Forum - View topic30 Years Ago: The Best Anime of 1989
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EricJ2
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I'm not sure if I was JUST getting into raw anime-club VHS by '89, but I still had a few used Animag issues from 1987, so must have been close.
I remember that was the year I'd came across a copy of the first Berkeley "a-ni-me" guide, with not only the synopses to everything, but the entire scripts of the first five or six Ranma 1/2 episodes. There was something about those slow, slower! paced first-season episodes that made them more of a "primer" for first new fans making the transition (I had already made mine through UY and Dirty Pair, so must've been '87-'88), and the simple cuteness of the Jaja-Uma-Ni OP made up for it. |
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Kicksville
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I really shouldn't feel sad about AnimEigo not doing it next when they're doing Megazone 23 instead. I've been watching all of Ranma on Blu-ray on and off for a while now (interrupted by a Magic Knight Rayearth viewing, thanks a lot Super Robot Wars T!). I feel like it holds up better than is often repeated, although it seems like people have plenty of opinions on where the "lull" is - I'm near episode 100, and it's weird to think the first movie hadn't even come out yet! I suppose that like, even in its lesser parts, it's still good fun. It helps that I just generally like the style, and the Japanese voice acting is stellar. In particular, a great reminder that Megumi Hayashibara became as famous as she did for good reason - her comedic timing here is killer. |
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Covnam
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I've got the Yawara set that was put out here, but haven't gotten around to watching it yet with it being incomplete (at least legally). Maybe Discotek will put out the whole thing at some point.
For some reason I don't remember ever seeing Goku: Midnight Eye, but it sure sounds like something that would have been on the Sci-Fi channel back in the day. I should probably check it out based on that crazy description. |
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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It's currently showing with a few other Disco-unearthed vintage goodies on "free" Amazon Prime, for those whose budgets missed out on the glory days of cheesy violent/fanservice late-80's OVA: https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Eye/dp/B07F1M92QR/ And you probably wouldn't remember Goku: Midnight Eye (he's got a magic pole, he's Goku, get it??), but you'd probably remember the motorcycle girl...Even if she's only got a couple scenes in Episode 1.
Some fans think the plot "lull" set in at Season 4, and that the animation quality "dropped" at Season 5, but there's good silliness to be found in both. S6 is more of a mixed bag, but I keep remembering S6&7 just being taken over by Rumiko's distracted preoccupation with Tea-Ceremony Martial Arts. There was one dangerously wrung-out running gag. |
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BodaciousSpacePirate
 Subscriber Posts: 3017 |
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Great list, and I have to say I always enjoy how much "personality" Daryl brings to his articles when he writes for ANN.
 It keeps this kind of stuff from being the average "Top 10 Anime from 19XX" fare you tend to see on other sites.
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Triltaison
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Funny, the tea ceremony martial arts arc also struck me as being the most memorably large part of the season towards the end, too. There are a few Happosai-centric mini-arcs that run a little long, but even those aren't too bad. I still enjoy the whole show even in its lulls since Takahashi's characters are so fun playing off each other. @Kicksville: If you haven't read it and do enjoy the anime, Ranma does continue with a few more arcs in the manga (including more secondary characters and cursed Jusenkyo visitors). I think it's around about volume 21 that the manga continues beyond the anime story. |
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John Thacker
Posts: 1006 |
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Well, I can't speak for him exactly, but I think that shippers actually prefer characters whose love interest status is hardly even implied (or one-sided, or tsundere, or even canonically rejected, with the kindergarten logic of "outward hate just means secret love") to those where there's clear mutual attraction but the development is just slow. There's something about violating a taboo, even a gentle one, that gives people that frisson. |
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Sailor Sedna
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Kiki's Delivery Service is the one I'm most familiar with, my first anime wasn't Pokemon, or Yu-Gi-Oh, or Sailor Moon, it was that. (I love it in both the Japanese and English versions too)
Dragon Ball Z is awesome too, and despite what flaws it has, it's still aged well. |
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Chazer
Posts: 19 |
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This was probably as impactful a year as there would be long term. For those of us who remember what the anime scene looked like back then, specially from countries where anime was aired and dubbed in local channels, the reality is we understood anime mostly from three lenses only: one related to mecha/sci-fi (Mazinger Z, Robotech, Starblazers , Gatchaman) and another related to mostly light fare shoujo (Candy Candy, Minky Momo, Hello Lalabelle) or kiddy shows like Maya the Bee.
It was during the 1989 and early 90s that scene exploded and started to show the full potential of anime. The idea of a true gender bender show like Ranma 1/2 was not even remotely in the radar of mainstream anime at the time and took people by surprise. It was so out there that it reinvigorated the idea of fansubs (still done by VHS tapes in some very spotty video transfers), and finally showed there was a potential market for this as a standalone industry. AnimEigo, Central Park Media, ADVision would set up shop based on this premise and Viz would open its doors to complement this initial boom by introducing manga (at that time in a comic book format, I may add) to the general masses. And the rest, as they say, is history. I look at those days fondly. It if wasn't fro shows like Ranma 1/2 and the original Dragonball bursting into the scene, there is a good likelihood I would have stopped watching anime altogether. |
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K7P5V
 Posts: 14 Location: Chicago, Illinois |
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Agreed. Mamoru Oshii is the best. |
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K7P5V
Posts: 14 Location: Chicago, Illinois |
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Concerning Kiki's Delivery Service, I agree with you. Hayao Miyazaki is still the best. |
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Spawn29
Posts: 551 |
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Baoh is a lot of fun in my opinion. It feels like a 50s B movie with 80s body horror with people's faces melting and people's heads exploding. I feel like most people are too harsh on these types of anime and should enjoy them for what they are. Same with Angel Cop which is like a cyberpunk 42nd Street grindhouse movie.
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Covnam
Posts: 3644 |
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Oh, thanks! Amazon's videos are such a mess I probably never would have found it by browsing. Any other gems you've come across? |
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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Whoever's been dropping vintage anime on Amazon (Anime Crush?) has been finding a lot of vintage titles lately: Do an "Also watched" search from Goku, and Beautiful Dreamer and both Galaxy Express 999 movies turn up, for a start, and I nearly forgot about "Lily C.A.T." from the OAV days. Fist of the North Star, A Wind Called Amnesia, DNA^2 and Harlock: My Youth in Arcadia, I'll...give a pass, thanks. 
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Covnam
Posts: 3644 |
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Thanks! I saw 999, but didn't see Beautiful Dreamer or Lily CAT. I saw they also have Robot Carnival, but I've already got the BD for that
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