When discussing anime, many fans' thoughts turn immediately to the '90s, considered by many to be a golden age for anime. Some of the heaviest hitters in the world of anime come from that decade. With programs like Toonami bringing anime to Western viewers' attention, anime was just starting to really make an impact.
Some of the things once accepted in '90s anime is surprising to new viewers or to fans revisiting old favorites. Some of those anime don't quite hold up to modern scrutiny. It's always worth taking a look back at the past to see how anime got to where it is today.
10 Some Of The Theme Songs Are Bizarre
No anime discussion goes very long without mentioning the openings or endings to series. '90s anime have some of the most iconic openings and endings ever created. However, many of these tracks either don't fit or seem completely out of place. It leads many fans to wonder why they were selected.
Berserk's opening theme song is a catchy, upbeat and inspiring song, which doesn't fit its dark, brooding nature. Besides that classic example, special mention has to go to Trigun's strangely dissonant ending, which seems out of place even on happier episodes.
9 The Big Three Hadn't Started Yet
Western shonen fans in the 2000s were spoiled for choice when One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach dominated the collective consciousness of anime fandom. In the '90s though, Dragon Ball Z stood alone in terms of long-running, many-episode shonen series.
While other shonen series in the '90s received critical and commercial acclaim, the ubiquity of shonen anime wasn't quite there yet the way it was in later decades. Fans of '90s anime might have to settle for some lesser-known series in that genre.
8 Expect A Lot of Filler
The concept of filler episodes has somewhat fallen out of fashion. Nowadays, anime series rarely outpace the manga they're based on. In the '90s, fans could expect to still see many episodes that simply didn't need to exist. Padded for length, featuring (often non-canon) side stories, or just drawing out fights to absurd lengths, filler was a common occurrence.
Dragon Ball Z was notorious for filler episodes. Dragon Ball Z received an abridged version, Dragon Ball Kai, which cut out many of the anime-exclusive episodes.
7 Localization Makes Things Confusing
When anime localization was still in its relative infancy, translators faced a difficult choice. They could keep things as they were, which could confuse Western audiences who might be unfamiliar with certain concepts or items.
Or, they could simply change the names of things and characters in the translated works. This can be confusing when everyone can see that Pokémon's Brock isn't eating donuts, but is eating rice balls, a Japanese treat. Nonetheless, everyone in Pokémon refers to them as donuts.
6 Poor Treatment Of Female Characters
Though there are examples to the contrary, including Ghost In The Shell's Makoto and Cowboy Bebop's Faye Valentine, many female characters in '90s anime are just there to hinder the protagonist. Sometimes, female characters would fall victim to gross attempts at comic relief.
Milly and Meryl in Trigun mainly just follow Vash around. The pair get themselves in dangerous situations, despite the clear evidence that they're capable fighters. That trope is repeated in many other beloved anime series. Some female characters suffer even worse fates. Casca in Berserk exists merely to show how evil a villain is.
5 Some Of The Best Shows Are Short
Cowboy Bebop, Trigun and Neon Genesis Evangelion are three of the most popular and beloved anime of the '90s. These three shows also have one thing in common: they each consistent of 26 episodes. Watching modern anime, fans get used to settling in to a show, knowing these characters will be around for a while. Much of the best anime from the '90s are short and sweet. When fans watch an anime from the 1990s, they don't expect it to last forever, but enjoy it while it lasts.
4 Fans' Favorites Might Have Old OVAs, But They Don't Provide Much
Fans of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure have likely seen every part released so far, from Phantom Blood to Stone Ocean. Although, some fans might not have seen the OVA, or Original Video Animation, which adapted Stardust Crusaders and was released in 1993.
There's Dragon Ball Z OVAs, Gundam OVAs, and even an OVA based on Final Fantasy V. Most of these don't hold much more value than as curiosities. Changes to the story, needless additions, or unnecessary side plots can end up detracting one's enjoyment of a series.
3 Studio Ghibli Hadn't Yet Released Beloved Anime Series
Studio Ghibli is Hayao Miyazaki's legendary anime film studio, responsible for some of the most iconic anime to ever cross the silver screen. While Studio Ghibli's '90s output was just as good, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle weren't released until the early 2000s.
Porco Rosso and Princess Mononoke, and lesser-discussed films such as Only Yesterday and Ocean Waves, every film released by Ghibli is a classic. The studio's best work comes after the 1990s.
2 The Isekai Trend Was Just Getting Started
An ever-popular genre of anime is isekai, where a protagonist from one world finds themselves in another world, often a fantastic one. These protagonists are forced to get to grips with an entirely new existence, often with special abilities, magic weapons, or a helpful deity watching their back.
Surging in popularity during the 2010s, isekai already had a foothold in the public consciousness in the '90s. The '90s saw isekai anime such as Magic Knight Rayearth, The Vision Of Escaflowne, and even Digimon Adventure. Unfortunately, in the '90s, isekai hadn't quite come into its own.
1 Nothing Quite Compares
The '90s birthed some of the most influential and groundbreaking anime. While it's always good to go back and watch them, some of them might leave fans changed forever. Cowboy Bebop is legendary for many reasons, and for many people it's still their favorite anime.
The influence of Neon Genesis Evangelion can't be overstated, and its emotionally-charged narrative might stick with fans for life. Even less universally-loved anime like Trigun or Serial Experiments Lain might keep fans chasing something similar. For many, '90s anime was lightning in a bottle. There hasn't been anything like it since, and nothing quite compares.