I’m talking like, Bubblegum Crisis, an Anime that I am somehow aware of but have never watched.
I’ve seen bits and peaces of the stuff that was airing here in the 2000 like; Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Big O, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Yu Yu Hakusho, Inuyasha, Full Metal Alchemist, Ranma 1/2, Gundam Wing. I have not even begun to touch 1 Peace. Basically, if it was on Toonami, I’ve probably seen some of it.
I feel like there is stuff from the late 80s through the 90s that were popular through the import scenes that I probably never heard of, that everyone who is in that scene knows and loves.
There’s a handful of movies you may not have seen. Paprika, Tokyo Godfathers (CW: Homophobia/transphobia, but also trans representation), Belladonna of Sadness (CW: Sexual Assault), Perfect Blue (CW: Sexual assault again). There’s lots of other movies out there that are also very good, like the Ghibli stuff like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, the original Ghost in the Shell films.
For series, there’s Serial Experiments Lain and as a bonus, clips from a public broadcast station in the US that showed it in the US for the first time, along with some other stuff.
All of Evangelion is good.
If you like Gundam, you could try Legend of the Galactic Heroes which is an extremely long (110~ eps) political space epic.
Monster is another really good one, but needs a whole host of content warnings depending on what episode you’re on. It’s not EVERY episode, but there are heavy themes of inflicting emotional and physical damage on children.
Revolutionary Girl Utena is another classic (CW: incest, emotional abuse, toxic relationships).
Some of these are older or newer than others and I’m more strongly invested in specific ones like Monster and Lain personally. Just more well known series I could think of off the top of my head.
Gundam is cool, and this sounds pretty cool too. I’ll check out some of the films as well. This is the second Revolutionary Girl Utena recommendation, and kudos for the content warnings, I think I’ll pass on Monster based on those warnings.
I know someone who swears by Legend of the Galactic Heroes as the best series of all time, even with its age.
Totally fair on Monster. It’s a psychological thriller and murder mystery show that is very compelling, but my partner stopped watching partway through for similar reasons.
LOTGH is good. It’s probably more interesting as a marxist than a liberal, but maybe more frustrating too. To me it’s clearly, like, space liberal revolution vs. space monarchism/feudalism. The battles and strategies play out like 1700s/1800s wars; the drama is very romantic-era. Haven’t watched it in awhile though.
As I’m rewatching it, I’m noticing a lot more that it’s not as clear cut as liberalism vs. feudalism, but more like weighing a liberal democracy in decay against a revolutionary liberal autocracy under a Bonaparte figure. The loredump episodes point to a hard-men-soft-men cyclical view of history. It’s high-key liberal and low-key fascist.
Yeah, good point.
I wouldn’t call it the best of all time, but I’m in S3 of my second watch and it’s certainly better on rewatch. The age of the series is part of its charm - it’s made in the 90s and feels like something made in Hollywood in the 50s or 60s about the 1800s. Politically, it’s a liberal critique of liberal democracy.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: