Top 15 Anime Representative of the 90s
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Jan 18, 2013 10:33 JST
- Tags: Evangelion, Gundam, Otaku, Rankings, Retro, Sailor Moon, Slayers
Fans fond of the anime era of angst-ridden mech pilots may be pleased at this new ranking from fans who have voted for the anime classics most “representative” of the nineties (hopefully not intended to include those which were merely popular or much loved) – though everyone else will likely be left complaining about the absence of Cowboy Bebop from the list, as usual.
1. Neon Genesis Evangelion
2. Detective Conan
3. Princess Mononoke
4. Sailor Moon
5. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
6. Yu Yu Hakusho
7. After War Gundam X
8. Brave Police J-Decker
9. Martian Successor Nadesico
10. Brave Express Might Gaine
11. The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird
12. Slayers
13. The Brave Fighter of Legend Da-Garn
14. Lord of Lords Ryu Knight
15. Gundam Wing
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No Tenchi? ;_;
Waiting for angry Bebob fanboys...
Cowboy Bebop was the first of it's kind, near the end of the decade, so it's not representative of the decade. Instead, Cowboy Bebop set the groundwork for experimental anime that followed in the next decade.
cowboy bebop is overrated. japanese audience never cared about that series. For some reason, it attracted north american audience instead.
I personally don't like it, I didn't see anything special about that anime, and getting bored instead.
Bebop fans know that this list is made by japs who have no taste for Trigun and Bebop.
AKA shit taste.
Well, to be fair, Bebop got screwed by the way it was aired in Japan. TV Toyko broadcast only episodes 2, 3, 7–15, and 18. While it did get a full run on WOWOW later, the damage was already done.
Th Trigun manga was very successful in Japan. Not sure why the anime version was less well-received.
Trigun suffered from similar ails as Outlaw Star in that half the series was simply poor budget animation, not to mention the latter half's plot was rather stupid to begin with.
16:42, Bebop DID have a loli in the main cast...
I wish above was wrong... Not much have changed, haha
it all makes sense when you consider that the "anime that's popular in the west" are all missing something that all of these top 15 anime have....
teenage protagonists =P it's all about the loli's and shotas, unfortunately...
Waiting for angry (americans) Bebob fanboys...
Fixed.
Where's Angel Beats?
you fucjing retard
Not sure if 23:21 19/01/2013 #! is trolling or is just an idiot.
Angel Beats came out a few years ago, NOT in the 1990's!
Idiot troll.
The TENCHI MUYO TV series (a.k.a. TENCHI UNIVERSE) is at #25 on the full list and the MAGICAL GIRL PRETTY SAMMY TV series (a.k.a. MAGICAL PROJECT S) is at #44. I'm actually very pleased to see PRETTY SAMMY place somewhere on the list; it's the semi-forgotten progenitor to more mature magical girl series like NANOHA, MOE-TAN, and MADOKA MAGICA.
Also, speaking of "mature" magical girls, REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA is at #18.
Pretty Sammy TV is still the funniest anime I've ever seen.
Such an underrated gem.
The difference between tenchi and all these little vegetable boys today is that tenchi started clueless and became something greater... You know he is grandfather tenchi now and still rockin his harem and saving the universe in that psychotic cat spaceship.
No el hazard?
EL HAZARD makes the list at #45 (in a 3-way tie), though it's for the TV series known as THE WANDERERS: EL HAZARD in English, which really surprised me as I thought the original OVA series for EL HAZARD was much better received.
LETS JUST HOPE IN THE FUTURE...
THERE WILL BE LESS MECHA'S
triti
I was going to ask the same thing.
I'm more surprised at the lack of Pokemon.
No one has mentioned Ghost in the Shell, yet? 1995? Whither anyone likes it or not, and don't tell me that it being an anime movie and not a 90s TV series makes it ineligible for "top 15 anime representative of the 90s". It was critically acclaimed, made a ton of fans, was right up there with Evangelion in breaking through internationally, and it was highly influential (including influencing a 90s hollywood film that in turn became highly influential its self).
How the hell could anyone leave it out of a list called "Top 15 Anime representative of the 90s"?!
I noticed that too. At least internationally, it was extremely influential, and considering the series is still alive in various formats, you would think it would be on here. It can't be because it was a movie either, since Princess Mononoke at number three was a film as well.
Definitely agree with you on Ghost in the Shell, very influential. It should be somewhere on the list.
I... don't even think it's on the rest of the top 50 D:
Gundam X is above Gundam Wing? The Gundam that bombed and got a rushed ending? How is that above the endlessly fan-pleasing, yaoi-catering Gundam Wing? My day just got a little better based on that fact alone. Gundam X needs more love!
Gundam Wing - one of these animes that you have to rewatch later to realize how bad it was. Gundam X was the reverse.
You forgot EMOcentric, crybaby protagonist, overpowered mecha, anime of the century
I prefer G Gundam for the sheer of awesomeness!
Don't get me wrong, I love mecha...but the Gundam series as a whole is 20 years of someone trying to write a treatise on the human condition, while trying to keep ppl's attention with a shiny mecha fights every 6th or 7th episode.
Seriously, you could skip two out of every 3 eps and not get lost. Worse than daytime soaps.
But I still love those mech design...they were simply iconic!
Just be happy there's mecha abound in this list. When I think 90's anime, that is what first comes to mind.
It would actually be stupid if mecha doesn't get on the list. Notice who got #1 (though maybe the image could throw you off ;p)
@13:45 - Really, does anyone remember Neon Genesis as a mecha anime? It had mecha in it, but that doesn't mean it was a mecha anime like Gasaraki or Gundam Wing.
Though to be fair, Gasaraki came out in 2000. I suppose I am nitpicking a little much, considering these lists are usually laced thick with suck. I'm actually interested in some of these entries.
Does anyone remember Neon genesis as mecha? not med Evas were flesh.
"It had mecha in it"
And that's all it needs to be a mecha anime
NGE is different from Gasaraki or Gundam
And Gundam is different from Tetsujin or Mazinger of the time.
And the Braves (that other part of mecha in the 90s, notice how quite a few of them made it) were closer to Mazinger than they were to NGE or Gundam.
My point is - 90's was great for mecha, it'd be stupid if mecha didn't show up
Well it was popular back in the 60's through 90's.Now its just Harem animes that got popular because of Tenchi Muyo and El Hazard which I am surprise wasn't in the top of the list.
Technically you can't call an EVA a Mecha, since they are actually living creatures and are only Mecha in appearance due to the armor they put on them.
Why did my comment get downvoted? Do people disagree that mecha is a defining point of 90's anime. Look at this list, it's chop full of mecha. As soon as I saw this article on the front page I thought mecha and when I saw the list I was happy people agreed.
So many Brave series listed here I see
and the King of the Braves, GAOGAIGAR, is nowhere to be found
FAIL
====
Gundam DX shouldnt be even in the list, rather have Rurouni Kenshin over there
Most part of the list is believable though
I'd say GGG was more intended to evoke 70s/80s Super Robot anime than to be an anime of its own time period.
GGG was intended to make an actual Brave heroic awesome series that a kid should emulate in response to that cesspool called NGE, instead we got that entire generation growing thinking that being Shinji was ok, reaction to that?
Birthrates declined.
Shinji.... gawd i really wanted to kick the crap out of that emo little wussy every stinking episode.
Well, the list is "representative" of the 90s
GGG and Kenshin are good, but they're more exceptional than they are representative
Maybe that's why X placed higher than Wing. Wing isn't "representative" because people don't want to associate the 90's with "pretty boy MCs pandering to female audiences" :p
Or maybe it's cuz X is closer to the original, and Japan just can't get enough UC. I'd laugh if 20 years from now, AGE gets ranked above SEED and 00 (ok fine maybe not SEED, Japan also love Kira)
GaoGaiGar isn't really in the list because it came out at the tail end of the 90's, and was at a time when things were transitioning to the noughties anime styling.
It's way down on #33
no rurouni kenshin or cardcaptor Sakura?????? I'm pretty sure they were good back then as well
Kare Kano.
Best shoujo ever.
Ah the 90's good times.
This is one list I can agree with!!! Many of these series are my all time favorites!! I wish they would have added Tenchi Muyo, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, and Armitage III OVA. But Oh Well..
Anyone else fund it amusing that Princess Monomoke is ranked third, yet it is one of the few Ghibli films not yet released on bluray.