Forum - View topicYour favorite decade in anime.
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Note: megumi1994 started a similar thread, but rule violations forced a lock. I thought the topic was great for discussion, so I took the liberty to revive it.
When I saw the original thread, I started thinking about which is my favorite. For such an easy question, it doesn't have an easy answer. 80s - This is my least favorite decade, as of today. Back then, it was mecha, mecha, and even more mecha. While it did give us Robotech and Voltron, it was also at the point which mecha was burning itself out. Granted, this decade also proved to have the least amount of anime available for purchase and renting (I'm not counting the 60s and 70s as I've no anime experience within them). While fan sub sites have started to fill the gap (given legal purchases seem to be long gone), I still wonder how many series won't ever get viewed again. 90s - What really impressed me about this decade was how art was improving in anime. Character designs were awesome and the styles were impressive. While the cel style of creation was still in place, it was interesting to see how this technology was pushed to the limits. By the end of this decade, we started seeing a shift from cel production to the use of computers. Unfortunately, this is also the decade which produced some awful series because the "anime bubble" was starting to build. Despite some of these "failures", the push to get out a series help build the technology behind it, so that's a good thing. 00s - As an appreciator of art, I find this decade to be a bit on the sad side. Characters today are just drawn without as much detail as their 90s counterpart. Kneecaps have been replaced with shadows and straight lines. Of course, I can't really blame the industry as it more than makes up for this in other ways. Animation today is just so gorgeous compared to decades prior to that. If anything, I would love to see series of old get re-created using technology today. Not "remastered", but re-created. From scratch. This is why it's hard to choose a favorite decade, so I'm left to say both the 90s and 00s are my favorite. Between them, anime has taken new steps to re-invent itself and, despite contrary beliefs, is slowly increasing the viewer market. While economics will certainly play a part in future titles, those titles will be nothing short of exceptional, even if it blows chunks. It's just another example of how quality often over shadows quantity, given fans have waited years for some continuations. I can't wait to see what the 10s brings us. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24557 |
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I'm definitely an 00s man, myself. The vast majority of my DVD titles fall in that time period. I think a big part of this is that character designs and the animation in general look so much more "slick" than the older stuff. I tried watching an eppie of The Slayers and just couldn't get past that older, rougher look. I was never an anime kid so I have no childhood loyalty to any of the old school anime.
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Sword Magess
 Posts: 285 Location: 武汉 |
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The current one, because the current decade is when there are the most discussion, when the new titles are released, when one can see how anime is developing, when one can see how the fans react to series as they are released, when one can get view of series that are not hampered by nostalgia or the distance of time.
You might note that the above does not restrict itself to the 00's. This is quite true. My favorite decade was the 90s when it was the 90s, the 80s when it was the 80s, and I expect it to be the 10's in a few years. |
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LordofNoe
 Posts: 115 Location: Where the sky is blue, the grass is green. |
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Although I definitely agree with Sword Magess, you can't help but love the decade of anime you're in now, I also have to stress the 90s. The "anime bubble" is the chief cause why I'm even on this site to begin with. If my television hadn't been flooded with anime on almost ever channel for almost a decade straight, or perhaps I had decided to go outside during the summer, I wouldn't have been exposed to it. Up until the advent of Toonami and [adult swim], I never had an interest in the industry. It was different, and I was judgmental. But thanks to that, I sat through a few early episodes of Sailor Moon and DBZ and was slowly reeled in. The 80s anime are some of my favorite, though. It seemed like a little more time had been spent on the characters and the story, however bad the animation and coloring was (I loved Saint Seiya, for whatever reason). As for the 00s, I love it, but it's not my favorite. I love it because some great anime is out there and it seems like things are finally going back towards quality rather than quantity, as it should be.
And who isn't excited about the future? |
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nagato316
Posts: 306 |
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Hmm, asking to pick a favorite anime decade is almost like asking a parent to choose a favorite among his/her children. But if I had to choose only one decade, it would have to be the 1990s. This was when my otakuism took seed and bloomed. This was also the period when two series that, love 'em or hate 'em, changed the anime landscape forever and demonstrated the medium's ability to compel and captivate an audience with fascinating characters and at least a semblance of a sophisticated story. Yup, to dismiss the '90s is to dismiss Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop.
Of course the anime bug would have never exploded into a full-blown malady in my system if it weren't for Voltron and Robotech in the 1980s...and to a lesser extent Gatchman/Battle of the Planets from the 70s. I could also say that the original Bubblegum Crisis OAVs "bridged the gap" for me between the 80s (when I was first exposed to the medium )and 90s (when I was old enough to appreciate how ground-breaking a medium it was and would become). And it's thanks to my earlier exposure from days of yesteryear and the continuing evolution of the medium (and subsequent devolution of domestic television--curse you, so-called reality TV and its utterly unsympathetic protagonists about whom I couldn't care less!!) that my appreciation continues unabated through the infancy of the new century... |
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ilurker
Posts: 3 |
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I'm going to have to go with the 80's. When I think of shows like SDF Macross, City Hunter, original Bubblegum Crisis, Laputa, Maison Ikkoku, Kimagure Orange Road, and many other shows from the decade, I feel they have a charm that may be missing in more contemporary series.
This is not to say that the 90's and 00's are worse or bad. In fact, I've thoroughly enjoyed shows from both of those decades too. However, I'd have to go with the 80's simply because shows from that era make me feel nostalgic and warm and fuzzy. I sound like an old man. |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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I'll stay with 90's. I've thought about creating a thread like this myself but categorizing anime in decades would be just too vague, but since it's here I'll give my thoughts.
I don't usually research what I think about anime, so I'll just go with a raw opinion. That was a decade of "originality", watching most series from the 90's gave me that feeling, though people would usually say 70's and 80's are. I can't really give an opinion about any anime before the 90's since I haven't seen any so I'll just judge between 90's and 00's. There're many great titles which inspired many other anime and even remakes. But my great motivation for voting on the 90's would be Rurouni Kenshin. If I recall well, Rurouni Kenshin was my favorite anime and that didn't change, probably. The main reason I'll stay with the last decade is kinda hard to explain but I'll try to get to my point. 00's were most likely years that didn't focus much on a single genre, always trying to mix comedy in horror anime and trying to balance it, and so on, which normally make most anime ridiculous to watch.
I disagree there. Letting the fans interfere in anime have proven to be disastrous. I'd rather see what the author had in mind from the beginning. More titles doesn't exactly mean more quality. Asura Cryin' is an example. Overall, no matter how I look at it 90's had the most originality, and that's definitely the most important in anime for me. |
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Sword Magess
Posts: 285 Location: 武汉 |
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First, there is nothing in what you quoted that talks letting fans interfere in the production of anime. Second, the volume refers to fan discussions of titles, not the titles themselves. It is impossible for a 90's title to be discussed as it is released currently, because the title, by definition, was released in the past. Thus, there can be no discussion of 90's or earlier anime as an ongoing development. Furthermore, because there is little to no discussion of titles from the 90's and before, period, except as to where to purchase the volumes. I find it unbelievable that anybody would suggest that the ongoing discussion of 90's and earlier titles is anywhere near as robust or as interesting as for the 2000's titles. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7361 |
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This fits my DVD shelf as well for the most part, 80s and 90s make up an equal minority of my collection. In particular, I prefer 00-04 for the most part, which brought us such classic as Princess Tutu, Planetes, Cromartie High School, and Paranoia Agent just to name a few. From 05-now I've certainly gotten my good series, but they just don't seem to show up as often. However, if you were to ask me this same question but replace the word "anime" with "manga", I'd say 80s without a doubt (although I'd mostly consider that the series started in the 80s, possibly with ending in the early 90s, given the obvious difference in between the anime and manga run lengths) and often older (which categorizes most Tezuka works and a lot of other great stuff). I find new great stuff sure, but I tend to dislike almost all shojo made in the 90s and I just tend to prefer most manga series made in the 80s. It also helps that most all the 80s manga series are completed running by this point. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Okay, I see what you're saying here but don't you think actually watching the anime is the important part? It's nice to be able to discuss it too but I'd much rather watch a great anime and have nobody to talk about it with than to watch a mediocre anime even if it means there's a bunch of people talk about how mediocre it was with. Anyway, I find it tough to divide by decade. The whole anime boom era from the late 90's to the early 00's stands out definitely. If I had to choose though, I guess I'd go with the 90's. The other half of that decade had some good stuff too whereas I find the later 00's somewhat lacking. The 80's are okay and definitely responsible for some classics but probably less than the other decades and a lot of the stuff from back then has aged very poorly. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8511 Location: Penguinopolis |
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It's hard to pick a favorite decade for anime.
The late 70s brought Space Battleship Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam, both classic sci-fi titles. The 80s was an even bigger time for mecha and mecha-oriented anime. Zeta Gundam, Bubblegum Crisis, and Patlabor came in this decade. But there was also anime like Grave of the Fireflies, several Yamato movies, Castle of Cagliostro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Legend of the Galactic Heroes started in the 80s. These are all anime from the decade of my birth, and all favorites of mine. The 90s gave us Cowboy Bebop, Vision of Escaflowne, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Big O, Outlaw Star, and Turn A Gundam. Sunrise was pumping out excellent titles in this decade, even if they didn't always do well in Japan. Macross Plus was a huge hit, however, and another favorite. Of course, I spent most of my time watching Dragon Ball Z (which started in the 80s but ran through the 90s, mostly) and Ronin Warriors. Oh, and Tenchi Muyo! This decade? Ehhh, fewer favorite titles for me. Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Spirited Away, Metropolis, and Fullmetal Alchemist are all great. I got caught up in Death Note and the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, too. Gurren Lagann is okay, too. Still, lately, there hasn't been a lot for me, aside from remakes and retreads of older shows. Nowadays, it's mostly about insulting moe garbage and h-game/visual novel adaptations. There's little variety in art styles and everything looks too "shiny" and sickening. Overall, it's probably a tie between the 80s and 90s, likely because I'm such a sci-fi and mecha junkie. Back when Sunrise wasn't a joke, when it was practically king. I miss your goodness, Sunrise. Dazzle me again soon. |
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belindabird
 Subscriber Posts: 134 Location: Minneapolis |
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While there are some great quality shows from previous decades, I think I would have to pin the 00's as my favorite simply because access to new series is so comprehensive (if you're willing to watch fansubs) that almost anyone can find something that they like. I've been able to discover so many more niche shows since the advent of digital fansubs that I rarely if ever find myself in one of those ruts where it feels like there's nothing to watch.
I also enjoy the modern community aspect of the fandom. Forum discussions have helped me get more from watching some series (believe it or not!) and I've even picked up on some things that I've missed. Of course, on the other side of the coin, people who are DVD/Dub fans probably wouldn't agree with me, due to the recent downturn in R1 releases in general and the smaller percentage of R1 dubbed releases. |
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Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
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Put me down for the current decade as well. It's been a particularly good decade for shoujo, beginning with Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club unlikely to be dethroned anytime soon as, respectively, the greatest dramedy and comedy shoujo titles. There have also been some great movies like The Girl who Leapt through Time and 5 Centimeters per Second. Throw in that Fullmetal Alchemist is far and away my favorite shounen series, and that pretty much clinches the 00's for me so far.
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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For this old and crusty anime fan, I tend to look back with fondness to the whole 80s-90s period when Japan had the money to churn out wonderful, but compared to the newer digital titles, funky looking titles. The sheer level of detail in the shows back then blows the digital anime out of the water in my book. Yes, the 80s in particular were a very scifi/mecha driven time, but since that is my favorite type of show, it works for me.
Also growing up in the 80s means I probably identify with the shows more than any single real reason I can think of. |
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Swissman
Posts: 800 Location: Switzerland |
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My favorite decade in anime? Definitely the 80's. It's the decade I made first contact with lots of anime, and japanese anime experts consider this decade as the golden age of anime, period.
The 80's weren't only good or bad mecha (in fact, when I think of mecha I think more of the 70's dominated by Go Nagai robot shows), that decade brought us also first real story-telling and animation experiments in a lot of genres and produced classics which are still beloved by japanese audiences nowadays. In the realm of movies, the 80's brought us the lavishly produced Macross: Do you remember love? with it's great pop songs full of hope, Mamoru Oshii's fantastically eerie Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer & Angel's Egg, Gainax's grandiose Wings of Honneamise with an unforgettable opening and ending theme by Ryuiichi Sakamoto, Otomo's cyberpunk classic Akira with richly detailed hand-crafted animation which I consider still as the best to date, all the classic Ghibli movies such as Nausicaä, Totoro, Laputa and Grave of the fireflies, superfun movies for fans like Dirty Pair: Project Eden with it's great James Bond like opening visuals and the hyper action-parody Project A-ko and experimental movies such as Otomo's Robot Carnival. For television series, the 80's brought us good adaptions of very popular shônen manga like Dr. Slump, Dragonball, Kimagure Orange Road and Maison Ikkoku (with it's great feeling of nostalgia and superb pop songs IMHO), City Hunter (again, very good opening & ending themes), Yawara, Cat's Eyes, the classic maho shôjo series by Studio Pierrot and Ashi Pro (Creamy Mami, Minky Momo, Magical Emi, Pastel Yumi...), a good dose of fun an action packed science fiction with two lovable ladies (Dirty Pair). The 80's also started with a favorite of mine, Urusei Yatsura, which had a great artistic and business influence of the evolution of 80's and 90's anime as a whole, and the decade finished with a great adventure series which was influenced by 70's anime and Miyazaki's movies: Nadia - Secret of Blue Water. Let's not forget the OAV boom with a lot of strange yet entertaining sf/action one shot stories, the long j-pop rock cyberpunk Bubble Gum Crisis OAVs and the serious Patlabor OAVs with it's lovable down to earth cast. The 90's are a mixed bag for me: On the one hand it produced great classics such as Evangelion, Utena, Card Captor Sakura, His and her cistumstances, Serial Experiments Lain, Cowboy Bebop or NTHT, on the other hand it was a decade were a long economic recession started to influence what kind of anime finally would be produced. Remakes, some good, others not really, appeared more and more frequently, and the first half of the decade, compared with the second half after Evangelion, was rather bland with few exceptions (especially Sailormoon, the Tenchi Muyo OAVs, some short movies produced by Kadokawa and some feature lenght movies such as Patlabor2/Ghost in the shell). In the 90's, anime in general started to become more "serious", more pessimistic and less, how should I say, less hopeful and energetic like it often was the case in the earlier decade. Characters, especially in tv shows, became more profound and sometimes more insecure with a dark nature. On the one hand I think this is due to the burst of the economic bubble which resulted in a more pessimistic outlook for the future, on the other hand I think the influence started with Evangelion and it's characters full of personal issues. The 00's decade is also a mixed bag for me. The funny thing is, inverse to the 90's, I feel the first half of the 00's decade to be overall superior to the second half of the decade with it's over abundance of moe and supernatural action/detective shônen series. The first half of the decade brought us interesting and fun series such as Azumanga Daiou, Nie_7, Princess Tutu, Fantastic Children, Genshiken, Crest/Banner of the Stars, Fruits Basket, Kamichu!, R.O.D The TV, Samurai Champloo, Jubei-Chan 2 or Figure 17. Of course, the first half of the decade also had its amount of dreck such as the impact of lots of maid and harem/fan service series but I feel that the second half of the decade up to date has more of such fun but overall forgetfull series than it ever had before. Luckily, each season still has some good hidden gems such as Suzumiya Haruhi, Monster, Kemonozume, Dennô Coil or Mushishi, and for fans of visual novels and dating sim adaptions this second half of the decade must be great to experience at first-hand. |
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