The best decade of anime?

Started by ZapSniper November 28th, 2009 6:25 PM
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Seen November 30th, 2009
Posted November 28th, 2009
3 posts
13.5 Years
In your opinion, what is the best decade of anime and why?

I'd have to go with the 80's on this one.

The 60's and 70's gave us a nice starting point. The 80's expanded upon that with more detailed stories, better shading and animation, and very little stock footage. The 90's were a great tribute era, but some shows, like The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, suffer heavily from stock footage, or in the case of Getter Robo Armageddon, it was a great show, but if the director hadn't been fired it could have been better. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed both of those shows.

I suppose you could say anime storytelling was perfected in the 80's, and the animation and visuals themselves were perfected in the 90's. I like a bit of grittiness. Most anime nowadays is too shiny. Compare Zeta Gundam to Gundam Seed and you'll see what I mean.

By the way, I do think there is good post 2000 anime(New Getter Robo, GaoGaiGar Final and some others).

So, what's your take?

Chikara

ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ

Age 31
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Missouri, why? ◉◡◉
Seen April 11th, 2021
Posted March 27th, 2021
8,284 posts
18.6 Years
That's a hard call, seeing as styles and what's considered "popular" is always changing. I'm gonna have to go with this last decade though, the uh... 00's.

Not because the came before it was bad, but because I think the anime that's out now is pretty interesting. Or well, interests me more than Sailor Moon, DBZ, and Detective Conan did. But then again, I'm older now than I was then sooo... n__n;;
Male
the town on no map
Seen September 16th, 2022
Posted July 12th, 2022
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14.2 Years
I guess I'd go with the 80's. A lot of my favorite anime are from that era. Particularly the mecha. (Zeta, Votoms, L-Gaim, ZZ) I agree with your sentiment of gritinesss. Most of the shows today seemed to be filled with nothing but fanservice, lol. I still enjoys shows from 90's and the 00's. They just seem to be lacking something that those shows back then had.
Where The Carrots Be
Seen April 10th, 2019
Posted September 11th, 2013
583 posts
14.1 Years
Why are you all assuming that a decade has to be from 19x0 to 19x0? My favorite decade of anime is 1986 to 1996. In 1996 I was ten, and that's when I really started to get into anime, but I don't think that's the entire reason. So many of my favorite anime fall into those years; Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Blue Seed, Tetsuwan Birdy, Bubblegum Crisis; even the border years are good, with Urusei Yatsura ending in 86, Detective Conan starting in 96, and a bunch more that don't immediately come to mind. I love both older and newer movies and shows, of course, but things like Naruto just don't have the same feel as Blue Seed, et al. Nothing against Naruto, I watch Shippuden every Thursday, I'm just saying.

There are so many great modern anime (Lucky Star, Hajime no Ippo, One Piece, Death Note), but if you watch the somewhat dated stuff you'll find that audio quality and smooth animation aren't as important to you as you think they are. One of my top ten favorite animated tv series of all time is Mirai Shonen Konan (1978); if you like Studio Ghibli, it's a must-see. As a bonus, try to see how many scenes you can find that Eiji Aonuma lifted straight out of it and into The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Ryoutarou

Seen April 2nd, 2023
Posted December 29th, 2020
30,927 posts
19.3 Years
In the end, I like anime made during the 1990s to the early 2000 (like 2003-ish?).
I just realized that most stuff I like are concentrated here.
^ This. With a few exceptions, a good chunk of the anime I like come from the 90s and very early new millennium. These days, it's rare for me to find more than two shows a year I actually like.
Age 33
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Seen July 15th, 2015
Posted June 30th, 2015
8,343 posts
17.9 Years
Early 1990s to 2008, as far as I'm concerned. While I can't really pin down a specific starting point, I believe that it all ended in fall 2008, when the anime industry by and large finally succumbed to the plague that calls itself moe. Increased cost-cutting measures and all that constant pandering to the fringe markets obviously didn't help matters either. While there certainly are still a few gems out there, it's getting increasingly harder to unearth them amidst the piles of crap that keep piling up...

Esper

California
Seen June 30th, 2018
Posted June 30th, 2018
My favorite series are scattered across the decades, generally starting in the early 80s (Macross, Urusei Yatsura) and ending quite recently, but if I were an anime I think I would want to be made somewhere in the span of 1993-2002. The early-mid 90s were when a ton of original series took off, cell animation was in its prime, and there was still money in the industry. A lot of good things have been made in the 00s, but I feel like there are more mediocre series and fewer outstanding ones in recent years with too many manga-derivative cash cows - and I'm not fond of the over-reliance on computer art. Not saying I want to go back to 1978, just that I want more care put into my anime.

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
I mostly like cardcaptor sakura cause it is my best anime for me at 1998 to 2000
Someone has good taste. :D

Personally, I'd pick the last decade. I'm a bit biased because I began watching in the past ten years (more or less; I watched before, but not much), but I've gone back and watched stuff from the 80s and early 90s, and I haven't liked much. In the past ten years or so, there's been amazing progress not just in animation quality, but in the quality of the better works. Sure, there are about 50 bad anime for every good one out there, but that's just because anime has grown so much in Japan that everybody and their dog can make one (and fanservice sells, so many times that's what comes out). If you just look at the good anime, I would say things have been getting better.

Fanservice isn't SO bad, anyway... :3
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Age 33
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Posted June 30th, 2015
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17.9 Years
I'd say it's the downfall of anime.
Which ties back into what I said earlier about the moe plague and the studios constantly pandering to the fringes of the consumer base. Like most things, fanservice is good in moderation; overdo it, however, and you end up with the current situation the anime industry is in.

Jolene

Your huckleberry friend

Age 27
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Seen September 25th, 2012
Posted September 25th, 2012
1,287 posts
13.8 Years
Which ties back into what I said earlier about the moe plague and the studios constantly pandering to the fringes of the consumer base. Like most things, fanservice is good in moderation; overdo it, however, and you end up with the current situation the anime industry is in.
I agree wth you so much. Moe really put me off watching anime recently.

My avatar doesn't count though. It's lovely.

What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Joliet is the sun!

Graceful

あぁ、たいさ!♥

Age 25
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Staffordshire, England, UK
Seen July 19th, 2014
Posted June 28th, 2014
2,253 posts
14.8 Years
The '90's And Early '00's. Maybe Because Of Sailor Moon (all Series & Movies) , Pokemon, Digimon, etc.

And apparently Graceful is still alive after a very long hiatus ♥