proof they can do fantasy in style (Just don’t bring up Yashahime, what a freaking mistake that was).

 
#3-The Big O

While Toonami billed this as “Batman if he had a Giant Robot”, The Big O is so much more than that.  The First Season especially is a perfect blend of detective noir, scifi mystery, James Bond style espionage and yes old school Giant Robot throwdowns.  Season Two may go heavier on the action but it’s Season One that holds all the magic and charm that made Big O so popular back in the day, playing out more as Detective Tales Anthology that really doesn’t require every question it poses to be answered cause it’s just that damn good.

 
#2-Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

When Code Geass first dropped, it seemed like Sunrise was setting it up to be the successor to Gundam.  While it hasn’t reached those lofty heights, the harrowing adventures of Lelouch Vi Britannia are still the stuff of legends people talk about today.  Say what you will about the spin offs and continuations but the original Code Geass still slaps thanks to rapid fire storytelling that goes hand in hand with the crazy and well executed Mecha battles.  And trust me, nothing tops the Season Finales of either Season One or Two (personally Season One edges it out cause WOOF…they really left us hanging for a whole year on that damn cliffhanger).
 

#1-Cowboy Bebop

The Ship.  The Crew.  The Music.  The Myth.  The Legend.  Cowboy Bebop is the greenest of the evergreen Anime.  Almost 30 years after it burst onto the scene, it is still one of the top Anime everyone can enjoy even those not even remotely Anime fans.  This is of course thanks to the charm, comraderie and stylish sexiness of Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine and Jet Black, who are accompanied by one of the greatest Anime soundtracks ever created.  It’s still a classic people return to time and time again and while it’s magic has been attempted to be replicated with other projects (or bastardized by Netflix), Bebop is still Bebop, the one and only.  Ok 3…2…1…Let’s Jam.