mecha n.

chiefly in anime or manga: a large combat robot having humanoid form, typically controlled by an occupant

[< Japanese メカ (meka), specific use of the broader sense ‘machine’, ‘mechanism’, ultimately < English mechanic or a similar word]

1986 Pittsburgh Press 26 Oct. (unpaginated advertising insert) (advt.)
Exclusive Matchbox Robotech offer…. Attack Mecha—Excaliber MkVI….Fully poseable and assembled with moveable radar, concealed missile clusters and laser cannons.
1995 N. Lowe Mutant Popcorn in Interzone (#100) Oct. 36/2 page image Nick Lowe
Quite possibly the most critic-proof movie ever made, Power Rangers marks a fascinating new phase in the Japanese colonization of the western imagination—a radical postwestern narrativity and design sense alike, born of the combined subversive powers of toy manufacturers, classical mecha action, and the tastes and aspirations of the under-tens.
2001 Dreamwatch Mar. 94/1
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing was one of the first shows to take the popular ‘giant robot’ concept of human-piloted mecha and turn it into a storyline that matched rites-of-passage drama with smart plotting and hard-edged technology.
2006 Wired July 56/1
The story follows a robotics engineer and his giant mecha as they try to save Tokyo from a lethal crustacean-like creature.
2015 Starburst Magazine (#419) Dec. 111/1 page image
What began as a high school dating visual novel morphed into a sci-fi saga packing mecha, aliens, and an alternative world.

Last modified 2021-09-25 13:00:12
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.