For roughly the past decade we’ve been able to watch the same anime at about the same time as fans in Japan, at first only illegally through fansubs, but in recent years, many legal options became available such as official simulcast streaming sites. Now, through legal and illegal means, we have easy access to pretty much every anime ever made, new and old. Despite this, the majority of fans I know, myself included, prefer to watch only new anime – anime that’s currently airing right now in Japan – and might pick up an old series only once in a while. But by “old” series they usually mean a series that aired within the past few years or even months, not something that aired decades ago or even just 10-15 years ago. So when does an anime become “too old” for us?…
I think there are a couple of things to consider when determining one’s limits for how old “too old” is in terms of anime – the person’s age and how old they were when they got into anime. To use myself as a starting example, I grew up in the 90s and got into anime around 1999-2001. The very first anime I watched were from the 90s and early 2000s, though I have seen a few titles from as far back as the late 80s.
Ranma 1/2, what I believe is the oldest anime TV series I’ve seen
So as far as an anime being “too old” for me, I don’t have much interest in watching anime before the 90s, and especially before the 80s (as for why this is, I’ll get to that later in the post). But now let’s look at someone else, perhaps someone older than me who grew up, let’s say, in the late 70s and early 80s. They became an anime fan early on in their life, watching stuff like Robotech, Battle of the Planets, and Urusei Yatsura on hard-to-find VHS or laser discs. So for them, anime from the 70s and 80s isn’t “too old” or even that “old,” 90s anime might seem “new” to them, and anime airing nowadays might even be “too new!” But now let’s look at the other end, a teenager/young adult who grew up in the 2000s. Their first exposure to anime was watching fansubs of Death Note, Code Geass, Lucky Star, and other popular anime from the mid-2000s and considers something like Azumanga Daioh “old.” With the prominence of the Internet during this time, they’re eager to catch up on all the latest anime everyone’s talking about and the few older titles people still praise. They’ve got their hands full with just those anime and it may never even cross their mind to go back and watch anything from a far earlier time. While I personally like a lot of 90s anime and don’t find them “too old,” this younger fan does. Even if recommended something that’s over ten years old, they might just brush it off with “I don’t know, that’s too old.”
So what do we mean by “too old”? I can’t speak for everyone of course, but for me and for what I believe is the general consensus, an anime becomes too old for us if the look and feel of it are just too different from what we’re used to in the anime that we generally know and love, that we have trouble relating to it, or the differences distract us from the actual content of the story and characters. For example, I don’t care to watch anime from the early 80s or before because most of the animation quality is just…bad (going by what I’ve seen of them in various video clips and AMVs). The anime itself might actually be good in terms of writing and direction, but I would get distracted by the old and crude animation. Nobody’s to blame for this of course, since they didn’t have computers back then to offer the advanced animation techniques they have today. I’m not totally against ever watching old anime though and I’m sure a lot of them are very good story-wise. I’ve just never done so because when I’m deciding on an older title to watch, I end up more motivated to watch a post-80s one with animation I know I won’t cringe at.
Similar to animation quality, character design might be another thing that keeps people away from anime they deem too old. If you look at characters from an 80s or 90s anime compared to ones from, say, 2008 or later, the differences are obvious, as the below picture humorously shows (but I feel they over-exaggerated the 90s look. Some characters looked like that, but most were not that…freaky!)
Just as someone used to modern animation quality and techniques of anime might find anime from the pre-digital age too old, they might find the way the characters looked just too different from what they’re used to. Compared to the soft, slick, and detailed designs of modern day bishonen and moe girls (thanks in part to new art technology of course), going back to old anime character designs might just be too much of a visual difference for them, especially if a big reason they like anime is because of its design. And I suppose the same could be possible for an old fan used to the designs of 70s and 80s characters looking at today’s moe girls.
I also mentioned how the “feel” of an anime might simply be too old for us. What I mean by this is that the anime was made so long ago compared to the time we were born and live in, that we can’t relate to a lot of things in it. It’s similar to how young people now don’t find very old horror movies or monster flicks from the 30s or 40s, like the original King Kong for example, even the least bit scary. They may even feel the opposite way and find them silly and laughable. I know I have trouble watching old American movies from the 50s or earlier because I find them too corny or I get turned off by the stereotypical gender roles men and women play in the many old Hollywood romance stories. And that sentiment can be attributed to the old anime we watch too. An 18-year old who got their start with anime in the mid-2000s might simply not be able to relate to a title as old as Tetsujin or Rose of Versailles because they were created when the world was a very different place and the things back then that scared people, made them laugh, made them cry, etc., were also different (just speaking generally of course as there are plenty of 10+ year old anime that stand the test of time).
If Sailor Moon came out during K-ON’s time…
But style and animation quality are not the only reasons I, or many other fans, don’t watch very old anime. A lot of it comes down to simple motivation. Since we’ve started having access to all the newest anime via simulcasts and other streaming sites, anime fans of recent years have grown accustomed to being “hip” with all the currently popular anime and being in the know when discussing anime online or among peers in real life. This offers a lot more motivation to watch newer titles compared to old ones since the former allows us to feel more like a part of a community. Assuming we all have limited free time in our lives and we’d want to use it for the anime that feels the most worthwhile to us, chances are we’ll watch something that’s currently a hot topic or one of the old classics we missed that are still referenced today, like Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop, rather than a random anime from decades ago before the time of the Internet that nobody seems to care about.
As always, what I said here doesn’t apply to everyone. Not every anime fan has a limit on how old an anime can be before they won’t want to watch it. I know fans younger than me who watch stuff from the 70s and 80s without issue. But in general, people tend to enjoy the works of the time they’re living in and prioritize keeping up with the latest trends over going back and experiences forgotten ones, especially in this day and age with the Internet and social networking practically making that way of life a necessity. But I think it’s good to check out something from the past now and then, anime or otherwise. For something like anime, seeing how things used to be gives you better knowledge of the medium in general and how it’s developed over the years. Even if we can’t bring ourselves to watch anime we deem “too old,” we should at least retain respect for them since they are ultimately what shaped the anime we know and love today.
Great post! I actually was thinking about something like this the other day. I agree for the most part about your points here. Though in regards to watching new anime, I don’t like to watch stuff that’s currently airing. I’d rather at least a season be done before I start watching it. Only exceptions are things that are VERY long running like say Naruto. I’d rather watch an anime just because I find it interesting rather than if it’s something “hip” or its something other people are talking about =P.
But anyway, I’m 23 and probably just a couple of years younger than you but I too got into anime in the late 90s. My first couple of anime being Sailor Moon and DBZ, I think I set my bar for “old anime” in general to be ones from the 90s. That being said if the story and characters are engrossing I will watch older stuff. I sometime like watching some older movies from the 70s, 60s and even a few 50’s, one I like in particular being “12 Angry Men”.
In regards to younger fans, I have two 15 year old nieces who have jumped into anime this past year and a half and actually prefer watching things that are several years old. Anime from the early 2000’s and even late 90s. So as you said, age isn’t always a determining factor in which anime you watch.
Yeah, it is important to watch something that’s interesting to you rather than just to “keep up with the cool kids.” But over the years I’ve found that if an anime is a hit amongst my fellow fans, chances are I’ll like it very much too. Plus I enjoy being able to discuss and speculate about an airing series with people – once the show is over, everybody already knows what happens and whether they like it or not, so that air of mystery is gone.
My bar for anime is set somewhere in the 90s too…though for live-action movies and TV shows, I actually enjoy a lot more older stuff than new stuff, like the original Twilight Zone, I Love Lucy, and Alfred Hitchcock films =P Unlike anime, I feel that most live-action American TV shows and movies were better in the old days XD (and watching in black and white doesn’t bother me)
Cool article. This is something I’ve been thinking about recently while reflecting on the history of my fandom.
I became an anime fan in late 2007, but I didn’t watch anime seasonally until around four years later, so I was exposed to older anime on a regular basis for the first 3 1/2 years of my fandom. My first two anime were Love Hina and Azumanga Daioh, which were 7 and 5 years old respectively by the time I was interested in them. While my tastes have become cosiderably more modernized in recent years, I still am open to older shows – for example, I watched the magical girl show Kaitou Saint Tail and enjoyed it earlier this year and have thought about giving Visions of Escaflowne a chance.
If I were to pin down a time frame for what I consider “too old”, I might have to say early 80’s and father back, later if it is a comedy or a mecha show we’re talking about since those are two genres I don’t particularly enjoy in anime; in regards to comedy shows, many are just not that funny to me (then again, I have a rather cynical sense of humor). I enjoyed Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura initially, but both had little staying power for me and I completely lost interest in the former less than a year after checking it out.
AzuDai and Love Hina were a couple of my early series too, especially the latter, which I was introduced to via borrowing the manga from friends in high school. And I did watch Escaflowne early on in my high school years (2001 I believe). I also never finished Ranma 1/2…I think I got up to episode 40-something and then kinda lost motivation and had to return the DVDs I was borrowing to my friend. I enjoyed it well enough, I just got caught up in other anime.
Since I like Rumiko Takahashi’s works I’ve seen (which is just Inuyasha and Ranma) I should check out Urusei Yatsura sometime since I’ve heard good things about it.
On a purely technical note, I find it much more difficult nowadays to get into the world of a SD/4:3 series after getting used to the beauty of wide-screen.
I can certainly understand that XD It’s like going back to dial-up after having high-speed Internet. Though to me sometimes SD shows look alright by today’s standards, especially if they get an HD upgrade. I’ve watched some of my old Cardcaptor Sakura DVDs on my Blu-ray player (which upscales the quality) and 40″ HD TV and they look decent. But I’m sure not every anime does though, especially ones that are even older.
I have watched some Anime during the 90s and it certainly gone a long way. If I watched an old episode of Pokemon or Sailor Moon, it would feel outdated to me since I watched a lot of recent Anime. It seems that new Anime looks really colorful and pleasing to the eyes as advancements in computer graphics make it a lot easier to make high-quality backgrounds and characters designs. Because of this, I probably would enjoy old Anime less as I’m too accustomed to the art style of the new animation. However, I feel that there are some works in particular that I won’t mind seeing such as Miyazaki’s works as I think most of the stuff from him are still handrawn and still use a similar art style and that the stories would still be memorable. Aside from that, I probably won’t view shows from the early 2000s and late 90s the same and most certainly not watch anything from the 80s or earlier as it’s too different.
With that, I am certainly curious what the Sailor Moon reboot would look like when it airs next year and how it will compare with the old verison.
Besides Ranma 1/2 and Akira, I think the only other anime I’ve seen from the 80s or earlier is Miyazaki and other Studio Ghibli films :3 Like a lot of the Disney Renaissance films produced in the 90s, even by today’s standards, 20+ year-old Ghibli films still look gorgeous.
As I said, I’m not totally against ever going back and watching very old anime. Even though the outdated quality of the animation would bother me, if the story and characters are engaging enough, that could override it. But I understand how the look could be too different for some people.
I don’t have any qualms about watching older anime. Some of the most notable pre-90s series I’ve seen include: Macross (the original series and movie), Legend of the Galactic Heroes, the original Gundam trilogy films, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro, and Rose of Versailles.
Seeing as how I rather dislike the majority of currently airing anime I watch, as well as most current anime trends, I enjoy watching older series. I just haven’t been doing so as much lately due to time and present lack of enthusiasm for anime at the moment. (Especially since anime series were often a bit lengthier back then.)
One older anime that I’ve been meaning to get to for years now is Ranma 1/2, and I’ve still only watched three episodes of Nadia: Secret of Blue Water. But I’ll get to them eventually.
I’ve noticed on your MAL over the years/months that you watch old anime often :3 But if you’re disappointed with new anime lately, why don’t you just not watch so many seasonal shows and focus more on old series you’ve been meaning to watch? I just glanced at your fall ’13 preview post and it looks pretty full already XD
I’m interested in checking out Nadia one of these days too.
I think there’s a real tendency in the anime fandom to focus on the visuals alone. Nine times out of ten, people will tell me something “looks too old” to get into, rather than it feeling too old (by your definition). That’s really sad, because these are the same people who still cling to their nostalgia of ten year old shows that are already quite outdated to younger viewers.
I really wish the fandom would chill out and just enjoy old anime. It doesn’t have to be in 1080p to enjoy it. Sometimes a really old anime will actually still hold up because of a different, more artistic style, while newer anime that everyone said looked AMAZING feel hopelessly outdated just a few years later. It’s a red herring, but it does make me fear that anime studios will just make more superficial, “nice looking” anime, rather than taking risks on more timeless works.
Very little anime is made in 1080p.
To be precise, I know of two non-Flash digital TV anime that have been produced in 1080p: Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W and Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko. They’re usually upscaled from 720p or a bit higher nowadays. Some films get full 1080p, like Makoto Shinkai’s The Garden of Words.
Cel anime, of course, just like film, isn’t constrained by resolution and can be scanned at resolutions far higher than 1080p.
http://ultimatemegax.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/animation-quality-and-anibin/
Definitely agree that amazing visuals don’t guarantee a good story and good writing, just as outdated animation doesn’t mean everything else about the show is outdated. But at the same time, with anime being such a visually-pleasing medium and I myself being able to enjoy something just for visuals alone (as long as the writing isn’t total crap), I can understand people having an aversion to anime with that “too old” look. Anime is meant to be enjoyed after all, so if looking at outdated animation isn’t a pleasant experience for you, then that’s fine. But if you can look past that and give an old show a chance in terms of its other qualities like story and characters, that’s even better =)
I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to the age of an anime, though i’ll admit that older visual styles would probably turn me off. At the moment i’m trying to catch up with all of the series i’ve missed, with most of them being produced during the 2000s.
Off the top of my head, the oldest anime i’ve watched was probably Berserk, which was actually made at the same time as Pokemon (1997).
I can understand that newer fans of anime who got into it in the 2000s would rather catch up on all the anime they’ve missed during those years rather than go back and watch really old and obscure titles that look quite different from the anime they know. If you got your start with high-quality HD anime, it’s that much harder to backtrack to anime produced in old SD quality. Well, maybe it’s something you can do later on once you’re caught up on all your 2000s shows ;)
Possibly, but looking at how much anime is released each season it might take me a while >.<
Great post. I feel that this rings true with many other mediums outside of anime as well. I myself personally don’t mind watching anime no matter how old is it, but I will admit that I’ve mostly delved into anime 90s and over. That isn’t to say I haven’t taken my time to appreciate pre-80s classics like Astro Boy.
It’s funny because in other mediums I actually prefer older stuff – I still enjoy the video games I used to play decades ago (I play many new ones too of course, like Pokemon), and I prefer reading literature from 100+ years ago than any new stuff XD I also like a lot more live-action American movies and TV shows from decades ago than new ones. But for anime, I’m more often into all the current shows, for the reasons I expressed in this post =P
I guess it really varies from person to person. I have no problem watching older anime. Actually, I just started watching Outlaw Star (1998), simply because I read something interesting about the premise. Sure, the quality is low, it’s pretty old, but I like the animation, and how the characters look. Well, I also have no problem watching the old Twilight zone, or old black ^ white science fiction movies, so I guess my tolerance for more “vintage” art is pretty high :) Same goes for older computer games. I have no problem playing old NES games, and my favorite RPG is still Chrono Trigger (1995) for the NES.
I’ve always had a high tolerance for older work. As you mentioned, older work can have incredible direction, and story, and that’s what I enjoy the most in the end. So I can comfortably watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1982) and fully enjoy it for the awesome show it is :)
I just don’t like limiting my scope or experiences, for something like “old” artwork, or pixel count/bit rate…
Maybe the reason I prefer new anime even though I have no qualms with black and white live-action movies or old 8-bit video games is because anime (to me at least) is such a visually engrossing medium, so the quality of the art and the designs of the characters are important to me. I could certainly like any anime series with good writing, etc., even if it’s 50 years old. But it’s just not the preferred anime I choose to watch in my (limited) free time =P And it’s especially hard nowadays to go back to the old look of SD series after experiencing HD anime XD
Crunchyroll recently licensed The Rose of Versailles, which has been on my maybe-viewing list for a long time. I’ll admit the dated look of the character animation doesn’t appeal to me, but I probably will watch it at some point because the story and various elements of it sound intriguing.
I think the line for me is around the late 1990s/early 2000s, which is when guy characters started being given that fine-featured bishonen look – around the time when Saiyuki came out – though that may have just been Kazuya Minekura’s unique art style. =D
I would imagine the lack of bishonen in pre-90s anime would keep you from watching anime from that time XD I’m sure there were some bishonen in anime from the 80s or before, but certainly not the really pretty ones we’ve seen in recent years.
For some reason if I ever decide I want to get into Rose of Versailles, I think I’d prefer to read the manga rather than watch the anime. That way I won’t be so distracted by poor animation quality =P
Just wanted to add that for me, story can override the dated look sometimes like with the original Mobile Suit Gundam (1979-1980) and its sequel Zeta Gundam. The character designs were kind of hard to look at, at first XD – but the story and character relationships drew me in very powerfully and I wound up being completely absorbed and watched both series to the end. I think I make exceptions when my strong interests are involved, like the shonen genre overall. And I’d seen Gundam Seed and Gundam 00 and was very curious about the original series that started the whole Gundam franchise.
So if I have a good and/or specific reason, I’ll watch an “old-looking” anime. Otherwise, I probably won’t as there are so many attractive, eye-pleasing anime series that also have good stories and characterization that keep coming out every new season. XD
Hi Yumeka,
just to give in my 5 cents, Rose of Versailles actually doesn’t have “poor animation quality”, it has it’s very own distinctive style (which I’d attribute to the style of the mangaka), but can’t really call the animation quality poor.. I think..
But then again, maybe I am a bit biased toward Rose of Versailles, as I watched it first when I was 10-11 years old, so it’s one of my childhood gems, but when I watched it again in my 20s some years ago, then the animation didn’t bother me (after seeing all the new anime), while the quality of animation of Sailor Moon’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd season (which I first watched when I was 14 and loved to bits at that time) did bother me rather much and I’d say that was really poorly done.
Interesting post though, thank you.
Thanks for the input – Rose of Versailles is one old anime I wouldn’t mind checking out at some point. Good to know the animation still holds up all these years later =)
Like you, animation plays a big part in whether I watch a series or not, and unfortunately old anime tend to fall behind in that department. However, the most important thing about whether I watch a series or not nowadays is probably the quality of the video itself. Back when I was a kid I quite happily watched bootleg anime DVDs that were hideously pixellated, but now my eyes know better… much better. Hence, the oldest series I’ve watched is Legend of Galactic Heroes from 1988 and even then it was only the stellar plot and characters that kept me going through the tiny 4:3 .avi files.
There’s definitely more to gain from a fandom point of view if you watch the latest stuff, though. Because I don’t watch the new season anime, there have been countless times when I wanted to find fanart of a series I just got into and had trouble because the peak of its popularity was several seasons or years ago. It’s also fairly easy to have a great series spoiled for yourself, since anime like that will inevitably be talked about by everyone and their mothers and even if you try to avoid reading anything about it, your subconscious will probably siphon at least a few tidbits.
Still, I try to keep an open mind about “old” anime and watch the good ones where I can. Sometimes newer anime are based off old ones or draw inspiration from them, so it can be pretty interesting to see the source that spawned so many offshoots. It’s just unfortunate that because of the animation/video quality, people are much less tolerable of mediocre “old” series and are far less likely to watch them.
I’ll have to consider watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes at some point since I keep hearing good things about it XD Maybe it’ll be a project for me whenever I have a lot of free time again (like if I’m ever unemployed again).
What you said in your second paragraph is a lot of the reason I prefer to keep up with anime seasonally. Since being part of the anime community itself is as important to me as watching anime, knowing all the latest shows is important for that. But I agree that we should keep an open mind about old anime and not be totally against watching any based on animation quality alone.
I have no qualms about watching something of any age. You really can tell how much things have changed and how many things are at heart the same.
on the note of the oldest anime you have seen do you mean completed? Because if you have watched any of Astro Boy or Speed Racer (Mach GoGoGo! in Japan) then you have seen something as far back as the 50’s and 60’s!
By the oldest anime seen, I didn’t necessarily mean completed (since I never completed Ranma 1/2). I just meant if you’ve seen a large portion of it I guess. I’ve only seen a few little pieces of the original Astro Boy, so that wouldn’t count for me =P
I’m 26 now and like so many other people my age who like anime, I also got into the medium during the 90s – Sailor Moon was probably my ‘gateway’ anime, but then there was also some shows a bit later on like Evangelion that drew me in further. As a result, I guess my tolerance for older anime goes as far back as titles that were released during the early 90s, but usually no further. Just like you said, it’s the artwork and animation that typically turns me off things that date back more than that. That said, I like to watch anime that have already aired several years ago as well as the new material that comes out every season. Watching the new stuff is important to me because it gives me a sense of community and belonging when I’m able to talk with other people about them. When you think about it, I’m watching alongside thousands of other anime fans at roughly the same time, so even if I don’t know them personally or even chat with them online, it’s like I’m still a part of something much bigger than myself. But I like to have at least one older series on my currently watching anime list as well, just to help balance things out a little. Often it’s a show that’s still only a couple of years old, that for whatever reason I never picked up on when it first came out. Sometimes though I’ll go back further – right now for example, I’ve literally just started to watch Kaleido Star for the first time, even though it first came out 10 years ago. I also quite enjoy watching more retro anime with friends from time to time, like when a small group of us ended up marathoning Ranma 1/2 last year.
What you described is also why I prefer to watch new anime – that sense of community and ability to share my thoughts and speculations about airing anime with fellow fans in real time is something I value =) I really should do what you do and try and keep at least one old series on my “watching” list along with all the new stuff. There just always ends up being so many seasonal anime I want to check out that I run out of time XD
I can’t say a show’s age turns me off or that there is ever an anime “too old” for me. I actually kind of expected Mobile Suit Gundam’s art/animation style to harm my immersion, but when I discovered the show was really good it ceased to matter in my mind. The thought that the art style of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Angel’s Egg or Rose of Versailles might be too old for people’s taste honestly makes me sad.
According to MALgraph (http://mal.oko.im/jymmy/fav,anime), my favourite decade of anime is the seventies. Well, it will be once I finish Rose of Versailles (at the moment that I’ve seen one single, good anime from each the 30s and 40s is skewing the results). Most people I’ve seen, myself included, show a steady decline on average ratings of decades’ anime. This is obviously because the less worthwhile series get forgotten with time, and that’s the way I think it should be: the classics and the influential series that deserve to be remembered are. I’m glad I watched Space Battleship Yamato, for example; it helped me understood a lot of what inspired Evangelion (next up, Ultraman) and the space opera movement in anime in general.
I took a glance at my MALgraph (had trouble figuring it out…I’m not good at reading graphs XD) and I’m not sure how accurate it is since the anime I rate the highest aren’t necessarily my favorites (the “head score” versus “heart score” thing I’ve talked about on a couple of past posts). But I definitely get what you’re saying about how there’s a steady decline of peoples’ average ratings of decades’ anime. The older a series is, the longer we’re able to see how long it’s stood the test of time and whether it can continue to draw in new generations of fans. 10-20 years from now I look forward to seeing how recent hits like Madoka and Attack on Titan fare =)
I’ll also be interested in seeing what role nostalgia plays among anime fans in the future. With the anime boom having died out, there seem to be very few anime easily available to watch incidentally (although I’m only familiar with Australia and, through blog posts and such, the US to a degree). Could Sword Art Online be a generation’s Cowboy Bebop? Should be interesting.
I believe our perception of “old” is a really subjective thing, and also depends on the nature of the availability of the media. Anime, for one, *almost* all of them are easily accessible, what’s more, there are also charts each season to check the latest anime. For most anime viewers, those “latest” anime will probably be “new” to them, while anime perhaps several years back would count as old. Though, not everyone check the charts (surprisingly), for those, their perception of new and old would be quite different.
Aforementioned, there’s also the availability of the media. I made a similar post sometime ago, but I also touched on the subjects of other media like games and visual novels. Anime is a bit “flexible” due to it’s accessibility but what about the latter two? There will be quite a number of difference but for me, I count visual novels just translated to be “new”, even if the visual novels itself is old (I can’t read moonrunes, anyhow). Whether or not the games are available for the consoles I have played the part in distinguishing between new and old games too.
You’re right that only people who are interested in following the latest seasonal anime would view anime from decades ago as “too old” and that someone who doesn’t care to follow the fandom in real time and just watches select anime regardless of age, wouldn’t care so much. It just depends on how you want to partake in your hobby.
And as for video games, I’m glad emulators exist, otherwise I never would be able to play all the old Sega Genesis and Game Gear games I loved as a kid XD
And I also got a gameboy emulator installed on my phone for my retro gaming needs xD
I love this post.
Being an avid fan of anything Japanese, I’ve always believed myself to conform easily to uniqueness – whether it be old-school anime or something art nouveau or even on the rather surreal aspect in terms of animation style – and I’ve always pondered upon this question.
One of my old favorites is Ranma 1/2. Alongwith Flame of Recca, Yu Yu Hakusho, Berserk, and Brain Powerd. Brilliant artwork with a solid plot.
Good for me, I don’t have a limit. Some people tend to get turned off by lackadaisical attitude with respect to art but, for me, I prefer a good story. No matter how good the art is, I will be put off in terms of a begrudgingly weak storyline.
I think different is, most certainly, almost always good. With Anime, at least, of course. I like me some “too old” Anime.
Challenge accepted!
That’s cool that you’re so open-minded in terms of the anime you watch ;) Unless I find the artwork absolutely hideous to look at, I’m willing to watch any anime with a good story. Not liking the artwork could make me less motivated to watch it, but it won’t turn me off completely if there are other good qualities.
Never. In fact, it’s quite the thrill to watch 60s anime, and even 40s. The guys who I hear saying things like ‘OMG I can’t watch that anime from 2002, it’s so OLD’ I fully expect to suddenly stop being interested in anime two years down the line, and I’m usually right.
I had a feeling you’d be willing to watch any animation, no matter how old ;) But yeah, I agree that anyone who says they can’t watch an anime because it’s “so old” isn’t someone who really cares about the medium. Even though I prefer to watch anime from the 90s or later, I’m not against watching anything old, especially if I hear good things about it. Even if the animation is bad, if it has great writing, that’s enough to make up for it.
I started watching anime with One Piece in 2008. Initially, I didn’t like to watch old anime (90s or before) but I changed over the 5 years I’ve been watching anime. Now I watch anime from any year, but I’ve only watched 7 animes from 70s decade because I’m not completely used to the style and animation of the 70s decade.
My limit is the late 80’s or early 90’s anime. Any anime earlier than that has to be pretty interesting to grab my attention. Like video game graphics, animation quality is of little concern to me…unless it’s as bad as “Onii-chan Sucks”. As for habits that were more amusing back in the day, I enjoy seeing how anime has changed from how it was then to now. Besides, my backlog of old school anime is as big as Snorlax’s tummy.
Interesting read! I’ve often noticed that most anime fans have a strong preference towards the current stuff.
But what defines “animation quality”? If it’s the actual timing, movement, and draftsmanship of the drawings themselves, I don’t see much of a difference between the animation of then and now. Computers might add some shiny gloss and extra frames per second, but they don’t improve the fundamental art. Likewise, the character design changes are more or less superficial.
Consider this scene from Akira, from 1988:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixAHUWgBKsw
Or Urusei Yatsura, 1985:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7bq06P5mWk&t=36m16s
Heck, there’s anime from 1959 with better drawings and motion than a lot of modern shows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypU9WxhQEtw&list
You are asking the wrong question. Try this instead: when is anime too new? Because most modern anime, they absolutely SUCK.
Looking at that picture of a “modern” Sailor Moon, my first urge is to bash in the face of whoever drew this abominable thing. It’s repulsive. And I am not even a Sailor Moon fan, but this moeshit style utterly disgusts me. It is like… it’s a distillation of another distillation of another distillation. There is no connection to anything real. It’s something completely sterile and fake.
Now look at that pic of Ranma. Look at the characters’ faces, really! There is STYLE, there is UNIQUENESS, there is PERSONALITY, there is EXPRESSION. Each character is a different individual, not just a soulless and indistinguishable blob.
Here, here!
I had to say that I love older animation, but not older than Speed Runner or Ranma maybe? The current animation won in term of pictures, colors, background and all but you gotta admit they lacked a good story line. I mean these days I saw a lot of animation filled with hentai-related things. There must be a sneak-peek of underwear, or exposing breasts somewhere, And it really turns me off big time. The stories are almost non-original and redundant. The lack of works and imagination were being shielded by computers graphics help. Hello? Where are the enchanting stories? Even if the animation is marvelous if the story is bad, I would rather watch older animes like Inuyasha and Pokemon which even if the graphics were not as amazing as the current on-going anime, the stories were able to keep me in my place.
Sure they are some good animation with equally good stories too, BUT majority of the new ones sucks in my opinion. I wish they work hard on the plot department too. >:(