Anime Best Decade for Anime

[EVA Unit 100]

I would say the '90s. Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, 6/7 of Ranma, Rouroni Kenshin, Ghost in the Shell, and Mononoke all make my day. The '00s have been pretty good so far, with Furuba, Spirited Away, FLCL, The Big O, Gundam SEED, and Naruto, although the best of the '90s outwiegh all of these (except for Spirited Away and FLCL, which are Gods among anime). '80s obviously had some classics like Zeta Gundam, City Hunter, Macross, Miyazaki's stuff, and the first 1/7 of Ranma. Outside of Lupin and the original Gundam, the '70s were rather dull. Only liked Tezuka's stuff from the '60s, and anything before that is ancient.

[densuke]

It's easy to settle on the 90s as the golden age or whatever. For one thing, most of what is available to Western fans was filtered by other fans via fansubbing. Licensees for the most part have simply grabbed up the shows the fans were keen on.

There was also a very hot Japanese market (which allowed for a high quantity of releases) and a load of ambitious newcomers in the industry. Many of the newcomers made a big impact on storytelling quality. Some of them have left the industry.

But I don't think the 90s overall produced a higher percentage of great series comapred to any other decade. A lot of shows boil down to inferior rip-offs of other better series of the time.

And dismissing any part of anime history for any reason distorts what anime is about. Anime from the 90s reflects a rehashing and love of the earlier shows and themes just as much as it shows new thinking. Major figures like Gou Nagai and Miyazaki got their start in the 70s. Japanese fans tend to value series from the 60s through 80s more highly than the newer ones.

I also think it's far too early to judge 21st century anime. Some new shows have stepped away from older storytelling styles and their reliance on mysticism. I think a few series like ROD OAV and TV and Ghost in the Shell SAC stack up with anything ever made. And there is still plenty of time.

[natetron46]

I think the golden age of anime is now in the 2000's. Although most of the anime was actually created before this point, this is the time frame in which it has become more widely accepted and shown more often. Anime, I think is really making a push to come into the mainstream. And where I live it had always been such an underground thing, that is beginning to change.

[Guest Treyale]

Hi I'm new to the board. I agree the 90's had the greatest bust out of fantastic anime we've ever seen, but you have to give credit to the 80's as well. I'm a big fan of the old school stuff, and it important to remember how we got the new age anime with stuuf like Akira, Ronin Warriors, Vampre Hunter D and so on.

[JC Goodwin]

I would have to say the 8os because i found thats when a lot of the best anime were made like Bubble Gum Crisis, Akira, Riding Bean and megazone 23. Yeah i believe it was relly creative time . But dont get me wrong because alot of the anime made know adays are fanastic but there is just something about that retro style to 80s anime. They have a certain vibe like when you watch The original Dirty Pair or Apple Seed which is a film ive just seen. I also love the cyberpunk type animes which are from the 80s.

[Sol-Blade]

I would probably go with the 80's anime, but I never really got interested in anime at all until around the mid 90's. I have watched the old (but good!) series Akira and Macross. I think though that anime in the US really hit it's peak around the 90's.

[Guest Mana]

I think the 80's was the best decade because some good classic anime came out in Japan in that decade, such as DBZ. It started the anime jump into america, ya know? The 80's showed that anime could come to America and be big. It might not've had the greatest shows, but it was best for anime. It started the big anime craziness in America I believe. Then the early 90's were good too. This decade continues to show those shows that technically started around the 80's.

-MILZ

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]The '90s gave birth to many titles that I adore (Bebop, Ranma 1/2, Rorouni Kenshin, Gravitation [the manga, at least is from the 90's] etc...) but my favourites are (mostly) still running now, in the...2000's (we'll have to come up with a quick name for them, wont we?) or were released during them.

I mean, ROD, Naruto, NaruTaru, Paranoia Agent, Samurai Champloo, (Scrapped Princess, too, I believe), Gunslinger Girl, FLCL, Shingetsutan Tsukihime... (Wasn't Excel Saga released in 2001? And don't they say the date somewhere in the show?_ _U Oh, and when did Cooking Master Boy come out? I'll say that just for the title. xD) Wolf's Rain looked quite good from what I saw of it, also.
So, yeah, I'm in love with all the new stuff that nobody seems to have heard of--IRL, at least; I've been hanging around fellow otaku for a portion of the summer. (Just out of curiousity, is there anybody up here who watches PA for reasons other than I suggested it to them, or some one I suggested it to suggested it to them?^^"")

The newest millenium is looking good so far, eh?
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Soliel]

[QUOTE] [I] Originally posted by [/I][B]ultimamilz[/B]
I think the 80's was the best decade because some good classic anime came out in Japan in that decade, such as DBZ. It started the anime jump into america, ya know? The 80's showed that anime could come to America and be big. It might not've had the greatest shows, but it was best for anime. It started the big anime craziness in America I believe. Then the early 90's were good too. This decade continues to show those shows that technically started around the 80's.

-MILZ[/QUOTE]

[COLOR=GREEN] I agree that anime as a genre did start to significantly gain popularity in the '80s and it did spawn some of the great classics that we all know today. But I believe one of the biggest boosts in anime's popularity came in the mid to late '90s. Many current fans are reluctant to admit it but series such as "Pokemon" :ball: hooked a lot of American fans onto anime. I would guess that anime has actually been rising in popularity in the States since the 1960s.

So my final answer... I believe that the best years of anime are yet to come, but so far it would have to be the 1990s.[/COLOR] :rolleyes: