Well ok, hopefully I'll be able to think of something you'll enjoy! A couple of things spring to mind:
G Gundam - this series is great switch-off-your-brain and enjoy stuff. It follows Gundam fighter Domon Kasshu around the world in his quest to find his brother. In this, the Earth is ruled by the colonies in space, and every four years a Gundam Fight is held on Earth to determine who will rule the universe (instead of having a big nasty war, see?). The plot does goes a bit deeper than that eventually. But the whole setup is just brilliant. Gundams fight each other in one-on-one combat, pilots yell out their signature attacks (I mean come on, the lead Gundam's main attack is called Shining Finger!) - the whole thing is really very cheesy. Totally removed from the original concept of Gundam, this is a Super Robot show to the core, although not a true representation of what a Gundam series is. Its damn good fun though!
Gundam X - although the setup for this is about as depressing as you can get (there has been a massive war between Earth and the Space Colonies, resulting in many colonies being dropped on Earth and practically wiping out the human race), the hero is a happy-go-lucky optimist (talk about rare!) called Garrod Ran. Young Garrod stumbles across a powerful Gundam X prototype used in the previous war, along with Tifa Adill, who is a powerful Newtype (Newtypes are basically psychics for all intents and purposes. There is a bit more to it than that, but its more simple if you think of them like that for the minute). They travel the wasteland of Earth with a Vulture group - scavengers who sell any machinery they collect to make a living - and eventually come into conflict with the newly reformed Earth Federation. Eventually, they end up having to stop another Space War. Although its a little samey to start with, it soon gets better, and maintains a healthy optimistic trend thoughout, which makes it stand out as a Gundam series.
Umm, what else... ah yes:
The 08th MS Team - Set in the Universal Century, this focuses on a team of Federation Soldiers fighting in the jungles. No super powers or powerful prototype Gundams here, this 12 episode series shows that the line between enemy and ally isn't so clear cut. Shiro Amada leads his squad against the enemy Zeon forces and their new secret weapon. A war drama that isn't depressing, and that focuses on the average grunt soldier for a change rather than the random-kid-finds-powerful-robot-and-helps-win-war formula that the other series go for. Highly recommended.
Hope that helps and I hope I didn't babble too much either
. Can anyone else offer better suggestions than mine? By the way, Both G and 08th MS Tem are available on R1 DVD, and X is still fansub only. Have fun!
