6

So I'm not a big time anime fan but I'll watch it occasionally but I remember trying to watch this one anime about 20 years ago when I was a kid.

I thought it was Neon Genesis Evangelion but I'm pretty sure thats not it. The anime board threw a wild guess of it being Megami Kouhosei (aka Candidate for Goddess aka Pilot Candidate) before putting my question on hold and that may be it but I'm not sure yet based on what I'm watching.

Anyways, this was about 20 years ago and I remember watching what I'm pretty sure was a mecha-genre anime. So it wasn't anything recent. Which may help reduce answers.

I remember it having a bunch of teenage or adolescent characters (so like any anime...) training with mechas or robots or something and I think the boys are the fighters and are paired up with girls who are the navigators or something. They're training in a base or something maybe even a space ship.

The main character was paired up with a girl who had a tail or non-human ears or something that she was trying to hide. She had a animal feature I'm pretty sure and she was hiding it. She may have been a cat girl idk.

And I think I remember the main character guy exposing the girl for having her animal parts or whatever and she runs off.

This has been driving me nuts and I'm trying to figure it out.

What type of anime was it? It was either a series or a OVA. Its pacing felt like a series though.

What was the animation style? Definitely Japanese style animation. I dont remember it being very bright, more with cooler and darker colors but again it was about 20 years ago.

Where did you watch it? I don't remember, either on DVD, VHS, or on Cartoon Network. I would only have been a child at the time. (about 20 years ago)

What was the year of production? I'm guessing late 1990s or early 2000s.

What's the genre? Definitely sci-fi, definitely futuristic, probably mecha, probably military, maybe elements of romance.

What language did you see it in? Pretty sure it was dubbed, but to what quality I don't remember.

Setting Future, possibly in outer space, possibly apocalyptic.

Animation quirks Cant remember any.

Improve this question
1

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

Are you sure it isn't Megami Kouhosei (Pilot Candidate)? It's about a group of boys who are training to pilot mechas. The boys are the fighters, and are paired up with girls who are repairers/mechanics. The main character is paired up with a girl who has cat ears that she tries to hide, but are exposed by the main character and she runs off. It was broadcast dubbed on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in 2001-2. It seems to fit all your recollections to a tee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Candidate_for_Goddess

(Note the information about Kizna Towryk here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Candidate_for_Goddess_characters

Kizna has artificial cat ears because in her childhood, she had an accident that damaged her ears. Kizna tries to hide her ears, but Zero exposed them. She ran off feeling ashamed.

Improve this answer
2
  • I watched about half of the Megami Kouhosei series last night and I think I've changed my mind and that might just be the one I was looking for. I may have a false memory about it being more mature and even sexual and having a darker art style I guess but perhaps thats how a 6 year old me would have formed the memory.
    – CervixDestroyer69
    Oct 2, 2019 at 18:42
  • I wonder if I watched another show at the same time and am also remember parts of that one. Maybe I'll check out what other anime Cartoon Network/Adult Swim ran at the same time.
    – CervixDestroyer69
    Oct 2, 2019 at 18:48
1

Darling in the Franxx

In a post-apocalyptic future, humanity is under constant threat from giant creatures known as klaxosaurs (叫竜 kyoryū), which are sub-divided into at least four categories based on their size: "Conrad",[b] "Mohorovičić",[c] "Gutenberg"[d] and "(Super) Lehmann".[e] Pushed to the brink of annihilation, the remnants of humanity are led by the mysterious organization known as APE to abandon Earth's now desolate surface for the relative safety of mobile fortress-cities known as Plantations. To defend the Plantations, children called parasites are raised to pilot giant mecha known as Franxx[f] (フランキス Furankisu) in boy-girl pairs. The male pilot is called the stamen and the female pilot is called the pistil. These children are artificially-created and have short lifespans. A team of ten parasites is assigned to the experimental Squad 13 of Plantation 13. One of them, Hiro, is a former pilot-candidate prodigy who can no longer synchronize with his partner and they both fail to complete the training program. While skipping his class's graduation ceremony, Hiro encounters Zero Two, an elite Franxx pilot with klaxosaur blood, red horns, and an infamous reputation as the "Partner Killer". The rumor is that Zero Two's partners will die after the third time. Despite this, after Zero Two's partner is soon-after killed during a klaxosaur attack during the graduation ceremony, Hiro volunteers to become her new partner, or "darling".

The major difference is that this is a new series, 2018, but it otherwise matches on all counts.

Found with a search for anime mecha series female pilot "animal features", which led me to this Tumblr page, which led me to the Wikipedia page.

Trailer

Improve this answer
5
  • 1
    If this is your answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark by the voting buttons.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Oct 2, 2019 at 10:55
  • 3
    I'd say Franxx is too recent. He mentions he watched the anime about 20 years ago and Franxx is from last year, 2018.
    – whodares
    Oct 2, 2019 at 11:13
  • 1
    @whodares: I acknowledge that it's far too recent, but it matches on every other point, and it wouldn't be the first time someone was mistaken, realizing that they really had just seen something, and imprinted it on older memories.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Oct 2, 2019 at 11:49
  • 1
    It was almost definitely Pilot Candidate/Candidate for Goddess/Magami Kouhosei. Before I asked on Stack Exchange I did some searching around and found Darling in the Franxx but it would be way too recent to be the answer.
    – CervixDestroyer69
    Oct 2, 2019 at 18:54
  • 1
    Fair enough. I'll keep mine up for future querents who might be searching for Franxx.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Oct 2, 2019 at 20:17

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.