I am probably the only one who thinks the 80s and 90s style was terrible and good art didn't come out until the border between Love Hina and Haruhi started. Part of the reason I never got into anime until about 8-10 years ago was because I couldn't stand the drawing style. I absolutely LOVE the modern style though.
Hmmm... would GuP have the same impact if it was done back in the 90s...?
Honestly, I look at this, and see Ranma 1/2, so I place it as late 80's.
And... possibly? I mean, it would have faced FAR less competition, since there were just so few actual animes on. That said, I think it would have probably struggled far more to survive, because GuP is a niche anime with high school girls thrown in to broaden the appeal to the masses of teenage male anime consumers that would watch everything with high school girls in it. That amalgam of automatic viewers and the lack of dedicated niche otaku buyers of ludicrously expensive merch would have probably prevented GuP from ever being greenlit in the first place in favor of a more lowest-common-denomenator show.
It would only have worked with they went though all those steps to make the tanks look good hand drawn. That's were the show's surprise fan base came from...the tank enthusiasts.
Well, now that I think about it, the show also had another major thing going for it... World of Tanks. The fact that it had already built up a base of tank enthusiasts no doubt helped the show gain popularity.
NWSiaCB said:
Honestly, I look at this, and see Ranma 1/2, so I place it as late 80's.
The Pixiv tag had it at 90's though (90年代風), so that's what I tagged...
Ah the days where eyes were only two colors with two big flare reflections, when very edgy and spiky armors with gems attached to them were a thing and anime soundtracks were mainly synthesizer music.
I can't say I miss that period. For some reason I find it rather depressing, dark and weird it made me quit anime for a decade. In fact since then I avoid things like Gantz, Evangelion or Death Note. All I do is watch slice of life moe things that people from before hate what anime has turned into.
I can't say I miss that period. For some reason I find it rather depressing, dark and weird it made me quit anime for a decade. In fact since then I avoid things like Gantz, Evangelion or Death Note. All I do is watch slice of life moe things that people from before hate what anime has turned into.
It's a weird thing, isn't it? When I got older and started watching shows for being more than moving pictures on a screen (as Tenchi Muyo and Sailor Moon were to me) I started out on Slayers, kept rolling with other "usual American" animes (starting especially with those you'd find on Toonami and Adult Swim): Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Zoids, Gundam, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex/2nd G.I.G., Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin. Then I hit this period where I was awash in adorable slice of life stuff: Lucky Star, Potemayo, Spice & Wolf, a little bit of K-On!, Sora no Woto, Clannad. Then after I recovered from utterly destroying myself with Clannad: After Story I pretty much became an anime hipster. I go back and watch those above repeatedly, or I watch other old stuff for the first time (Nadesico, I just recently dragged myself through Inu Yasha) but I haven't enjoyed an anime that wasn't a tie-in (Kantai Collection, Ojisan and Marshmallow) since then. Point being, everybody seems to have their preferred era.
laisy said:
This conversation reminds me that I still need to catch up with all those old Gundam shows orz
Same deal: Universal Century 4 lyf. I can't help but see the other series as being bishounen Macross wannabees.
...I just recently dragged myself through Inu Yasha) but I haven't enjoyed an anime that wasn't a tie-in (Kantai Collection, Ojisan and Marshmallow) since then. Point being, everybody seems to have their preferred era.
Now that you mention that, Frieza vs. Goku and Gohan vs. Cell made a big damage to my anime appreciation. I simply said "f*ck battles that take weeks, goals on 3 Kilometer stadiums, plot interruptions with hundreds of flashbacks and dramatic pauses only to make a series long". I don't have the nerve, time or patience to watch 100+ episodes ever again. A good season of 24 episodes is enough to not be dragged into unnecessary garbage to delay climax. It's a shame though, I would like to watch Inu Yasha some other time.
I simply said "f*ck battles that take weeks, goals on 3 Kilometer stadiums, plot interruptions with hundreds of flashbacks and dramatic pauses only to make a series long". I don't have the nerve, time or patience to watch 100+ episodes ever again. A good season of 24 episodes is enough to not be dragged into unnecessary garbage to delay climax. It's a shame though, I would like to watch Inu Yasha some other time.
Why did you write so many words when, "I don't like Weekly Shonen Jump" would have sufficed?
That's pretty much all Jump does, and all things like that go to Jump.
If we're going for nostalgia, Toonami and Robotech, Tenchi Muyo, and Outlaw Star. Then I started going for Ranma 1/2, then Inuyasha, but also Kino no Tabi or Paranoia Agent or Haibane Renmei. Azumanga Daioh and Fruits Basket are still some of my favorite animes/mangas of all time, though.
Nowadays, I tend to mostly read mangas that cover more niche subjects, though, like mythology or more in-depth explorations of science fiction, and avoid the animes.
There was a point in the late 90's early 00's that I though all anime was the coolest. Eventually though towards the end of the 00's, I realized that only the better series were being imported, and that Sturgeon's Law applies to anime just as it applies to everything else... sometimes even moreso. Nowadays, I'm a lot more picky about the anime I watch, and so I'll usually wait for the reviews to come in before I invest my time in a new anime.
There was a point in the late 90's early 00's that I though all anime was the coolest. Eventually though towards the end of the 00's, I realized that only the better series were being imported, and that Sturgeon's Law applies to anime just as it applies to everything else... sometimes even moreso. Nowadays, I'm a lot more picky about the anime I watch, and so I'll usually wait for the reviews to come in before I invest my time in a new anime.
There's also a shit ton more anime out there than there used to be.
There's a YouTube critic going by Digibro that did a long spiel on how KyoAni and Studio SHAFT are the same size as A1, but KyoAni and SHAFT make one or two animes at a time that are fantastic, but A1 makes a dozen shows a year that are raw dumpster filler, but cut enough corners to turn a profit just on people who will watch anything with large-breasted schoolgirls with swords in it.
Why did you write so many words when, "I don't like Weekly Shonen Jump" would have sufficed?
That's pretty much all Jump does, and all things like that go to Jump.
Well, that was only half the damage. The other half and definitive detonator came next: FLCL. So add "not weird sh*t" to "not long, not depressing, not dark" on my watching list. Stuff like Nichijou is fine because I have not problems with comedy. I had enough with the weird things you saw in some animation dedicated channels. Also I watched enough OVA about bestiality and lewd things I'm not sensitive about them anymore, but still I prefer to stay away from them.
FLCL was the first anime I actively disliked, before I found Evangelion. There are others I won't watch because they aren't interesting to me or what-have-you, but those two I rallied against when I cared enough to internet-fight people over such things.
I got into Anime around 1994~1995, so I'll always have a soft spot for this style animation. That and mid-late 80s since so much of what we had to watch in the mid-90s was actually late 80s stuff. Hey it was "new" to us!
Also, I think some artists who became popular in the 80s carried a lot of that style into their 90s work. Rumiko Takahashi for one. Her Ranma 1/2 manga ran from 1987 to 1996 after all.
Hmmm... would GuP have the same impact if it was done back in the 90s...?
Considering similar works from that era, girls and military stuff. It would've become a obscure OVA because that is the format it would've been released.
cursed said: Considering similar works from that era, girls and military stuff. It would've become a obscure OVA because that is the format it would've been released.
Hmmm, I do believe you are correct. Dominion (AKA Tank Police) comes to mind as an example. I guess it was sort of the GuP of it's day. Had a girl und panzer (bonaparte) after all >.>
It's a weird thing, isn't it? When I got older and started watching shows for being more than moving pictures on a screen (as Tenchi Muyo and Sailor Moon were to me) I started out on Slayers, kept rolling with other "usual American" animes (starting especially with those you'd find on Toonami and Adult Swim): Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Zoids, Gundam, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex/2nd G.I.G., Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin. Then I hit this period where I was awash in adorable slice of life stuff: Lucky Star, Potemayo, Spice & Wolf, a little bit of K-On!, Sora no Woto, Clannad. Then after I recovered from utterly destroying myself with Clannad: After Story I pretty much became an anime hipster. I go back and watch those above repeatedly, or I watch other old stuff for the first time (Nadesico, I just recently dragged myself through Inu Yasha) but I haven't enjoyed an anime that wasn't a tie-in (Kantai Collection, Ojisan and Marshmallow) since then. Point being, everybody seems to have their preferred era.
Same deal: Universal Century 4 lyf. I can't help but see the other series as being bishounen Macross wannabees.
I will always fondly look back on this kind of art style. Every era's main art styles had their charms imo, and I don't place any one above the other. I got started myself with watching Robotech and Sailor Moon back when I was in kindergarten/elementary school.