Anime Vice Anime/Manga News

I suppose it's the somewhat-recent media attention of Tsukuba University's HAL exoskeleton and Honda's assisted walker that have got me coming back to that age-old question for we red blooded fans: if you could have any robot from the anime and manga history books, which one would you choose? C'mon, admit it—as childish as it sounds the question rattles around in your brain like a marble in a ramune bottle. But when I actually asked a few friends and tried to break it down it wasn't as simple an issue as I thought. Choosing your mechanized mate, it seems, is a very personal matter, like deciding on a new car what color underwear you're going to wear tomorrow. It says a lot about you.

For me, the main issue is size and whether or not bigger equals better. Does size really matter, or is there a point you can say “it's enough that I can tear the roof off that car/cathedral/sports arena/polar ice cap”?

Now I open the question to you: what's your dream mecha size threshold and why? I've diced the field into four categories for your reference below.
 

            
  
  
 

Powered Armor (<5m): 

Hard Suit, Battlemover (Bubblegum Crisis); Fuchikoma, Tachikoma (Ghost in the Shell); ATM-09 Scopedog ( Armored Trooper Votoms)
Pros: sleek, quick; easy to put on/power up; intuitive movement interface (natural body movement); with careful operation collateral damage can be minimal
Cons: can be crushed underfoot by anything from a larger mecha class; weapons limited to lower-powered hardware; possibly still vulnerable to conventional arms; for dudes, a swift kick in the nuts will probably still sting
 
         
                 
 

Small (5m-10m): 

Aestivalis ( Nadesico); Orguss (Super Dimensional Century Orguss); AV-98 Ingram ( Patlabor); Walker Machine (Combat Mecha Xabungle)
Pros: relatively quick, maneuverable; strong enough to use a motorcycle as melee weapon (style points); wide choice of weaponry; ability of flight or hovering possible
Cons: still possibly vulnerable to high-powered conventional weaponry; likely loud and unstealthy; compared to powered armor training in operation likely to be more difficult
 

           
 

Medium (10m-25m): 

Mortar Headds ( Five Star Stories); VF-1 Valkyrie ( Super Dimensional Fortress Macross); RX-78-2 Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam)
Pros: can jump buildings in single leap, kick tanks like soccer balls; options for transformation wide open; can tote battleship-grade weapons
Cons: don't even think about moving around unseen/unheard; learning curve to operate likely steep; chance for collateral damage high; where are you going to park this thing?
 
    
       

Large (25m<): 

Unit 01 (Neon Genesis Evangelion); Megadeus (The Big O); Getter 1 ( Getter Robo); Gunbuster (Aim for the Top! Gunbuster)
Pros: nigh invincible; can carry world-destroying weaponry; able to carry all your friends and family around in one open palm; everybody will take you seriously/nobody will ever laugh at you again
Cons: virtually impossible to hide, even powered down; major collateral damage an inevitability; maintenance costs astronomical; newfound respect from acquaintances may actually be fear of your wrath