Try Trigun or one of the Gundam series (I personally recommend the original Mobile Suit Gundam overall. but the age shows in the art style, which not everybody likes). The former involves a Western-type world that humans colonized at some point. The main characters are the legendary person-of-mass-destruction Vash the Stampede, and a pair of insurance adjusters trying to deal with the massive collateral damage that is inevitable when he's around. At least, that's where the first episode starts.
The Gundam franchise is the original "Real Robots" series, where giant piloted mecha are mass-produced weapons of war rather than Power Rangers - type unique super creations. The intro sums it up thusly:
It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century. A half century has passed since Earth began moving its burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind. Where people are born and raised… and die. Nine months ago, the cluster of colonies furthest from the earth called Side 3 proclaimed itself the Principality of Zeon and launched a war of independence against the Earth Federation. Initial fighting lasted over one month and saw both sides lose half their respective populations. People were horrified by the indescribable atrocities that had been committed in the name of independence. Eight months had passed since the rebellion began. They were at a stalemate.
At the start of the series, the Zeon have deployed powerful mecha, or "Mobile Suits", that vastly outclass all conventional weapons. The plot begins when a small force of Zeons attack the Federation research project to counter this weapon, destroying most of the prototypes and killing nearly all of the higher ranking military forces. Fortunately for the Federation, a bright civilian on the attacked colony decides to read the manual for the only intact mobile suite prototype, the Gundam, and uses it to drive off the attackers. He and several other civilians are effectively drafted to get the technology back to Earth for production, and he gradually develops from a naive civilian teenager to an ace pilot.
Both series are extremely character-driven. Trigun is much, much shorter.