The Greatest Years in Anime

As another decade is on the horizon we have 10 more years of anime to look forward to. New trends, tropes, another 10 years of new shows. And that got me thinking about the golden years of anime:

With modern anime fans ravishing new seasonal anime each month it makes it difficult to slow down and reflect on anime’s past, seeing that most of the time the fandom is focused on the here and now, with newer fans being sucked in by the new seasonal offerings and not going back to older titles because either the online conversation isn’t there or they're just indifferent. I wanted to shine a light on what I believe to be some of the most important years on the anime canon, be it for the titles released, the impact of the year on both the industry and the legacy of fan culture. I want to celebrate to different eras of anime fandom in this never-ending sea of new seasons and ever on hold watch lists.

DISCLAIMER:

I am writing this from a perspective of a western English-speaking anime fan, and whilst I will talk about the impact these years had on Japan, bear in mind that my bias’s will shine through as a western anime fan. There will always be a discrepancy between native and foreign anime fans, in terms of years that japan thinks are more important and vice versa.

SECOND DISCLAIMER:

My opinions are bad.

1988:

Notable Anime: Akira, My Neighbour Totoro, Grave of the fireflies, Mobile Suit Gundam: Chars Counterattack, Legends of the Galactic Heroes, Patlabour

Despite having some of the biggest anime ever made, I’m still pressed to think that 1988 is a severely underrated year in the medium. From big budget family films, to experimental short series, to climatic space opera. 1988 to me demonstrates the sheer spectacle and grab that anime of that had and still has to this day. Science fiction was the defacto genre of anime during this period and both Ova’s and films took advantage of this golden age of animation quality. Ova’s were the place to be in the 80’s; with a booming economy Japan’s budget for exporting anime was the highest it had ever been, with highly detailed short stories presented in cellular animation glory. But contrary to this is a long saga that spanned years and countless VHS tapes:

Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The name itself holds power and prestige. An epic tale that possesses so much weight and importance in anime history. Despite becoming somewhat of a meme among English speaking fans as a legendary anime that once watched, will usurp all other for the rest of time… It’s still pretty good. LOTG represents what you could do in this period of animation, having a long running OVA series filled with political posturing, elegant regal designs and characters in dramatic staring contests was simultaneously in line with the trends of the 80’s and counter to them. At the time a lot of OVAs were known for being incomplete or shorter stories, either due to lack of source material or later budgetary issues following the end of this boom in the early 90’s. In many ways its very clear to see that LOTGH was adapted from a series of extensive novels as its tone and pace stand out next to other contemporary anime. Making it still quite unique to this day. Back to brief OVAs, Mamoru Oshii’s original Patlabour series deserves a mention for laying the groundwork for both the franchise itself and Oshii’s later rise to science fiction fame with Ghost in the Shell. Patlabour’s world of grounded police work with mecha elements that could juggle tones was a nice refresher for many tired by very dramatic space opera.

Though for my money, the Queen of 80’s OVAs is without a doubt in my mind:

Aim for the Top: Gunbuster!

Gunbuster was the birth of Gainax as we loved knew and loved them. As well as being Hidieki Anno’s best work to date, Gunbuster would set up so many traditions with Gainax series and staff: From the ever powerful Gainax pose to the ever revolutionary Gainax bounce. In only 6 episodes it delivers an Inazuma Kick straight to the heart with an explosive story of hard work and guts. The Gainax philosophy of taking established imagery from older anime and making new imagery from it was sown into the DNA of the late studio and would be passed down to every work they did since. From Evangelion, to Diebuster, Gurren Lagann and even within the works of studio Trigger, the Gunbuster philosophy lives on.

Anime on the silver screen made and equal impact as its OVA sister series and I’d be remiss if I spoke about 80’s anime and not mention Gundam. Mobile Suit Gundam, the ever towering mecha monolith, was in full swing in the 80’s with the first film trilogy, Zeta Gundam and ZZeta Gundam having been released. And in 1988 Gundam had its first finale with the theatrical conclusion to the main saga of the universal century: Char’s Counterattack. Char’s Counterattack is a much bigger deal for Japanese anime fans but none the less is an important part of 1988. In many ways this was like the (then) climax of Japan’s own Star Wars saga. The rivalry between series leads Amuro Ray and Char Aznable carries a huge weight throughout the film, alongside the gorgeous mobile suit battles animated with fluid precision that could only be achieved with a films budget and outreach and only within this period of anime. The Ending of Char’s Counterattack is one I’ll never forget, one filled with psychedelic bright lighted robot optimism, that is one of many, many reasons Gundam has endured as a series for all this time.

Akira still feels ingrained into my bones, forcibly injecting its imagery into my eyes as a teenager unready for anything it threw at me. And I’d have it no other way. I’ll try my hardest to say what hasn’t been said about Katsuhiro Otomo’s magnum opus 1000 times over. With its 1 billion yen’s worth of kinetic animation, violent spectacle and imagery that gives 2001: A Space Odyssey  a run for its money, Akira made one hell of a first impression for wide eyed western fans looking to dip their toes into the strange foreign export known as anime. And much like Neo Tokyo, it would explode on home video. Anime lived and breathed on VHS, Akira especially was seemingly on the self in the back of every blockbuster in the early 90’s. Famously George Lucas and Steven Spielberg upon seeing the film declared that it would sadly be unmarketable in the US, and they were only partially right: Granted whilst Akira’s very brief theatrical run in America resulted in a low box office turn out, it came back swinging through the underground movement of video tapes, forever cementing it with the status of cult classic, even outside of the main anime fandom and with fans of film in general. One of the primary reasons that 80’/90’s anime is often associated with both sweeping sci fi space operas and hyper violence is that those genres were being sought out by and were later targeted towards men who were already invested in the sci fi Hollywood boom of the late 80’s: Star Wars, Star Trek, Aliens, Terminator, etc. anime that fit in line with what these franchises represented.

Though there was room for other stories and the whimsical touch of the then young studio Ghibli made an equal impact on anime. With the release of both Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbor Totoro, Ghibli proved early on they possessed versatility with what they could tackle: Isao Takahata’s painfully real depiction of a post war japan coupled with Hayao Miazaki’s taste for countryside adventure and the importance of youth and family meant that the Ghibli hit the ground running and were ready for a long lasting legacy.

Anime’s next step in America was to the television screen which handily brings us to our next year.

1998:

Notable Anime: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, Card Captor Sakura, Initial D, Serial Experiments Lain

With the OVA boom now over due to Japan’s harsh economic recession of the 90’s (often being referred to as the lost decade) producing high budget short OVA series that went directly to video was nowhere nearly as profitable as it was in the 80’s. The 90’s would see and upturn of tv anime series and a new boom of anime without source material being made and like everything else in anime, it all comes back to Evangelion:

It was thanks to Evangelion’s explosive popularity that anime studios and producers saw that mainstream success with new and experimental anime could be achieved with a TV anime budgets and schedules. Slowly the late 90’s started producing anime original TV properties which were allowed to be creatively free in order to try and replicate Hideiki Anno’s lighting in the bottle success with Eva. Notable original anime series began popping up in the wake of Eva; examples such as The Vision of Escaflone (1996) and Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997) rose to promenade quickly. Kunihiko Ikuhara’s extravagant take on both Shojou and fairy tales and Shoji Kawamori’s Fantasy mecha proto isekai both made their names heard in the new wave of fantasy anime. But sci fi was still the genre king and of all these original anime produced, if there’s one universal favorite…

Its Cowboy Bebop

This is the one show that defined the era the most, especially for western fans. Cowboy Bebop in many ways was all the cool western influences and action spectacle that was popular during the ova boom distilled into a tv series. Shinichiro Watanabe took everything he had learned from his directorial debut; Macross Plus (itself an ova side story of the original Macross series that had a similar world and some staff as Bebop) and applied it to his own creatively owned world. What helped Bebop achieve acclaim both in japan and western territories was its pedigree. Despite being a TV anime Bebop has an experienced team who had worked on technically impressive sci fi shows like the aforementioned Macross Plus and Mobile Suit Gundam: the 08th MS Team, meaning that it could really spread its wings and holds up like a fine French wine. Bebop was a gateway drug to the anime addiction like no other, you needed no context going into this kind of anime, nothing about Japanese culture, nothing about anime tropes, just a countdown…

3. 2. 1. Lets Jam.

Alongside Bebop, Serial Experiments Lain is the other anime original series of 98. Chiaki J Konada’s look into the technological singularity predicted with terrifying accuracy a lot of aspects of how we use the internet in the ever-expanding digital age. And with its opening ‘Duet’ by British rock band Boa it too seemed to be destined for a western cult following.

High quality manga adaptations also shone in 98 with two titles that have sadly stood in the shadows of Bebop for quite a while but deserve their names ingrained in anime history no less. Trigun and Outlaw Star were two other cult classics that alongside Bebop proved something to Anime producers: Anime could succeed on TV in the west, perhaps even more so than in the homeland. Despite claims of the opposite Bebop sold well both in America and in Japan. Its Outlaw Star and especially Trigun that found their crowd in English speaking territories. Trigun’s story of bleeding-heart optimism in a baron world seemingly devoid of love and peace struck a chord with English speaking fans thanks to a sci fi cowboy style, slick and stylish characters wielding increasingly dangerous weapons and one of anime’s goodest boys. Vash the Stampede remains one of the greats of anime protagonists in both look and feel, a hunter of piece chasing the mayflower of love that despite everything thrown at him always found the courage to smile.

And Outlaw Star is just so damn fun. Holding its own ground with slick Sunrise production design Outlaw Star was a rock and roll adventure start to finish. Fluid fight scenes, intriguing science fantasy, an ever-upbeat atmosphere and the greatest intergalactic hot springs episode in the history of anime. The quest for to find the Galactic Leyline line rarely had a dull moment and cemented the crew of the Outlaw Star as (in my heart) the coolest bounty hunters in anime.

Technology was also a huge factor during this time; as these would be that last year’s using cel animation before the anime industry unanimously switched to painting and later animating on computers. So not only were TV cellular animators at the top of their game with some of these shows, new technology was being introduced that would pave the way for new revolutions in anime. Mainly the integration of C.G. Now computer effects had experimented with earlier in the decade, with both Macross Plus and Mamarou Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell using them to portray computer technology. Initial D deserves huge amounts of credit for bringing C.G to TV anime, yes… I know… nowadays when going back to it the car chases look like PlayStation 1 models with basic polygonal shapes, but the fact a TV anime series was trying to utilise the same technology as high budget game companies like Squaresoft and Konami is to be commended.

1998 laid the seeds for anime’s initial boom and success on television both in and outside of Japan, demonstrating a desire and a demand to have this form of entertainment distributed in English.

(It should be noted that whilst I have praised these shows from 1998 as having a huge impact on the English-speaking anime fandom, we didn’t get a hold of these shows until the early 2000’s)

2006/2007:

Notable Anime: (2006) Death Note, Code Geass, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Hellsing Ultimate, Black Lagoon, Ouran Highschool Host Club

(2007) Gurren Lagann, Baccano, Lucky Star, Darker than Black, Naruto Shippuden

OK, I’ll admit it. For this entry I am cheating a bit for joining 2 years together, but I promise I have a good reason for doing so. This entry could arguably be replaced with other years from the mid-late 2000’s. The reason I’ve selected 2006/2007 is that they have the highest concentration of show’s that are still relevant and being talked about by even the newest of anime fans. Gun to my head, I’d say that 2006 is the more significant year, but 2007 still has relevant anime that were released and was where the popular shows from 2006 were firing on all cylinders.

If the prior years were the years of anime on home video and tv, then the mid 2000’s were the first boom of the internet torrent culture that would be bound with anime culture until the end of the decade. With the technology there to for the first time keep up with the new shows that Japan was obsessing over a wave of new possibilities flooded the anime fandom. This period of anime culture was the first to majorly interact with the internet with forum posts, post episode discussions, early internet memes etc.  The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was an internet culture powerhouse and propelled what we know as modern anime internet culture. With the hare hare yukai ending theme dance memorised and performed by fans at conventions worldwide. Even as I mentioned in the beginning with the overflowing ocean of seasonal anime being present these shows are still relevant and are being constantly revisited as they now hold the same place of nostalgia for that generation that the shows that aired on mainstream television 2006 specifically had the trio of Death Note, Code Geass and Haruhi. These new shows represent a new wave of anime nostalgia now held by a generation that always new anime through torrenting and the internet as opposed to on television: which would be the future of anime distribution in western territories. Granted whilst Haruhi’s popularity has dropped off as its anime adaptation never had an official conclusion, discussion and talk of Death Note and Code Geass still shines bright among internet savvy anime fans. Gurren Lagann still has its burning spirit and popularity even if the western mecha fandom is fleeting, with its spiral energy coursing through the veins of countless fans its messages, imagery and manly poses drilling into a generation’s hearts.

The internet like all other entertainment mediums transformed anime culture, more niche shows could find their audience and then their audience could find each other. Different sections of the anime fandom began to interact which brought in a wider diversity of fans, they were more and more female anime fans that no longer relying on what was solely broadcast on TV. Hit’s like Ouran Highschool Host Club found a wide audience with female fans and soon the variety of anime was on full display to those willing to look. Conventions reached the point where they could advertise more and soon, they became a staple of anime fandom with cosplay cramming hallways of hotels and convention centers the world over. Anime was at the point where it was a very large cult following but still sub mainstream, similarly to how American comics were at that time. It was in the new decade that anime would keep branching out until anime would officially hit the mainstream threshold…

2011:

Notable anime: Steins Gate, Fate Zero, Hunter x Hunter, Madoka Magica, Nichijou

With the internet being the primary method of distribution for anime in the west at this time 2011 represented the industry catching up to the fansubbing torrent culture of the late 2000’s. With websites like Crunchyroll and Funimation stepping into the legal streaming game and receiving their first initial wave of success by simul casting anticipated new shows and allowed them to gain a significant popularity that they would have never achieved with a regular TV syndication. Crunchyroll particularly with their simal cast of shows like Fate Zero and Funimation with Steins Gate. These two shows in particular hit it big being on streaming sites as they found what would be niche audiences and then exploded all over the internet.

With Adult Swim’s Toonami block still tragically cancelled, not getting a fated revival until 2012 there was no place on TV for these types of shows. And even if there was an anime broadcast block still active in that time period, I really doubt these shows would have hit their strive there as they did on the web. Show’s like the sugar rush hyper kinetic energy Nichijou would have never found nearly the following had it been in TV. Nichijou’s life blood was fueled by reaction threads and fan creations inspired by the latest batch of wholesome wackiness that could only be curated on the internet. Long running shows like Hunter x Hunter benefit greatly from social media discussion, it’s a show that works both in binges and week to week watching. Even now Hunter x Hunter is inescapable, even with the rise of other shonen giants like My Hero Academia and the recent adaptation of Demon Slayer, the love for Hunter x Hunter is rampant.

Work’s like Shaft’s Puella Magai Madoka Magica also found a rampant audience online as its 3rd episode plot twist is ingrained into anime meme culture as well as it alongside the Bakemongatari franchise allowed western fans to truly appreciate the works of Shaft that were steeped in native anime tropes and principles that would likely struggle to find ground has they been on an American TV syndication. Diversity was key to the new game of legal anime streaming, its advantage over a television block was that it had an entire back catalog of anime to watch at any time and new episodes being released regularly.

Hand in Hand with the fact that torrented had been the standard for anime watching for many fans up until now, these services needed both anticipated shows and high-quality video in order to stand out. And whilst piracy is still around like in every other industry, companies like Crunchyroll, Funimation and newcomers like Hi dive and VRV are still coasting along for the foreseeable future. 2011 laid the groundwork for modern anime hits to explode over the internet with titles like Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, One Punch Man, My Hero Academia etc. catapulting anime further into the mainstream and cultivating the modern generation of anime fans.

Which brings me to now:

The 2010’s have seen anime move primarily to streaming, legal and otherwise. As well as the companies mentioned, juggernaut services like Netflix and Amazon, wanting a piece of the anime pie have started to acquire and make anime. Whilst their distribution methods of Netflix in particular have been controversial with the anime community, it cannot be denied that they’ve made a major impact on the anime industry. From the licences they’ve acquired/commissioned such as the hits Devil Man: Cry baby and Aggretsuko to original animation projects with Castlevania and Seis Manos questioning what even can be classified as anime. The 2010’s represent anime catapulting itself into the mainstream pop culture bubble with some franchises now sharing the same conversation space as both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars.

What’s next for anime in the 2020’s is uncertain, will the Isekai bubble finally pop? Will mecha make surprise comeback? Will Haurhi Season 3 actually be a thing that exists in our perceived reality?

Each year I’ve chosen to list represents a phase of anime and the climate surrounding it. Everyone has their own golden age of course, their own special year or years that they hold close to their hearts and souls. Be it for the shows or the culture or just the shape of their lives that year when anime came to them. I could easily talk about other arbitrary years that could be argued to have made even more of an impact than the ones I’ve mentioned. Every year in anime is someone’s greatest and I wouldn’t have it any other way.