Nostalgic Anime [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Xefas

2010-06-30, 03:36 AM

The first anime shows of my youth were Tenshi Muyo, Sailor Moon, and Ronin Warriors. Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing came slightly after.

I haven't seen any of those five, except DBZ, since I was very young, and thus can't comment on their quality since they would only be fueled by nostalgia.

DBZ...well, it's bad, like most shonen fighting shows, but the nostalgia of my youth keeps it going. I've even managed to stomach some of Dragonball Kai, though I still involuntarily roll my eyes now and again at some ridiculously awkward bit of plot or how loooong everything has to take.

Not to mention I'm watching it subtitled so the voice actors still trip me up. Bardock sounds like a gerbil on helium with his Japanese voice actor and Gohan is like grating my brain on a mandolin. Raditz...surprisingly similar to the dub.

EDIT: Watching the first fight scene, I can't help but think the show would be substantially better with slightly shorter combat. Something like...10 seconds of the usual "You're going down!", "No, you're going down!" and then Goku chucks an energy beam at Raditz, Raditz dodges and punches him in the face, Piccolo shoots him in the back with his Beam Cannon, catching Goku and killing them both. The end. The fight's over in like 45 seconds. This is more or less what I was hoping for when they said Dragonball Kai would be a condensed, cleaned up version of DBZ. But oh well.

Prime32

2010-06-30, 03:42 AM

DBZ...well, it's bad, like most shonen fighting shows, but the nostalgia of my youth keeps it going. I've even managed to stomach some of Dragonball Kai, though I still involuntarily roll my eyes now and again at some ridiculously awkward bit of plot or how loooong everything has to take.

Not to mention I'm watching it subtitled so the voice actors still trip me up. Bardock sounds like a gerbil on helium with his Japanese voice actor and Gohan is like grating my brain on a mandolin. Raditz...surprisingly similar to the dub.I can only accept Sean Schemmel as Goku. :smalltongue: Funimation have most of the original cast for the dub.

Best part - the Ginyu Force's theme song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcgDgwNR1ZE). :smallwink:

Xefas

2010-06-30, 03:49 AM

I can only accept Sean Schemmel as Goku. :smalltongue:

I have this man's autograph. Twice. :smallbiggrin:

Got a wall-scroll signed at A-Kon in Dallas, Texas.

EDIT:

Best part - the Ginyu Force's theme song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcgDgwNR1ZE). :smallwink:

Oh my god, that's...I don't know what to say. I guess...

"I'm Jisu. Shall I pet you with my Crusher Ball? And by 'pet', I don't mean a pat on the head."

Prime32

2010-06-30, 04:56 AM

Oh my god, that's...I don't know what to say. I guess...

"I'm Jisu. Shall I pet you with my Crusher Ball? And by 'pet', I don't mean a pat on the head.""I'm Ginyu. I hate frogs but I don't know why!"

Tokusentai!
Tokusentai!
Tokusentai!
TOKUSENTAI!

See also Super Dragon Soul (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXiwt3fXdCc) - some of these new tracks could give Bruce Faulconer a run for his money.

Closet_Skeleton

2010-06-30, 05:18 AM

Macross/Robotech? First anime I saw (next would be Sailor Moon several years later).

onthetown

2010-06-30, 06:55 AM

I'll echo Dragonball Z. It may be pretty bad, but I've seen every episode twice from when I was obsessed with it. There's nothing like watching some old DBZ.

That Ginyu Force song is amazing. :smallbiggrin:

Nerd-o-rama

2010-06-30, 07:15 AM

Neon Genesis Evangelion. If you watched it in your teens, watching it in your 20's is even more rewarding because you can now legally be drunk enough to understand it.

Slayers always brings the nostalgia for me, too. For anime and for older D&D.

ninja_penguin

2010-06-30, 07:18 AM

Voltron, Ronin Warriors, and Sailor Moon get the nod from me due to being my first exposure to anime.

G-force gets a secondary mention because I had watched it as a kid, but out of order and didn't really understand it at all.

For later series, Trigun and Cowboy Bebop are the two series that I know I still love, post anime-burnout.

Comet

2010-06-30, 07:25 AM

Neon Genesis Evangelion. If you watched it in your teens, watching it in your 20's is even more rewarding because you can now legally be drunk enough to understand it.

Oh yes. The first two episodes of NGE were my first contact with anime. My small, innocent mind automatically decided that it was the best thing ever. I'm so glad I wasn't able to watch the whole thing through until much later.

Still, the best parts of NGE continue to define my views on what makes anime awesome even to this day.

Optimystik

2010-06-30, 08:01 AM

Gundam Wing
Outlaw Star
Lupin III
Dragonball Kai (NOT Z).

Dragonball Kai certainly brings back the nostalgia for me.

This, especially since I never got to watch the series in Japanese growing up. The difference in characterization is astounding; Krillin comes across as far more practical than cowardly, Goku is amazingly less of an airhead, and Vegeta becomes a lot less of a bastard.

Plus, Freeza has the same voice actor as Mayuri Korutsuchi, so I got the shivers every time he spoke. :smallbiggrin:

GoblinGilmartin

2010-06-30, 10:03 AM

I realize that i might get tarred and feathered for this, but i never really liked the giant fighting mech genre of anime, it just never appealed to me...:smallfrown:

Prime32

2010-06-30, 10:10 AM

I realize that i might get tarred and feathered for this, but i never really liked the giant fighting mech genre of anime, it just never appealed to me...:smallfrown:"Genre" doesn't seem very accurate. You have series where the mecha are superheroes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperRobot) and series where they're specialised tanks (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealRobot). It includes everything from Power Rangers to Ghost in the Shell.

GoblinGilmartin

2010-06-30, 10:27 AM

"Genre" doesn't seem very accurate. You have series where the mecha are superheroes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperRobot) and series where they're specialised tanks (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RealRobot).

Giant mech genre is a valid anime division. It means any series where large, humanoid robots are a constant presence, whether piloted by people (gundam seed) or self-animate (appleseed x machina)

Optimystik

2010-06-30, 10:27 AM

I realize that i might get tarred and feathered for this, but i never really liked the giant fighting mech genre of anime, it just never appealed to me...:smallfrown:

Nothing wrong with that - I'm not a mecha fan either, but Gundam Wing is a significant departure from the others.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam is also not really a mecha anime; both series focus more on the pilots than the machines themselves.

Then there's Code Geass, which... lets just say the robots are largely incidental to the overarching plot.

But ask me to sit down and watch any other Gundam series, or Eureka 7 etc... I fall asleep fast.

Prime32

2010-06-30, 10:28 AM

Giant mech genre is a valid anime division. It means any series where large, humanoid robots are a constant presence, whether piloted by people (gundam seed) or self-animate (appleseed x machina)See edit. I dare you to tell me that Power Rangers and Ghost in the Shell are the same genre.

GoblinGilmartin

2010-06-30, 10:42 AM

See edit. I dare you to tell me that Power Rangers and Ghost in the Shell are the same genre.

Power rangers isnt an anime. and sure, i mis...typed? anyway, maybe i should say that mecha is a... oh, i don't know, sub-genre? Power rangers is (besides not even being an issue, due to being live action) a sentai series, if you don't know what it is, look it up, G.I.T.S is... what... i don't know, i never saw it, but those spidery-toilet robots are not mecha as they are not giant, and not humanoid. But we could fight about this all day, but it would be pointless.

and even then, the zords are there for... what, the last eight minutes of an episode?

Oslecamo

2010-06-30, 11:00 AM

See edit. I dare you to tell me that Power Rangers and Ghost in the Shell are the same genre.

Main characters specialized in crazy kung fu with high tech clothes? Check!
Transformation? Check!
Get dismembred by a big bad monster and left lying on the floor only for your ally to arrive with the new bigger gun and save the day? Check!:smalltongue:

Optimystik

2010-06-30, 11:08 AM

GITS is in no way mecha. It's just cyberpunk/suspense. It's pretty light on the action too.

GITS is about as mecha as Serial Experiments Lain is :smalltongue:

Felyndiira

2010-06-30, 11:15 AM

Late 80's =p? That late =p?

The classic of classic anime are probably Kimagure Orange Road (romance), Urusei Yatsura (comedy), Captain Tsubasa (sports), Voltron/Macross (mecha), Lupin III (shonen), Rose of Versailles, and Barefoot Gen, all of which are early 80's or sometime in the 70's. There's no fancy "more modern" animation in any of them, although those series are really, really amazing (except Voltron).

Personally, I dislike Urusei Yatsura (as well as most of Takahashi's works, which is why I didn't mention Maison Ikokku), although Kimagure Orange Road is an exceptional romance series, so I highly recommend watching that one, if nothing else.

@VV: Very well, then. K.O.R. was arguably the pioneer anime of the romance/comedy genre that many shoujos are derived in part from, even though officially it's a seinen/shonen anime.

Winthur

2010-06-30, 11:20 AM

Topic is on nostalgic anime, my nostalgia is DBZ and Slayers. :smalltongue:

--

And Captain Tsubasa.

And Sailor Moon.

Closet_Skeleton

2010-06-30, 11:35 AM

Personally, I dislike Urusei Yatsura (as well as most of Takahashi's works, which is why I didn't mention Maison Ikokku), although Kimagure Orange Road is an exceptional shoujo series, so I highly recommend watching that one, if nothing else.

Kimagure Orange road is shonen, not shoujo. The manga was serialised in Weekly Shonen Jump just like Dragon Ball and Bleach. You can tell by the male protagonist and the fact that the love triangle is centered on him. Shoujo/shonen is not the same distinction as romance/action, even if its a lot easier to find a romanceless shonen show than it is to find a romanceless shoujo one. Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon and Fushigi Yugi are examples of shoujo "action" (well, 2 magical girl shows and a fantasy adventure) shows.

Oslecamo

2010-06-30, 11:40 AM

Late 80's =p? That late =p?

That's 30 years old. By anime standards that's "old hag" level.

GoblinGilmartin

2010-06-30, 11:44 AM

That's 30 years old. By anime standards that's "old hag" level.

"late" 80's is closer to 20 years, not 30, but i get your point.

Totally Guy

2010-06-30, 11:47 AM

I loved Evangelion, Nadesico and Giant Robo. Somehow they were all giant robot shows. But giant robot shows that pushed the giant robot gene in their own ways.

Morph Bark

2010-06-30, 11:55 AM

Samurai Pizza Cats.

Huuuuge second. Nostalgia 'hoy!

Watch the dub though. Samurai Pizza Cats in Japanese is... cringe-inducing. Plus the intro isn't as catchy or appropriate, imo.

Nerd-o-rama

2010-06-30, 02:26 PM

I'd step in and defend giant robot anime, but Prime has already embarrassed himself enough doing that. It's not for everyone. Just for people who like cool technology and people who use it.

GoblinGilmartin

2010-06-30, 02:33 PM

I'd step in and defend giant robot anime, but Prime has already embarrassed himself enough doing that. It's not for everyone. Just for people who like cool technology and people who use it.

i'm not saying that mech anime is bad. It just isn't my cuppa tea

what a coincidence, i also live IN AMERICA!

Optimystik

2010-06-30, 02:45 PM

Just for people who like cool technology and people who use it.

Igiari. (http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=4051194)

Relevant examples: Trigun, AMG, Akira

Nerd-o-rama

2010-06-30, 02:47 PM

i'm not saying that mech anime is bad. It just isn't my cuppa tea

what a coincidence, i also live IN AMERICA!

It is true, though, that the giant robots in Code Geass kind of have no specific bearing on the plot, which is more about politics, implicit homosexuality, and being The Count of Monte Cristo. Not as literally as Gankutsuou, but you know what I mean.

Okay, it's also about homaging/parodying Gundam, but still...more in the sense of characters.

Igiari. (http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=4051194)

Relevant examples: Trigun, AMG, Akira

Huh? I don't get it. I never said those weren't cool, or that they didn't involve cool technology (I was thrilled, when I finally got around to watching Ah! My Goddess, that it didn't take anime all the way until Nanoha to have a magic=technology/technology=magic series. Also God is a vacuum tube yes.)

Kaiyanwang

2010-07-01, 11:48 AM

"Recent"

Cowboy Bebop . I love it.
Last Exile
Evangelion
Trigun
Escaflowne
Excel Saga

Older:

Captain Tsubasa
Dragonball Z
Mazinger
Voltron
Gordian Warrior
Saint Seya
The Rose of Versailles
Cyborg 009
Doraemon
Captain Harlock
Galaxy Express 999

Wow too many to remember all of them. I loved them.. some of them, like captain harlock, was very mature in content (I don't mean naked ladies, I mean tought about man, humanity, freedom and so on).

jlvm4

2010-07-01, 12:00 PM

If you can handle the cheese factor, these were two of my absolute favorites at the time: Battle of the Planets and Star Blazers.

On the other hand, I think Robotech (Macross and Next Gen more than Southern Cross) and Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers held up the best.

Galaxy Rangers was American, but done in the Anime-style of story-telling. Had a few nearly unwatchable episodes, but most were great and very Firefly-esque. Think Texas Rangers in space.

Optimystik

2010-07-01, 12:42 PM

Huh? I don't get it. I never said those weren't cool, or that they didn't involve cool technology (I was thrilled, when I finally got around to watching Ah! My Goddess, that it didn't take anime all the way until Nanoha to have a magic=technology/technology=magic series. Also God is a vacuum tube yes.)

The point being, that people can like anime with cool technology, and still dislike the Giant Mecha subgenre.

Nerd-o-rama

2010-07-01, 12:43 PM

Which has nothing to do with what I said.

Optimystik

2010-07-01, 12:48 PM

Which has nothing to do with what I said.

I'd step in and defend giant robot anime, but Prime has already embarrassed himself enough doing that. It's not for everyone. Just for people who like cool technology and people who use it.

Emphasis mine.

It can be "not for" the bolded segment of people as well.
I love cool technology and the people who use it. I don't like Giant Mecha anime. QED.

Nerd-o-rama

2010-07-01, 01:02 PM

Just because it's meant for a certain group of people doesn't mean that whole group of people will always like it.

If you're going to use logical phrases like "QED", please make arguments in a logical format, rather than just making assumptions about what I meant.

Prime32

2010-07-01, 01:08 PM

Emphasis mine.

It can be "not for" the bolded segment of people as well.
I love cool technology and the people who use it. I don't like Giant Mecha anime. QED.Even transformation sequences (like this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udKNPnfHP1c)) filled with Technology Porn (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TechnologyPorn)? Le gasp. :smalleek::smalltongue:

If you have no problem with the small, piloted humanoid robots in Ghost in the Shell, what about Full Metal Panic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6E6XH51wJA)?

Optimystik

2010-07-01, 01:09 PM

Just because it's meant for a certain group of people doesn't mean that whole group of people will always like it.

"It's not for X" implies that X won't like it, and the opposite is true as well.
"I'm all for cake" implies that I like cake.

In any case, I made the point I came to make, I see no need to derail the thread further.

If you have no problem with the small, piloted humanoid robots in Ghost in the Shell, what about Full Metal Panic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6E6XH51wJA)?

Actually, I wasn't a huge fan of GITS either (Cyberpunk isn't really my thing.) I haven't watched FMP yet, but I've heard good things about it.

And of course, I've heard tons of good things about TTGL so I'm definitely giving that a try.

GoblinGilmartin

2010-07-01, 01:31 PM

Everyone, thank you for all your help in giving me some examples of good anime, not that i'm done or anything, please, keep posting!

And please, don't argue, favorite anime preferences are like musical tastes: Highly personal, not %100 the same for very one. No anime is better or worse than any other, it just depends on what you like. If someone else doesn't, then that should be just fine with you.

Fri

2010-07-02, 02:21 AM

Nah, the simplest analogy would be like this.

Vodka is for people who like alcohol. But not all people who like alcohol would like vodka. I could just link the wikipedia article for logic and premise and such, but I won't. Hey, you started it by using Q.E.D. It's not really a genre or preference debate, really, but just pointing logic things.

Anyway, my very first anime are: G-Force aka battle of the planets aka gatchaman, and dash yonkuro, an anime about SERIOUS BUSINESS mini 4wd. but I won't recommend them except if you're really into old anime.

But. THE anime for people around my age are of course Voltus

Ha! What about shoujos? Candy-Candy was amazingly popular in a lot of countries, and the other big shoujo anime here was Rose of Versailles. The anime is a bit more actiony than the manga. It's about a female military officer in just before french revolution.

0Megabyte

2010-07-02, 04:30 AM

Bubblegum Crisis.

The original one. I remember watching that on Starz back in the day... also, Blue Seed, too!

mikej

2010-07-02, 04:37 AM

Gundam Wing
DBZ
Pokemon
Evangelion
my list is pretty extensive, so I probally missed a few that fit the term.

Even though I watched it a few years back. Record of Lodoss War had that nostalgic feeling to it. Old anime but I was not seen till recently by me.

WhiteHarness

2010-07-04, 09:51 AM

For me it's things like Berserk, old Robotech, Fist of the North Star, and Record of Lodoss War that awaken my sense of nostalgia.

A lot of the things some people are bringing up from the late '90s isn't old enough and doesn't look different enough from today's anime to give me that nostalgic feeling. I suppose it serves to indicate just how young a lot of the people who frequent this forum are...

Soras Teva Gee

2010-07-04, 11:41 AM

Plenty of 90s stuff gets me nostaligic, but I also had a bad experience. I got nostaligic for Voltron awhile back and tracked down an rerun playing late-night. It was shocking how much wooden bad animation I'd forgotten about even aside from the obvious splicing of different episodes together I would struggle to call it good.

I must remember that not all 80s animation ages as well as Nausicaa has.

Best part - the Ginyu Force's theme song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcgDgwNR1ZE). :smallwink:

I'm floored by how unbelievably awesome that is.

(And you just know some weaboo out there is making up some serious AMV to it without knowing the translantion)

Lillith

2010-07-04, 02:55 PM

I personally liked 'Three Little Ghosts'. Which was about Here, There and Where. Kind of a massive cutesie level though. I used to watch Bob in a bottle too, but thinking back, I doubt I'd still like it today.

Brewdude

2010-07-06, 05:37 AM

I'm still looking for Dirty Pair movies and episodes. I saw them at some RPG convention way back when, in unsubbed, undubbed japanese, and always wanted to see them again either subbed or dubbed.

Galileo

2010-07-06, 08:09 AM

I'm gonna suggest Digimon. The first series, Adventure, was pretty cheesy. It also suffered from the fact that originally it was going to conclude with the first story arc, but new writers decided to run with it. I much prefer Tamers, the third series, which is set in a world where Digimon is a popular card game and anime franchise, and the main character is a kid who wishes he had a real Digimon. Hint: Wouldn't be much of a show if they only played card games about monsters involving kinda pointless card reading devices. Oh wait, I just described Yu-Gi-Oh!

Catch

2010-07-06, 09:05 AM

Since it hasn't been mentioned, I'm going to throw out YuYu Hakusho in the 90s anime category. It's a decent alternative to DBZ in the "shonen fighting series with a ridiculous power curve" genre and has its funny moments.

Also (and amusingly) One Piece sort of counts as a 90s anime/manga since it's been running so long.

GoblinGilmartin

2010-07-06, 12:27 PM

I'll add yu yu hakusho, and (if i havent already) digimon to the list. I never really liked one piece, i read the manga, but... idk

Kiroth6

2010-07-06, 12:42 PM

Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Slayers
Giant Robo OVA
Serial experiments Lain

Good Times, good times.

The Tygre

2010-07-06, 01:49 PM

Akira. Ohh, that takes me back. My first anime, actually. It's always fun to go back and see all that old stuff from the 90s and 80s in anime. (You wanna' know how you can really tell Gendo Ikari is a bastard? He wouldn't even upgrade his son to a -god-damned CD-player-.)

BritishBill

2010-07-06, 02:20 PM

i like evangelion and big o i find those nostalgic

mangosta71

2010-07-06, 02:53 PM

Robotech is also more about the people than the mecha, but there *is* a lot of mecha action (at least one combat sequence per episode). If it made your list, I recommend skipping the Second Generation/Masters Saga. I was going to watch the whole series when I discovered that every episode is on hulu, but the Second Generation portion is so painful that I had to stop after 3 episodes. It might be tolerable if they had used a decent voice actor for the main character. I'll have to see if it's any better if I watch it muted.

I think Macross Plus squeezes into the late 90s category, and I highly recommend it to anyone. It's only 4 episodes, so it won't take long to watch all of it. It's even more amazing when you watch some of those scenes and realize that the animators didn't use any CG - it's all done by hand, and it's gorgeous.

Other animes that I've haven't seen mentioned yet:
Wings of Honneamise
Escaflowne
Patlabor Tank Police

Lillith

2010-07-06, 04:43 PM

Also if you like a bit of dark short stories, you might want to check out 'Memories'. It's a dvd/movie collection of three short stories by an author I can't remember. (The irony)

Mercenary Pen

2010-07-06, 05:19 PM

Patlabor Tank Police

I think you're getting mixed up between Mobile Police Patlabor and New Dominion Tank police.

Ihouji

2010-07-06, 11:29 PM

More or less every thing has been said just showing my support at this point.

Cowboy Bebop
Gundam Wing
Lupin III
Outlaw Star
Tenchi (Muyo and in tokyo are the best imo)
Ghost in the Shell (the newer series is good as well)
Jin-Roh
Akira
Golden Boy (hilarious)
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
Princess Monenoki (not sure on spelling don't own it)
Tri-Gun (because everyone needs a little LOVE AND PEACE!!!! )
Helsing

Oh and its newer but if you haven't seen it Afro Samurai is amazing. Samuel "Mother Effing" Jackson does the main character its indescribably good.

BritishBill

2010-07-06, 11:30 PM