Here we go: Astro Boy (1963) - The one, the only, the show that changed everything. Tezuka's classic series about a boy robot who fights to protect humanity holds up nicely after 45 years, black and white and all. Available on DVD. Flying Ghost Ship (1969) - One of the most deranged hours of animation you can watch, this one's got it all: an orphaned boy and his Great Dane who fight crab mecha, alien infiltration, deadly soda pop, and the titular haunted ship. Fansubbed, but good luck finding it. Ashita no Joe (1970) - This boxing saga is one of the all time greats, but it's as different in tone as Hajime no Ippo as you could image, full of sordid despair rather than upbeat energy, replacing youthful optimism with tragic characters resigned to their fate. Fansubbed. Lupin III (1971) - Kicking off the animated adventures of a master theif and his partners in crime. The first few TV episodes are fairly serious in tone, but then Hayou Miyazaki steps in and transforms our crew of thugs into the happy go lucky band of rouges we know today. From there it's all fun (like sex and pizza, even bad Lupin is pretty good), but highlights include the entirety of the first TV series and the first three movies: Mystery of Mamo (1979) which hearkens back to Lupin's darker origins, Miyazkai's Castle of Cagliostro (1979), perhaps the perfect incarnation of Lupin and one of the finest anime films ever made, and The Fuma Clan Conspiracy (1987), generally considered a close runner-up to Cagliostro. Large swaths of the series are available both on DVD and fansubbed. Gatchaman (1972) - The inspiration for the sentai (read: Power Rangers) formula, Gatchaman translated the American superhero genre into anime, giving it's heroes brightly colored outfits, special equipment and abilities, and plenty of SF themed vilians. The result is tremendous fun, not to mention almost more groovy than you can stand. Hey, it was 1972. Available on DVD. Aim for the Ace! (1973) - Taking the sports anime formula perfected by the baseball series Star of the Giants (1982) and made safe for shoujo by the volleyball show Attack No. 1 (1969), Aim for the Ace! is all about a young woman, her yearning for romance, and the sacrifices she'll make in order to be the best she can be at tennis. The styling is even groovier than Gatchaman, with characters making powerful volleys surrounded by abstract floral patterns. It also has the manliest coach ever. The first TV series fansubs are almost complete, but if you're seeking closure try the 1979 movie adaptation. Future Boy Conan (1978) - Miyazaki adapts Alexander Key's The Incredible Tide as a sort of proto-Laputa, featuring a post-apocalyptic world where a boy who grew up in isolation finds civilization and promptly has to rescue a girl from it. 26 glorious episodes of rousing proto-Ghibli adventure, available fansubbed. Galaxy Express 999 (1978) - In this fanciful science fiction classic, Matsumoto Reiji mediates on the nature of humanity, following the journey of a boy determined to replace his frail flesh with a robot body in order to seek revenge for his mother's murder. In the process, he travels with a mysterious woman on a train that flies through outer space, stopping off at wildly different planets along the way. Partially available fansubbed, though the self-contained movies (1979 and 1982) had a US release on VHS if you can track them down. Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978) - This Matsumoto Reiji is a bit more grounded than GE999, pitting paragon of manliness Harlock against alien occupiers. The spaceship action is reminiscent of Reiji's breakout hit Space Cruiser Yamato (1974), but with our heroes as freedom fighters rather than survivors...freedom fighters flying a ship with a giant pirate flag flapping in space. God, it rules. Again, partial fansubs available. Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) - The film that took the super robot genre and gave it a serious "war is hell" grounding, showing a war between Earth and it's space colonies in (relatively) grim detail. Considering the show's vast influence and continued popularity it may come as a surprise to hear that it's original run was cut short. It's less surprising when you try to watch the whole series, however, and you're best off experiencing the original show in it's abridged movie trilogy format. Later spinoffs are many and varied, with highlights including the sequel Zeta Gundam (1985) which benefits from a greater budget and a ton of mid-80s style, the movie Char's Counterattack (1988), and the supremely badass OVA series 0083: Stardust Memory (1991), all available on DVD. Rose of Versailles (1979) - Historical shoujo drama about a woman raised to be a soldier who becomes the personal guard of Marie Antoinette, forcing our heroine to choose between loyalty to the queen and the plight of the people over the course of events leading to the storming of the Bastille, while also being torn between romance and duty. Available fansubbed. Patarilo! (1981) - Demented shoujo aburudist humor about the eponymous brat ruler of a wealthy island nation known for it's diamond mines and it's beautiful men, all of whom are totally gay for each other. Seriously, the whole show is full of men in love, particularly Patarillo's long-suffering bodyguard Jack Bankoran and his teenage German assassin lover. Cue...well, not so much wacky hijinx as incredibly weird hijinx, with Patarillo using his abilities as a master of disguise to annoy the hell out of everyone. Fansubbing continues slowly but surely. Urusei Yatsura (1981) - Rumiko Takahashi's breakthrough role is all about the wacky hijinx. When a teenager pervert saves humanity by winning a game of tag with the beautiful alien princess Lum, she decides she's married to him, which would be great for our hero were she not insanely jealous and prone to zapping him with lightning bolts. Cue insanity. Early episodes are crude but full of zany energy, later episodes riff on the established characters to wonderful effect. A slew of movies and OVAs followed, the best of which is the early Mamoru Oshii effort Beautiful Dreamer (1984). The whole shebang - and there's a ton of it - is available on DVD. Macross (1982) - The breakthrough mecha show that combined giant robots that transformed into jet planes with a pop music soundtrack to create a compelling, wildly popular series. It's a bit camp, but the mecha are awesome, the animation a labor of love by hardcore proto-otaku (particularly the drop dead gorgeous feature film adaptation Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984)), and the tone of the show unlike anything else. Later sequels range from the serious, such as the gorgeous Macross Plus (1994), to the cheerfully ludicrous, such as Macross 7 (1994), which takes the concept to it's logical conclusion. The original series and Plus are readily available on DVD, while all of Macross 7 is available subtitled. Fans of Macross Frontier are advised to go back to the source, as F incorporates elements of all the earlier series. However, the original sequel, Macross II, is best ignored as even the creators have quietly excised it from continuity. Sasuga no Sarutobi (1982) - Goofy comedy in the wacky hijinx vein about a high school for ninja where the most beautiful girl in school is in love with the completely rotund, roundly hated, and astonishingly skilled Sarutobi. Every ninja joke Naruto ever made comes directly from this series, which feels a bit like Urusei Yatsura with ninja rather than aliens. Space Adventure Cobra (1982) - The Man with the Psycho Gun! Rolicking SF adventure about a galactic pirate. Cobra doesn't have the romanticism of Harlock or the overt humor of Lupin, instead grounding the show in reasonably hard SF concepts and caper style adventures, all caught up in it's amazing early-80s SF vibe. Fully fansubbed. Tokimeki Tonight (1982) - A light shoujo sitcom about the teenaged daughter of a vampire and a werewolf who has yet to develop her own supernatural abilities. It's a bit like the anime equivalent of the Adams Family, with plenty of horror references and concepts thrown into the mix, all in the service of romance and gags. Fansubs exist, but good luck finding 'em. Armored Trooper Votoms (1983) - If the original Gundam series introduced the war is hell concept to mecha shows, Votoms perfects it with an entirely grim atomosphere and an even grimmer hero. The mecha are low-tech, the science fiction hard, and the ending all manner of kick-ass. The whole shebang is out on DVD, though OOP. Cat's Eye (1983) - An early adaptation of Tsukasa Hojo's work, this is about a trio of sisters who run a cafe during the day and at night moonilght as cat burglers, stealing famous works of art. The twist is that the hapless cop chasing after them is engaged to the ringleader. Cue lighthearted early-80s adventure. Theoretically coming out on DVD any time now, with fansubs to tide you over. Crusher Joe (1983) - Before creating the Dirty Pair, Haruka Takachiho began his writing career with Crusher Joe, a series of SF novels about a crew who take on odd jobs throughout the galaxy. They aren't bounty hunters, but the vibe is a bit like Bebop, though the aesthetics of the anime adaptations (the '83 movie and then two later OVAs) are firmly rooted in the 80s, up to and including awesomely retro space disco sequences. Available on DVD. Fist of the North Star (1984) - The finest anime possible for afficionados of exploding heads, our hero Kenshiro wanders the post-apocalyptic wasteland protecting the weak from hulking thugs using his abilities as the successor to a school of martial arts that emphasizes pressure points. Hulking muscle bound heroes and even huger bad guys abound in this proto-fighting Jump classic. Fansubs abound. Glass Mask (1984) - Shoujo saga of a young woman who is determined above all else to become an actor and proceeds to go through sheer hell in the process of becoming famous and talented enough to perform a legendary play. Sure, it's melodramatic and over the top, but the style suits the material perfectly. Fansubbed. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) - This, the first Studio Ghibli film proper, is what really put Miyazaki and company on the map. In a post-apocalyptic world where vast swaths of land have formed an ecological terrain inhospitable to humanity, our heroine, at home in this strange new terrain, becomes involved in a plot that could bring back the destructive weapons that brought the planet to this fate in the first place. Nausicaa is commonly cited as one of Miyazaki's finest films and is beloved by fanboys everywhere. Available from the Mouse. Dirty Pair (1985) - Our heroines, code named the "Lovely Angels" work for the WWWA, an intergalactic organization dedicated to keeping the peace. Alas, when they go into the field as trouble shooters, Kei and Yuri tend to leave havoc and destruction in their wake, leading to their hated nickname the "Dirty Pair". Set in the same universe as Crusher Joe but generally more lighthearted, our duo wears skimpy, wrestling inspired uniforms, are driven around by a huge cat who's smarter than they are, and occasionally (as in the movies) even play it somewhat seriously. Movies and OVAs available dirt cheap from the ADV, with the series itself available fansubbed. Megazone 23 (1985) - While not the first Original Video Animation (read: direct to video) - that honor lies with Dallos (1983) - Megazone 23 popularized the notion of the OVA and holds up nicely today as a perfect example of the mid-80s anime aesthetic, with a SF plot that may well have inspired the Matrix. The sequels have diminishing returns but are still pretty entertaining, especially the Dump Matsumoto hommage in Part Two. Available from the ADV. Touch (1985) - Ostensibly the show is about a high school baseball team aiming for the championship, and it does the sports anime routine very well indeed. However, the heart of the show is about two very close brothers who begin falling in love with their childhood friend now that she's grown up. A wonderful, quiet show, with all 101 episodes available fansubbed. Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (1986) - In one of Miyazaki's quasi-European settings, a young boy finds a girl who floats down from the sky one day and helps her escape from the men chasing her. From there it's pure adventure, with sky pirates, robots, and the titular castle, with Miyazaki firing on all cylinders in a film that's lighter than Nausicaa but still amazingly good. Again, The Mouse can hook you up. Maison Ikkoku (1986) - The finest thing Rumiko Takahashi has ever done, not least because her editors demanded an ending. MI is about a hapless (if not quite hopeless) student trying a second time to pass his college entrance exams, a task not made easy by the weirdos he shares an old-fashioned apartment house with. When the beautiful new manager arrives, however, his life starts to look up - not that it'll be easy. Cue the finest romantic comedy anime ever made, combining wacky hijinx with a wonderful atmosphere of melancholy longing that conveys the feel of life in Tokyo in the early 80s. Available on DVD from Viz. Prefectural Earth Defense Force (1986) - When a small neighborhood council receives threats of conquest from an organization that decided that conquering the world all at once was too hard and they should start at the local level, three high school friends are given a modest budget and sent off to fight crime. Cue top-notch absurdist antics involving involuntary cyborgs, forbidden romance, and Faceless Minions. Bless the ADV for making this gem available on DVD. Project A-Ko (1986) - Wonderfully over the top parody anime about a superpowered high school girl, her whiny best friend, and the scientific genius determine to win the love of said whiny friend via robotic killing machines. The resulting conflict causes enough damage to their all girl's high school as it is, but on top of that the aliens show up, at which piont things really go out of control. While the later sequels have highly diminishing returns, the original is utterly hysterical. Available on DVD. They Were 11 (1986) - Despite being vastly influential, shoujo manga artist Moto Hago has had only one of her stories adapated into anime, but at least it's a good one. Our hero has just completed the writen portion of the examination to go to a prestigous galactic university, but first he has to get through the pratical: survive two months on a derlict spaceship with nine of his collegues. But where did the eleventh person come from? Hard SF with a gender bending twist. Available on DVD. Bubblegum Crisis (1987) - This cyberpunk classic feels like a cross between Blade Runner and Streets of Fire, combining the dystopian urban setting and androids run amuck with the Steinman Wagnerian rock opera soundtrack. It's about four women who moonlight as vigilantes who fight dangerous robots and mecha with suits of powered armor, all lovingly rendered as a high budget OVA series. One of the first tiles to come over to the US subtitled, still readily available on DVD. The later TV series is acceptable but not nearly as inspired, as were it's AD Police spin-offs. City Hunter (1987) - Ryo Saeba works in Shinjuku where he'll take on any jobs that require his astonishing skill with a handgun and excite his astonishingly lecherous sensibilites. He may be cheerfully perverted, but our freelance hero is right at home in bubble-era Tokyo and can hit anything he shoots at. The combination of shady dealings and humor make it a sort of successor to Lupin, and a very entertaining one at that. The whole shebang - four TV series, plus movies - was released here on DVD. Kimagure Orange Road (1987) - Our hero has just moved to a new town when he meets a beautiful young woman who immediately steals his heart - at about the same time her best friend falls for him. This high school love triangle would make things complicated enough, but it turns out our boy has psychic powers, at which point things really get out of control. While not up there with MI, this is a terrific romantic comedy, making clever use of the psychic angle and with an excellent ending in the form of the first movie, which loses the comedy and resolves things as a pure drama. Available on DVD. Neo Tokyo (1987) - This is an anthology film with three segments: the dreamlike "Labrynth", the haunting quasi-cyberpunk of "The Running Man", and technology gone wild in Otomo's segment "The Order to Stop Construction". One of the rare examples of short anime films and well worth your time. Available on DVD. Song of the Wind and the Trees (1987) - If the thought of shounen ai (read: beautiful men in love) sends you running for the hills, skip this and keep reading. However, you'll be missing out on an excellent adaptation of the hugely influential manga, about a young man attending a private academy in the late 19th century where he tries to come to terms with his roommate, the school slut whose crass exterior covers up deep psychological trauma. Artistic, complicated, and an excellent surprise for anyone who gives it a shot. Fansubs are hard to track down but are out there. Wicked City (1987) - While it's lurid exploitation at it's heart, Wicked City's cool, clean design aesthetic helps blunt the edges. Our hero is assigned to protect an ambassador from the demon world who is here to renew the pact between his kind and humanity. Unfortunately a faction wants to stop him at all costs, which leads to horrific demons (often with a distrubing sexual aspect) to attack. All the sex and violence you could want awaits. Available on DVD. Wings of Honneamise (1987) - Fanboy animators Gainax got their first big break with this feature film about an alternate Earth's struggling space program and it's attempts to get the first man into outer space. This was a labor of love, combining in-depth world building and off-kilter design with excellent animation and a story with characters whose motivations can be complex and uncomfortable. The result was a commercial bust but a critical favorite. Available domestically but try to watch it on Blu-Ray if possible, as the DVD transfer is god-awful. Akira (1988) - You may have heard the complaints about the ending - and, admittedly it isn't the most coherant thing ever - but Akira is a hugely influential classic for a reason, combining jaw-dropping animation, a cyberpunk aesthetic that looks cutting edge to this day, an astonishing soundtrack, and intense science fiction to create a masterpiece about a decaying city on the edge of total collapse. If you watch one old school anime, this should be it. Available on DVD. Charge! Otokojuku (1988) - A shining example of the sort of comics Shounen Jump used to publish before they realized that a lot of their readership was female, Otokujuku is about burly thug students sent to reform school where their even burlier, incredibly sadistic instructors try to beat respect for society into them. Our hero, however, plays it cool and helps the students rebel against the teachers while acting as a shining paragon of manliness. The thug antics are priceless and the masculinity practically drips off the screen. Alas, only a few episodes have been fansubbed, but they're gems, each and every one. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - The most depressing anime you'll ever see, this Ghibli film opens with the protagonist announcing his death before flashing back to his attempts to keep himself and his baby sister alive in the final days of World War II. This is an incredibly grim look at the horrors of war and is even more tragic when you realize that it's autobiographical, with the author trying to purge his survior's guilt in the telling of the story. Available on DVD. Gunbuster (1988) - After the commercial failure of Honneamise, Gainax hit upon the idea that would define their career and make their fortunes: let's add teenage girls and lots of titty to a mecha show. However, while Gunbuster is absolutely shameless in it's fanservice and rips it's plot off directly from Aim for the Ace! (no, really), the hard SF aspects (about the difficulty of travelling to the fight in an interstellar war), slick animation, and sheer fun made this a classic. A pandering classic, perhaps, but a classic. Avaialble on DVD if you don't mind paying out the nose for it. Legend of Galactic Heroes (1988) - Perhaps better known as Boring Gay Germans In Space, LoGH is politicially dense space opera at it's finest, adapting a series of cult novels as OVAs in uncompromising fashion. Thus, you have a huge cast who engage in political backstabbing and galactic warfare on an epic scale. If you don't feel like jumping into the full series, try the first movie, whose climax is a space battle set to Ravel's "Bolero" - all 15 minutes of "Bolero". Every last bit has been fansubbed, which is no light accomplishment. Madox-01 (1988)- Another of the early anime brought over subtitled to the US, this one-shot OVA is about a regular guy who one day recieves a huge crate that was accidentally delivered to him. He assembles it and it turns out to be an experimental suit of power armor, which he then tries on - and is promptly stuck in. An hour before he has to be at his big show-up-or-we're-quits date. Whoops. Goofy fun, available on DVD. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) - This was shown as a double feature with Grave of the Fireflies, and thank goodness because after that much sheer depressing you could really use a dose of Totoro's massive dose of cheerfulness. This charming Ghibli film is about two kids and their father who have moved out into the country. The kids aren't so sure about the move until they meet a variety of friendly nature spirits such as the big, loveable Totoro or the supremely awesome Catbus. A delightful film suitable for younger viewers. As always, the Mouse has you covered for the DVD. Oishinbo (1988) - Our newspaperman hero here is a bit of a bum, who spends his time drinking all night, sleeping in the office, gambling at the track, and generally underachieving. He's also a gourmand with an incredible knowledge of food and drink and a sensitive palate that can fully appreciate them. This long running manga, which Viz is about to publish in the US, enjoyed a long run on television. Alas, only two episodes were ever fansubbed, but they're worth tracking down. Patlabor (1988) - In the near future, humanoid robots called labors are used in a variety of industries and, unfortunately, are sometimes used for crime or simply run amuck. Thus, the cops have to have their own big robots, such as our heroes, the loveable misfits of the Special Vehicles 2 division. Patlabor is essentially a police show where the cops have big robots instead of cars and it has a terrific ensemble cast. There's a lot of humor in the show, but when it gets serious it does a damn fine job of it. It's a terrific show and has been through many incarnations. The original OVA series from 1988 is fine, but a TV series followed the next year which had a second OVA series, released here as the New Files, to help fill in gaps or provide hysterical stand alone comedy episodes. However, if all that seems daunting, there's two movies (1989 and 1993 respectively) that are quite good, with the first being very accessible. Every last bit of Patlabor was released in the US on DVD and most of it can be had for a song, so pick a starting point and dive in. Five Star Stories (1989) - Mamoru Nagano's long-running manga jumps fowards and backwards across vast swaths of time, following his immortal heroes and the role they play in the rise and fall of decadent galactic empires, where knights with elaborate mecha suits are the tools of the many power struggles that result. Stylistically, his giant robots are like none you've ever seen, with sweeping, flowing lines and extensive decoration. The FSS movie adapts the opening storyline, perhaps the most straight-forward of the series, and does so in fine style, capturing the feel of the comic. Available on DVD. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) - Another Miyazaki favorite, this time about a teenage girl who is coming of age as a witch and must set out on her own (along with her black cat familiar) and find her way in the world. From there she makes friends, attracts the attentions of a gadget obsessed boy, and finds herself in various perilous situations. Miyazaki's quasi-European setting works beautifully for this charming film. As with most of the Ghibli films, Disney has the DVD available. Ranma 1/2 (1989) - For a while there in the early-90s, Ranma was the biggest thing since sliced bread among the hardcore of American anime fandom. This was before anime fandom went completely mainstream and the only way to get the stuff subtitled was to shell out big money for VHS tapes. It's about Ranma, a cocky teenage martial artist and his lazy father who fell into cursed Chinese springs, causing the father to turn into a panda and the son to turn into a buxom redheaded girl when they're splashed with cold water, with hot water changing them back. This causes complications when they arrive in Tokyo to marry off Ranma to one of the daughters of the father's best friend. Cue romantic comedy tension, gender bending hijinx, and a succession of other attractive women all vying for Ranma's attention. If there's one thing Rumiko Takahashi can really pull off, it's goofy hijinx and unending plots, and both traits are in full effect here. The first season of the TV series (20 episodes or so) is pretty darned good, following the manga closely, but when it returns in a second season the show quickly goes off the rails, with a ton of filler and some episodes here and there that get it's groove back. Still, those early eps are a lot of fun (with later manga-faithful OVAs capturing the feel of the early episodes) and it's interesting to watch from today's persepctive and try to understand just what a sensation it was among US fandom before everything hit the big time. Riding Bean (1989) - Bean Bandit is a wheelman who works as a courier along with his gun-happy friend Rally Vincent. One day they find themselves with a little girl in tow as part of their being set up for kidnapping, at which point it's hell on wheels across Chicago and back. A tremendously high energy one-shot OVA, avaliable on DVD. Yawara (1989) - The subtitle here is "A Fashionable Judo Girl", which sums it up nicely. Yawara just wants to be an ordinary teenage girl, falling in love with boys and working hard in school. However, she's been taught judo since she could stand by her world-champion grandfather and he's determined to see her go for Olympic gold. Meanwhile, a hapless sports reporter sees Yawara in action and is immediately transformed into a true believer, following her career and urging her to take up the sport. Naoki "Monster" Urasawa had a huge early hit with this wonderful sports anime, which combines terrific characters with a ton of detail about the sport. Thankfully, DVDs are en route from AnimEigo. Assemble Insert (1990) - When Tokyo is terrorized by Demon Seed, a group of theives with high-tech powered armor, a special police task force is assigned to stop them. Unfortunately, they can't do much of anything until their contracted mad scientist finishes his own suit of power armor, so they sit around bored and rent videos from the shop below the offices. When they finally hold auditions to the public to see who their fighting hero will be, everyone sucks except for super-strong shy teenage girl Maron. However, once she starts stopping Demon Seed, the cops become far more interseted in Maron-chan's pop music career as an idol singer. A fun, silly two-part OVA from the Patlabor creator. Available on DVD. Blazing Transfer Student (1991) - Our hero transfers to a new high school where all conflicts between the students are solved via either fighting or sports. When a pair of hulking bullies hold an epic boxing match to win the love of a waif who's having none of it, our boy intervenes to prevent her from having to date them. He is the Blazing Transfer Student! Cue the most ludicrous boxing gags you can possibly imagine, as well as the mighty power of the Takezawa Railway Punch. This hysterical two-parter is available fansubbed, one episode in high quality the other taken from an old tape. Even then, the raw power shines through. Trivia: Blazing Transfer Student, Assemble Insert, and Prefectural Earth Defense Force from the holy trinity of OVAs. Brother Dear Brother (1991) - When a modest middle-class girl gets accepted into a prestigious high school, the last thing she expected was to be nominated to be a member of the ultra-snooty Sorority where she suddenly finds herself engaged in psychological warfare with stone cold world class bitches. Ryoka "Rose of Versailles" Ikeda's other major animated manga is supremely melodramatic, with our heroine trying to befriend drug addicts, the emotionally unstable, and a mysterious college student she adopts as her "older brother". Brother Dear Brother has more bitch per second than any other cartoon you will ever watch. Fansubbed. Here is Greenwood (1991) - A highly strung student who has been accepted late into an all-boys high school finds himself in for a surprise when he moves into Greenwood, the official weirdo dorm: his female roommate. Or is she? Greenwood is chock full of wacky hijinx, attractive men, pleasant shoujo comedy, and a nice love story for the OVA's series finale. Tremendous fun, especially for students everywhere who live on campus. Available on DVD. Only Yesterday (1991) - Most people associate the Studio Ghibli name with Miyazaki, but the other major force there is Isao Takahata, who helmed Grave of the Fireflies. Here, however, he's directing a story that isn't horribly depressing, about an office lady who takes time off to visit distant relatives in the countryside. There she contrasts the beautiful nature surrounding her with memories of her childhood in Tokyo in the 60s. Only Yesterday is a lovely, nostalgic piece, with more than a bit of romance thrown in to liven things up. While Disney owns the rights, they haven't put it out on DVD yet, though it's likely only a matter of time. Meanwhile, fansubs await. Otaku no Video (1991) - Gaianx pays homage to their fanboy roots in the story of a ordinary college student who runs into an old friend and finds himself utterly corrupted by the otaku lifestyle. The first half of this two-part OVA plays it relatively straight, describing the fannish scene circa the mid-80s, while the second half goes off into flights of fancy, as the company "Giant X" achieves fame and fortune selling model kits and proceeds to dominate the world with their nerd obsessions. In between all this, faux live-action interviews show people in the throes of obsession. The whole package is hysterical in an "it's funny because it's true" sort of way. Available on DVD. Roujin Z (1991) - Based on manga by Katsuhiro "Akira" Otomo, Roujin Z is the only anime I can think of that focuses on the elderly. Faced with an increasingly aging society, the Japanese health ministry comes up with a solution: an automated bed that provides everything that the infirm elderly could possibly want. Unfortunately, they equipped the prototype of this bed with a military-grade AI, at which point it runs amock. Roujin Z is awesome for a variety of reasons, not least of which are the incredible soundtrack, the hot nurse protagonist trying to take care of her patient, and the group of elderly hackers she teams up with. Avaialble on DVD. Silent Mobius (1991) - In the near future, a team of mystical police (who just happen to all be attractive women) use their various paranormal abilities and the occasional big honkin' sword to protect Tokyo from supernatural horrors. The visuals are slick, the women hot, the shower scene hotter, and the critters are chopped up and blasted in all manner of entertaining ways, which makes this film's lack of a US DVD release somewhat inexplicable. Fortuntely, fansubs await. The sequel film (1992) is als pretty good, though the TV series isn't nearly as inspired as either of the big screen adaptations. Crayon Shin-chan (1992) - Still on-air after 15 years, Shin-chan is occasionally compared to the Simpsons, with the idea that the titular hero is a naughty boy in the same way that Bart likes the get into trouble. But, while Shin-chan's antics concerned parents the same way that Bart was a cultural menace when he first appeared, our hero isn't intentionally troublesome as he is highly precocious, in a manner that usually results in him hitting on attractive women, showing off his ass with the buri-buri dance, and occasionally flashing his friend "Mr. Elephant"...if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, Shin-chan's parents, teachers, friends, dog, and later a little sister all try to keep up. If you've seen the TV adaptation you may think that the show is a lot raunchier than it is, due to the re-written script which upped the adult level of the gags. However, it's a bit of a shame the producers took that route, as Shin-chan is an all ages show at heart and is very funny without needing to throw in extra gags, even if those jokes are written by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer. The re-written dub version is available on DVD, but you can find some of the original material fansubbed and it's worth the effort. In particlar, the feature film The Adult Empire Strikes Back (2001) is nothing less than brilliant. Seriously. Giant Robo (1992) - Originally adapted in the 60s as a live action series (known in the US as Johnny Socko and his Giant Robot), by the time GR finally got it's shot at an anime version it's aesthetic was decidedly old school. Fortunately, the director, Imagawa, plays the retro angle to the hilt and the results are amazing. It's still got an oddly Egyptian themed robot controled by a young man in shorts and a suit jacket, but rather than 60s cheese Imagawa gives Robo a bulky, dangerous look, lending it's robot duels (backed by an epic orchestrated score) plenty of gravitas and, frankly, badassery of the highest order. Things crank up even more when the rest of the cast - the Experts of Justice, pitted against the captains of the criminal group Big Fire - are revealed to be superheroes, with completely insane fight scenes accompanying the mecha action. The end result is non-stop ass kicking, and if it took Imagawa years to get the final OVA out the door, it was worth the wait. The whole shebang, plus the generally silly Ginrei side story OVAs (paying homage to the ludicrously hot heroine of the show), can be had for a song on DVD. Porco Rosso (1992) - Miyazaki is notorious for his obsession with flying and planes, so when he had the opportunity to make a half hour in-flight film for JAL aimed at tired business men, it's no surprise he'd use it as the perfect excuse to wallow in the topic. Fortunately, Porco Rosso became a feature film, allowing Miyazkai's tale of an Adriatic bounty hunter who happens to be a pig and his clashes with air pirates during the late 20s to really flourish. For pure adventure, it's hard to beat Porco, and if all the Miyazaki tropes are being closely followed - plucky heroine, flying machines, bad guys turned good guys - the execution is so masterful you won't begin to care. Along with high adventure there are also moments of melancholy nostalgia, namely a beautiful rendition of "Les Temps des Cerises" that's worth the price of admission alone. Available on DVD from the Mouse. Ushio and Tora (1992) - The heartwarming tale of a boy and his demonic killing machine. When junior shrine keeper Ushio stumbles across the demon trapped in his basement by a powerful magic spear, he's forced to unleash the creature to save his friends. From there they strike up an unlikely friendship - Ushio doesn't anihilate the critter, which he nicknames "Tora" for it's tiger like appearance - and Tora keeps announcing that he'll eat Ushio another day. Together the two fight off the rest of the demons in the world in balls out, metal backed shounen adventure over the course of a reasonably long OVA series, of the kind that would be made into a 13 episode TV show today. Available on DVD. Video Girl Ai (1992) - The early 90s were chock full of tales about shy, loveable guys who suddenly have a beautiful girl fall into their life. This is one of the finer examples, with our hero stumbling across a mysterious video store where the owner assures him that he'll find the perfect video to end his loneliness, offering our hero a tape of a girl that will say nice things to him. However, when our boy gets home and puts the tape in, the girl pops out of the screen and proceeds to cheerfully turn his life upside down. Video Girl Ai is a bit risque - manga artist Katsura can draw an ass like you wouldn't believe - but the sexual humor is surprisingly tame and, unlike later examples of the genre whose heroes are useless and generally offered a full harem of women to obsess over, here our hero is awkward but not spineless and the story is about a love triangle, not a love polygon. Alas, the DVD is way out of print, but at least it made it out in the US at some point. Ah! My Goddess (1993) - Another example of the nebbish who has love fall out of the sky, in this case it's an auto obsessed engineering student who orders take out and winds up with a goddess instead. However, while attractive women abound, this ain't no harem show - it's obvious that said nebbish is absolutely destined to be with the goddess Belldandy (a highly maternal type to the point where it's hard to objectify her too much, not that you won't want to give it a shot), and everyone else is just there to provide conflict and comic relief. The humor is very gentle (with the occasional overblown misunderstanding of absolutely no consequence whatsoever), the girls are cute, and the vehicle otaku angle makes for a pleasant background. Later TV adaptations are painfully slow in comparison to the OVAs, which give you just about all the sacherine story you could want, but at least one dose is worth seeking out. There's also a movie, but it's generally forgetable; just stick with the original OVAs, which are available on DVD. Dragon Half (1993) - Wildly absurdist fantasy parody about a half-dragon girl who just wants to go see her hero, pop idol Dick Saucer, in concert. En route, however, all hell breaks loose as a series of demented riffs on fantasy pop culture fly by at breakneck speed. Later, there's a fighting tournament parody that skewers the concept nicely, and both episodes end with a high speed rendition of Beethoven's 7th Symphony while the main character sings nonsense lyrics about eggs. You will laugh yourself sick watching this show. Go watch the DVD right now. Ghost Sweeper Mikami (1993) - Essentially the anime equivalent of Ghost Busters, except with a beautiful greedy woman with a lightsaber in the place of Bill Murray. As the rabid expansion of urban Japan plays unearths old spirits, there's plenty of work for her and her long-suffering employees, ranging from her spineless, love-struck assistant to a cute teenage ghost to all manner of supernatural characters just trying to earn a buck. Above average early 90s shounen fare, with a smattering of fansubbed episodes available. I Can Hear The Sea/Ocean Waves (1993) - A smaller Studio Ghibli production, directed by Tomomi "Greenwood" Mochizuki, which aimed to promote projects by younger directors and present them on a bit of a budget. Thus, this TV movie, adapting a novel about the love triangle that occurs when two friends meet the haughty exchange student from Tokyo. This is a high school romance played completely straight but with superior execution. Alas, it wasn't part of the deal Disney made to bring over the Ghibli films to the US, so it's currently only available fansubbed. Irresponsible Captain Tylor (1993) - Irresponsible doesn't really begin to cut it, as our hero is a carefree young man who stubmles into the navy, winds up in command of a destroyer, and proceeds to take his misfit crew, avoid certain death (which he's inevtiably oblivious too), and eventually save humanity. For light SF humor, it's hard to beat Tylor, which provides plenty of adventure and a sort of inadvertant Bildungsroman. Available on DVD. Please Save My Earth (1993) - You should be warned now that this short OVA series doesn't really have an ending so much as a stopping point, but now that all the manga is available in the US it's easier to recommend this superior shoujo SF OVA series. It's about a group of teenagers who are all sharing dreams about their past lives as alien observers on a lunar base who are cut off by war and die of disease. Now that they're coming of age on earth, the students are busy coming to terms with their past lives and all the emotional baggage that comes with it, while using their budding paranormal abilities to try to stop one of their number who has gone rogue. The execution is lovely (particularly the soundtrack work by Yoko Kanno) and it's one of the few examples of shoujo science fiction anime I can think of. Available on DVD. Marmalade Boy (1994) - Convoluted shoujo romance about a teenage girl who is utterly traumatized to learn that her parents are breaking up, swapping partners with another couple, and both familes are moving into a single house. However, if adjusting to her parents swinging ways was difficult, coming to terms with how she feels about her new step-brother is even more complicated, especially when the rest of the cast shows up to put things directly into love tumbleweed mode. The manga was aimed at a somewhat younger audience, so this isn't exactly the most sophisticated of romantic plots, but it's still a solid entry in the genre. Marmalade Boy was partially released on DVD in the US before lapsing out of print, but fansubs are still floating around. Mobile Fighter G-Gundam (1994) - After Tomino, the creator of Gundam, hit the point where he needed to be put on medication to keep from doing utterly grim things to his casts, the Gundam franchise was farmed out to different creators who were encouraged to put their own spin on the concept. The responses were varied, with some being wildly successful (Gundam Wing's fangirl friendly execution) and others not so successful (the somewhat forgetable Gundam X), but none of them were as memorable as the raw insanity the Giant Robo director brought to G Gundam. In the future, the Earth is ruled by space colonies where the wealthy live, whose leader is chosen every four years by a tournament on Earth between representatives from every nation who, naturally, do battle in giant robots. However, these aren't just any mecha, but robots themed after each country. Holland's Hurricane Gundam has a giant windmill attached to the front. Neo Canada's Grizzly Gundam is a souped up lumberjack. France has a Napolean hat on their robot. Switzerland inexplicably fields a robot that looks just like Sailor Moon. And sometimes their epic battles involve bouncing off of the giant turnbuckle that surrounds the planet. G Gundam is the most balls out insane giant robot show you will ever see and is absolutely wonderful because of it. Available on DVD. Pom Poko (1994) - This Takahata directed Ghibli film is about the impact of urban development on Japan as seen through the eyes of tanuki, a sort of raccoon like critter that is traditionally depicted as tricksters in Japanese folklore. The tanuki this embark on a great war against humanity, not seeking to hurt anyone but using their testical magic - I repeat, using their testicle magic - to scare away construction workers and try to hold back the tide of progress. Though doomed to failure, Takahata depicts their battle for survival with plenty of humor and extensive references to Japanese mythology, all backed by a persuasive environmental argument. Available on DVD. Memories (1995) - A superior anthology film based on short manga by Katsuhiro "Akira" Otomo. The first sequence, "Magnetic Rose", is a hard SF tragedy about a salvage ship who answers an SOS and stumbles across the asteroid home of an old opera singer who has left behind a haunted legacy, this is perhaps the most striking of the three segments, with a script by Satoshi Kon and a score by Yoko Kanno. However, the other two parts are stunning in their own way, with "Stink Bomb" offering up pitch black comedy about a hapless pharmaceutical worker who takes the wrong pills in his search for cold medicine and becomes a biological weapon in the process, unwittingly leaving carnage in his wake, all set to an off-kilter ska soundtrack. Finally, "Cannon Fodder" is directed by Otomo as a European art comic come to life, presenting a fable about war with stunning visuals. On top of all this, the ending theme, "In Yer Memories" just completely rules. Available on DVD. Whisper of the Heart (1995) - Miyazaki was hoping to retire and leave Ghibli in the hands of younger protoges such as Yoshifumi Kondou, who made his directing debut here. Alas, Kondou died shortly after finishing Whisper of the Heart and Miyazaki obviously stayed on, but it's a shame we never got to see Kondou really explore his potential, especially if Whisper is anything to go by. A bookish teenage girl living in the heart of Tokyo stumbles across a kindred spirit who keeps checking out the same books from the library. In the process of tracking him down she meets a group of artists and creators - not least of which is the boy himself, who makes violins - and she's moved by them to throw herself into writing a fantasy novel, putting everything she has, including a healthy dose of love, into the process of creation. Oh, and the song "Country Road" shows up a lot, in one form or another, transformed over the course of the film from paean to the sort of rural life our heroine has never known to a version that embraces her urban lifestyle. A truly magnificent outing, even compared to Ghibli's other output, thankfully available on DVD. Whew! And there you have my contributions. This isn't definitive and there are many areas other folks should tackle - super robot shows of the 70s, Sunrise mecha shows of the 80s, shounen fighting shows of the late 80s and early 90s, and massively popular titles I don't personally connect with, such as Sailor Moon. There are also plenty of 60s and 70s shows that are vastly influential and plenty entertaining but simply not available in translation at all which I took a pass on. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to tackle anything else. I'm looking forward to seeing the thread! Phil