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Posted

Just checked out the good old "Ask John" feature at another of my regular stops, AnimeNation. The subject in this particular feature of Ask John deals with the "Golden Age" of anime during the mid 1980's. Macross gets a strong mention, with Do You Remember Love? being labelled one of the most respected anime films ever made. Always nice to see one's hobby described fondly by others. Check it out:

Golden Age of Anime via Ask John at AnimeNation

Posted

Wow, brings back memories. 80's anime is still the best for me too as well as 80's music.

I mean sure the animation is better overall nowadays but as far as storytelling and originality of the genre, the 80's can't be beat. I remember watching Daimos, Mazinger Z, Voltes V, and Grendizer in the 70's but Macross, Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, Megazone and MetalSkin Panic were more of what I enjoyed.

ooops, showing age.... :lol:

Posted

Keep in mind though that there were enough fresh ideas possible at that time

coming up with new stuff is getting harder and harder, even for animéters

But they're not quite done yet :D

Posted (edited)
Keep in mind though that there were enough fresh ideas possible at that time

coming up with new stuff is getting harder and harder, even for animéters

that's my point... :D

You have to respect anime producers today that can have original ideas. 80's anime is just great because of all the advances that were made at the time and the people's enthusiasm to take advantage of it.

But DYRL is a special case where it can match the quality of the CG animation today and sometimes surpass it...

Edited by >EXO<
Posted
But DYRL is a special case where it can match the quality of the CG animation today and sometimes surpass it...

the Ben Hurr of Anime :lol:

Seeing M-Zero, FLCL, cg still looks like crap to me

Posted

I completely agree. I didn't get a chance to see most "classical anime" except in snippets or in butchered americanized versions that I might catch fifteen minutes of when I came home from school. So while I was attracted to anime in the eighties, my real introduction to anime was late nineties early 2000.

I missed so much. Eighties anime is fresher and more robust than almost anything produced now.

Simultaneously, I can't help but recognize that with that level of output everything will appear in some way derivative. Heh, I remember when I first saw a "veritech"(gag, harmony gold) - the first transformable mecha I have ever seen in my life (and probably the first realistic one ever designed).

I was flabbergasted.

It began an obsession with reconfiguration that continues to this day. I can't look at a vehicle or object without thinking about how It might be made transformable. Shelves overflow with transformable robots, collecters new and old scramble to them. I can't design anything without someone saying Hey, is that a transformer? Those people look like they're from Voltron! It's a little better in the anime community. I try something more organic and its: Hey, evangelion meets mospeada inbit cross-bred with a legioss and wrapped in the design style of a bic razorblade! AAAARRRGGHH! It's all been done! :lol: But seriously, how can you ever outdo the very things that underly the genre?

Modern Anime artists can't help but either reflect on what has gone before or pray for some mind-boggling divine inspiration to descend from the heavens.

Or break completely free of anime conventions and lose the benefits of all the wonderful ideas that came before.

Strange isn't it? Eighties anime - the source for almost all the joys and frustrations of anime that continue to this day.

Hats off to the pioneers.

Posted
Wow, brings back memories. 80's anime is still the best for me too as well as 80's music.

I mean sure the animation is better overall nowadays but as far as storytelling and originality of the genre, the 80's can't be beat. I remember watching Daimos, Mazinger Z, Voltes V, and Grendizer in the 70's but Macross, Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, Megazone and MetalSkin Panic were more of what I enjoyed.

ooops, showing age.... :lol:

I know what you mean Alex.

I still remember getting out of High School,taking the RTD home, and running to the new black and white TV invention to catch the new cartoon named ASTROBOY. :lol:

Posted
I mean sure the animation is better overall nowadays but as far as storytelling and originality of the genre, the 80's can't be beat. I remember watching Daimos, Mazinger Z, Voltes V, and Grendizer in the 70's but Macross, Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, Megazone and MetalSkin Panic were more of what I enjoyed.

ooops, showing age.... :lol:

I was six when the 80's ended, but 80's anime is my favorite. Japan's bubble economy and the rise in popularity of OAV's allowed a lot of stories to be animated, which today most studios wouldn't touch because they didn't offer enough merchandising. Not to mention a lot of the work had a slightly more gritty feeling than we're used to today.

As for the music... Konya wa Hurricane, baby. Can't be beat.

Posted
a lot of the work had a slightly more gritty feeling than we're used to today.

As for the music... Konya wa Hurricane, baby. Can't be beat.

I agree on both...

When I need a quick BGC fix, I pop in Hurricane Live 2032/2033.

When I need a quick SDF fix, I pop in Flash Back 2012. :)

Posted

Another vote for the '80s.

I way prefer Macross, Kimagure Orange Road, Nausicaa, Gundam Z etc etc to anything made since around 1990.

'80s anime has this indescribable feel to it that I just go for. Maybe because I was a kid in the '80s? 'Natsukasshi' or nostalgia value? - Maybe a little but mostly because its usually just better quality I think.

Oh yeah, 99% of CG sucks in my opinion. Macross 0 would be great without any of that too smooth and harsh CG. I prefer what they did with digital back in M+. M0 is gonna look dated real soon.

Posted

I turned 10 in 1980 and enjoyed pretty much everything decent that came over from Japan to the american airwaves. I watched everything I could... growing up in Nevada in those days there was not much to do after school but to go over to my friend's house and watch cartoons. I got one of the first VCRs for my birthday in 1982 (an RCA Selectavision... if anyone remembers those fake wood panneled pieces of crap) and I started taping everything and watching it when I had time. I admit that later in high school and college in the later '80s put my priorities elsewhere but being a pre-teen in the days of the boom of american animation (thanks to the "no toys from a TV show" law being put to rest) and what I consider to be the birth of anime in the states was boss.

Oh and it was a great decade to be a teen in, too... if you know what I mean...

Posted

I remember NOT having a VCR. We were the last one in the block to get one. I wanted to learn how to draw 'Alpha Fighters and cyclones' as it were and I only had 20 mins everyday to learn. I got home exactly at 3:36 and Robotech started at 3:30. I was just in time to miss the last episode summary. To think, I use to run 2 miles everyday within 20 mins with my backpack, that would probably kill me today if I just thought about it. :lol:

Posted

Ahh, nice to see that I'm among my fellow 80s generation!

My family didn't get its first VCR until 1986. DYRL was the very first anime that I saw in its original Japanese format, so it's a much revered film in my heart.

80s anime definitely ranks as my favorite era in animation.

Posted
I remember NOT having a VCR. We were the last one in the block to get one. I wanted to learn how to draw 'Alpha Fighters and cyclones' as it were and I only had 20 mins everyday to learn. I got home exactly at 3:36 and Robotech started at 3:30. I was just in time to miss the last episode summary. To think, I use to run 2 miles everyday within 20 mins with my backpack, that would probably kill me today if I just thought about it. :lol:

Ah, the things that we did as kids.

Posted

Heh... we didn't even have a TV until I got into high school. My father was a professor at the local University, and my brother and I would run to campus and try to catch Robotech there....

Posted
I got home exactly at 3:36 and Robotech started at 3:30. I was just in time to miss the last episode summary.

LOL! I guess I had it good......from what I remember I think Robotech came on at 3:30 also. My elementary school used to end around 3:15 and it also helped that I lived across the street. Giving me enough time to go home and ask my Mom for a snack, and to catch the beginning of Robotech. ;)

Ah......memories [cue the Barbara Streisand music] JUST KIDDING GUYS. :blink:

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