Topic: Retro Animation (Japanese) Discussion

I thought it would be appropriate to have a place where we can discuss classic animation. This topic can be used to discuss anything relating to Japanese Retro Animation. Feel free to discuss your favourites, what you dislike, what you missed or even make some recommendations.

Enjoy!

I am a big fan of Anime particularly older stuff.

I was a big big fan of Grandizer, Captain Mask, GuyKing, the StarAvengers, Astro boy, Dragonball.

My favorite classic animes when I was young are Mr Ajikko, Sailor Moon S.

@kerr9000 Glad to hear there are some fellow retro anime viewers among us! Astro Boy & Dragonball are probably a given for most. I agree I love the older stuff.

Those aesthetics.

for me I loved transformers and got into Anime as my dad kind of went out looking for anything else that was giant robots and we kind of know Anime definitely has that covered lol

How old does it have to be before you consider it retro?

Anyhow earlier this year I've started to collect a lot of the anime I liked when I was younger on Blu-Ray (or newer entries that are part of the franchise).

So far in this regard I've got New Cutey Honey, Tekkaman Blade II, Godannar!!, the Fatal Fury OVAs/movie, Outlaw Star, Neon Genesis Evangelion including End of Eva (I've also got the first two Rebuild films, but I don't know if those count), and a bunch of Lupin the 3rd movies (most are newer, but I have Mystery of Mamo & Castle of Cagliostro too). I should have Code Geass arriving today as well.

Not a franchise I had a connection to as a kid, but I also discovered City Hunter this year & have the entire series on Blu-Ray as well as the 2019 movie.

@exit Cool to see the video you posted. I just ordered the blu ray of Tobikage a few days ago. It will probably arrive a few days from now. A few years back, I suddenly got obsessed with old mecha anime(chronic insomnia is weird), more super-robot, but mecha in general. And I'll take a look at other anime from that time period. I love that 80s and 90s anime look. In a lot of cases, the animation is surprisingly good, even for TV standards. Goshogun is a good example of that. I'm currently working my way through Fist of the North Star and having a good time doing that. Beast King GoLion is a nostalgic favorite(Voltron), and the Japanese language version is messed up(in a good way). The follow up, Dairugger is surprisingly tame in comparison, but that was one of the best shows I've watched so far. It's also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. I need to use my time better to squeeze in more episodes, but I'm finally making more progress, but because I favor TV shows I get shows faster than I watch.

Anime's Goodest Boy Arrives in Time for Christmas.

Street Fighter II: the Animated Movie - A certified classic that I haven't seen in awhile, and I'll be waiting a bit more as when I unwrapped it to take this picture it was somehow missing the damn disc. I ordered it a couple weeks ago now & I don't know how I'd get across that the disc was actually missing, so I don't know if I should fight for a refund/free replacement or just order a new one. This has never happened to me before, but I suppose it was bound to eventually.

InuYasha set 1 - Luckily this one seems to be complete. This is THE comfort food anime to me (practically being my life in middle & early high school), and whether anime or manga (through official or illicit means) I manage to go through it once every other year or so (just finished up buying/reading the entire manga on Kindle a few months ago), so I figured it was about time to start collecting it physically. I last watched it in 2020, when I binged it on Hulu in preparation for YashaHime (which kinda sucked, but let's not go there yet).

Jungle De Ikou! - Oh god, this is the most shamelessly degenerate anime I've seen, lol. Now, I enjoy a blatantly ecchi anime from time to time as a guilty pleasure (and I vaguely remember seeing at least part of this online somewhere years ago) so I decided to give this a shot, but now I know why I probably never finished it back then. It's a parody of the magical girl genre (young girl gets the ability to transform into a powerful adult form) where almost all the comedy comes from blatant sexualization & innuendo. I wouldn't have a problem with this if it was just focused on the transformed state, but they make sure to get in a lot of "loli" stuff too. Sad thing is I can't even really bring myself to really dislike it either. The humor (and fan service) can hit when the target is more palatable, and it has that quintessential 90's anime aesthetic that I absolutely love to look at. Think I'll just bury it at the bottom of the pile, lol.

Bonus: Alternate Box Art Under the SFII slip case:

First pickups of the year.

City Hunter season 1 - Not really planning on watching it anytime soon, as I just watched it early last year... right before I started to collect physically. As such it's the only season I didn't have physically yet & decided to use some Christmas money to round out the set.

Cowboy Bebop - I don't think this really needs any introduction (at least I hope not). Always a big part of my teenage years as Adult Swim used to have it on repeat practically all the time. So much so that I probably got a bit bored of it at the time, but it's been long enough since I last watched it to want to give it a revisit.

Project A-Ko - I've seen this online a couple times in the past. An action comedy film parodying the anime tropes of it's era, I've always found it amusing/entertaining enough.

Bonus: Alternate box art under the City Hunter slip case.

Small addition to the collection.

InuYasha Set 2 - As THE anime for me in middle/high school, I'm continuing to slowly acquire it all. If you've seen it before, I'm at the point Kagura is being introduced.

Ghost in the Shell - A bit of a confession is that GitS media tends to elude me (Arise is said to be more "streamlined" compared to the other series, yet I kinda start losing the plot by OVA 3 for example), however the original film is the exception to the rule & I LOVE it. Super excited since it's my first 4K anime purchase as well.

@RR529 That's an interesting cover for Ghost in the Shell there, I don't think I've seen it before. Why does it look like that? Is it just a reversible cover?

@Scooby-Doo, I haven't checked to see if it's a reversible cover, does it look odd?

Maybe they're just trying to be extra artsy since it's a "fancy" 4K release & all.

@RR529 It's just it looks different to how I remember seeing it. It's pretty awesome looking, though.

Latest additions.

Eureka Seven - Another anime that I really got into on Adult Swim back in the mid 00's. It's probably been about 4-5 years (maybe longer?) since I last watched it, so it's gripping me all over again. Always such a hopeful show, even when things get down.

InuYasha the Movie Collection - I've probably talked more about InuYasha than anyone cares to follow at this point, lol. Anyhow I'm at the point in the series (in my current rewatch) where it's generally agreed the first movie feels best to watch, so I bought this physically (I've watched them many times over the years, but digitally, official means & otherwise).

These are probably pushing the definition of "retro" though I'll admit (aside from maybe the first one or two InuYasha movies, I think everything here isn't quite 20 years old yet).

Got these in over the weekend.

Bubblegum Crisis - A bit over halfway through this now. Man, the aesthetics of it all (especially the tech) are just soooo much cooler than what we have in anime today (even if many of the bad guys are just Terminator knock-offs). That said, I thought the animation felt a bit rough & spotty at times in the first episode, but since then it's gone from strength to strength.

City Hunter Movie & TV Special Collection - Halfway through this as well. Magnum of Love & Fate was fun in an "extended TV episode" kinda way, but Bay City Wars & Million Dollar Conspiracy were absolutely awesome. Think I now own all the City Hunter stuff.

The other one isn't retro, I'm just not going to take a separate picture for this site specifically (I also post on NL & PS which have more general anime threads).

Bonus: Alternate art under the City Hunter slip case.

Been a bit since my last update.

Angel Cop Steelbook - Last watched this last year I think on Tubi, but it was the old SD version (I think the remastered version is limited to a premium Retro Crush subscription in terms of streaming options). Looking forward to giving it another go all cleaned up.

Cat Planet Cuties - Not retro.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero - Not retro.

InuYasha Set 3 - Have had this the longest & just finished it up over the weekend. Just working my way through an old favorite.

Lupin the 3rd: Bye Bye Lady Liberty - I had collected the "must have" Lupin films last year (Mamo, Cagliostro, the Koike trilogy, & the First), but am now looking to expand with some of the other stuff.

Robot Carnival - Watched it on Saturday morning. Absolutely stunningly animated (gorgeous in 4K), with "the Presence" segment being the standout. A lot of good stuff that ranged from fun ("the mechanized culture of the Meiji era") to artful "the Cloud"). Also some very 80's stuff like "Star Light Angel", which isn't a bad thing at all.

the Professional: Golgo 13 - A bit rough around the edges, but worth a look if you like very edgy 80's fare (very gory & lots of sex).

Project A-Ko 2 & 3 - Pretty much more A-ko, if you liked the first one you'll like these. Bright, cheery, fun 80's vibes.

Alternate box arts:

@RR529 I wanted to say I enjoy seeing your pick ups. There's definitely some overlap especially with older stuff, and maybe some new things to consider. I watched all the A-Ko movies not too long ago. I actually bought all four on DVD a couple of weeks before they announced the first movie on blu ray, but I was happy with the DVDs. Just weird timing there. In an interesting and weird coincidence, I watched the first A-ko on the same day Discotek premiered the blu ray at a convention without knowing about it. The first one is my favorite, but I thought they were all pretty good. Your pick ups also reminded me I need to watch Bubblegum Crisis OVA again. That was the first show I bought back in the VHS days and it's been a while.

There's plenty on my watch list, new and stuff I haven't seen in a while. I'm currently re-watching Cowboy Bebop. I got the original DVDs as they came out. I just finished Gundam 08th MS Team, Casshan Robot Hunter, 8 Man After, and Hokuto No Ken(First of the North Star). Only Hokuto was a fairly recent pick up of those. My recent pick ups include Gao Gai Gar, Machine Robo Battle Hackers, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Tekkaman Blade 2, Ninja Senshi Tobikage(Ninja Robots), and Cat's Eye.

@sdelfin, thanks!

Yeah, the first A-Ko definitely seems to be the best, but the others still seem to be pretty good in a "if you liked the first, you'll find something here to enjoy as well" kinda way.

Bubblegum Crisis was really good too. I think the first episode is a bit rough around the edges at times in terms of animation, but it gets better as it goes on & it's firing on all cylinders by episode 4.

Cowboy Bebop is phenomenal. Adult Swim used to air it so often I got burned out on it when I was younger, but going back to it after all these years has really helped me to appreciate it more, and it caused a whole bunch of nostalgic feelings to come bubbling forth.

Haven't watched much of the other stuff you've mentioned, though Tekkaman Blade II was one of the first things I picked up on Blu-Ray. I first watched it about a decade ago on a (defunct) YouTube channel that had uploaded a bunch of the old Central Park Media/US Manga Corps stuff after they went out of business (mostly VHS rips I'm sure), and I spent an entire summer going through most of it (outside of the stuff I used to watch on Toonami/Adult Swim, it's the last batch of anime I have a bit of nostalgia for). Needless to say I was stunned to see it (and other tiles, like New Cutie Honey & A-Ko) getting a BD release & I snapped it up.

You also reminded me that I eventually need to start digging into the Gundam stuff (at least G Gundam & 00, which are the two I got into when I was younger).

@RR529 I wanted to mention my appreciation for your posts after your previous pick ups, but you know how it is. Cowboy Bebop left me with mixed feelings when I first watched it, but that may have had more to do with me and the timing. I've had changes of opinion on other shows and games, so I felt it was worth watching it again after 20+ years, especially since I already have it. I'm halfway through and only have a few minor nitpicks, so I hope it holds up for me to the end.

I haven't watched it yet, but I mentioned Cat's Eye because it was created by the same man responsible for City Hunter. Some kind person on the internet recommended it to me as an alternative to City Hunter with a different kind of lead character(s). As you seem to like City Hunter, it might be worth a look.

Gundam is quite a rabbit hole. I stick with the main UC stuff. I watched the original TV show which I liked a lot, 0083 Stardust Memory(which I want to go back to as it's been some time), and 08th MS Team which was a re-watch as I didn't like things about it back in the day but I really loved it this time around and which led to me slotting in Cowboy Bebop right after.

After seeing your pick ups, I will have to see what InuYasha is all about as I only know it by name.

I can't believe you guys haven't brought it up yet, but the original Super Mario Bros. Movie is a pleasure to watch. Everything about it's animation and art style is just eyecandy. I personally watched the Rock Man OVAs back when I was younger, going back to them is always a treat!