Ninja Robots (1985)

The initial setting is the planet Mars in the 23rd century. Humanity has turned it into a penal colony, with the government system is styled after colonial Australia in the 19th century. The military commander Hazzard Pascha is the planet's de facto dictator, ruling with an iron fist. He has secret ambitions to eventually use his forces to invade the Earth, as he is only nominally loyal to the bureaucracy which appointed him. While trying to escape the military police, teenagers Joe Maya, Jenny Ai, and Mike Coil discover the alien spaceship Xenos 5 is under attack. Joe unwittingly gains control of the ninja robot Black Lion and takes part in the conflict. Afterwards he and his friends are effectively drafted to the crew of the Xenos 5, which also includes the humanoid alien Princess Romina, her lady-in-waiting Jade, and the ambitious and ruthless general Icelander. The trio are aliens from the planet Ladorio, involved in a war with the army of Zaboom. They entered the Solar System in search of recruits who could operate their ninja robots, and Joe and his friends seem to have "volunteered". The strange crew of Xenos 5 gets involved in multiple simultaneous conflicts while also facing tensions within their own ranks. Among the complications is that Joe is increasingly infatuated with both Romina and Jenny (and tries to keep any other suitor away from them), while Joe and Icelander deeply dislike and distrust each other.