Bokurano- The most depressing mecha series ( suck it Zeta Gundam and Ideon)

  Growing up watching Gundam Wing, I always wanted to pilot a robot. I mean, controlling a bad ass weapon of war and fighting for freedom ? How cool would that be ? What is though there was a cost to pilot the robot ? And that cost was your life ?

    The plot of Bokurano begins simple enough, a bunch of kids wander into a cave while at summer camp, and meet a strange man named Kokopelli inside. He asks them if they want to play a game,and contracts them to it by pressing their hands on a sheet of what appears to be metal. Soon after the kids and Kokopelli are transported into a giant robot, and told the rules of the game. Other creatures attack, and you have to fight them to save our world. If you do not defeat them, the world will end. If you do defeat them, the pilot dies.You're basically screwed either way.

Zearth, the eyes on the face represent the pilot's lives.

   The kids name the robot Zearth, and they man up to their duty. What follows are many heartbreaking tales following each pilot. Whoever is the next pilot is the lead in the chapters leading up to the next fight. It really breaks your heart knowing that their life will end, and they often had so much to live for. Even worse is what they discover about their enemies; they're humans from another universe fighting to save their world. When you've burned through 13 pilots, the final pilot is transported to the next world to teach the people of that world the game. Their world however, is safe.

  In charge of teleporting the robot and the pilots is dung beetle. Kind of an asshole, and very self serving. Near the end he becomes a hero, but til then he's kind of a dick. He will help you out if you are nice to him. He is reveled to be from a different world, and his sister becomes one of the final pilots of Zearth.

Check them off for maximum sadness.

      I watched the anime a few years back during a huge mecha kick which involved watching all the Brave Series, all the Japanese Transformers series, and any series with the word Reideen in it (only Chouja Reideen is worth watching). I had almost forgotten about it til I was browsing manga on bakabt, and figured why not? It was only 65 chapters. What I got was an amazing manga series, of drama, heartbreak, and relationships. Bokurano-9/10. Read it yo!