Alright, I am guessing I am probably older than the average person that might be posting here, so, for me, when I hear “older anime” I think back to shows/movies pre-2000. Limiting myself to that criteria, here are some that come to mind (in chronological order):
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - If you have never seen this movie, then you should. Just prepare yourself to be an emotional wreck for a good while afterward. My first introduction to this movie was in 2001. Back then, on September 11, the school was gathered into the main auditorium after the planes struck the towers. For some reason, some teacher thought it was a good idea to show a movie to the students to keep them entertained. I never found out which teacher chose it, but somebody decided Grave of the Fireflies was the movie of choice for the moment. Yeah… It has made for an interesting anecdote at parties ever since.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988) - This probably remains the easiest entry point into anime for non-anime watchers that exists. There are many that argue other Ghibli movies might be better in one respect or another, but I think this one is special due to how approachable it is for just about any potential viewer regardless of age/gender/previous anime exposure.
Yu Yu Hakusho (1995) - In my opinion, this series took a lot of the shonen conventions established by its predecessors like Dragonball (1986), and refined them. I am not about to claim it is the best shonen, but it established a lot of the best practices so to speak for what makes a good shonen and its influence can still be seen in shows today.
Cowboy Bebop (1998) - This one is a classic by just about any definition. It is still talked about regularly in forums like this one. If that isn’t still relevant, then I don’t know what is.
Cowboy Bebop is the definition of understanding the assignment. It’s a space western that gets westerns. The good guys are barely scraping by and the bad guys are mostly caught in even rougher circumstances. The protagonists are deliberately flat in a way that makes them crucial actors in other people’s stories. They themselves are stuck. Each of them is trapped at what they think is the end of their own story: Jet betrayed and cut off, Spike marked for death, Faye stranded in the future. They’re alone together.
Also the music is fucking awesome. Late-90s anime benefited tremendously from budgets rising while stuck with ink-on-film production and standard-def broadcasting. Looking any better was really difficult. Sounding better was an easy choice.
Back then, on September 11, the school was gathered into the main auditorium after the planes struck the towers. For some reason, some teacher thought it was a good idea to show a movie to the students to keep them entertained. I never found out which teacher chose it, but somebody decided Grave of the Fireflies was the movie of choice for the moment.
Damn that really is interesting. Must have been quite the experience.
Alright, I am guessing I am probably older than the average person that might be posting here, so, for me, when I hear “older anime” I think back to shows/movies pre-2000. Limiting myself to that criteria, here are some that come to mind (in chronological order):
All great picks. Cowboy bebop is so relevant still. Never overtopped. Definitional.
Cowboy Bebop is the definition of understanding the assignment. It’s a space western that gets westerns. The good guys are barely scraping by and the bad guys are mostly caught in even rougher circumstances. The protagonists are deliberately flat in a way that makes them crucial actors in other people’s stories. They themselves are stuck. Each of them is trapped at what they think is the end of their own story: Jet betrayed and cut off, Spike marked for death, Faye stranded in the future. They’re alone together.
Also the music is fucking awesome. Late-90s anime benefited tremendously from budgets rising while stuck with ink-on-film production and standard-def broadcasting. Looking any better was really difficult. Sounding better was an easy choice.
Good list. Yeah any pre-2000 is old enough.
Damn that really is interesting. Must have been quite the experience.
No, it’s fitting: Grave of the Fireflies was originally a double feature with My Neighbor Totoro. Traumatizing children out of nowhere is on-brand.
I looked it up and wow it is true. That’s actually crazy.