Ask John: What Contemporary Anime Would a 90s Otaku Like?

Question:
I consider myself a “returning anime fan.” I grew up on anime, but after I started college in 2005 I got out of it due to real life commitments and general lack of time. Here it is nearly 10 years later and all I can think is… what the heck happened to anime in America? When I was a teenager, it oddly had gone from some nerd hobby to mainstream overnight, but now I can hardly buy any domestic anime in stores. Even less is out there than when I was in middle school. That said, I’ve looked around and haven’t found much of interest; it either looks like a watered-down version of anime past or is moé (typically not my thing). Can you please make some recommendations of new anime for someone who grew up on ’90s/early ’00s era stuff?

Answer:
Particularly during the second half of the 1990s and the very early 2000s, anime was beginning to make significant inroads into American popular culture. At that time, anime was outgrowing its stigmatized reputation of being strictly a cultish exploitation medium for depraved college students in darkened rooms. Thanks especially to The Cartoon Network and the burgeoning American anime home video distribution industry, American viewers were beginning to realize that anime had artistic credibility and narrative capacity that rivaled anything that Hollywood could produce. However, American exposure to anime at the time was still heavily limited to the select titles that got exported to America, so the impression of anime at the time was still heavily representative of the type of anime that American viewers enjoyed watching. So the late 1990s and early 2000s are fondly remembered by Americans as an era of darker, more adult-themed, sophisticated anime. From roughly 1995 until 2001, the biggest American hits of the period included Evangelion, Escaflowne, Gundam Wing, Berserk, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, GTO, Excel Saga, Cardcaptor Sakura, Inu Yasha, Vandread, Hellsing, Noir, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. By 2002 the anime industry continued to produce characteristic titles like Full Metal Panic, Witch Hunter Robin, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, but 2002 also introduced the new decade’s shift toward lighter, more comic and romantic anime, illustrated by 2002 debuts like Onegai Teacher, Azumanga Daioh, Chobits, Kiddy Grade, and Tenchi Muyo! GXP.

An American fan indoctrinated into anime during the growth years of the American anime invasion who left the hobby and only recently returned could certainly be expected to feel disoriented by the drastically different tone and style of contemporary anime. A moé anime like 1998’s Card Captor Sakura that revolved around adorable little girls yet still appealed to adult viewers was a relative oddity at that time. Today anime is typified by shows like Koihime Musou, Milky Holmes, Ro-Kyu-Bu, K-On, Lucky Star, Yama no Susume, Papa no Iukoto o Kikinasai, Rozen Maiden, and AKB0048 that revolve around adorable little girls yet are produced for young adult male viewers. The tremendous number of today’s awkward romance comedies with absurdly long names, including Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne, Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru, Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku wo Ketsui Shimashita, and Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru would also be entirely alien to an otaku from the 90s. However, the prominent contemporary trends haven’t entirely excluded productions that would feel familiar and accessible to 90’s era otaku. Excluding literal revivals and new installments of titles from the 1990s such as the Rebuild of Evangelion movie franchise, the Golgo 13 television series, the Trigun movie, and the Hellsing OVA series, a number of recent anime productions do exist and are easily available that a 90’s otaku might find comfortable.

In 2008 I was immediately struck by how much the Mnemosyme TV miniseries felt like a conscious homage to the grim, sophisticated, adult-themed anime of the late 1990s. The Kurozuka television series likewise felt like Madhouse’s conscious effort to resurrect the intense, bloody action/horror style of its late 1980s and early 1990s creations. Bones’ Nijumenso no Musume historical adventure thriller is one of the contemporary era’s severely under-appreciated masterworks. Michiko to Hatchin, recently released on domestic Blu-ray, is aptly described frequently as a gals’ homage to Cowboy Bebop with a salsa flair. The Kara no Kyokai movie series and RD Sennou Chousashitsu television series both look and feel exactly like late 90’s productions miraculously produced a decade after their era.

Canaan likewise looks and feels like a dark, grim and violent 90’s action title that benefits from 2009’s more advanced animation capability. Granted, Guin Saga loses steam and focus in its second half, but the show remains the best serious, masculine sword & sorcery anime since 1997’s Berserk. The Seiken no Blacksmith television series now available from FUNimation may contain a bit more moé fetishism than it would have had it been produced in 1999 instead of 2009, but otherwise the show’s hybrid of sword-swinging action and comedy feels like it would have been entirely natural in 1999.

The Otome Yokai Zakuro television series from 2010 looks and feels like a version of Sakura Taisen that’s more interested in conveying strong characterizations and good story than serving as advertising for a video game franchise. The Durarara television series, honestly, doesn’t have any parallel in late 90’s anime, but its tone, complex story, and deep characterizations absolutely feel like they’d satisfy any otaku that appreciates shows like Martian Successor Nadesico and Witch Hunter Robin.

I’m not a fan of the 2011 Deadman Wonderland television series, but the oppressive, dark, and violent show distinctly evokes the feeling of late 90s anime. Likewise, Sunrise’s fast-paced and rip-roaring original action show Sacred Seven is both visually and atmospherically dark in the vein of late 90’s productions like Ehrgeiz, Gandalha, AWOL, DT Eightron, and Outlaw Star. Any fan of both Evangelion and Card Captor Sakura will find that Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica plays out like a hybrid of both titles. Kunihiko Ikuhara’s Mawaru Penguindrum distinctly resurrects the surreal, sophisticated, intimidating tone of his 1997 masterpiece Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Last year’s Moretsu Uchuu Kaizoku feels quite like a hybrid of Sol Bianca, Outlaw Star, and 2003’s Uchuu no Stellvia. It’s available domestically from Sentai Filmworks under the specious Romanized title “Bodacious Space Pirates.” Zetsuen no Tempest resurrects and doubles-down on the grim apocalyptic tone and narrative complexity of late 90’s anime. I’m not particularly fond of the Zetman “dark hero” action/horror series, but considering that it’s an adaptation of a manga that premiered in 2002, it absolutely has its stylistic roots in the early 2000s. Likewise, I don’t think that the Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse, Code;Breaker, or Psycho-Pass television series are especially great, but all three of them evoke the dystopic sci-fi atmosphere typical of numerous late 90s anime.

I also can’t call productions from this year including Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman, Devil Survivor 2, Shingeki no Kyoujin, and Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince outstanding shows, but they do have stylistic commonalities with late 90’s anime. I can also envision a late 90’s otaku enjoying smart, complex 2013 shows such as Uchoten Kazoku, Aku no Hana, Hataraku Maoh-sama, Kakumeiki Valvrave, Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, and The Unlimited Hyoubu Kyousuke.