Before anime hit its big boom in America in the late ’90s, perhaps the only place in the US where anyone could stumble upon this pristine universe of animated stories was on the shelves of a weird corner of a Sam Goody’s or a Blockbuster. Maybe it was dubbed early dragon ball or several episodes Ranma 1/2 Or a copy of one of the big anime movies like akira or my neighbor totoro…or maybe it was something more unusual that never caught on in America.
There’s no doubt that ’90s anime, which had great success in the West, was one of the best that Japan had to offer at the time, but they were nowhere near the only anime from that era worth watching. In fact, some forgotten shows are among the true gems of the decade.
8 Master Keaton
Master Keaton It is a seinen manga consisting of 144 episodes between 1988 and 1994. It is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, and yet its 39-episode anime adaptation hasn’t received as much attention outside of Japan as it should have.
While many anime heroes like Goku or Naruto are super-powered martial artists with the ability to do things that reach far beyond the limits of a normal person, Taichi Hiraga-Keaton’s incredible abilities are mostly hidden between his ears. He’s a former SAS agent, an archaeologist, a history teacher, and an insurance investigator who always seems to come across action-packed mysteries. The show’s episodic style is 100 (or path more) chapter stories.
A realistic robot girl named Key discovers that she can become a real person if she can make a few friends. 30,000 friends to be exact. To do this, he decides to come to Tokyo to live his peaceful life in the country. While there, he decides to become a famous singer in order to win these friends in a hurry. Yet there is much more going on than you know, and serious danger is just around the corner.
This forgotten OVA series isn’t perfect, but it’s still incredibly fun, emotionally impactful, and has great visuals. It all comes together in a final movie with a lot of plot detail crammed into it. Still makes an interesting finale.
6 Ushiro No Shoumen Daare
known as Who is left behind In America, this anime is about a young Japanese girl during World War II. Reminds me of Isao Takahata. Grave of the Firefliesbut maybe not so heartbreakingly sad.
Many anime fans enjoy the fantasy elements the art form has to offer, the sci-fi imagination, and escapism from pure reality. Ushiro No Shoumen Daare it offers something very different from that, but it is undoubtedly worth it. The movie is certainly incredibly sad, but fans who can truly look back on conflict, loss, and trauma will be rewarded with a beautiful story that deserves more love among anime fans.
5 New Dominion Tank Police
This sequel to the cyberpunk sci-fi comedy dominance he covered some interesting ideas and presented some pretty cool visuals for his day. Set in the then distant future of 2010, the series follows the efforts of a special task force known as the Tank Police to clean up their city’s crime-ridden streets with the help of some futuristic super-powered tanks.
New Dominion Tank Police it covers some heavy topics and can deal with a fairly dark tone. Still, there’s enough humor and blood-pumping action to lighten things up and make it an overall fun ride.
4 Yawara!
This anime is a lesser known and somewhat unexpected title. Monster It is created by Naoki Urusawa. The story follows young Yawara Inokuma, who struggles between her desire to live a normal life and her grandfather’s desire to pursue her incredible Judo skills and win a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Despite being quite popular in Japan when it debuted in the early 90s, Yawara! He cannot live abroad for another 16 years and does not receive as much attention as he deserves. It’s a pretty basic anime, but it does a great job of blending a variety of different elements with a cute hero into a fun and well-told story.
3 Ganba! fly high
Premiering in Japan just weeks before the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ganba! fly high The story of a high school gymnast named Fujimaki Shun, who dreams of one day winning her own gold medal. The only problem is that she has never trained in gymnastics before.
For fans of triumphant sports stories mixed with romance and comedy, this anime is definitely the perfect hidden gem. Packed with positivity and a feel-good attitude, it tells a remarkably memorable story in just 30 episodes.
2 1001 Nights
Some anime tell a story in 1000 or more 20-minute episodes, and some tell 1000 or more stories in a 20-minute episode. that’s the case 1001 Nights. This psychedelic animated journey plays like a Japanese fantasy, it’s just more abstract and there. There’s also one weird but wonderful source material: the famous final fantasy Illustrations by character designer Yoshitaka Amano, based on the legendary collection of Middle Eastern folk tales, A Thousand and One Nights.
Fans unfamiliar with the source material should not be discouraged, as there is more to be gained from taking part in this mind-blowing visual journey to the beautiful sounds of a philharmonic orchestra. It’s a fast but wild ride that deserves a little more attention from the world of anime lovers.
one Chuuka Ichiban!
The cooking subgenre is an interesting but incredibly popular subgenre with a long list of shows worth checking out. However, often not original Chuuka Ichiban! are mentioned among them, and it’s a shame.
The show is set in an imaginary version of Qing Dynasty China where everything revolves around cooking and the chefs are essentially warlords. The story follows a young boy named Mao as he tries to step out of the shadow of his Master Cook mother and become the greatest chef in all of China. Anyone who loves cooking competition shows and anime will no doubt find this show incredibly appealing.
