It’s been a good while since we had multiple mecha series premiere in the same anime season. And so, I’ll do what I do best: dish out some unsolicited thoughts, or first impressions, following the first episodes of each. I’m pretty sure some will be better than others, some might be sleeper hits. But for now, let’s check out how these four handled their premieres.
Magic Knight Rayearth (2026)
The first Magic Knight Rayearth adaptation was released in 1994, and by its 30th anniversary celebration in 2024, a remake was announced. It took a couple of years following the announcement, but the remake is finally here. My thoughts? Rayearth is a definite classic and one of the firsts in the “Isekai” genre so people would expect nothing less than stellar from the 2026 remake.
We are vey much far from the point we’ll start to see some mecha action with the Rune Gods, but the series has a promising start. The clever use of the 1994 anime’s opening theme as an insert song was a clever touch and like a pass-the-baton moment that many really appreciated.
Vertex Force
I did not watch Strike Witches nor Vividred Operation, but I am willing to watch Vertex Force. Sure, we still plenty of female characters and the whole slew of fanservice we can expect from them, but I don’t think it will be as blatant as the previous works. I could be totally wrong though, but we’ve yet to see that.
The concept of these floating mecha called Engines is also an interesting take on the genre. Not to mention our main male protagonist having a different power set from the rest of the Engine users. As of this post, episode two was already released though I’ve yet to watch it. What I’m sure is I’ll be getting the 30MP Enia kit and the S.H.Figuarts release of the Graviton Engine with Haruka Todo.
Beast King War God Dandivine
As the first entry in The God of Combined Series, there’s a significant expectation from Dandivine. Touted as an homage and modern take on the Brave and Eldran series, Dandivine promises the same excitement mecha fans felt when they watched the older series back in the day. I’ve watched the first episode and it was an okay premiere, nothing jaw-dropping, especially with the premise of our main character being too ‘normal’.
That said, I’ve read online reactions for the second episode and they’re not exactly stellar. Some said that the animation was flat, while others said that it lacked the personality that made the older series great. I’ll reserve my judgement once I’ve watched the rest of the episodes, though I’m not expecting the MODEROID Dandivine to be sold out anytime soon.
Dark Machine: The Animation
Last on this list is Dark Machine: The Animation and for those unaware, this is part of the Dark Machine mixed media project (just like the RG Project) which also involves a game that has cryptocurrency and NFT elements. The anime primarily revolves around the Dark Machine eSports title and is used to settle basically everything.
Whether or not we’ll see mecha combat outside of the game is another discussion, but at least the designs are unique.
Among the four here, my highest expectations are definitely on Magic Knight Rayearth followed by Vertex Force and Dark Machine: The Animation to an extent. As for Dandivine, I’ll have to watch the second episode and find out myself if I agree with the thoughts people have on the series. Regardless, this is probably the first time in a good while I’ll watching more then two series this season.
