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Clephas' list of Anime classics


Clephas

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I've been watching anime for over two decades now, and I've seen so many now that I can't even remember half of them (though, unfortunately for me, seeing five minutes of the first episode of a series brings back the entire story, thus preventing it from being 'fresh' to me).  Unlike VNs, most anime end up translated, one way or the other, and as such, it is much easier for the average person to get involved with them.  Nonetheless... how many of our younger neo-otaku friends have even touched on the older anime, beyond a few choice series people can't help but thrust on others?  Certain anime are indeed timeless, but some fall between the cracks, either because their fans 'graduate' or they aren't vocal.  As such, I thought I'd make a short list of classics (feel free to add your own to the list) that people here might like.  I have no taste for one-off movies, for instance, so people who want to add movies to the list should feel free to do so.

 

Restrict your entries to anime made in or before 2005... at least 9 years ago, in other words.

 

Noir (female assassins, smells of yuri, Beetrain's flagship series)

Legend of the Galactic Heroes (sci-fi space opera with the type of political commentary you would never see in a modern anime)

Record of Lodoss War (old-style swords and sorcery fantasy without the excessive moe that became common in later eras)

Slayers (I imagine that many have seen these, simply because they started the moe-comedy fantasy trend)

Ai Yori Aoshi (a slightly different road than that which is common to modern love comedy, but it is a touching story that has stood the test of time)

Full Metal Panic

Elfen Lied

Escaflowne

Gundam Wing (my favorite early Gundam, simply because of the memories of watching it on Cartoon Network and the awful dubs)

08th MS Team (the most 'realistic' Gundam series ever, in terms of mech combat, lol)

Love Hina (this is not one of my favorites, but it did introduce me to the cliches of the genre)

Tenchi series (all of them)

Ranma 1/2

Fist of the North Star (gore and gore and gore, lol)

DNAngel

Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai

Angelic Layer

Chobits

 

 

For the simple reason that I despised Shinji, I can't bring myself to recommend Evangelion, but I'm well-aware that it is a beloved classic for many. 

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Some more Classics. Romance ones.

Onegai Teacher (my favourite romance anime with a relation between a male student and female teacher)
Onegai Twins
Also Ano Natsu de Matteru (but it's from 2012 so not really a classic but it's similar to those above and worthy to watch)
and last is

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu

thats all the series i have in my mind now

and then some classic romance movies

Tooi sekai (super short anime movie from Shinkai Makoto)
Hoshi no koe (more Shinkai Makoto and this is a really good short anime movie)

Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho (from Shinkai Makoto and i don't know how many times i have held back my tears to this movie)

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Some of them are adaptaded from manga series. I'd recommend reading the manga,but that's not the point here.

 

 

Many anime Movies deserve to be added in your list. (Some Miyazaki's, Ghost in the shell, Akira, etc...)

Isn't "Cowboy Bebop" old enough to be in there ?

 

I almost exclusively watch more recent series because old graphics make me cry. (Just hurts my eyes)

Only when I know it's going to be worth it (Good animation quality, soundtrack, and decent graphics).

 

"Love hina" is disputable though :P it's true it created the genre, but then should you add something like dragon ball ? (Don't)

 

I'd personnaly suggest the first FMA anime

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Some of the classics from the 95-2000 era, aka the golden age of animation. Haven't yet seen all the gems from that period though so it's not complete.

 

*Evangelion

*Utena

*Cowboy Bebop

*Serial Experiment Lain

*Kenshin : Tsuioku-hen

*Fancy Lala (okay this one is obscure, but it's one of the best magical girl ever)

*Kare Kano

 

And many more...

A bit lazy right now, so I won't explain why each of those are masterpieces, just trust me >_>

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I've been watching anime for over two decades now, and I've seen so many now that I can't even remember half of them (though, unfortunately for me, seeing five minutes of the first episode of a series brings back the entire story, thus preventing it from being 'fresh' to me).  Unlike VNs, most anime end up translated, one way or the other, and as such, it is much easier for the average person to get involved with them.  Nonetheless... how many of our younger neo-otaku friends have even touched on the older anime, beyond a few choice series people can't help but thrust on others?  Certain anime are indeed timeless, but some fall between the cracks, either because their fans 'graduate' or they aren't vocal.  As such, I thought I'd make a short list of classics (feel free to add your own to the list) that people here might like.  I have no taste for one-off movies, for instance, so people who want to add movies to the list should feel free to do so.

 

Restrict your entries to anime made in or before 2005... at least 9 years ago, in other words.

 

Noir (female assassins, smells of yuri, Beetrain's flagship series)

Legend of the Galactic Heroes (sci-fi space opera with the type of political commentary you would never see in a modern anime)

Record of Lodoss War (old-style swords and sorcery fantasy without the excessive moe that became common in later eras)

Slayers (I imagine that many have seen these, simply because they started the moe-comedy fantasy trend)

Ai Yori Aoshi (a slightly different road than that which is common to modern love comedy, but it is a touching story that has stood the test of time)

Full Metal Panic

Elfen Lied

Escaflowne

Gundam Wing (my favorite early Gundam, simply because of the memories of watching it on Cartoon Network and the awful dubs)

08th MS Team (the most 'realistic' Gundam series ever, in terms of mech combat, lol)

Love Hina (this is not one of my favorites, but it did introduce me to the cliches of the genre)

Tenchi series (all of them)

Ranma 1/2

Fist of the North Star (gore and gore and gore, lol)

DNAngel

Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai

Angelic Layer

Chobits

 

 

For the simple reason that I despised Shinji, I can't bring myself to recommend Evangelion, but I'm well-aware that it is a beloved classic for many. 

 

iv seen all these except the gundams im not a fan of mecha any more and i just realized its been almost 30 years since i started watching anime. holy crap im old

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I only started getting into anime in 2012 so I haven't watched many older anime but:

 

Air (Surprisingly it was made in 2005, it's pretty good for Key's first works)

Azumanga Daioh (One of the anime that got me into slice of life, amazing classic)

The Dragon Ball series (Some think it's crap, it's understandable, i loved it as a kid, made parts of my childhood, so i define it as a classic)

Elfen Lied (One of my all time favorites)

Hachimitsu To Clover (I have a lot of mixed feelings for this but it's also because of that that it's such a great show)

Ichigo Mashimaro (Another beautiful slice of life)

Koi Kaze (One of my top romances of all time)

Love Hina (It's one of those classics that defined the harem and romcom genres)

Lupin III (I never got back to watching this but i remember coming across it on TV several times and it was hilarious)

Serial Experiments Lain (Watched this couple months ago, got mind raped, loved it)

Strawberry Panic (It's 2006 but it's a massive classic for anyone that's a fan of the yuri genre so I hope you don't mind me putting it here)

 

And of course anything Studio Ghibli (most of the great movies are prior 2005) like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.

 

It's not much I know, but I'm probably one of the few "neo-otakus" that's even willing to watch older anime.

I've talked to people who consider themselves anime fans and they utterly reject anything prior 2005 or that has "bad art" according to their standards. It's pretty sad.

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I only started getting into anime in 2012 so I haven't watched many older anime but:

 

Air (Surprisingly it was made in 2005, it's pretty good for Key's first works)

Azumanga Daioh (One of the anime that got me into slice of life, amazing classic)

The Dragon Ball series (Some think it's crap, it's understandable, i loved it as a kid, made parts of my childhood, so i define it as a classic)

Elfen Lied (One of my all time favorites)

Hachimitsu To Clover (I have a lot of mixed feelings for this but it's also because of that that it's such a great show)

Ichigo Mashimaro (Another beautiful slice of life)

Koi Kaze (One of my top romances of all time)

Love Hina (It's one of those classics that defined the harem and romcom genres)

Lupin III (I never got back to watching this but i remember coming across it on TV several times and it was hilarious)

Serial Experiments Lain (Watched this couple months ago, got mind raped, loved it)

Strawberry Panic (It's 2006 but it's a massive classic for anyone that's a fan of the yuri genre so I hope you don't mind me putting it here)

 

And of course anything Studio Ghibli (most of the great movies are prior 2005) like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.

 

It's not much I know, but I'm probably one of the few "neo-otakus" that's even willing to watch older anime.

I've talked to people who consider themselves anime fans and they utterly reject anything prior 2005 or that has "bad art" according to their standards. It's pretty sad.

We may not be many who appreciate the old manga / anime, but there are great gems that deserve to be seen. It's a shame that people do not see Trigun, Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Dai-Guard... etc. Just because they went out of fashion, I agree with you Nose it's pretty sad.

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We may not be many who appreciate the old manga / anime, but there are great gems that deserve to be seen. It's a shame that people do not see Trigun, Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Dai-Guard... etc. Just because they went out of fashion, I agree with you Nose it's pretty sad.

What can you do. I actually should watch Cowboy Bebop at some point.

 

I've seen people reject anime just for the fact it's in 4:3 proportions.

This means they're rejecting masterpieces like Gintama. Now that's depressing.

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I've seen people reject anime just for the fact it's in 4:3 proportions.

 

My sides. The "lulz it's old so animation must be bad" argument is already quite retarded, but that just blows it.

Actually the simple fact that we have to consider anime  <2000 or even <2005 as old is quite shocking, even for a newb like me.

The day someone will tell me TTGL is "old" will be a sad one.

I shall continue my quest to make people discover old gems.

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Older animes i actually recall the names

 

Lost Universe

Mushrambo (Shinzo)

Chrno Crusade

Legend of the Swordmaster Yaiba (Yaiba)

Slayers

Love Hina

Urusei Yatsura

Fortune Quest

Marmalade Boy(was actually interessing)

Ōban Star-Racers

Rurouni kenshin (maybe)

 

I will add more when i remenber

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Well for people that are quite new too anime (less than 5 years let's say) there's quite a gap in the drawing style of the animes.

 

Some may not have any issues with old graphic, I personnaly do. I don't really like the old manga style and I think it took a turn for the best, but I entirely understand that some people may prefer oldschool graphics because of the habit or nostalgia or whatever and that applies in many domains.

 

But for me, an old anime has to stand out thanks to his scenario and eventually the animation quality and the soundtrack (Ghost in the shell <3) since graphics aren't the factor that will make me watch X anime rather than a more recent one.

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OK, here's my (partial) list of classics.  There are so many good anime 2005 or before...

 

-Akai Koudan Zillion

-Dirty Pair (TV series, movie.  Some OVAs are better than others)

-Chiccha na Yuki-tsukai Sugar

-Tsukuyomi Moon Phase

-Super Doll Licca-chan

-Dragon Half

-Da Capo (1st and 2nd season)

-Tokyo Mew Mew

-Mermaid Melody Pitchi-pitchi-pitch

-Vampire Hunter D

-Aria

-To Heart

-Kaleido Star

-Futakoi

-UFO Princess Valkyrie

-Elemental Gelade

-Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

-DearS

-Chobits

-Ai Yori Aoshi

-Angelic Layer

-Choujo Maris

-SDF Macross (TV series and movie)

-Onegai Teacher

-Windaria

-Mahou Sensei Negima

-Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

-Choujin Locke

 

 

I've seen people reject anime just for the fact it's in 4:3 proportions.

 

I've seen people reject anime because it wasn't HD.  Even though it was widescreen.  Seriously.

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I'm currently 27 and I began watching anime back during elementary school on VHS dubbed in Vietnamese. So I have been close to two decades watching anime.

 

Akira – A landmark in animation quality.
Astroboy – Osamu Tezuka's most popular work. Enough said.
Cardcaptor Sakura & Sailor Moon – These two series epitomize the magical girl genre.
Cowboy Bebop – Not only a great anime, but one of the few anime productions that can claim with a straight face that the dubbed version is superior to the original.
Grave of the Fireflies – Makes you rethink anime because it explores the a topic that is often glamorized and not explored in anime, yet ends up so haunting and serious.
Macross & Mobile Suit Gundam – The two series that launched two mecha series that have spanned over four decades.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind – This is Studio Ghibli's first work even though the original VHS released was so bad that even Miyazaki tells fans to repress the memories of watching that original VHS release.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – One of the works whose themes have expanded beyond anime watchers and helped dramatically expand anime's reach.

 

 

Other mentions:

Azumanga Daioh

Dragonball

Elfen Lied

Golden Boy

Gunbuster

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

Maison Ikkoku

Monster

Serial Experiments Lain

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I'm currently 27 and I began watching anime back during elementary school on VHS dubbed in Vietnamese. So I have been close to two decades watching anime.

 

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind – This is Studio Ghibli's first work even though the original VHS released was so bad that even Miyazaki tells fans to repress the memories of watching that original VHS release.

 

 

I found something really funny if you haven't seen it

something that you classic anime fellows really will get a charge out of.

It's 37 minutes of cringe-worthy old anime trailers (it's the ads that are cheesy, not the anime themselves)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkxdZ3ByrEE

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  • 3 months later...

I just have to Frankenstein this thread.

 

In no specific order:

 

1) Monster: A masterpiece that explores the very worst of humanity as well as the very best of humanity. Ultimately this anime begs the question of whether anyone is truly "evil" (no matter how many crimes they committed). It deals with the themes of good and bad in a mature, humanistic and realistic fashion that I have never seen in any medium of art. Monster also takes place in a very interesting setting. The first few episodes take place in Germany before the Berlin wall came down and before Czechoslovakia split. The rest of the series takes place in Germany and in the Czech republic after the Berlin wall came down and after Czechoslovakia split. A nice change of pace from a Japanese High school as the setting.   

 

2) Neon Genesis Evangelion: I will never understand the hate Shinji gets. Considering his circumstances Shinji has every right to be depressed and angsty. It's what makes his character realistic. I don't feel a need to say anything more regarding NGE since it's an anime everyone should watch regardless of whether they will like it or not.

 

3) Serial Experiments Lain: A very experimental and artistic work. For these two qualities I highly value it, however I can't say I enjoyed it. It's more an intellectual puzzle than a story.

 

4) Berserk: Probably the best anime that deals with the theme of ambition. Unlike many shows that glorify dream chasing, Berserk shows the many morally questionable choices as well as sacrifices you will have to make if you want to accomplish your dream.

 

5) Legendary Gambler Tetsuya: An extremely underrated anime mostly just because it is about mahjong. You DON'T need to know the rules of mahjong to enjoy it however. Although knowing the names for some hand combinations could be helpful it's not necessary. This anime is more about the culture of 1940's - 1950's gambling in japan.

 

6) Cowboy Bebop: Aside from episode 5 and the last two episodes I didn't actually like this anime. However it has had a profound influence in the west and for this reason deserves to be listed.

 

7) Trigun: Even though I haven't watched the whole thing, I'm listing this since it shares the same reason that I listed Cowboy Bebop. I wanted to just list Cowboy Bebop but considering that both anime came out the same season I think they share their importance in getting the west interested in anime.

 

8) Legend of the Galactic Heroes: This is the Iliad of anime (but better since I didn't really like the Iliad). What I meant by that is that this anime is a traditional epic (in the Homeric sense of the word). It deals with complicated political and philosophical themes extremely well and is one of the only anime to do so.

 

9) Air: Although this just barely makes the cut (Air started and finished in 2005) the success of Air allowed for Kyoto Animation and KEY to become temporary partners. The success of Air allowed for Kanon 2006 to be made (one of my personal favorite anime), as well as Clannad and Clannad After Story. The success of all these works popularized these VNs tremendously. In fact Kanon was one of my first VNs and I got it only because I loved the anime.

 

10) Revolutionary Girl Utena: I'm actually currently watching it, so most of what I'm saying is hearsay that I got from reviewers. I was told that this anime is heavily symbolic and pushes the Shojo genre beyond expectations through its mature handling of sexual themes. I've only seen the box art and a few episodes and I already can vouch for it's well handling of the themes of gender.

 

* I wanted to list the Rose of Versailles, but unlike Revolutionary Girl Utena which I at least started, or Trigun which I saw a few episodes of, I haven't seen one episode of it. I have however heard of how important and influential this anime was to the shoujo genre which is why I have to at least mention it.   

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Most of my favorites have already been mentioned (Air, Full Metal Panic, To Heart, etc.- incidentally, I still have the DVD box sets for all three), but one I'm surprised I haven't seen yet is Gunslinger Girl (2003-2004). For starters, it has gorgeous art and animation, to the point where I can't really believe it's already a decade old. But what's interesting about this one- and what makes it one of my favorite anime of all time- is that while the title makes it sound like a cliche girls-with-guns show, it's actually more of a quiet, philosophical anime that happens to have really awesome action scenes throughout. It's also set in Italy, which is a definite rarity, and it has a beautiful opening song sung completely in English. I found this show years ago, and I still rewatch it every now and again.

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