Cross Ange is a genuinely amazing anime. The protagonist, Ange, lives in a marvellous land where everyone can use magic, except for a few dangerous individuals who are born unable to use it, called Norma. These individuals are shunned by society and shipped off to an island to pilot transforming mechs and fight invading dragons.
When Ange discovers she herself is a Norma and her royal parents had been hiding it from her and her people, she too is shipped off to "hell" to fight dragons.
The story only expands from there. I don't want to spoil things but as events spiral out of control, absolute destruction on the scale seen in Evangelion happens. The ingenuity and uniqueness of the plot are quite unmatched.
Ange is a fantastic character who grows stronger with every episode as she slowly finds her true self. By the end she's so confident and heroic that she won't hesitate to pull a gun and blow out the brains of a villain.
The supporting cast are all also excellent. Many characters start out as antagonists only for later events to show them in a much more sympathetic light. Even the characters who never become fully sympathetic have believable and realistic motivations. There's Salia who just wants approval from her hero and Hilda who just wants to go home to her mother; both their stories are standouts for me.
The first three episodes are pretty dark, reflecting Ange's plunge into despair. But the tone soon starts to change, so please do give the show a chance to set up the story. It's 25 episodes long and builds to a fantastic and exciting climax.
The animation is pretty good, you do get the odd misshapen head or wonky mouth but it's fairly rare. The score by Akiko Shikata is superb, the theme of Villkiss (Ange's special mech) is particularly amazing and the 10 minute track to the final showdown is incredible.
If you like anime and especially if you enjoy the mecha genre, I really recommend you give Cross Ange a try. It has both a sub and a dub so you're catered for whichever way you like to watch. It's hard to believe so few people know about this anime, it's a real shame it is so overlooked.
