[TaiyakiOni]

Alright, I recently got into the habit of going back and watching and rewatching older anime back from the 80's and 90's. I was with a friend when he started to play "Junk Boy" and instantly I snapped my head and yelled out "MAAAAAAAAZE!!!!!!!".

I loved this series when I first saw it, before being spoiled with all the high end animation and everything.

But I have to say, I love old school anime A LOT more than I like a lot of the newer stuff their releasing these days.

MAZE I feel didn't age all that well with the passing of the years but yet no matter what I love this series and its voice acting in english! Same with Slayers ( Though Jap is prefered ). I feel that back when anime wasn't so generally loved and popular that it was a lot more original and was done a lot better, cuz they HAD to do a good job to get it to sell at all. Nowadays, throw together the anime with some nice animation, a decent story line and some big name voice actors and you've got a cash cow to ride out for a while before you release the NEXT big thing.

I feel that a lot of the newer animes have become...unoriginal and too based on plot line formulas. Newer anime I feel isn't very fresh except for the few titles that are actually trying to be somewhat original with what they are.

I am also finding myself getting tired of the CG animation which is always so clean and pristine, the good ol' hand drawn animes I feel had more character.

This is my opinion, but I love old school anime a lot more than the newer stuff with but a few exceptions ( Kanon and Clannad, you complete me! )

I am also tired of hearing all the same voice actors for everything, in both Japanese and English dubbing...

This post has been edited by TaiyakiZero: 06 February 2010 - 12:15 AM

[KirbyFanOne]

Yes, YES, WHY-EE-ESS a million times. And my example? When Funimation took over the Tenchi franchise. Try listening to Ryoko without wanting to slice your ears off to savor in the sweet release of deafness.

I want this on the record for all eternity.

[Lina]

I love old school a lot. It's what I grew up on since most of what my library had were manga and anime prior to 2002/2003. For manga I read, Ah! My Goddess, Bakuretsu Hunters, anything by CLAMP, Steam Detectives, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, Record of Lodoss Wars, Mermaid Saga, and many more I can't think of right now. Outside my library, it was Real Bout High School, Louie the Rune Soldier (manga started in '01, but I consider it old school), One Pound Gospel, Dragon Knights, Saint Seiya and other manga. Anime, it was Ronin Warriors, Gundam Wing, Saber Marionette J and the anime versions of most of what I mentioned.

Anyways, I've been going backwards when it comes to anime. Instead of reading and watching the most up to date manga and anime (with a few exceptions of course like the Soul Eater manga), I go backwards and read stuff from the the 80s and 90s. I have no clue about all these new (2007+, with the exception of a handful) anime and manga that people seem to be obsessed with. lol

When you've done most stories and such within that last 20 or so years, it's hard to come up with new stuff. It's like Hollywood remaking every movie in existence (an exaggeration, but none the less, there are a lot of movies that have been or are being remade.)

I'm also not a fan of CG. I like hand drawn.

[Keiichi-chan]

Quote

I feel that back when anime wasn't so generally loved and popular that it was a lot more original and was done a lot better, cuz they HAD to do a good job to get it to sell at all.

-snort- Maze isn't the best example of a 'high quality show. although, you're right--the dub
was pretty good for its day. Maze was a rehash of all the popular ideas and themes from every other
series at the time all smashed into one series--transforming gender-benders, giant mecha, fantasy
realms, lolicon, elves, kung-fu guys, whatever and ectcetera.

Taiyaki, it could be that you;re more used to anime now that it's easier to get and you're exposed to
more and thus harder to impress. maze is definitely a show you have to like based on nostalgia ALONE.
the most memorable part of the entire series is the ending theme+dance.

besides that, anime is a much bigger market and there are more clear-cut way to be successful.
in the beginning, it was a burgeoning trade and everything done was 'new' and 'unique' because
there were no standards and no one knew what worked--also, the foreign market wasn't nearly as large.
sadly, a lot of anime has lost a bit of its flavor because companies keep in mind western fans now.
not to mention japanese otaku have taken to buying the CHEAPER american dvds causing the industry to lose
tons of money that way. the western fanbase actually hurt anime a lot in those ways.

also, there are tons of different trends anime goes through as far as genres. early 90's and late 80's
had tons of r-rated scifi stuff that you really don't get any of nowadays. the early 2000's had tons of harem series
and so on. it depends on your cup of tea. there's plenty of crap from the 80's and 90's in anime--people only
seem to remember 'the hits' when looking back. there's plenty of really great and CLASSIC status stuff
released right now. i abhor that whole 'it was so much better back then' attitude. let's not forget you were younger
and easier to impress then, too. i do agree that older animation looked a lot prettier as far as color pallet and
character designs, but the modern stuff has way more fluid animations. i think it's the same for anime--there
are things that were done better then that are lacking now and vice-versa.

manga, at least, has remained about the same quality, or possibly improved.
i think what anime needs is more original OVA's again, personally. most 'good' anime
nowadays are marginalized versions of way better light novels or manga.

Quote

For manga I read, Ah! My Goddess

isn't it soooooo much better than the anime versions? O:
i keep telling this to Kii, but i don't think she believes me!

[TaiyakiOni]

Quote

-snort- Maze isn't the best example of a 'high quality show.

Slayers, Dragon Half, Record of Lodoss War, Escaflowne, Black Magic M-66, Lupin the 3rd, Oh My Goddess OVA, CardCaptor Sakura, Dragon Ball, Blue Seed, Fushigi Yuugi, El Hazard, Dirty Pair ( and Flash ), Birdie the Mighty, Golden Boy, Gunsmith Cats, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland...

I could go on forever with old school anime that would be BETTER examples, however I do like MAZE, more than for just Nostalgia.

Quote

the most memorable part of the entire series is the ending theme+dance.

One of the best parts of the series indeed, at least they did a good job meshing everything together for a series.

Quote

Maze was a rehash of all the popular ideas and themes from every other
series at the time all smashed into one series--transforming gender-benders, giant mecha, fantasy
realms, lolicon, elves, kung-fu guys, whatever and ectcetera.

You forgot Incest. Also in the manga version Mill was a Hermaphrodite.

[Neko_master_Luna]

If I wasn't going to watch it again, I would not buy it. Besides, I love introducing older anime I love to friends who have never seen it. What's sad is having so much anime I love on VHS & I can not always find it on DVD.

[Voxx]

I prefer old school but both is good. I grew up watching the oldies first and now like someone mentioned before you always hear the same voice actors and it gets a little old *except if you have a favorite va!*

I also loved the older stuffs because of how ridiculously awesome they were with the 90's/80's music and big shoulders.

[Neko_master_Luna]

Oh & big hair, even anime had big hair in the 80's!

[Voxx]

Neko_master_Luna, on Feb 6 2010, 11:35 AM, said:

Oh & big hair, even anime had big hair in the 80's!

Exactly!! And the dubbing was hilariously bad as well. Thats one of the greatest parts of watching old anime.

[wrexness]

I'm definitely a new school kinda otaku. I can't help it, it's just harder for me to get into the older stuff. The difference in visual quality is just too jarring to my technophile eyes. XD This is not to say I don't like any old stuff, it's just my tastes lie within the stuff released in the last 10 years.

[Keiichi-chan]

Quote

You forgot Incest. Also in the manga version Mill was a Hermaphrodite.

actually, incest was the first thing that came to mind, but i don't know if that was a 'popular'
story element or gimmick at the time..lol

[Deleciel]

It's funny that you say so, but even other works like film, literature, and television has lost much of its touch. Everyone just seems to be out there to whore itself, not to create a story to entertain and teach the masses.

[Naruto9thDemon]

I like both equally. But I do have to say I like Akira Toriyama's earlier drawings compared to his newer ones.

[Voxx]

Deleciel, on Feb 6 2010, 07:41 PM, said:

It's funny that you say so, but even other works like film, literature, and television has lost much of its touch. Everyone just seems to be out there to whore itself, not to create a story to entertain and teach the masses.

Agreed.

Most series now are soooo overdone and similar to others. Very few stand out and are intriguing. Thats why I like a lot of the older series because some are so out there and different than others.

[Lina]

Keiichi-chan, on Feb 6 2010, 05:15 AM, said:

isn't it soooooo much better than the anime versions? O:
i keep telling this to Kii, but i don't think she believes me!

It totally is! I don't think Corey has read the manga. XDDD

[opimus.rm]

Anything made before 1981 is old school to me.

[dorkatlarge]

opimus.rm, on Feb 7 2010, 05:15 AM, said:

Anything made before 1981 is old school to me.

I'm glad you remember the Mazinger series, opimus.rm.

Be sure to listen to some of the Ninja Consultants' podcasts in which they discuss old school anime. Their criteria are rather strict. For instance, they have alluded to black-and-white series, and talked about vintage films such as Tale from Street Corner (1962). They've mentioned the days when it was difficult to find any series without taking the reel-to-reel footage from the animation studio.

(There are other podcasts which have much more detailed and opinionated discussions on old school anime/manga. Anime-82 talks about 70s-80s series and vintage VHS a lot. Anime World Order researches long-forgotten films and TV series. ...Unfortunately, those are the only nice things I have to say about the podcasts. I don't agree with their opinions, and I don't care much for their attitude.)

[redx1]

Welp, I like both bar none.

Anime has grown into a darn near mainstream industry so it's starting to be whored out. Anyone that knows me knows there is nothing I despise more than sellouts
That is where I start to learn more towards oldschool, but I love how the animation quality is just getting so darn good in the newer series.

I just stay away from mainstream and will enjoy a series regardless of date.

[An.Chi]

Well, I'm definitely an old school person. I mean REALLY old school. Like Tezuka and Takemiya old school. I remember when I picked up Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka at the library and I thought it would be dumb but then... I read it and it was... so good. I started reading ALL his stuff, like Buddha and Ode to Kirihito, and the message behind all of Tezuka's works are just so amazing and they really speak to you. After reading his stuff and Keiko Takemiya's stuff (Toward the Terra was 'gasmic), it was hard to go back to new school stuff. I found most of it shallow and meaningless. Like, where's the message?

This post has been edited by An.Chi: 09 February 2010 - 04:16 PM

[sentinel28a]

As a card-carrying Anime Dinosaur, I admit I have a really tough time watching anything made before 2000.

Which is why I always have nice things to say about Bubblegum Crisis, Robotech/Macross, Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman, Grave of the Fireflies, Ranma 1/2, Oh My Goddess, Tenchi Muyo, and Evangelion. Heck, I even remember the really obscure ones from the late 80s/early 90s--A Wind Called Amnesia (horrid, but good MST3K material), Explorer Woman Ray (not even good MST3K material), Crying Freeman (DUDE ANIME), and Outlanders (which I loved, until they effed up the dub on the rerelease).

What's really bad is when you catch a clip of Overfiend, sigh, and say, "Man, they don't make them like this anymore." Which is a good thing when we're talking about Overfiend (because a 12-minute rape scene has nothing even remotely good or funny about it), but last year at the Hentai Room, I saw an anime that literally gave me motion sickness. I get it that the guy/tentacle monster is really going to town on the helpless victim/give-it-to-me-baby-I'm-suddenly-okay-with-being-raped-by-a-Thing-Man-Was-Not-Meant-to-Know, but who came up with the bright idea of animating it like you have cameras attached to the partners' heads (choose one)?

It would be like watching the Super Bowl solely through helmet cams, or if Pokemon had decided the whole epileptic seizure thing was actually a ratings winner rather than a Very Bad Thing. Say what you want about Overfiend: you may feel like vomiting while watching it, but not because you feel like you're watching hentai while on a Tilt-a-Whirl.

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"I get a headache just remembering it"

[TaiyakiOni]

Quote

A Wind Called Amnesia

I remember renting that from Blockbuster when I was in middle school, watching it and walking away at the end satisfied with the movie though wishing it were a bit better.

Quote

I saw an anime that literally gave me motion sickness. I get it that the guy/tentacle monster is really going to town on the helpless victim/give-it-to-me-baby-I'm-suddenly-okay-with-being-raped-by-a-Thing-Man-Was-Not-Meant-to-Know, but who came up with the bright idea of animating it like you have cameras attached to the partners' heads (choose one)?

A lot of the newer hentai this days ARE doing those weird camera angles, whether it be human or tentacle monster genre...I am also starting to notice a higher animation quality for hentai, seems the porn business in Japan is doing well.

Old School Hentai: La Blue Girl ( Though most people KNOW of its existence anyways. )

[Shrimp-Tempura]

An.Chi, on Feb 9 2010, 05:15 PM, said:

Well, I'm definitely an old school person. I mean REALLY old school. Like Tezuka and Takemiya old school. I remember when I picked up Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka at the library and I thought it would be dumb but then... I read it and it was... so good. I started reading ALL his stuff, like Buddha and Ode to Kirihito, and the message behind all of Tezuka's works are just so amazing and they really speak to you. After reading his stuff and Keiko Takemiya's stuff (Toward the Terra was 'gasmic), it was hard to go back to new school stuff. I found most of it shallow and meaningless. Like, where's the message?

yop yop

[sentinel28a]

TaiyakiZero, on Feb 10 2010, 12:13 AM, said:

A lot of the newer hentai this days ARE doing those weird camera angles, whether it be human or tentacle monster genre...I am also starting to notice a higher animation quality for hentai, seems the porn business in Japan is doing well.

Old School Hentai: La Blue Girl ( Though most people KNOW of its existence anyways. )

Amnesia could've been so much better. I mention it only because it's the only anime that takes place in Montana (the first part does, anyway).

I guess hentai has to try something new to draw in people. There's only so many ways a girl can be tentacle raped, after all. The animation is better, but if they're going to make me reach for the Dramamine, then they can go back to just old school as far as I'm concerned. Heck, it's only good for MSTing anyway.

La Blue Girl...heh. I actually watched that series all the way through in college. It's still hilarious. LBG is the only hentai I use in my anime trivia game because it's so well known.

I'm jaded and cynical though. I remember when the baldheaded dude was trying to do...I dunno, something...to Miko Mido by blowing air up her hoohah, and thinking to myself, "You know, that would probably give Miko an air embolism and kill her, idiot." And when Miko's cousin turns into a werewolf when having sex during a full moon, and me writing it down snickering, "Oh, my White Wolf vampire players are in for a SURPRISE next week..."

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"Nin-Nin is my ninja"

[TaiyakiOni]

Quote

"Oh, my White Wolf vampire players are in for a SURPRISE next week..."

I used to play that game too...

I dunno, my favorite hentai series are Dai Akuji, Jiburiru the Devil Angel, and La Blue Girl, if only for the fact that they added story to it that made them hilarious to watch.

Back to the topic of old school anime rather than hentai though, I liked this one series that only got two episodes before it got canceled, which sucked cuz it was AWESOME for the first two episodes. The anime was called Legend of the Last Labyrinth. Sadly it was my first anime dvd which meant it was the sacrifice that needed to die for me to learn how to value and protect my dvd's like a I do now. I have it now on VHS but am always keeping an eye out for it on dvd at a good price.

The search continues.

[Keiichi-chan]

Quote

Amnesia could've been so much better. I mention it only because it's the only anime that takes place in Montana (the first part does, anyway).

soul eater takes place in nevada...
that's sorta the same thing. not really.

[sentinel28a]

Keiichi-chan, on Feb 23 2010, 03:41 AM, said:

soul eater takes place in nevada...
that's sorta the same thing. not really.

No. Not even close. Here are the differences between Montana and Nevada:

1) Prostitution isn't legal anywhere in Montana. In Nevada, everywhere but Las Vegas. There you hire, um, escorts. Or so I've heard. In Montana, you must resort to the "find a seedy bar" method. Or so I've heard.

2) We get rain in Montana (a LOT once you get in the mountains). Nevada is a frickin' desert.

3) We have nuclear weapons in Montana. Nevada gets nuclear weapons blown up in it. Well, used to, but then people got concerned with silly radiation. Stupid Nevadans. Don't they want mutant powers?

4) Music in Nevada: in Vegas, probably hip-hop and dance. In Montana...well, people here believe that nothing decent in rock 'n' roll has occurred since 1968. Country rules everything else (aside from one station that inexpicably plays gangsta rap). Help me, I am in hell.

5) You can get everything in Las Vegas. Montana? Not so much.

6) We have bears in Montana. Nevada doesn't. We have wolves in Montana. Nevada doesn't. Montana bears eat people. Montana wolves just haven't considered it yet.

7) I don't know what stats are in Nevada, but Montana is the most heavily armed state in the Union. Throw in the nukes, and we are the most heavily armed state ON EARTH.

You silly people from Illinois! I fart in your general direction!

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"Hope the censor doesn't catch that"

[spazchan]

sentinel28a, on Feb 23 2010, 01:01 AM, said:

No. Not even close. Here are the differences between Montana and Nevada:

1) Prostitution isn't legal anywhere in Montana. In Nevada, everywhere but Las Vegas. There you hire, um, escorts. Or so I've heard. In Montana, you must resort to the "find a seedy bar" method. Or so I've heard.

2) We get rain in Montana (a LOT once you get in the mountains). Nevada is a frickin' desert.

3) We have nuclear weapons in Montana. Nevada gets nuclear weapons blown up in it. Well, used to, but then people got concerned with silly radiation. Stupid Nevadans. Don't they want mutant powers?

4) Music in Nevada: in Vegas, probably hip-hop and dance. In Montana...well, people here believe that nothing decent in rock 'n' roll has occurred since 1968. Country rules everything else (aside from one station that inexpicably plays gangsta rap). Help me, I am in hell.

5) You can get everything in Las Vegas. Montana? Not so much.

6) We have bears in Montana. Nevada doesn't. We have wolves in Montana. Nevada doesn't. Montana bears eat people. Montana wolves just haven't considered it yet.

7) I don't know what stats are in Nevada, but Montana is the most heavily armed state in the Union. Throw in the nukes, and we are the most heavily armed state ON EARTH.

You silly people from Illinois! I fart in your general direction!

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"Hope the censor doesn't catch that"

*remains neutral...

[wrexness]

spazchan, on Feb 23 2010, 08:14 AM, said:

*remains neutral...

*moves spaz to Switzerland*

[sentinel28a]

spazchan, on Feb 23 2010, 03:14 PM, said:

*remains neutral...

*attacks Spaz*

*overruns Spaz*

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"Neutral countries don't last long in wars"

[TaiyakiOni]

I just stumbled onto an old favorite of mine from the good ol' days, Video Girl Ai, it really brings back memories

Like the memories of when they released manga as comic books instead of graphic novels, those were the days...

Also found some treasures of Dark Stalker comic books as well as a Vampire Princess Miyu manga~ Happy Days all around!