The original TV series was quite popular and well-liked in its day (although a lot of people got ticked off when it ended with a therapy session for the MC rather than actually resolving the plot). You do have to remember that it was a lot more original then than it seems now—it was neither a kiddy-targeted giant robo story with an upbeat Standard Issue Shounen Protagonist nor a military-setting mecha series with a gifted pilot as MC, but centered around some loser whose robot suit needed to stay plugged in to keep working for more than a few minutes.

(Also, in my opinion, Cruel Angel’s Thesis remains a damned good OP.)