Essential Classics?

[Triple_R]

I've recently thought that maybe more can be done to promote older anime classics to newer/younger anime fans. This thought is inspired by this thread here.

So I was thinking that it might be useful to have a thread dedicated to promoting older anime from previous decades. That it would be useful if such recommendations came from anime fans well-familiar with certain decades in anime.

But I think that for this to work, a certain degree of focus is likely necessary. A lengthy list of unfamiliar titles can easily be intimidating. So I think it would be best if there were lists of "essential anime" for each decade, and that these lists would be kept from 5 to 10 shows in length. The idea is that these 5 to 10 shows should highlight some of the strongest shows of the decade, as well as be a good representation of the sorts of shows and anime genres and characters that were popular/influential in that decade. This list should ideally have some range and variety to them.

I think I've watched enough 90s anime that I can put together a pretty good list of 10 for that decade, but I'd certainly welcome other people tackling the 90s themselves. And it would also be good to have lists for 70s, 80s, etc... This could also include the 2000-2009 decade.


90s:
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Sailor Moon
Cowboy Bebop
Macross Plus
Serial Experiments Lain
Perfect Blue (film)
Magic Knight Rayearth
The Slayers
The Vision of Escaflowne
El Hazard: The Magnificent World


I can explain either entry on this list if anyone wants me to, but to keep this opening post a reasonable length, I'll just throw the names of these titles out there for now.

Please share your thoughts on this thread, and any decade lists of your own.

[MeoTwister5]

Well first off on my mind is Rurouni Kenshin if you haven't seen it for whatever reason.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

For now, I’ll add my take on the 70s decade:

Sport: Ashita no Joe
An excellent anime series about a boxer. One of the finest boxing manga/anime in its time.

Action-Horror: Devilman
One of the most notable works by Go Nagai. This is a darker take on the superhero genre.

Mecha (Super-Robot): Mazinger Z (and the rest of the series)
Known as the one series that helped creating the boom of 70s Super-Robot anime. This series introduced a number of tropes that will then b used by many other series of its ilk. It’s one of Go Nagai’s famous works and one of the finest examples of hot-blooded super-robot anime from 70s. You can also check Getter Robo & Gaiking of the same decade from the same writer.

Mecha (Real-Robot): Mobile Suit Gundam
The one series that paved the way for the Real-Robot subgenre (eg Patlabor, Muv-Luv, Gunparade, Code Geass, etc). It has excellent story and strong and iconic characters that would influence not only mecha anime, but anime in general afterwards.

Sci-fi Action: Neo-Human Casshern
One of Tatsunoko iconic superhero characters. The post-apocalyptic setting and somber atmosphere is a darker take on the superhero genre, like Devilman.

Magical-Girl Action: Cutey Honey/Cutie Honey
It’s the first magical girl series aimed for boys. It’s also one of the earliest magical girl series that put the female MC into action role where she constantly fights the forces of evil and immensely popular. The series itself is really good for what it is that its influences for the mahou shoujo genre afterwards can still be seen and feel even now (especially the fanservice ).

Kid-show, comedy, drama: Doraemon
I don’t think I need to explain this. Doraemon’s fine story is super relatable for kids all over the world that various countries still fondly remember the name and the characteristics of Doraemon’s main cast. It’s cultural impact and influence for the kids all around the world is plain to see (except maybe in countries like US where majority don’t know about Doraemon’s existence. But hey, US also doesn’t pay much attention to football/soccer while the rest of the world know and like that sport ).

Adventure Comedy-drama:
Lupin III (Lupin the Third) and its movie: The Castle of Cagliostro
The story about the iconic master-thief, Arsène Lupin III the grandson of Arsène Lupin. Directed by Masaaki Osumi, Isao Takahata & Hayao Miyazaki. The latter two are now famous as the men behind Studio Ghibli’s successes.

Comedy: Panda! Go, Panda!
Done by Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki, Yoichi Kotabe & Yasuo Otsuka, this is basically Studio Ghibli’s prototype for My Neighbor Totoro.

Space Opera, Adventure, Sci-fi:
Space Battleship Yamato & Space Pirate Captain Harlock
two of the greatest space-adventure anime of the time and two of Leiji Matsumoto’s fine works.

Period Drama: Heidi, Girl of the Alps
Certainly one of the finest adaptation of Johanna Spyri’s Heidi novel. Made by Isao Takahata and crew, with pre-Gundam Yoshiyuki “kill’em all!” Tomino. It’s worth a watch for those interested in the source material o drama in general.

Historical comedy: Ikkyu-san
A lighthearted comedy about an exceptionally smart little monk who can solve many poblems if you ask him. A really good series for kids that is entertaining and educational (especially for young kids) without resorting to violence.

Adventure, Drama, Sci-fi, Romance: Future Boy Conan
Adapted from Alexander Key’s novel, this series which directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Keiji Hayakawa has great story and setting for its time. An adventure done by the people behind Studio Ghibli is certainly worth checking out.

Shoujo Historical Drama Romance: Candy Candy
If shoujo drama is your thing, this is one of the finest examples of the decade.

Superhero: Cyborg 009
A superhero series with dark undertones. One of Shotaro Ishinomori’s classic works.

Space-western adventure: Galaxy Express 999
One of Leiji Matsumoto’s classics. This one is made to be experienced so I won’t talk much about the plot. I just want to say that it’s a classic for a reason.

[crazyidiot78]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I've recently thought that maybe more can be done to promote older anime classics to newer/younger anime fans. This thought is inspired by this thread here.

So I was thinking that it might be useful to have a thread dedicated to promoting older anime from previous decades. That it would be useful if such recommendations came from anime fans well-familiar with certain decades in anime.

But I think that for this to work, a certain degree of focus is likely necessary. A lengthy list of unfamiliar titles can easily be intimidating. So I think it would be best if there were lists of "essential anime" for each decade, and that these lists would be kept from 5 to 10 shows in length. The idea is that these 5 to 10 shows should highlight some of the strongest shows of the decade, as well as be a good representation of the sorts of shows and anime genres and characters that were popular/influential in that decade. This list should ideally have some range and variety to them.

I think I've watched enough 90s anime that I can put together a pretty good list of 10 for that decade, but I'd certainly welcome other people tackling the 90s themselves. And it would also be good to have lists for 70s, 80s, etc... This could also include the 2000-2009 decade.


90s:
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Sailor Moon
Cowboy Bebop
Macross Plus
Serial Experiments Lain
Perfect Blue (film)
Magic Knight Rayearth
The Slayers
The Vision of Escaflowne
El Hazard: The Magnificent World


I can explain either entry on this list if anyone wants me to, but to keep this opening post a reasonable length, I'll just throw the names of these titles out there for now.

Please share your thoughts on this thread, and any decade lists of your own.

I agree this is a good topic to explore. Also I like many of your choices even if I haven't seen all of them. My top ten anime of the 90s and 80s would be in no particular order. Also i stuck to shows I have actually seen

90s
Slayers
Neongenesis Evangelion
Mobile suit 8th MS team
Outlaw Star
Irresponsible captain tylor
Great teacher onizuka
Magical Knight Rayearth
Ruroni Kenshin
You're Under Arrest
Martain Successor Nadesico

80s anime
Astro Boy
the mysterious cities of gold
Macross
Fist of the north star
Nausica
Voltron
castle in the sky
bubblegum crisis
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise
ronin warriors

[SuitUp]

About the only work that I can assure is a must watch for anyone at any time is Monster, if for whatever reason someone hasn't watched it, drop whatever you're doing and start this, it won't dissapoint.

[Akito Kinomoto]

Ctrl + F "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" = no results found. It's a space opera about government, war, and guys who want to relax and have a drink. It's thorough in its world building and its characters are like the mythological beings of old, with hubris and heroics alike

2000s
Millennium Actress
Haibane Renmei
Clannad
Gurren Lagann
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Death Note
5cm per second

[RichardFromMarple]

A few not mentioned yet:

60s:
Sally The Witch
Speed Racer

70s:
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Dororon Emna Kun
Majokko Meg Chan

80s:
Dr Slump
Dragonball / DBZ
Urusei Yatura
Ranma 1/2
Minky Momo

90s:
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
One Piece

00:
Lucky Star
Naruto
Love Hina
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Spice & Wolf

[Grifis]

I have a list of my own (and already shortened). Now that I look into it, I have the most titles in 2000-2009. After that things went downhill dramatically.

1980-1989
City Hunter
Glass Mask
LoGH

1990-99
Akachan to Boku
Bastard!!
Berserk
Black Jack
Crest of the Stars
El Hazard Magnificent
Heroic Legend of Arslan
Initial D
Record of Lodoss War
Vision of Escaflowne

2000-2009
Banners of the Stars
Fantastic Children
Full Metal Panic!
Hajime no Ippo
Hikaru no Go
Monster
Rescue Wings
Seirei no Moribito
Twelve Kingdoms
Uninhabited Planet Survival

[Dextro]

This is an absolutely fantastic idea so I was going to join in with my 2 cents but then suddenly it became an epic post covering over 50 shows... I may have gotten a bit carried away.

I'll try to trim it down a bit.

[Triple_R]

Thanks to everyone for sharing their own lists and insights. It's definitely appreciated!

Originally Posted by Dextro

This is an absolutely fantastic idea so I was going to join in with my 2 cents but then suddenly it became an epic post covering over 50 shows... I may have gotten a bit carried away.

I'll try to trim it down a bit.

I'm glad you like the thread and the idea behind it.

It's probably fine to list 20 to 30 shows (per decade) if you break them down by genre like Obelisk did with his post. That way, newer fans can pick and choose shows based on which genres interest them the most.

[Tempester]

Frankly I don't think I'm in a position to make a list of essential classics from before the 00's considering the severely small amount of anime I have watched from the 70's, 80's and 90's and the number of well-received TV anime, movies and OVAs from those decades that I still haven't seen. (Hell, there's still a ton of 00's stuff I plan to watch.)

Anyway, here goes:

00's TV shows
Aria (healing and slice-of-life)
Ashita no Nadja (romantic adventure)
Baccano (supernatural action and mystery)
Brigadoon: Marin & Melan (sci-fi action and romance)
Galaxy Angel (comedy)
Gungrave (mafia drama and supernatural action)
Haibane Renmei (supernatural drama and slice-of-life)
Monster (mystery and thriller)
Mushishi (episodic supernatural)
One Outs (sports and mind games)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (mecha action)
Texhnolyze (sci-fi and arthouse film)

00's movies
5cm/s (drama)
Hoshi no Koe (sci-fi drama)
Metropolis (sci-fi)
Redline (racing action and some sci-fi themes nobody gives a crap about because you watch it for the cool racing)


I realized that the decade of anime I'm most familiar and knowledgeable about is by far the current one. This is pretty much the decade where I have sunken myself into anime the deepest, so I'm sure I'll have quite a *massive* recommendation list for the 10's by the time 2020 comes around.

[Last Sinner]

1960s
--------

Gegege no Kitaro
Princess Knight


1970s
--------

Galaxy Express 999
Cutey Honey
Space Battleship Yamato
Rose of Versailles
Future Boy Conan
Aim For The Ace
Candy Candy
Mazinger Z
Gatchaman


1980s
--------

Kimagure Orange Road
City Hunter
Dirty Pair
Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star
Touch
Gunbuster
Meitantei Holmes/Sherlock Hound
Original Macross + Do You Remember Love movie



1990s
--------

Crest of the Stars
Slayers
Jin-Roh
Only Yesterday
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Kiki's Delivery Service
Serial Experiments Lain
Perfect Blue
Cowboy Bebop
Trigun

2000s
--------

Monster
Last Exile
Aria
Code Geass
Banner of the Stars
Le Chevalier D'Eon
Maria Who Watches Over Us
Beyond the Clouds - The Promised Place
Mushishi
Kino's Journey
Haibane Renmei
One Outs
Elfen Lied
The Sky Crawlers
Kemono no Souja Erin
Paranoia Agent
Nodame Cantabile
Samurai Champloo
Spice and Wolf
FLCL
Full Metal Panic Fumoffu
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Azumanga Daioh
Spirited Away
Simoun
Welcome to the NHK
Kaiji
Fullmetal Alchemist

[crazyidiot78]

Loving the choices here again and might I add something to keep the conversation going. What would you choose as the quintessential example of certain anime genres. Now seeing as there are many ways to break it down I went with the list from crunchy roll

Action- Sekirei
Adventure- Full metal alchemist brotherhood
Comedy- Greatest Teacher Onizuka
Drama- Code Geass
Ecchi- don't watch it
Fantasy- Slayers
Historical- Ruroni Kenshin
Mecha- Gundam 8th MS team
Romance- Oh My goddess
Science Fiction- Ghost in the shell
Seinen/Mature- Black Lagoon
Shoujo- Card Captor Sakura
Shounen- History’s mightiest disciple kenichi
Slice of Life- Azu Manga Daioh
Sports- Ginban Kaleidoscope

[Dextro]

Sorry Triple_R, I couldn't cut much out of my list so I just split it in several categories and spoiler tagged them to avoid flooding the thread.

I know my prose isn't particularly interesting to read but if I can convince someone that a couple of these shows are worth watching then my job here is done.

I've personally started watching anime as a hobby fully in the early 00s so my choices reflect that. I'm not going to pretend to know much before the coming of Eva but I'll add a few of the shows from the 80s that ended up influencing me and my later viewing habits.

It kind of makes me feel rather old to think that some of the shows that absolutely defined the medium for me were now made so long ago that there are people watching anime that weren't even born back when they were made. I know this might be stating the obvious to plenty of the folk here who are older than me but I guess it happens to everyone right?

In the end I've actually ended up adding some fairly recent stuff to my list because it was hard to get an actual end date set when I just felt like I had to add some stuff from the early 2010s in due to their influence (in my humble opinion).

So, without further ado, here is my (far too extensive) list:

The oldies
These are the shows that marked my early childhood. Those shows that, without me even knowing, planted that seed that ultimately lead me to making following this medium one of my hobbies and to participate in places such as this forum.

Spoiler for The oldies:

Doraemon (1979)
This is the oldest show in my list and one that other posters have already pointed out as a mark for people around the world. The robotic blue cat (or "el gato cosmico" in the Spanish dub I got) marked not only my childhood as did my younger sister and plenty of kids right up to the current day. It's impressive how the show is still going strong today and it stands almost completely outside of the rest of the medium. Doraemon isn't a TV Show, it's a shared cultural phenomenom that already spans generations.

Macross (1982)
Of course there's Gundam in the late 70s defining the Mecha genre but others will undoubtedly be far better at expressing why that show is a hallmark than I could ever be. Heck, others will undoubtedly be far better than me at explaining why Macross is a hallmark but I fell that I must mention it anyway. Gundam explored the themes of War but Macross brought the power of song to the battlefield. It's a shame that the series has such a chequered history when it comes to licensing outside of Japan because it genuinely deserves to be known by far more people across the western world than it currently is.

Captain Tsubasa (1983)
This is a bit personal for me. Both me and my school buddies grew up watching the exploits of Tsubasa (or Oliver as he was known here because dubs) and, in a country who makes Football the undisputed national pastime, it was almost inevitable that virtually everyone around my age ended up rushing home to see who was going to win the next match. It was my introduction sports anime and, while I never really picked up the genre, thought it worthwhile to mention due to the impact it had in me and my close friends.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeta (1985)
Well I said I wasn't going to mention the original Gundam but I must mention Zeta at least. For me this is the most interesting part of the Universal Century timeline when the shades of grey of the original show got turned to eleven and everything gets turned upside down. There are multiple parties involved, no one's 100% right nor 100% wrong. Some are bastards, others just misguided but virtually everything is grey and Char Quattro Bajeena has the mosty kickass 80s shades I can remember To me Zeta has a better story overall than the original show. It's also far closer to modern standards of animation than the admittedly old looking original show.

Dragon Ball (1986)
I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't the biggest of fans of the original Dragon Ball. I loved it of course, especially when the Red Ribbon came around and finally upped the stakes from the simpler adventuring that came before, but I never really went full fanboy over the show. However the important of the Akira Torayama penned series is unquestionable and there's nary a soul who hasn't heard of San Goku and his exploits.

Saint Seiya (1986)
Saint Seiya is a show that I actually don't remember all that well. It was one of the very first shows I watched as a little tyke and in my memory is a far more epic and good looking thing than the real thing. My nostalgia goggles are on overdrive when it comes to this show but don't take that the wrong way, others will be almost assuredly prompt to remind people that it's actually a show worthy of note. I've yet to sit down and re-watch it properly but sadly I rarely seem to find the time.

- little old Dextro is born

Gunbuster (1988)
Gainax invented the bounce and this is often credited as the show where that happened. And now I just completely described a minor anecdote that in no way, shape or form represents the importance of this show. Gunbuster basically set the stage for the gigantic power creep and epicness that Gainax, for better or worse, would be come known for. To put it simply there's a plot that grows in stakes to galactic proportions that sees a someone go from zero to saving the universe in the span of an eternity. It's a fantastic show and part of the reason why some folks put the name Gainax in such a pedestal for so long. The other reason I think most people know

Akira (1988)
Here's another title that needs absolutely no introductions. Akira is one of the most well known cyberpunk anime movies of all time and an absolutely must watch. I've yet to read the manga I admit but folks tell me it's even more groundbreaking. Overall I doubt anyone questions Akira's classic status.

Dragon Ball Z (1989)
I wasn't a fan of Dragon Ball, I've already admitted as much, but I was a massive and insane fan of its sequel as is virtually every single person around my age I've ever encountered (in my country). Dragon Ball Z was a phenomena. Kids would play make belief of the show in the courtyard, everyone wore t-shirts with Son Goku, Vegeta, Freeza and other characters... There were action figures, the movies would play in cinemas next to the big blockbuster hits... It was insane! Everyone held their breath for the final 5 minutes of Namek (that ended up taking some five 20 minute episodes) and nobody wanted to miss the after school episode. It also helps that we in Portugal had the most hilariously bad dub possible. It was so bad it actually became legendary with its pop culture references and hilariously ad-libbed cuts. Apparently the 4 person dubbing team had to frequently dub episodes out of listening to a french dub and sometimes not even that. One thing that saddens me is that I can't ever share that with most folks here in the forum due to the language barrier. Try to picture the popular Dragon Ball Z Abridged series but done completely unintentionally and with no malice whatsoever and maybe you're getting there. But I'm getting carried away. Dragon Ball Z is a cultural landmark and it's no surprised that games and animated sequels keep showing up each passing year.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (1992)
Here's another one of the great classics. I'm not the right person to explain how Sailor Moon was important to its genre but I'm sure plenty of others will do so in my place. There's a reason it continues to be popular up to today.

The 90s
And now I'm finally into the 90s and the point where some truly groundbreaking shows show up in my radar. I didn't really start following anime as something different than simple cartoons until the very final years of the decade when I finally got broadband internet access but some of my favourites and some of the most ground breaking works ever showed up in the 90s. There's a reason the Wachowski Brothers made Matrix in the tail end of the decade and anime has a big part in it.

Little side note: There was this brand new cable TV channel that came out back in 2001 that targeted teens and young adults and they had one anime per day of the week. The shows were Trigun, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Excel Saga and New Cutie Honey. They latter added shows like Hellsing, Last Exile or Kiddy Grade and re-ran Evangelion. No wonder I got into the medium with so much awesome in a row

Spoiler for The 90s:

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
Bam! Starting with the major gorilla in the room. Neon Genesis Evangelion came out in 1995 and completely blew everyone's mind... and Gainax's coffers apparently since they completely run out of budget for the final episodes and had to go with a highly experimental run of final episodes to hide the lack of means. Who also had their mind in a rather dark place was director and driving force behind the show Hideaki Anno whose history of Clinical Depression is known to have been one of the major inspirations of the show itself. I was far too young to fully grasp Eva when it originally came out but I really drilled down into it back when I was around 15 or 16 years old and it hit me like a rock. For me Eva is a show that hits particularly strong for a Teenage viewer. If anyone hasn't seen Eva they absolutely must! The show set a standard that far too many shows tried to copy and still try to up to the current day. It defined new trends, created new Clichés and inspired a generation of fans and creators alike. This show marks a turning point for the genre: while everything that I mentioned before will in some way, shape or form feel positively dated to modern audiences, everything from here on out can be considered perfectly acceptable. There's really a major shift brought forward with not only Eva but also the next item on the list.

Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Again a seminal work of the 90s. I mentioned the Wachowski brothers before and this is mostly why. If there's something that can be said to have inspired The Matrix to the point of almost blatant imitation is Ghost in The Shell. It's THE cyberpunk work of the 90s seeped in philosophy and that dark and gritty 90s cyberpunk aesthetic. I actually think it's even more on point today than it was when it came out, always a sign of a particularly great work of art. And yes, for me GITS is as much art as is something like Schindler's List or The Godfather.

The Vision of Escaflowne (1996)
Like I mentioned before Escaflowne was one of the shows that really got me into the medium but it helps tremendously that its actually a fantastic show that's often overlooked. Kawamori of Macross fame, Kanno Yoko the legendary composer and a little unknown Maaya Sakamoto voicing the main character are just a few of the names associated with this show that mixed Mecha with politics, a love plot and a fantasy setting. I can think of a very small number of shows like it but everyone I've known who's seen it will gladly speak fondly of it. An absolutely must watch for any fan of anime but the 90s are just getting started.

Rurouni Kenshin (1996)
This decade also gave us the brilliant Rurouni Kenshin adaptation. This is one of the big Shounen shows of the 90s and still a great story today. It's a bit hard to explain why one of the big long running action shows is considered a classic so I'll let others pick up the slack here since I'm sure this will be a rather recurring choice in these lists.

Perfect Blue (1998)
Perfect Blue is an animated movie, yes, but it really didn't have to be. It's a great thriller that explores themes of mental breakdown that could absolutely have been adapted to the silver screen in a far more conventional form but the great late Satoshi Kon gave us a beautifully animated motion picture instead. It would actually be fair to compare it to movies like The Shining imho. If there's something I can, without any doubt, to absolutely any and everyone whether they want to watch anime or not is this film. Satoshi Kon was one of the better directors anime has ever seen but alas he died far too young and with far too few titles under his belt. A true loss for the human arts.

Initial D (1998)
And now for something completely different. Inital D has some of the worst looking characters in the decade and the music is a product of no other decade than the 90s but it's a series that marked a generation of car lovers. This is basically what the original Fast & Furious would latter become in movie form: something that perfectly represented the car culture of a particular point in time, in this case Japanese mountain pass drift culture. This is pure automotive porn from start to finish and is probably in large part responsible for the continuing strange popularity of a certain 1983 Toyota AE86.

Serial Experiments: Lain (1998)
The 90s was the decade of the philosophical mind fsck anime that's for sure and Lain is another important reference. This show about the blending of the real and virtual is another important mark of the decade and, while not as well known as stuff like Ghost in the Shell, it's still an absolute classic and a must watch for any anime fan.

Trigun (1998)
Ok I'll admit: I can't really justify why Trigun feels like a classic to me. It has great characters and was a genuinely great mix of SciFi with the wild west but I'm not really sure on how to explain why I feel like this deserves a place in this list. It was rather popular back then though and it even had a new movie made just some short years ago but the fact is that it always shows up in these kinds of lists so the inability to sell the show is purely on me. However I absolute loved it back then and am still saddened till today on how short its 26 episodes feel.

Cowboy Bebop (1998)
And here it is: one of the best shows of all time in virtually any list. There's the pinnacle of beautifully drawn cell animation, there's the brilliant soundtrack by the one an only Yoko Kanno and the Jazz bad she set up for the occasion (The Seatbelts) and the overflowing amounts of style that the show poured out at virtually every minute of its runtime. The story was a love letter to film noir, not particularly amazing imho but more than fitting and particularly well done from start to finish. The characters were also some of the most memorable of the medium. If you haven't seen Cowboy Bebop then please check your fan card at the entrance.

Excel Saga (1999)
Excel Saga is one of the most insane shows I've ever seen. It was so insane that I can hardly begin to describe it but it has a certain kind of nonsense humour that particularly clicked with me. This isn't the kind of nonsense you'd find in a Monty Python sketch, it's more of the kind of random humour you'll find in the more random places of the internet. If talking about badgers, badgers, mushrooms and snakes is something that you understand then you'll probably like this.

Digimon Adventure (1999)
The year was 1999 and kids everywhere were going nuts with a brand new show that was sort of like Pokemon but not quite. The comparisons to the Nintendo blockbuster were inevitable but Digimon, as a show, is the better of the two. For one there are actual characters here and there's an actual story that's actually rather interesting in exploring themes of growth and the relationship between the kids themselves as well as their companion Digimon. As a work it might not be nowhere near the level of stuff like Cowboy Bebop but its cultural impact is undeniable.

GTO (1999)
Talking about growth and responsibility here's Great Teacher Onizuka. This is another of the great manga adaptation of the 90s that's not only incredibly funny but also an absolute hallmark of the decade. There's actually a new live action drama adaptation airing right now.

Crest/Banner of the Stars (1999)
If there was ever a more perfect example of a Space Opera I do not know (yes, them be fighting words for all the Legend of the Galactic Heroes fans around here But to be fair I haven't watched that one yet). The Crest/Banner of the stars saga is the kind of show that I want desperately to see more of but already resigned myself to not getting. There are occasional glimpses of similar shows but nothing quite like the beautiful relationship of Jinto and Lafiel. I really should watch the show again... and read the few translated novels...

FLCL (2000)
No list could be complete without a reference to Furi Kuri. This OVA series was basically made to match the work of the Japanese rock band The Pillows by the crazy minds at Gainax. It stars a kid who has a robot grow out of a bump on his head. Bump that he got when a crazy woman riding a scooter hit him in the head with a guitar while driving at high speed. I may be remember it wrong but I think that's about it. Insane is a good word to just about cover what FLCL is. Brilliant is another. Unmissable my final remark.

Love Hina (2000)
And just to top off the "90s" I'll leave a small shout out to what's one of the last of the older romantic comedies. I think everyone knows the cliché: a guy whose a klutz sees himself surrounded by a bunch of girls who embody the differing stereotypes. It's rather good at what it is and I remember it being relatively popular back then.

The early 00s
Keen eyed readers will notice that I already had a couple of shows from the 00s in the previous list but I can assure you that I have a rather good reason for it. IMHO the 00s truly got started when the first show in this category got insanely popular and marked the decade from then on out. Without further ado...

Spoiler for The early 00s:

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002)
Sunrise needed to re-invent Gundam for a newer generation and SEED was the show that did it. It's still insanely popular today with characters showing up in Newtype popularity poles over 10 years after it originally aired. If you watch the original 1979 Gundam you can clearly see the parallels but whether you take it as a rip-off or an homage its up to you. There are tones of stock footage used throughout the show along with the infamous beam spam and its character designs and outlines got copied and refined to exhaustion the following years fights but there's no doubting its massive influence in the following years. And that's true whether you like the show or not.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002)
I wanted to leave a shout-out to the TV re-imaging of the Ghost In The Shell universe. It's not as awe inspiring as the movie that came before it but it's still a great scifi show that was a great job on behalf of Productions I.G. and was very well regarded by fans of the genre.

Last Exile (2003)
If the 00s are the story of a studio that studio has to be Gonzo. They butchered insane amounts of adaptations and yet we still loved them. They had some amazing originals though and were pioneers in the use of 3D CGI for television animation. That sometimes produced some questionable results but shouldn't a studio gain props for trying? Last Exile though is the studios masterpiece. This steampunk story about a couple of kids who end up getting caught up in a warn that threatens to destroy the world they inhabit is one the most highly regarded TV originals of the early 00s. Just don't ask fans about the sequel.

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
Fullmetal Alchemist is a brilliant manga series. The original adaptation of said series is a brilliant TV anime. They are, however, two fairly different stories when everything's said and done. You see: back when the tv show was airing the manga was too far away from the ending which meant the usually dreaded anime original ending came to the fore but the fact of the matter is that the show didn't suck. There were 50 episodes of a great, if slightly darker, show based on the beginning of the manga with the same name and it ended up being fairly enjoyable and highly recommended even today. The manga would end up getting the full adaptation it deserved in the 2009 Brotherhood though but even still the original attempt is more than worth the price of admission.

Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (2003)
There's a certain small studio from the Japanese capital of olden times whose mere mention of the name around these here parts is almost guaranteed to trigger endless discussion and debate. The Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu spinoff is probably the first popular work by said studio and set the tone for the slapstick comedy that they would end up being known for. That and the visual quality of their works. For a show of its time Fumoffu was rather pleasant looking even if it might not seem particularly amazing today but it put that studio on the map, a studio I'll admit to have been a fan of for quite some time.

I also highly recommend the original adaptation of the novel by Gonzo and the later second season by the studio who shall not be named (The Second Raid). The latter in particular is beautifully animated and its sad to know that the studio swore off ever animating mecha again due to the workload needed for it look that good (at the time).

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (2004)
From the same studio that gave us Last Exile comes a stunning looking adaptation of the world renown Alexandre Dumas novel... but set in a future earth with space travel. This is another show I find is often overlooked but I'm guessing most people who've seen it will agree with me that the drama, flair and visuals are absolutely outstanding here. GONZO truly had some memorable original shows.

Bleach (2004)
Here's another long running shonen adaptation. Bleach had a very fresh style to it when it first got adapted to the little screen and the first couple of arcs were actually rather good and some would say they even topped Naruto at the time. Sadly the show entered filler hell as it grew ever closer to the source material. Sadly the source material also severely declined in quality and the rate at which it was released with the show coming to a rather sad and forgettable end but the early parts of the series are rather enjoyable imho.

Eureka 7 (2005)
Speaking of anime originals here's the one that put BONES on the map. Eureka 7 has surfing mecha and anyone will tell you that it's an absolute must watch. I personally am not the biggest of fans of the show but it's hard to deny its quality at virtually all levels from visuals (a BONES strong suit) to audio. But, like Last Exile, just don't ask fans about the sequel.

Aria The Animation (2005)
I couldn't let a list of shows go by without mentioning Junichi Satou's anime adaptation of Kozue Amano's healing manga Aria. This is a show where virtually nothing ever happens and yet people like me love it all the more for its stillness. It's about discovering a almost magical future version of Venice that got recreated in the terraformed of Mars, now called Aqua and filled with water. As the healing hint indicates this is a show whose Chronos Club soundtrack coupled with the beautiful visuals soothe the soul of those who let themselves be drawn in by its spell. One of the saddest anime moments I've experienced was the end of the show. My face was carrying a stupid smile, my eyes felt like they would turn to water at any moment and all that just because of the emotional impact of seeing what amounted to an escapade reach an end. It concluded beautifully, perfectly satisfying yet the loss will forever be with me.

2006 onwards
While I was looking through my watch history and compiling this list I happened to note that 2006 was, in hindsight, a landmark year for the industry. Three of the most influential shows of the last decade came out that year so I think its fairly fair to say that we can draw a clear separation of the shows that came before and after 2006.

Spoiler for 2006 onwards:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)
Conventions across the world would stop to dance the Hare Hare Yukai. The studio from the thousand year capital was at what was arguably the dawn of its hit streak and gave us a chaotic adaptation of one of the most popular light novels of the time. Haruhi made an undeniable impact in the fandom and it may just be largely responsible for the types of shows that ended dominating the following years. I actually think that watching the show in its original airing order at first is a much more interesting experience than just taking things chronologically but plenty of people would argue that the 2009 re-airing with extra episodes is the better watch... Well, aside from the 8 hundred pound gorilla in the room that almost drove people in these forums insane. Really, going back and re-reading the reactions to those episodes is hilarious

Death Note (2006)
The year also gave us Death Note, the adaptation of the popular manga that still has live action movie sequels coming out today. The fight between Kira and L with absolute power corrupting absolutely is one of the best moments in anime in recent years and the show is still highly regarded by many fans (including myself).

Code Geass (2006)
Camp! Stylish, high quality, scifi camp! Code Geass married the highly popular look of CLAMP with an delicious over the top story of revenge filled with mecha action and plot twists galore from the powerhouse that is Sunrise (the home of Gundam). I think its fairly fair to say that, together with the previous two shows, there was a massive earthquake of change washing over the medium before the year was out.

Macross F (2007)
I already mentioned Macross and how I feel like its a landmark show of the 80s whose recognition overseas is smaller than should be. Macross F was, until recently, the latest incarnation of the franchise and a major mark of the decade. The series regular mix of Fighter and Mecha action, Song and Romance hits a particular high point in this iteration so I'm adding it to the list. I also love the many pop hits that came out of the show but that's hardly surprising given the involvement of Kanno Yoko of Cowboy Bebop fame.

Darker Than Black (2007)
Another particularly interesting show of the late 2000s, for me, is this one. BONES originals always have a certain something when it comes to plot that feels off for me but for some reason I still can't deny how relevant they used to turn out. DtB had a very interesting scenario and was pretty good and building up mysteries about its main characters. The second season kind of rushes the show to what feels like an premature conclusion which is a shame. I really should rewatch this show sometime.

Clannad (2007)/Clannad: After Story (2008)
I couldn't let this kind of list go by without managing to slip in a reference to Clannad and it's sequel. But first of all a disclaimer: I'm a massive fan of the show. To me it represents the pinnacle of a combination that will probably never happen again. A studio with an almost unrivalled ability to do justice to the particular blend of slapstick comedy and melodrama represented by this Key VN. There was a perfect storm of budget, viewer interest and the perfect source material that made Clannad one of the best examples of the romance genre. I can still feel the pain in my chest that haunted me through most of its second season and I still have this irrational protective instinct every time I think about the main female character of the show. The show has some flaws, I'll admit, and some will promptly point to Kanon as the better story which, in hindsight, it really is but all that is moot because, in the end, Clannad always hit me harder. To me Clannad as a show is tighter with its single focus on one of the VN routes instead of allowing its main character to fell like a casanova... That and a certain character that shows up latter in the second season that's way too cute... Way... Too... Cute... *ahem* I think I'll stop now.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007)
Do the impossible, see the invisible. Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable. Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb, that's what team Gurren is all about. Gainax zaniness peaked in 2007 with the release of 2007. Picture the hot bloodedness of your shounen of choice and double it. You can picture it? Now double it again for the next episode... and again for the next... and so on for 26 episodes and you can begin to picture how so incredibly hype inducing Gurren Lagann is. Now multiply it again for the two movies retelling the story and you have a recipe for what can very well be the most hot blooded anime show ever made. This is a must watch in my book. It tells a simple story of beating the odds and pushing forward to success but it pumps it full of steroids and lets it grow until it completely eclipses your wildest expectations... and the entire universe while we're at it. But don't believe in me, believe in the me that believes that you will believe in the important of this show. And now I'll stop butchering the quotes and let you go watch it before my brain bursts just remembering the adrenaline that the show can pump out.

5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
Makoto Shinkai is a brilliant animator that can make some of the most outstanding visuals in the business and to me 5cm per Second is probably his masterpiece. This is a love story told in three parts about a boy and the girl he fell in love with as a child. 5cm is also a very bitter-sweet story and has a certain melancholy to it that I'm particularly attracted by which explains why I value it so high but I really believe that it's not just that. This is another movie I have no qualms suggesting to people uninterested in anime because I can bet that people will at least be moved by the sight of stars streaking the skies in one of the most beautifully animated skylines I've ever seen.

True Tears (2008)
One name to explain why True Tears is in this list and a name that most will probably be familiar with: Okada Mari. There's a show that not only brought her to the spotline but also set the tone for the kinds of shows she would be asked to write from then on out and that is True Tears. I've yet to pin down what makes an Okada show so recognizable but the truth of the matter is that there's not another writer in the business who can spawn so many heated arguments (just take a look at this season's Mayoiga for an example) and for that True Tears deserves a watch. It's also a fairly good show for those interested in romantic triangles and a healthy dose of melodrama.

2009 onwards
Like 2006 I think its fair to say that a couple of shows marked a turning point right when the 2010s were starting that have set the stage for the last 6 years. Most people will be familiar with these shows so I doubt there are any surprised here but hopefully this will be helpful in a couple of years time.

Spoiler for 2009 onwards:

Bakemonogatari (2009)
Shaft's distinctive director Shinbou Akiyuki and the writing of Nisio Isin are a combination that completely blew the minds of the anime scene back when it first came out. This is not an easy show to follow: there's always someone talking and something happening on screen, many times concurrently, making it a real challenge to follow while reading subtitles. It's also not a particularly easy show to translate apparently with dialogue heavily dependent on playing with the Japanese word. It's also rather heavy on the fanservice and, thanks to one of its sequels, I'll never be able to look at a toothbrush in the same way again.

K-On! (2009)
Cute girls doing cute things. That became practically a genre on its own after 2010 and K-On is responsible for it. Adapting to the small screen a 4 panel gag manga about 4 girls drinking tea in a light music clubroom doesn't seem like the recipe to set the world on fire but the fact is that K-On became so insanely popular that it ended up airing in the Japanese Disney Channel for example. A show that you would think was targeted to the usual Otaku crowd ended up becoming massively popular even amongst audiences not regularly interested in anime. It also brought about massive criticism at the time with the term "moeblob" being a particular common insult levied at it. It has however left an unquestionable mark on the industry and for that it deserves being mentioned.

Fate/Zero (2011)
Fate is a tremendously popular franchise and Zero is the brutal prequel that fans had been clamouring to get an adaptation for years. When the highly qualified Ufotable went ahead and gave us the very high quality Zero its no surprise it turned out massively popular. Its writer, Urobuchi Gen, has a reputation for a particular kind of brutal yet pessimistic realism in his works and in Zero it worked beautifully. It's also a particularly great looking show that practically redefined how high budget TV anime should look like.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)
Speaking of leaving a mark... Madoka Magika. How could any list of classics be complete without it? You have the aforementioned Shaft and its star director Shinbou animating Magical Girls designed by the artist behind the very cute Hidamari Sketch with a plot penned by someone whose nickname is Butcher Gen. Yeah, most were ready for something to happen but nobody could have guessed the impact of that third episode. The marketing was fully behind the cute aspects of the show right up until the air date. People were sceptical but such seemed to be the lay of the land until it all went down. The hints are there with stuff like references to Faust littering the walls but the result was still totally unexpected. I really don't want to talk too much about this show out of fear of spoiling too much but it's a true shame that we will never again be able to experience that moment when the scepticism was validated and everyone went nuts over what had happened. Moments where we as a community can experience something so tremendously marking are few and far between and I feel lucky for having been there.

Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Just a quick shout out to the 2011 adaptation of the long running Hunter X Hunter show. Madhouse picked up the helm again and brought us the Shounen that basically rewrote the genre and which inspired so many other big names in the genre and promptly delivered with a quality that none had seen before for that kind of show. Sadly the manga pacing is glacial with an hiatus going on for years now which meant the end of the adaptation. Hopefully one day we'll be able to get more but until then I highly recommend watching what's available so you can join us in sighing for more.

Steins;Gate (2011)
This year also gave us the great adaptation of the Steins;Gate VN. This story of the desperate struggle of a young man travelling through time time and time again attempting to save those he loves starts off a little strange but ends up providing some real heart wrenching moments. The adaptation is not without its flaws but it turned out massively popular to the point where the VN became one of the firsts to get a truly mainstream release outside of Japan on the PS3 and PSVita. I think in due time we'll be able to mark S;G as the show that actually made VNs outside of Japan a thing.

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199 (2012)
Space Battleship Yamato is a classic of 1970s anime scifi. I haven't added it to my list since I haven't actually watched it yet but I'm fairly certain others will make up for my failure. I will however point out the brilliant 2012 remake in my list. I am a big fan of Sci-Fi. I grew up watching stuff like Star Trek: TNG, Babylon 5 or Stargate and actually came to anime following some of the same genres so it was a delight to get this very high quality remake back in 2012. This is a classic space adventure with a team rushing away from a dying earth to find the means to save not only humanity but also the planet itself. There are space battles, alien planets to explore and an alien empire vying to kill our heroes. Everything a SciFi nerd like me could hope for and one of the best examples of the genre you can find. Hopefully it won't be long until the sequel comes out.

Hyouka (2012)
Finally I couldn't finish this list without mentioning this 2012 show that not only looked wonderfully but that was also beautifully written. Gatoh Shouji of Full Metal Panic fame handled adaptation of this full blown Novel to the small screen and the studio gave it their all in what can only be a labour of love for the material at hand. The story follows a kid whose ordered by his older sister to join the Literature Club where he meets an inquisitive girl and where he ends up resolving a couple of occasional mysteries. I can't really explain it any better so I'll just leave it at that. Hyouka is one of the best shows I've seen in the last couple of years and I just wanted to end it here.

[crazyidiot78]

You made a number of good choices dextro but I have to disagree with you on a few. Also I am only talking about the shows I have actually seen.

I would recommend people watch Sailor moon crystal instead of the original as I think that it follows the manga better and I like the art style more.

I know Love Hina wrote the book for Harem romances but my distaste for the genre makes me think it shouldn't be included.

I was never a bleach fan and I think there are better Shonen anime to choose from.

I would recommend all of Full Metal panic and not just the comedy part.

I never saw the appeal of Haruhi so I wouldn't recommend it, but I know others like it.

Oh Death Note could not stand the pretentious ass of a main character and I found the entire show to be retarded. Also probably didn't help that my students at the time raved about it.

Fate Zero and Madoka Magica are simple, I do not like Gen Urobochi. I do not like his philosophy and the way it comes through in his shows. Shirou is a moron, his dad is a sociopath, and my god the people in the show are clueless idiots. Oh and I never saw the appeal of any of the Nasuverse works. In fact the only one I liked is Cannan but that is not really a well known work of theirs and isn't connected to the fate verse. Oh one last thing I didn't think Madoka making a very dark and edgy turn to be all that interesting, new, or frankly all that good. Other shows have done it before, and the hype it got being dark and edgy I felt was misplaced.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by crazyidiot78

You made a number of good choices dextro but I have to disagree with you on a few. Also I am only talking about the shows I have actually seen.

I would recommend people watch Sailor moon crystal instead of the original as I think that it follows the manga better and I like the art style more.

I know Love Hina wrote the book for Harem romances but my distaste for the genre makes me think it shouldn't be included.

I was never a bleach fan and I think there are better Shonen anime to choose from.

I would recommend all of Full Metal panic and not just the comedy part.

I never saw the appeal of Haruhi so I wouldn't recommend it, but I know others like it.

Oh Death Note could not stand the pretentious ass of a main character and I found the entire show to be retarded. Also probably didn't help that my students at the time raved about it.

Fate Zero and Madoka Magica are simple, I do not like Gen Urobochi. I do not like his philosophy and the way it comes through in his shows. Shirou is a moron, his dad is a sociopath, and my god the people in the show are clueless idiots. Oh and I never saw the appeal of any of the Nasuverse works. In fact the only one I liked is Cannan but that is not really a well known work of theirs and isn't connected to the fate verse. Oh one last thing I didn't think Madoka making a very dark and edgy turn to be all that interesting, new, or frankly all that good. Other shows have done it before, and the hype it got being dark and edgy I felt was misplaced.

I actually had both seasons of FMP at first because I'm a massive fan (as can be seen by me gushing about Gatoh-san being involved in Hyoka) but I ended up having to trim down the list a bit and so I ended up leaving only Fumoffu since I think it has a broader appeal and was particularly relevant by being the first show from that studio who shall not be named

As for your other arguments I'm going to have to respectively disagree with most of them. I ended up mentioning plenty of those shows because of the cultural effect they had on the fandom more than their qualities.

Bleach is actually a case of me adding it near the end of my writeup since I remember being completely blown away by the style of the show. I think it's a perfect example of style over substance but I do feel like the anime adaptation in particular felt rather fresh when it first came out. That is however my personal take on it.

Sailor Moon I kept the original on the one hand because I haven't actually watched more than a couple of episodes of crystal but also because I was going for a list of shows that had impact more than what's objectively better. I failed to stick to that when I decided to go with Gundam Zeta and Macross instead of the original Gundam but yeah... I'm just another human being full of contradictions

By the way, and please don't take this the wrong way, I have to wonder if you aren't suffering from a case of Critic Fatigue Syndrome? As fans of the medium we've all probably watched far more than newcomers who would be more helped by lists such as this and I find that we tend to become overly critical of certain tropes that would practically go unnoticed by the untrained eye. I know I've found myself in that position a couple of times.

[crazyidiot78]

Oh I agree with you on hype backlash completely. Also if you are going for cultural impact then yes the original sailor moon has to be at the top of the list, as well as Haruhi for really starting the Moe craze.

Fun fact about the original gundam, what saved it was middle aged housewife's watching it for Char, and the romance aspects of it. Apparently it did not do well in its first run, but was a hit in later syndication.

I'll also grant you Bleach was different when it first came out but broody ichigo did get old and it drug on for far to long.

I still stand by my stance on Gen Urobochi and his shows, but hey different strokes for different folks. I think a large part of it for the Fate stuff is that so many of the characters are sociopaths, or other degenerates. I mean seriously the kill 1 to save 100 thing is just to over the top for me. Also the whole bit with Sakura, surely someone would have noticed something wrong with the girl and stepped in. I will admit a bit of a cultural dissidence here as she would be more likely to be left alone in Japan rather than in the states. Ditto for Shirou, I mean characters in the show admit and tell him he is broken and yet nothing is done about it. Rant over and sorry about that.

On another note, I find it interesting that we aren't seeing more Studio Ghibli films listed here. Do you think that's because we haven't watched them, or don't see them as influential as other titles. I ask because I think they are a good gate way vehicle to get people interested in anime.

[Akito Kinomoto]

I'll guess the Studio Ghibli films aren't listed as much if at all because they've never reflected the trends of their contemporaries and tend to be their own things (going off of Princess Kaguya, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's moving Castle). Even something like Texhnolyze is a reflection of the cool-dark audience anime has tapped into, but there's no "audience" for Studio Ghibli films due to their ubiquity via lack of "anime" tropes. I'd agree Studio Ghibli's films can appeal to non-anime fans, but they'd hardly be the first choice I'd use if I were trying to assimilate indoctrinate them into the fold because of their lack of "reflection." Also their runaway fame outside of anime fandom likely makes us tryhards take them for granted

[crazyidiot78]

I agree on why they aren't many on our lists here, but I disagree on the films being a bad way to bring in new fans. I think its the opposite given their lack of some of the extreme tropes in anime it would be a good way to ease them into it. I think they can bridge the gap so to speak.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by crazyidiot78

Fun fact about the original gundam, what saved it was middle aged housewife's watching it for Char, and the romance aspects of it.

That's interesting. Can you give me the source for that (Japanese or English articles)? I'm a long time Gundam fan, yet I've never heard of that "Housewife-fans"-fact beyond rumors. All official articles that I read stated that it's Bandai's plastic model kits that saved the show from oblivion. I'd like to get your source since I like to read all things Gundam.

Originally Posted by crazyidiot78

Apparently it did not do well in its first run, but was a hit in later syndication.

Well, this is already a common knowledge in Japan. Gundam is the first Real-Robot anime with more realistic and depressing atmosphere than the Super-Robot shows aired in the same decade which made it not that popular with the kids. Thus, the show was cancelled from the originally-planned 52 episodes into just 43. Much like the original Star Trek TV series, Blade Runner & 2001: A Space Odyssey, the original Gundam was not appreciated by its initial audience due to its concept that's ahead of its time which many audience of that time still not able to understand and enjoy it.