One thing I love about anime is the way it’s automatically timeless since a 2D image created in 2021 is no more or less “real” than one created decades ago. While I don’t often go and re-watch the old dramas or sitcoms I grew up with, I’m always down with exploring cool retro anime from the past. I asked J-List customers to show us images from their favorite retro anime, and here are some of the replies!
J-List Readers Reveal Their Favorite Retro Anime Series!
First of all, what is “retro”? As I’ve written before, I’d define the golden and silver ages of anime as anything before 2000, when the industry was forced to switch from painted cel animation to digitally coloring, which brought about a marked change in the quality of the images. So anything from the last century works as “retro” for me.
An influential anime from 1998 that dealt with deep topics anime hadn’t delved into at that point. If you want to see the OP it’s here.
A classic anime from 1996 that did the isekai genre before it was cool. Just look at those visuals!
I love it when a show makes a bigger splash internationally than it does in Japan. Samurai Pizza Cats was one of those
I’ll never forget when I discovered City Hunter, the story of Ryo Saeba, who can solve any problem you might have with a Colt Python. The anime ran from 1987-1991.
1988’s Akira was a watershed film, the first work of anime that a guy could discuss with a girl and still maybe have sex with her at some point in the future. It was also the first anime nude scene for most fans at that time.
One of my hobbies is going back and re-watching the classics of my anime childhood in 1080p, marveling at the incredible details that are revealed on-screen. I’m currently re-watching the entire Aim for the Top Gunbuster! series, pretty much the best six episodes of hard SF anime you could ask for.
I hope that all serious fans of Gainax make sure to watch 1987’s Wings of Honneamise. It’s very much Japan’s answer to 2001: A Space Odyssey, the story of a fictional nation on a fictional planet attempting to put a man in orbit, against a backdrop of political intrigue and breathtaking world design. It’s the first work by Gainax.
As I wrote in my Everything I Learned About Japan, I Learned from Maison Ikkoku post, you can’t get through the 80s without obsessing about character designers. And starting in the mid-1980s, Ken’ichi Sonada started to rule the industry, bringing his cool characters and aesthetic designs to everything. Bubblegum Crisis is a giant love letter to Blade Runner.
One of the most influential anime that you might not have watched was Megazone 23. It had it all: computer-generated singing idols, transforming mecha, plus the reveal that humans weren’t living peacefully in Tokyo in the year 1985, but hundreds of years in the future, on a spaceship at war with aliens. It was a partial inspiration for The Matrix.
Another reason to love retro anime is that we can see all the cool tech that’s gone from our lives today. See my post on cool retro anime technology!
Though many early fans got into anime for the cool robots or cute girls, some anime blew our minds with highly advanced stories, like 1985’s Angel’s Egg.
Another gem from 1985, Dancouger was another visually gorgeous robot anime for television.
Writing a post about the best retro anime with fantastic visuals we all watched back in the day. Is there anything better than this hand-drawn battle, overseen by Hideki Anno?
Shoutout to @RayShadow278 for reminding me of this scene. pic.twitter.com/JKsu6HSM2f
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) March 8, 2021
Of course, no discussion of the amazing visuals of retro anime of the past can be complete without this epic scene from the Macross 1984 film.
Here’s a blog post about why Macross: Do You Remember Love is my pick for the single best anime film ever made.
Anime expanded around the world to different countries and at different times. A lot of Spanish-speaking countries were lucky to get shows like Mahou Shoujo Lalabel on TV to watch.
Mexico even got to watch Queen Millenia on TV. Those lucky guys!
Thanks for reading this post about the best retro anime of yesteryear. Did we miss your favorite? Post it below, or share them with us on Twitter!
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