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.
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.
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.
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.
Serial Experiments Lain. Came out before smartphones and yet predicted a lot of modern technology. It’s a fantastic look at how tech can shape our reality and mental health.
Big Agree, I watched Lain around the same time as I was reading a lot and the books I read at the time were similarly prophetic (Nueromancer, Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, Permutation City) all right around the time of peak “The Matrix” hype…
Evangelion feels shockingly modern in its storytelling considering it’s almost 30 years old
Having pushed Earth to the brink of environmental disaster and overpopulation, the central government segregates the populace. The wealthy and well-connected get to remain as they are, but billions of everyday working folks get forced into artificial, self-contained living spaces over the course of several decades. Some of those spaces remain relatively comfortable. Many are densely populated, and some of the most isolated don’t even get natural sunlight. None of them have any say in how they are governed. This breeds unrest.
In the most remote communities, there is a growing push towards being self-governed. In tandem, the idea that their half-century plus of environmental isolation is pushing a new evolutionary path for humans starts taking hold. The champion of this ideal is a charismatic politician, who uses the notion of a higher-evolved humanity as justification for independence. Amid tensions with the corrupt, complacent central government, the politician dies suddenly. Both movements are then co-opted by populist fascists, whose leading family has effectively complete control of the local military. This leads to the deadliest, most brutal war humanity has ever seen.
This is the setup for Mobile Suit Gundam (1979), and yeah, I’d say that’s still pretty relevant.
Planetes.
I love that show. It hits all the feels, and the opening still gives me chills. I’ve had the manga on my shelf for quite a few years at this point. I should probably get around to reading it.
I just realized Fullmetal Alchemist is over 20 years old, fuck I’m old ;_;
Samurai Champloo for the vibes
“relevant” is very broad and subjective.
I think they all stay relevant. As a product, as art, as history, as entertainment.
Revolutionary Girl Utena. I recently re-watched some of my favorite episodes again (for many times over the years) and can still discover new things that I wasn’t aware before. The anime just keeps giving everytime I watch it and refuses to get irrelevant ever.
I’m not really an anime person, but Grave of The Fireflies will probably always be in my top 5 movies list.
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Outlaw Star for a universe that contains balanced tech and magic.
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Tell me a modern anime that’s relevant. They’re all titties and formula. 5-6 people, one awkward, one bold, one nerd, one tomboy, one stalwart, and a boy who’s confused.
So boring.
Frieren. If you insist it should be an original screenplay, then Odd Taxi. Or Shirobako. The Heike Story. Sonny Boy. The majority of anything is always shit, you just remember the gems from before. There’s always excellent anime being made.
I’ll add Devilman Crybaby - also by Masaaki Yuasa. Odd Taxi was great btw
Thank you, I’ll give them a shot!
I agree that the ratio of shitty anime to good anime has increased but every season still has great original shows coming out.
One Punch Man
i really loved blue eye samuri. it was gorgeous and the characters were engaging. the story was well thought out and in some cases heart breaking.
also my daemon was an interesting story and beautifully animated
Metropolis (2001 film) - directed by Rintaro, loosely based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga
minor spoilers
It’s a weirdly cool dystopian story/film with vibrant scenes, a great soundtrack, painfully lovable characters, CGI that actually looks great and still stands up to today’s standards, etc
- this another anime film that I’d recommend going in blind if you can
also for anyone who enjoyed it or wants to dive into the rabbit hole afterwards here’s a link for you! The Temporal Messages of Metropolis
