Ask John: What Was the Best Year for Anime?

Question:
What was the best year for anime? What was the year that anime reached its pinnacle? I thought the era where Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, and Evangelion were peaking was the best era. I thought right now, after those series ended, there isn’t anime as commercially successful in Japan as those ones I mentioned.

Answer:
It’s virtually impossible to point out a single outstanding year for anime like vintage wine. Even the premiers of Dragonball, Sailormoon, Ranma and Evangelion account for a time span of 9 years. Many veteran fans refer to the early and mid 1980s as the “golden period” of anime because it was during these years that anime seemingly made its most significant advances in evolution, and it is these years that gave birth to some of the most popular and cherished anime characters ever created.

The 1960s was essentially the birth of modern anime as we know it and saw the debut of series including Astro Boy, Kimba, and Speed Racer. The 1970s were largely dominated by Leiji Matsumoto’s space operas- Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999 and Yamato, Go Nagai’s giant robots including Mazinger and Getta Robo, and Tatsunoko’s heroes including Space Knight Tekkaman, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Hurricane Polymer, and Robot Hunter Cashan. The 1980s, however, coincided with Japan’s economic boom, and the introduction of the OAV anime format. Some of the most beloved of all anime series, including Dirty Pair, Project A-ko, Megazone 23, City Hunter, Urusei Yatsura, Dragonball, Fist of the North Star, St. Seiya, Ranma, Orange Road, Bubblegum Crisis, Nausicaa, Totoro, Vampire Hunter D and Akira, all debuted in the 1980s. Landmark anime “art films” and esoteric productions including Angel’s Egg, Robot Carnival, Twilight Q, Arion, Ai City, Tobira o Akete, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Graveyard of Fireflies, and Twilight of the Cockroaches all premiered during the 80s as well. And the 1980s also saw the invention of hentai anime with Cream Lemon, and one of the most influential anime productions ever created- Urotsukidoji, or “Wandering Kid” as it was known to American fans of the time.

The 1990s have had their share of major works as well, such as Tenchi Muyo, Sailormoon, Fushigi Yuugi, Utena, Cowboy Bebop, Secret of Blue Water, Evangelion, Escaflowne, Ojamajo Doremi, Chibi Maruko-chan, Nadesico, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin and Detective Conan, but few if any of these 90s premiers have had quite the same impact and lasting impression on the history of anime attributable to many of the classic works of the 1980s. Statistically there’s as much, if not more anime being produced now than at any time in the past, but as many fans and critics have pointed out, differences in Japan’s economic climate between now and 20 years ago has affected the type of anime that’s released now. While the 1980s were characterized by a spirit of experimentation and style over substance, contemporary anime is often characterized by narrow deviation from established marketable stereotypes- mostly involving re-makes, romantic comedies, adaptations of Shonen Jump manga serials, and giant robot shows. Taken individually, today’s anime are just as good, if not better, than anything the Japanese industry has ever produced. And there are still a tremendous number of highly original and unusual shows being released in Japan; however many American critics simply aren’t aware of these exceptional shows, and many American critics tend to base broad, sweeping criticisms of contemporary anime on attacking the use of CG and digital animation, ignoring other elements of contemporary anime including writing, music, cinematography and direction.

As far as I’m concerned, the “golden period” of the 1980s may be fondly remembered as Japan’s “best” period of anime production, but for an anime fan that simply loves the medium of Japanese animation, the best period of anime production is the present- regardless of when that present may happen to be.