older anime vs the newer stuff

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

i find my self buying,and liking mostly anime from the 80's and 90's and even the 70's.movies like ninja scroll,samurai x,akira,demon city shinjuku.but i hardly ever baught anything from the 00's except blood the last vampire,blue gender and a few other stuff that comes to mind.but otherwise i hardly have anything thats recent in my collection.do anybody else have this problem?

[Bazooka Tooth]

i sure loved Flame of Recca back then.

The animes back then were pretty straightforward i guess, they're still top notch tho. These days it's much more intricate with the plots and character developments.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

i sure loved Flame of Recca back then.

The animes back then were pretty straightforward i guess, they're still top notch tho. These days it's much more intricate with the plots and character developments.
i mean well thats one way of looking at it.either way i didn't notice this buying trend of mine till a couple of years ago.

[Alex L]

I find there are fewer 'new' series I'm excited about seeing.

Part of it might have to do with anime getting a huge boost in popularity -- that's not me being an elitist, by the way.

Back when the market was small, there wasn't much money and so only a few series would be brought over to the US. It would be pretty much guaranteed we'd only get the top stuff.

Now, though, with so many people into it and so much money to be made in the market, it's getting flooded with B-list and C-list series just because the potential to make money off these shows is greater than it was before.

...well, that and I think many shows are just kind of starting to look the same.

[sun tzu]

Hikaru No Go, Full Metal Alchemist, the amazing Death Note...I do not consider modern manga inferior to the older stuff.
Don't know enough about anime, though.

[Buried Alien]

For some reason, I can't get myself interested in anime released after the summer of 1988.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

For some reason, I can't get myself interested in anime released after the summer of 1988.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)i generaly find my self liking anything from Yoshiaki Kawajiri.i'm really looking forward to his highlander cartoon.

[Domo Goddess]

I'm not liking the recent anime much.
I still like older anime like Bubblegum Crisis OAV, Cyber City Oedo, etc.

[Ryan K]

Back when the market was small, there wasn't much money and so only a few series would be brought over to the US. It would be pretty much guaranteed we'd only get the top stuff.

That's my opinion too. I see a lot of substandard stuff nowadays.

That's one reason I usually stick with a bit of the older stuff. The other reason is when I was 13 and that older stuff was new, I couldn't afford it. $30 for a VHS tape with two episodes of Ranma 1/2. Now all that stuff is much much cheaper, and I have much more money. I'm buying and watching the stuff I wanted when I was in middle school and high school.

[Paploo the Ewok]

I'll check out pretty much any anime, so I tend to watch a lot of older stuff. There's a lot to be appreciated.... ImaVisions french language R1 Boxsets of Rose of Versailles kick the butt of many other anime releases this year.

Also, on a related note, VIZ is apparently starting to reissue the Ranma boxsets with new lower priced versions. A solicitation for the first box has popped up in Previews, for 49.98.

[Ryan K]

I'll check out pretty much any anime, so I tend to watch a lot of older stuff. There's a lot to be appreciated.... ImaVisions french language R1 Boxsets of Rose of Versailles kick the butt of many other anime releases this year.

Also, on a related note, VIZ is apparently starting to reissue the Ranma boxsets with new lower priced versions. A solicitation for the first box has popped up in Previews, for 49.98.

That's great. Thanks for bringing that up. I've been meaning to pick the sets up, but they're so expensive. Compared to the VHS tapes you could only get at Suncoast they're great. But compared to every other anime show from that time period, they're ridiculous. But I'll definately start picking them up at that price.

[Comic_Mobsta]

I remember watching this cartoon called wicked city with my friends when i was a lil kid.We didn't know what to think of it,it was so exstreme and bizzare and fucked up.I rarely get that feeling from the current stuff now.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

in fact i think wicked city in addition to akira/ninja scroll was the first few anime films i saw that made me a fan.

[Erisu Kimu]

It's a mixed bag for me. I enjoy the upgraded animation of the new Anime series and some of the more complex and philosophical stories (ex. Ergo Proxy).

I can't really get into the old art of Anime from back in the 80s, although I can respect it. It just has a dated feel that I can't really get into. I still love the stories and everything else about them though.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

i find my self buying,and liking mostly anime from the 80's and 90's and even the 70's.movies like ninja scroll,samurai x,akira,demon city shinjuku.but i hardly ever baught anything from the 00's except blood the last vampire,blue gender and a few other stuff that comes to mind.but otherwise i hardly have anything thats recent in my collection.do anybody else have this problem?

I'm more fond of the old anime, mainly because I grew up watching it. Mazinger Z, Captain Future, Space Adventure Cobra, Kotetsu Jeeg, Ga-Keen, Starzinger, Gaiking, Dai Apolon, Robotech, Saint Seiya... Man, those were great. I also very fond of the original Dirty Pair and City Hunter.

However, I've found really great anime from recent times: Mazinkaiser, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Tenjho Tenge, Spriggan, Spirited Away, Trinity Blood, Rahxephon, The New Fist Of The North Star...

Like Erisu Kimu said, it's a mixed bag.

BTW, I'm eagerly waiting for the next Mazinkaiser OVA. IF and when Go Nagai decides to do it. :( :confused:

[kaoSFell]

SUZUMIYA HARUHI!!

AIR is good too.

but...
Suzumiya Haruhi! (http://project.baka-tsuki.net/index.php?title=Suzumiya_Haruhi)

/ksfl

~end transmission~

[yeoman]

I'll check out pretty much any anime, so I tend to watch a lot of older stuff. There's a lot to be appreciated.... ImaVisions french language R1 Boxsets of Rose of Versailles kick the butt of many other anime releases this year.

Also, on a related note, VIZ is apparently starting to reissue the Ranma boxsets with new lower priced versions. A solicitation for the first box has popped up in Previews, for 49.98.


Thank (insert name of Diety of choice here]. Now if we could get some low priced Trigun boxsets and a release of Gunbuster on DVD.

Personally, I agree largely with the "It's just now we get pretty much everything" idea. Not only that, we were largely getting the best of several decades worth of anime.

There is still some damn fine anime being produced. Read or Die, Vandread and Full Metal Alchemist are towards the top of my favorite series.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

i generaly find my self liking anything from Yoshiaki Kawajiri.i'm really looking forward to his highlander cartoon.and to update this it kicked ASS!!!!!....

[adamthered]

I love anime from the 80s and early 90s. While I enjoy stuff today, just knowing the majority of it is done digitally and not on cels anymore just bothers me.

[The Xenos]

I don't mind digital as they at least still use cels. They jsut color them digitally. I think it's a necessary technology update. A company simply can't keep up with quality or efficiency or budget otherwise.

I don't mind CGI, but I can't stand when all CGI animation takes over the industry like you see happening in America.

[Buried Alien]

I prefer how characters were drawn in anime back in the 1980s and early 1990s more than how they're drawn today. They seem to have gotten more cartoonish over the years.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Darth Joker]

There was a short one year, or two year, period during which a lot of the new anime out there was rather generic - at least amongst the anime I was aware of.

Recently, however, I've gotten into Death Note, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (and Nanoha A's, and Nanoha Striker S), the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (only coming out on DVDs this past year), and Ouran High School Host Club.

Each of these shows (though primarily Death Note) have a certain degree of originality, and can more or less match my older anime favourites (Ranma 1/2, El Hazard, DBZ, etc...).

So, I think that anime/manga is starting to catch a bit of a second wind after a few years of everything seeming generic/the same.

[Black Atom]

Personally, I agree largely with the "It's just now we get pretty much everything" idea. Not only that, we were largely getting the best of several decades worth of anime.


We're learning that the ratio of crap-to-greatness isn't all that much different in Japan than it is in the US. There is just as much terrible anime and manga out there as there are American cartoons and comics.

Actually, I take that back. There's far more awful manga than awful comics. The US comic industry isn't big enough to have that high a ratio of crap.

[ChrisIII]

I thought Gundam was much better in the 80s and early 90's (Which focused on the Universal Century), before the whole alternate universe thing where tons and tons of Gundams show up. It sort of ruined the whole 'real robot' feel of Gundam and made it another super robot show. Also I feel the character design/drawing of frames is better and more detailed in say, Zeta Gundam than Gundam Wing or even Seed.

[Totoro Man]

I don't care for nostalgia.

I'm not convinced that the older anime is inherently superior to the newer stuff. we just have more options now. and many of those options don't thrill me very much. I'd take Cowboy Bebop over a lot of the older anime series... it's not even that I think it's inherently superior--because I enjoy "Lupin the Third" too. it's just, I think it's more a sentimental remembrance of how anime and manga once made us feel than anything else.

it's like when I hear people say, "aw, man this new crap has got nothing on Led Zeppelin"... and I tell you now, that it does. or when people say, "man, these new bands ain't got nothing on the Beatles." and they do. the overall levels of musicianship of the Beatles, while good, has been easily been surpassed by a large number of musicians in a wide variety of genres.

we have sentimental attachments to the first anime or manga (or music) we got exposed to. it had that fresh, bizarre new feeling--of seeing something that was exciting and different.

Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2 were the first manga I ever read. Akira was the first anime I ever saw. those were both monstrously popular in Japan--and were crafted by some of the popular and successful manga writers of their generations.

some shows age very, very well. and others do not. I don't like the Ranma 1/2 anime now, when I watch it again. I like the slightly more nuanced and layered manga.

I'm not convinced that nothing will match or beat Rumiko Takashi--far from it, as much as I love her work (I own over 3,000 pages of her stuff) there are other things out there that are just as good, if not better. it's just a matter of personal preference.

while I do like anime and manga I've never been a HUGE fan of anime, in other words, I don't consider it categorically superior to it's Western counterparts.

to quote Talking Heads, "same as it ever was". which is, a mixed bag.

[Quilt]

I've never really thought about this, but I suppose this idea holds fairly true to me as well. I have a hard time getting interested in newer anime. I know the reason why I'm not overly interested though. It's because the absolute best stuff hasn't been filtered out. If I were to pick up whatever happens to be the most popular now, I'd end up with a big pile of crap with a little bit of greatness sprinkled on top. When you wait several years, you don't have to worry about this. The cream rises to the top, and you'll hear about the animes that are truly good, and you'll naturally be drawn to the ones that you find interesting. You have to remember that back when all that really good stuff was released, there was a lot of sh*t that was released too. You just don't hear about the crappy stuff.

It's the same for me with music. The amount of my collection which was released recently (even within the past decade) is almost miniscule. It's because I like to hunt around and find the greats. I can read about songs and bands and get a good feeling of what they're all about, and from there I can pick out what will likely be good and fit my tastes. The reason that more recent stuff doesn't normally make it into my collection is because you have to wade through a lot of garbage to get to it.

With newer media (in this case anime), this isn't really possible. I prefer certain styles and quirks that don't come packaged in just any anime, so I have to wait for that stuff to surface.

Samurai Champloo is an example. I knew about and loved Cowboy Bebop, but didn't learn about Samurai Champloo until about a month ago. So I'm watching that and it's great. A show with style.


Remember the age-old rule:

90% of everything is crap.

[Darth Joker]

I don't care for nostalgia.

If you honestly think that the only reason folks perfer older anime/manga to newer stuff is nostalgia, then I would have to say that I think that you're wrong.



I'm not convinced that the older anime is inherently superior to the newer stuff.

No, it's not inherently superior. However, in some cases, it is superior. Certainly, I would take my favourite 80s to mid-90s animes over any anime that has come out since then, with perhaps up to three exceptions.

... we just have more options now. and many of those options don't thrill me very much. I'd take Cowboy Bebop over a lot of the older anime series... it's not even that I think it's inherently superior--because I enjoy "Lupin the Third" too. it's just, I think it's more a sentimental remembrance of how anime and manga once made us feel than anything else.

I can't speak for anime/manga fans who have been watching anime/collecting manga for decades now, but I myself only got into anime in a big way in the last few years.

In actual fact, a lot of the anime that I've most recently watched (such as Fushigi Yuugi and Magic Knight Rayearth) came out several years ago. I perfer both series to some of the more recently made anime that I've seen... and it's clearly not nostalgia doing it as I've only started watching these two older anime recently.

Some of the older anime/manga is superior to some of the newer anime/manga. That's not to say that all the newer stuff is terrible (as I wrote earlier, I've thoroughly enjoyed Haruhi and the Nanoha series), or that all of the older stuff is great, but I often hear this argument that "newer is inherently better", and I just don't think that it's an accurate or fair argument to make.



it's like when I hear people say, "aw, man this new crap has got nothing on Led Zeppelin"... and I tell you now, that it does. or when people say, "man, these new bands ain't got nothing on the Beatles." and they do.

How can you say that?

I was born in the 80s, and my principle exposure to pre-80s music is through my parents.

And let me tell you - in my opinion, 70s musicians were, overall, far superior to modern musicians in at least a few key areas.

The guitarists back then had more pure skill, and developed their own unique styles. The singers back then had very harmonious and melodic tunes, and you could actually clearly pick out all the lyrics (something I can very rarely say about today's singers).

For sheer easy listening, very little tops a relaxing Buddy Holly or Beatles tune.

Today's musicians have greater technology to work with, and hence the instrumental aspects of their songs are often more finely tuned and beat-pumping than that of older musicians, but in turn I find a lot of them aren't the singers that the classic 70s musicians are.

And, again, I'm saying this has a guy who heard 90s rock music before he heard 70s tunes.

Chalking everything up to nostalgia does a gross diservice to some good, legit arguments that people can and do offer up for perfering older content (be it animated, musical, or written) to newer content.



the overall levels of musicianship of the Beatles, while good, has been easily been surpassed by a large number of musicians in a wide variety of genres.

I very strongly disagree. I can pick out every signle lyric in almost every Beatles song. The vast majority of today's musicians I can't say that about. And if I'm listening to a song with words, I want to hear the lyrics... because for pure instrumentals, orchestra music still tops just about everything, in my ear.

I don't like the Ranma 1/2 anime now, when I watch it again.

That's probably because a large part of the charm of Ranma 1/2 is it's unpredictability, and various plot twists and swerves. It's not an anime crafted to be very enjoyable on 2nd viewing. This is reflected in how it's very episodic/sitcom-ish, as oppossed to having an overarching dramatic/epic arc.

I like the slightly more nuanced and layered manga.

I'm not convinced that nothing will match or beat Rumiko Takashi--far from it, as much as I love her work (I own over 3,000 pages of her stuff) there are other things out there that are just as good, if not better. it's just a matter of personal preference.

Well, Takashi has a severe weakness with endings, and resolutions in general. Hence, I would expect works lacking such weaknesses to possibly be superior to her work.

[Kage Kisaragi]

Excluding movie level production budgets (usually ones that are actually movies.) I'd say the new school stuff has higher level quality work, but the stories and characters havent improved at all. The old school stuff might have looked like crap in comparison but the ideas and stories were all original back then as compared to now.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

No temporal issues here, I like Urusei Yatsura as much as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya..

[Wenatchee the Hatchet]

Darth Joker, I don't think Totoro Man is arguing that new is inherently superior and I think you may be misunderstanding his Beatles comments. I can jump in and say that his musical comments probably don't quite come across because when he says "other genres" he really means genres that may have nothing to do with the Beatles. Are the Beatles better musicians than Bartok or Ellington? Well, no, of course not, but Bartok and Ellington are so different that it's basically useless to compare.

And in case that seems presumptuous on my part to throw in those names regarding Totoro Man's post I get to do that because I'm his twin brother and I know what his CD collection looks like. :) So I know T-Man isn't saying new is inherently better or worse but I think he probably muddied the waters by making comments about music. T-Man also comes from the perspective of being able to acknowledge someone is a great artist without also having to LIKE their stuff. So he respects the Beatles as a cultural influence without necessarily enjoying their stuff. I think that he might have helped by bringing that up. Sometimes there's new anime that is widely regarded as great that a person just can't get into. And sometimes it's best to just be up front about that. I never got into Akira the anime but I really did enjoy the manga because the story made more sense. I enjoy Nausicaa the anime but the manga is a far superior story.

I take Quilt's approach and it works fine for me. :) I do want to throw in one musical comparison analogy, though. The amount of time, effort, and research it takes for something to cross a language barrier and cultural barrier to find a market in another country is more formidable than some anime fans may sometimes remember. :) I play and write music for classical guitar and the amount of specialized research I have to do to find "new" and interesting music written and published in the last ten years is still pretty daunting. Anime has some advantages in that it's a widely enough known genre of animation that more people are out there looking for new stuff than, say, chamber music for classical guitar. So I don't have to look as earnestly for something new in anime.

The flip side is that since the gatekeepers are more generous we have to be more discerning not just about what we think is good or bad but what we enjoy. Some of the new anime out there is perfectly well done on its own terms but I just don't care for it. I'm not going to say that Helsing is a badly done anime but I just didn't care for it. Sometimes a work of art just clicks with you or it doesn't.

[Darth Joker]

Darth Joker, I don't think Totoro Man is arguing that new is inherently superior and I think you may be misunderstanding his Beatles comments. I can jump in and say that his musical comments probably don't quite come across because when he says "other genres" he really means genres that may have nothing to do with the Beatles. Are the Beatles better musicians than Bartok or Ellington? Well, no, of course not, but Bartok and Ellington are so different that it's basically useless to compare.

And in case that seems presumptuous on my part to throw in those names regarding Totoro Man's post I get to do that because I'm his twin brother and I know what his CD collection looks like. :) So I know T-Man isn't saying new is inherently better or worse but I think he probably muddied the waters by making comments about music. T-Man also comes from the perspective of being able to acknowledge someone is a great artist without also having to LIKE their stuff. So he respects the Beatles as a cultural influence without necessarily enjoying their stuff. I think that he might have helped by bringing that up. Sometimes there's new anime that is widely regarded as great that a person just can't get into. And sometimes it's best to just be up front about that. I never got into Akira the anime but I really did enjoy the manga because the story made more sense. I enjoy Nausicaa the anime but the manga is a far superior story.

I take Quilt's approach and it works fine for me. :) I do want to throw in one musical comparison analogy, though. The amount of time, effort, and research it takes for something to cross a language barrier and cultural barrier to find a market in another country is more formidable than some anime fans may sometimes remember. :) I play and write music for classical guitar and the amount of specialized research I have to do to find "new" and interesting music written and published in the last ten years is still pretty daunting. Anime has some advantages in that it's a widely enough known genre of animation that more people are out there looking for new stuff than, say, chamber music for classical guitar. So I don't have to look as earnestly for something new in anime.

The flip side is that since the gatekeepers are more generous we have to be more discerning not just about what we think is good or bad but what we enjoy. Some of the new anime out there is perfectly well done on its own terms but I just don't care for it. I'm not going to say that Helsing is a badly done anime but I just didn't care for it. Sometimes a work of art just clicks with you or it doesn't.

I like how you're sticking up for your twin brother here. That's admirable of you. :)

Part of the issue is that I've recently been debating the quality of some of my favourite 80s shows with a couple people on another site who are basically saying "The only reason you like it better than the new shows is nostalgia", and so the argument itself can annoy me a bit.

I agree with what you've said about musicians here, past and present. I guess my point with the Beatles is that they (and a lot of older bands like them) still fill a particular niche (easy listening) better than just about anybody today does.

Now, if I wanted a rocking, pumping, beat that's thrilling? Yeah, today's musicians, overall, are probably much better in this area than older musicians are.

I see your points with anime too.

[jesse_custer]

For me, it's not about the battle between new and old anime. It's about what kind of violent trip Yoshiaki Kawajiri will take me on next.

[Devil_LeonX]

for me its the opposite its kind of easy to get into the new stuff the old ones though takes a bit of time.... but i try though

[Totoro Man]

I like how you're sticking up for your twin brother here. That's admirable of you. :)

Part of the issue is that I've recently been debating the quality of some of my favourite 80s shows with a couple people on another site who are basically saying "The only reason you like it better than the new shows is nostalgia", and so the argument itself can annoy me a bit.

I agree with what you've said about musicians here, past and present. I guess my point with the Beatles is that they (and a lot of older bands like them) still fill a particular niche (easy listening) better than just about anybody today does.

Now, if I wanted a rocking, pumping, beat that's thrilling? Yeah, today's musicians, overall, are probably much better in this area than older musicians are.

I see your points with anime too.

no, Darth Joker, I'd never accuse you of simply liking something out of purely nostalgic purposes. I don't know you well enough! ;)

some of the older anime's are simply better. but, this reflects my age here, when I think of older anime I think of:

Starblazers; Tranzor Z; Voltron; Speed Racer; and Astro Boy...

and well, not everything ages quite as gracefully!

the Beatles are a great band--and while I still despise this weird cult-of-personality that has surrounded them (as individuals)-- it doesn't stop me from appreciating their music. when I say there are people out there who have far out-stripped the Beatles in terms of musical accomplishment-- I guess I'm thinking about the BIG musical picture... because compared to a lot of jazz and classical musicians they're rank amateurs in terms of techniques. however, that does NOT detract from the fact that they were masters of writing in the "popular song" from. hell, they write better songs than a lot of classical musicians!

I don't like nostalgia when it gets in the way of living in the present, or looking towards the future.

I generally use nostalgia in the purely perjorative sense. I recognize that sometimes it's fun to remember things from the past fondly--but I tend to equate nostalgia with burnt-out hippies talking about how glorious the 1960s were and about how many wonderful things happened. and I find myself thinking, "so? you could say that about almost any decade in human history. what's your point? hell the era between 1910 and 1920 changed things a LOT more than the 1960s ever did!"

maybe after I turn 40 or 50 I'll change my mind. but, for now, I feel like there's a lot of crap out there with some great stuff mixed in (for good measure).

regarding anime, it's never about "old" vs "new". it's the same as any other creative medium (whether it's fine art, music, television, comics, theater, dance, or clothing)

"do I like this? and, if so, why?"

that's pretty much it, for me.

but folks can still like older anime out of nostalgia, or on account that it was simply that damn good! ;)

[K.O.V.G]

yeah if anything I like the older stuff especially shounen wise, There is really good stuff out now you just have look around, and most of the really good stuff is never even animated especially some of my favorites.

Most of the popular stuff I see nowadays is popular because of a particular character, which fangirls/fanboys just milk them for what they are worth. Like I have a friend female who just loves Itachi from naruto but she hates the show, she only buys the games and wallscrolls etc just for itachi but she doesn't even like the show for what it is.


It's more of eyecandy stuff I see rather than the story most seem to like today, I see the same with games these days especially american gamer, if the graphics aren't "THE BEST" then somehow they manage to say it sucks or I hear the term that 2d fighting games are obsolete. My opinion 2d fighters are the best genre there ever was and ever will be but thats my opinion, alot of these Graphically amazing games I see usually end up boring me like say final fantasy for instance.


But I love anime all around but the 80s and 90s kicked ass as far as anime goes.

[Darth Joker]

yeah if anything I like the older stuff especially shounen wise, There is really good stuff out now you just have look around, and most of the really good stuff is never even animated especially some of my favorites.

Most of the popular stuff I see nowadays is popular because of a particular character, which fangirls/fanboys just milk them for what they are worth. Like I have a friend female who just loves Itachi from naruto but she hates the show, she only buys the games and wallscrolls etc just for itachi but she doesn't even like the show for what it is.


It's more of eyecandy stuff I see rather than the story most seem to like today, I see the same with games these days especially american gamer, if the graphics aren't "THE BEST" then somehow they manage to say it sucks or I hear the term that 2d fighting games are obsolete. My opinion 2d fighters are the best genre there ever was and ever will be but thats my opinion, alot of these Graphically amazing games I see usually end up boring me like say final fantasy for instance.


But I love anime all around but the 80s and 90s kicked ass as far as anime goes.


I tend to perfer 2D fighting games to 3D ones, Soul Calibur being the sole exception. I really hate the anti-2D/anti-side scroller bias I see in the gaming market these days. The freakin' original Super Mario game for the original Nintendo is still more pure fun to play than most of these 3D ones.

Totoro Man - Yeah, I see what you mean. I honestly haven't seen too much pre-90s anime. I will say that there is one thing about pre-90s anime that I don't like... an awful lot of the male protagonists in an awful lot of animes all look like Ranma Saotome clones to me (I say Ranma because he's the first anime character I watched who looks like that). That particular anime body type was just milked to death in the 80s to mid-90s, it seems.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

If you honestly think that the only reason folks perfer older anime/manga to newer stuff is nostalgia, then I would have to say that I think that you're wrong.



No, it's not inherently superior. However, in some cases, it is superior. Certainly, I would take my favourite 80s to mid-90s animes over any anime that has come out since then, with perhaps up to three exceptions.



I can't speak for anime/manga fans who have been watching anime/collecting manga for decades now, but I myself only got into anime in a big way in the last few years.

In actual fact, a lot of the anime that I've most recently watched (such as Fushigi Yuugi and Magic Knight Rayearth) came out several years ago. I perfer both series to some of the more recently made anime that I've seen... and it's clearly not nostalgia doing it as I've only started watching these two older anime recently.

Some of the older anime/manga is superior to some of the newer anime/manga. That's not to say that all the newer stuff is terrible (as I wrote earlier, I've thoroughly enjoyed Haruhi and the Nanoha series), or that all of the older stuff is great, but I often hear this argument that "newer is inherently better", and I just don't think that it's an accurate or fair argument to make.



How can you say that?

I was born in the 80s, and my principle exposure to pre-80s music is through my parents.

And let me tell you - in my opinion, 70s musicians were, overall, far superior to modern musicians in at least a few key areas.

The guitarists back then had more pure skill, and developed their own unique styles. The singers back then had very harmonious and melodic tunes, and you could actually clearly pick out all the lyrics (something I can very rarely say about today's singers).

For sheer easy listening, very little tops a relaxing Buddy Holly or Beatles tune.

Today's musicians have greater technology to work with, and hence the instrumental aspects of their songs are often more finely tuned and beat-pumping than that of older musicians, but in turn I find a lot of them aren't the singers that the classic 70s musicians are.

And, again, I'm saying this has a guy who heard 90s rock music before he heard 70s tunes.

Chalking everything up to nostalgia does a gross diservice to some good, legit arguments that people can and do offer up for perfering older content (be it animated, musical, or written) to newer content.



I very strongly disagree. I can pick out every signle lyric in almost every Beatles song. The vast majority of today's musicians I can't say that about. And if I'm listening to a song with words, I want to hear the lyrics... because for pure instrumentals, orchestra music still tops just about everything, in my ear.



That's probably because a large part of the charm of Ranma 1/2 is it's unpredictability, and various plot twists and swerves. It's not an anime crafted to be very enjoyable on 2nd viewing. This is reflected in how it's very episodic/sitcom-ish, as oppossed to having an overarching dramatic/epic arc.



Well, Takashi has a severe weakness with endings, and resolutions in general. Hence, I would expect works lacking such weaknesses to possibly be superior to her work.what he said...

[Nik Hasta]

I like both old and new.

The old stuff is always going to be great but the new stuff is coming up great as well. :D

[ChrisIII]

Interestingly some of the Toei animation from the 50s has a higher frame rate than some of today's stuff....

[TYLIN]

Part of the issue is that I've recently been debating the quality of some of my favourite 80s shows with a couple people on another site who are basically saying "The only reason you like it better than the new shows is nostalgia", and so the argument itself can annoy me a bit.


I have the same arguments as well.

Many of the people who make this "nostalgia" argument, sem
to ignore the fact that the world and the industry (of what
ever the entertainment medium being talked about) has
changed.

And this change does effect quality.

The increasing importance of the internet and video games,
as well as cable tv, has effected tv programing, especially
for younger people.

So too has the growth of corporations, as no one an argue
that Marvel or Time-Warner are the same copanies as 20 or
34 years ago.

So yes, often the old stuf is better, because it was made at
a better time.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

Many of the people who make this "nostalgia" argument, sem
to ignore the fact that the world and the industry (of what
ever the entertainment medium being talked about) has
changed..i make this very argument when i say i think 80's and 90's hip-hop is better than todays hip-hop, and of course people throw in the "nostalgia card" lol

its almost like a crutch..

[darksaint124]

i make this very argument when i say i think 80's and 90's hip-hop is better than todays hip-hop, and of course people throw in the "nostalgia card" lol

its almost like a crutch..

How old are those people who throw out that card. That really should be a state of fact that the hip-hop from years past is better than what we have today, unless its from a younger generation and they really don't know any better. Even the stuff from earlier this decade is superior to what we have now.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

How old are those people who throw out that card. That really should be a state of fact that the hip-hop from years past is better than what we have today, unless its from a younger generation and they really don't know any better. Even the stuff from earlier this decade is superior to what we have now.the age range varies, but yeah it mostly comes from younger people. but older people throw out the nostalgia card too, because they have it harder than younger people. basically because some folks think that older fans should know better lol. so the nostalgia card is their way of defending their tastes when it comes to current entertainment i guess.

when pertaining to a certain current medium or genre or whatever, i always assumed older people was more defensive cause the new stuff is the type of stuff that got them into said medium/genre in the first place. like todays hip-hop might draw in fans who might not have been interested in the earlier forms of it. but now thats its more "pop-ish" they're more interested in it now then they was 10 to 20 years ago. in fact a girl i know use to hate hip-hop during its "golden age era" (88 to 96). but now she's a HUGE fan because of artists like Nelly, soldier boy, D4L, dem franchize boys etc... if she was younger she probably wouldn't get as much flak. but since she's like around my age (early thirties) she gets criticized ALOT for liking that type of hip-hop. so she's waaay more defensive about criticism, i know a guy thats like this too.

the same could be applied to any other medium including anime...its human nature i guess.

[Program]

I find it easier to get into older anime mainly due to having what I consider less annoying cliches and I tend to prefer the art-style (at least of the older anime I've seen.)

But I wouldn't say newer anime are on average worse than older anime, every anime season has it's good and bad, some have more interesting anime than others.

[Tumbido]

Old overpowers newer, but I'm more of a manga guy these days.

[blackdragon6]

the age range varies, but yeah it mostly comes from younger people. but older people throw out the nostalgia card too, because they have it harder than younger people. basically because some folks think that older fans should know better lol. so the nostalgia card is their way of defending their tastes when it comes to current entertainment i guess.

when pertaining to a certain current medium or genre or whatever, i always assumed older people was more defensive cause the new stuff is the type of stuff that got them into said medium/genre in the first place. like todays hip-hop might draw in fans who might not have been interested in the earlier forms of it. but now thats its more "pop-ish" they're more interested in it now then they was 10 to 20 years ago. in fact a girl i know use to hate hip-hop during its "golden age era" (88 to 96). but now she's a HUGE fan because of artists like Nelly, soldier boy, D4L, dem franchize boys etc... if she was younger she probably wouldn't get as much flak. but since she's like around my age (early thirties) she gets criticized ALOT for liking that type of hip-hop. so she's waaay more defensive about criticism, i know a guy thats like this too.

the same could be applied to any other medium including anime...its human nature i guess.agreed....my sister fall into this category and she's thirty something.


I find it easier to get into older anime mainly due to having what I consider less annoying cliches and I tend to prefer the art-style (at least of the older anime I've seen.) .likewise...