80's and 90's Anime art style

I have to admit that I didn't get into Anime until around 2012 and shouldn't have nostalgia for older Anime (except maybe Pokèmon and Yu-Gi-Oh as a kid) but for whatever reason, the colourful artwork and the organic feel still brings about nostalgia non the less. What do you guys think? Does anyone prefer newer styles?
 
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I like the 90s stuff automatically but I was a kid then so nostalgia takes over, but I'm re watching the studio gibli movies and i like that style. Also new pokemon looks very nice sun and moon whatever the Alolan one is, also really took some convincing but My Hero is beautiful.
Yh now I think about it I did watch a lot of DBZ and Sailor Moon with my sister as a kid. The SG and Ni-No-Kuni style is great but I didn't watch any of them back in the day. MHA is a bit too mainstream for me lol but I thought the same about One Punch Man until I actually watched it and that's one of my favourite now
 
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naa

I like both newer and older stuff equally, but it's kind of a shame seeing one style of anime largely disappear. I'd like to see more of this art style in the modern era, and I do miss seeing more cel animation. I know Sazae-san was using cel animation as recently as 2011, but I have no idea if it still is.

Are there any anime that feel particularly exemplary of this retro style for you? For me it's probably Golden Boy, Outlaw Star and the older City Hunter movies. Golden Boy especially, though.
golden boy 2.gif
 

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There's something so immediate and visceral about some animation done in the 90's, especially with the heavy hitters such as Cowboy Bebop, NGE, Serial Experiments Lain, and more. I've also got to agree with others the nostalgia element highly influences the overall atmosphere and headspace I find myself swimming into while watching such series. For some reason they bring me to a very particular headspace contemporary anime simply cannot do. I believe this has to do with the hand drawn frames adding a vibrancy computers just cannot replicate.

One thing I like about some newer anime which I notice in more contemporary literature is more intricate storytelling, be it artistic or dialogue or setting, and a departure from the kishotenketsu many older animes followed often times rigidly, and a greater self-awareness of being an anime and incorporating such elements into the overall story.
 

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Every era has some aspects I like, but I'm definitely partial to the 80's palette and aesthetic. I've been watching City Hunter lately and there's just a depth and feel to the colors in this era that modern anime doesn't reach.
Screenshot_13.png


I'm also a bigger fan of the average character design from this era compared to the late 90s - 2020's. More human looking faces and hair. Some 90's and 00's stuff in particular had a angular (think yugioh or code geass) style that I tend to dislike. Higher budgets also led to nicer animation in the past, and some more recent trends like CG crowds or entirely CG anime often look like garbage. There's exceptions to every rule though, for example Houseki no Kuni is CG anime done very nicely:

rbXIzXF.gif


And more experimental styles can lead to appealing visuals in any era:
1623214864387.png
 
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There's something so immediate and visceral about some animation done in the 90's, especially with the heavy hitters such as Cowboy Bebop, NGE, Serial Experiments Lain, and more. I've also got to agree with others the nostalgia element highly influences the overall atmosphere and headspace I find myself swimming into while watching such series. For some reason they bring me to a very particular headspace contemporary anime simply cannot do. I believe this has to do with the hand drawn frames adding a vibrancy computers just cannot replicate.

One thing I like about some newer anime which I notice in more contemporary literature is more intricate storytelling, be it artistic or dialogue or setting, and a departure from the kishotenketsu many older animes followed often times rigidly, and a greater self-awareness of being an anime and incorporating such elements into the overall story.
Couldn't of said it any better.. the organic feel of the hand drawn stuff gives it that whole new layer. It makes sense if you subscribe to the belief that personal energy is transferred into the mediums we produce and that the energy transfer isn't as strong when computers are heavily involved.
 
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Deleted member 2040

Every era has some aspects I like, but I'm definitely partial to the 80's palette and aesthetic. I've been watching City Hunter lately and there's just a depth and feel to the colors in this era that modern anime doesn't reach.
View attachment 4075

I'm also a bigger fan of the average character design from this era compared to the late 90s - 2020's. More human looking faces and hair. Some 90's and 00's stuff in particular had a angular (think yugioh or code geass) style that I tend to dislike. Higher budgets also led to nicer animation in the past, and some more recent trends like CG crowds or entirely CG anime often look like garbage. There's exceptions to every rule though, for example Houseki no Kuni is CG anime done very nicely:

View attachment 4076

And more experimental styles can lead to appealing visuals in any era:
View attachment 4077
Mononoke is a work of high art and I believe the pinnacle of what I like to term 'art house anime', much like the distinction of what art house cinema is to the film world.
 

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I've been on an 80s/90s anime binge and I absolutely love the old hand drawn style. It was not nearly as clean as modern animation, and that's exactly what gave it it's character. Probably my favorite director of that time was Yoshiaki Kawajiri, his urban horror hellscapes were a character of their own.
 

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I think you can be nostalgic for anything if you truly relate to it, especially if that relation is felt prior in your earlier years. I think its more about emotional relation than it is literal relation to a specific time experiencing a specific thing, although that is the most common form of nostalgia. I could feel nostalgic for Frank Sinatra or swing music if I took a deep connection in it, though I wasn't even around until a few decades afterwards. Its not uncommon a piece of art unrelated in terms of timeline can take you back to a specific point in your life where you felt the same way. It makes complete sense you could feel nostalgic for a style of art you weren't around to experience.
 
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naa

I've been on an 80s/90s anime binge and I absolutely love the old hand drawn style. It was not nearly as clean as modern animation, and that's exactly what gave it it's character. Probably my favorite director of that time was Yoshiaki Kawajiri, his urban horror hellscapes were a character of their own.
Yoshiaki Kawajiri is crazy talented! I really love Wicked City, which he directed the animation of. Absolutely gorgeous.
66e5a8dbc244a0647cd043f8ea1e70d3ce62b9a1.gifv
 

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Yoshiaki Kawajiri is crazy talented! I really love Wicked City, which he directed the animation of. Absolutely gorgeous.
66e5a8dbc244a0647cd043f8ea1e70d3ce62b9a1.gifv
I really gotta rewatch that. I only vaguely remember tiddies and the car animation that was used in the slowed What You Wouldn't Do For Love video.
 
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I really gotta rewatch that. I only vaguely remember tiddies and the car animation that was used in the slowed What You Wouldn't Do For Love video.
It's full of sexualized body horror so the tiddies are a ruse.:AYAYARRR:

It's really good and worth watching though, the animation is beautiful and the body horror is super well executed. It has great fight scenes. Something I really like about it is the use of color. Everything is usually cool-toned, but they often change to warmer tones when violence is going to happen or is happening.
 

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Yoshiaki Kawajiri is crazy talented! I really love Wicked City, which he directed the animation of. Absolutely gorgeous.
66e5a8dbc244a0647cd043f8ea1e70d3ce62b9a1.gifv
Yeah and his use of shading is top notch, very moody and noir-like. I think his best looking movie is actually Vampire Hunter D.
 
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