10 Essential Superhero Anime That Reinvent The Genre

Even if you aren't a self-styled otaku or fan of Japanese animation, the influence of anime on Western media cannot be denied. Many character tropes, stylistic choices, and epic, large-scale battles seen in modern Western film clearly take inspiration from the medium, its long and storied history making the transition from Japanese to Western audiences in a largely positive way.

The same is true, however, in reverse, with many comic book and superhero tropes inspiring a lot of anime, both modern and classic. The love story between Western comic book heroes and Anime heroes has made some big waves in the genre, and there are many memorable anime that seek to either make something new out of the heroic classics, or reinvent existing tropes in a way that hasn't been seen anywhere else.

With audiences living in the age of superheroes in Hollywood, it's not hard to see why superhero anime have become so popular in recent years. The truth is, however, superheroes have been swaying certain anime since the beginning.

Here are some of those anime, superhero anime that either fall firmly in the genre or have taken inspiration from classic superheroes, and created their own subgenre from existing superhero tropes.

Helping give rise to the genre of mecha (giant robot) anime, such as Gundam and Voltes V, Mazinger Z was the earliest major incarnation of heroes piloting large robots to fight evildoers and save people.

Though preceded by robot-themed anime before it, the most popular being Astro Boy, its basis as a superhero show was unique and fresh at the time. Its title as a "super robot Mazinger-Z" is even sung in its theme song, and the show itself takes inspiration from Japanese sci-fi that gave rise to giant monsters such as Gojira (Godzilla), with the protagonist fighting ancient mechanical monsters.

The show's predecessor, Tetsujin28-go, was the first giant robot anime to become popular with audiences, going on to directly inspire the creator of Mazinger-Z. The latter show, however, is the first to have a human pilot the mech, with Tetsujin28-go having the robot remote controlled.

Mazinger-Z as a super-mech is the template from which other world-saving mecha anime took inspiration, and though it's since been overshadowed by the internationally acclaimed Gundam franchise and the ever-lauded Evangelion, it's still remembered as the heroic progenitor of the super robot genre.