The classic Ranma ½ anime adapted from Rumiko Takahashi's popular manga, is a quirky and delightful series that blends martial arts, comedy, and romance (sometimes ecchi) in a unique and entertaining way. The story revolves around cursed Ranma Saotome, a martial artist who, due to a mishap during training, transforms into a girl whenever he comes into contact with cold water and reverts back to a boy with hot water. This bizarre condition sets the stage for a plethora of comedic scenarios and misunderstandings with one of the best side characters you'll ever meet.
There were two shoujo anime in the 90's I couldn't get enough of when I was a kid, one was Sailor Moon and the other the more obscure Wedding Peach. While SM is a beloved classic, WP has been forgotten, so I rewatched it to figure out, whether it holds up as well as the OG magical girl anime or whether people were right for ignoring WP.
Fun fact, "Yu Yu Hakusho" is one of the classic 90's anime I never watched as a kid, but then later found out about when I was in my 20's. I recently sat down and re-watched the whole series, so I could write a proper review for my blog.
If you haven't heard of One Piece, you really don't care about manga or anime. It's rather difficult to review a series, that's been around for over 20 years, and will probably still be around for another 10 years. I will say though, the hype is well deserved for One Piece, we got some of the best world building and power system in manga history. While I detest what the anime has become, the manga is still top-notch reading material. Plus, the live action adaption is promising as well!
"Golden Boy" is a short anime series based on a manga of the same name written by Tatsuya Egawa. This classic consists of six episodes and was originally released in 1995, known for its adult humor and ecchi content. The art and soundtrack are pretty good as well, which why it still holds up.
'Yoiko' is a classic (to me), hilarious, ecchi anime from the late 90s. The story is about Fuuka, an elementary school student that looks like a hot 20-year-old. So of course everybody mistakes her for an adult, which brings her into one funny situation after another. This idea inspired many other manga/anime from today.
Her female teacher wants to look like her, the young boys in her class fall in love with her, and then there's her perverted cousin (I think) Jiro who involuntary shares his bedroom with her, and feels cursed by the god of masturbation. Fuuka's mind sure is one of a child! Her unusual ideas and her naive soul is essential to the comedy of Yoiko.
The animation is nothing outstanding, but you do get some fan service, well mainly Fuuka in lingerie or naked under the shower lol. I just laughed through all episodes, every character is crazy and so is their behavior (especially the teacher's) and all of them make this show a happy meal for the audience, the eps. are rather short (10-12 minutes), but because the show is so funny it feels more like 5-minute episodes! So if you don't mind old school anime art (which I love), you will probably enjoy this, too. And although I say this is an ecchi anime, it's far away from being dirty. Give it a try!
Often imitated but never equaled! Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of my favorite anime of all time. Although I once read something funny and quite fitting; NGE is not an anime, its a philosophy paper in disguise.
I remember the first time I watched it, it simply blew me away, even after re-watching it a few times over the years, I still love this show no matter what people say about the end, to me it's great. I'm not going to pretend that this anime has no flaws (but nothing is perfect, perfect is boring anyway).
The story, the characters, the art, sound, action, mystery, drama, psychological mindfucks – everything is well done. I'm not the person to overhype things, but there aren't many anime that made me feel like this. It influenced so many other writers and animators, and you can see that influence in countless other shows, which tried to do what Evangelion was able to accomplish.
Every episode sucked me in more and more into the story (it was pure joy to watch it), you can't help but wonder what's really going on and who is behind this mess? Yes, the end is a little confusing and seems rather weird (some questions don't get answered), but once you understand it all (I recommend watching the movies for that, although a little pretentious) you'll understand the plot better. But in short; In a post-apocalyptic world, humanity faces mysterious and colossal creatures known as "Angels." The organization NERV, led by Gendo Ikari (our main character's father), develops biomechanical robots called "Evas" to combat the Angels. The story follows Shinji Ikari, a reluctant teenager who is recruited to pilot an Eva and protect Earth. As Shinji joins NERV, he forms relationships with fellow pilots Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Sohryu, who have their own issues.
What's really special about NGE is that it's high class in all three important points that make an anime a hit or miss - its animation (for 90's standard), story, and character development - in Evangelion it all works. What could I write that hasn't been written yet in other reviews? It's an amazing anime that deserves all the praise, and although I understand some people's frustrations with it, you shouldn't miss this classic show because of that, watch it then decide yourself whether it's a masterpiece or not (the legendary opening alone deserves a watch).
A while ago I remembered an anime I used to watch when I was a kid (9 or 10 years old), "Vision of Escaflowne". My memory of it was hazy to say the least. What I did remember were those characters with the long noses, the pretty guy with long blond hair, and a very memorable soundtrack (the German OP was great). So I had a strong urge to re-watch it, and I did, the unfortunate result was, my memories of this fairy-tale like anime were shattered.
Escaflowne starts promising (girl travels through worlds, meets knights and royalty, can use magic, some interesting adventures) but the more episodes you watch the more plot holes appear. Things often made no sense, or they simply ignored important details, added or just changed rules for convenience (to get out of a tricky situation, for example).
Don't even get me started on the lazy, repetitive dialogs, or how many times a character yells out another one's name to make things 'dramatic'. Most characters were irritating, mainly because they were walking stereotypes. The antagonist role wasn't really explored, his past, his plans, his purpose (except he wants to destroy the world as we know it and mess with faith), just what was going on in his head? The Van's brother suddenly became a good guy and all was forgiven (this could have worked out better if they didn't rush his development, it only took one episode for him to do a 360).
Many elements just got smashed together here; fortune-telling, robots and all kinds of machines (whose origin never was explained), luck enhanced soldiers that defied logic (lack of logic in general), magicians, atlantis, faith everywhere, shoujo romance, and the climax - utter disappointment.
Let's talk about the romance. Three (or more) failed love-triangles, which had ineffective build-ups and were executed poorly (I just didn't care anymore at one point, it was too much). The main characters never even showed they really liked each other until we were reaching the end, which was a mistake if that couple was supposed to be the main selling point of this anime, it wasn't believable and I couldn't root for them. And then once Hitomi realizes who she loves (and it was all faith), she leaves his world forever because...? They don't explain that part either, so much for true romance.
Art? Well it's an anime from 1996, so I can't complain, it's actually a pretty good production. The world the director created looks beautiful, that's the one thing my memory hadn't failed me at. As well as the epic soundtrack, it might be the best thing about Escaflowne (later found out it was done by Yoko Kanno) - but nothing can save an anime that has so many inconsequent story lines such as this one, and it's sad because it had potential.
