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The 90s had a feeling all to itself, a zeitgeist of retro wackiness that pushed the boundaries of stories all over the world and especially in Japan. Shonen anime, which is traditionally targeted at adolescent boys (but really is loved by all) is made up of action sequences and adventures following grand stories of battle. Narratives range from mech to martial arts to exploration’s of philosophy and the downright bizarre. And with a fresh cohort of anime appreciators and the plethora of streaming services available, it may be high time to introduce a new crowd to some old favorites and even right some storytelling wrongs along the way.
9 Record of Lodoss War
A fantasy anime that went under the radar at the very start of the 90s decade. It has inspired many games that have released on all different consoles and platforms, but with a 32-year-old anime, it may be time to bring the epic fantasy to a new audience.
With epic storylines involving the war-torn kingdoms of Lodoss trying to find some semblance of peace after the gods battled each other; a new evil witch awakens causing political strife with other countries in an attempt to deter on kingdom from taking the main seat of power. A classic fantasy told from the perspective of six multiracial characters who form a hero party to stop the witch from starting another war.
8 Battle Angel Alita
True Battle Angel Alita was in the spotlight relatively recently in 2019 with Robert Rodriguez’s Hollywood adaptation, however the film covered an iota of what the Manga has to offer. The American cyberpunk world created by Yukito Kishiro creates a rich post-apocalyptic tapestry interweaving political struggle, class issues and the human ability to survive.
With modern technology breathing new life into action shonen anime, Alita could excel under the new styles of animation. The battles and the Motorball matches would benefit greatly from better color palettes and Sakuga animation in the dynamic action scenes.
7 Blue Seed
A spin on classic Japanese folklore, Blue Seed follows a Momiji Fujimiya thrust into a fantastical life as she discovers she is a descendent of the Kushinida family who exorcised Aragami, demonic plants that threaten to take over and destroy Japan. She is enlisted by the government to take down the new demonic scourge of plants with the help of her companion, a boy called Kusanagi.
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The repetition of the first few episodes and dated animation would help with modern ways of storytelling, streamlining the opening episodes to make it stronger and give it a better chance with the audience to stick around until it comes into its own as a modern retelling of the Izumo Japanese mythology it is based off.
6 Ranma 1/2
Ranma 1/2 is peculiar not just in it’s naming conventions, but also the caliber of its show. The anime aired in 1989 (however it qualifies as a 90s anime as it finished broadcasting in 1992), and was ahead of its time mixing martial arts with fantasy and romance that exudes pre-2000s animation.
Rumiko Takashi’s incredibly charming anime deserves a reboot to bring it to modern audiences, skimming off the extraneous plot lines and updating some of the outdated jokes could make a great series even better.
5 Master Keaton
A departure from usual animes that follow one extended narrative of the time reaching numbers in the 50 or 100 episode mark. Master Keaton by Naoki Urasawa would lend well to the current series running lengths of the current anime world of 12 to 24 episodes as the narratives the anime follows have an episodic format.
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As a detective, Keaton works on cases around the globe in all different fields of work as he is a professor, a veteran of the Falklands war and an SAS agent who uses his skill set to solve cases involving archeology, survival and mastermind criminals.
4 Great Teacher Onizuka
Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) by Tooru Fujisawa is unlike any other school-set shonen, following a delinquent turned school teacher, Eikichi Onizuka, as he tries to transform his life in hopes to grow old and live a fulfilling law-abiding life with his future wife at his side.
For the time of the late 90s, the topics it tackled around sexual harassment, bullying and suicide (sadly) still resonate today. The series ended at 43 episodes but did not cover the entirety of the Manga and with the release of the final volume of GTO: Paradise Lost, this could be the time to get a better executed and complete telling of the story.
3 Outlaw Star
The well-versed mix of action, adventure, comedy and science-fiction forms the foundations of Outlaw Star as we follow Gene Starwind as he traverses space, piloting the advanced ship that the series is named after. Hired by the undercover outlaw and treasure-hunter Rachel Sweet they end up ferrying around a mysterious girl Melfina as their cargo encountering a ruffians, brigands, bounty hunter, pirates mages and even cat-girls (as expected).
The original was not a masterpiece by any means with heavy censorship (in the west) and plots that seemed to fade off into the horizon. A reboot would do wonders to for the show, offering a chance deliver a punchy comedic outing into space that could rival some of the newer shows in the genre.
2 Flame Of Recca
Shonens are a dime a dozen these days retelling the hero’s journey one way or another, however when it’s done right, they are a cut above the rest. Segue to Flame of Recca, taking the archetype of a ninja with elemental powers called Rekka Hanabishi who makes a flagrant vow to serve any opponent who damages to beat him. He soon meets Yanagi Sokoshita, whose powers of regeneration lead Rekka along on a path to fight fantastical foes who are after him.
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Unlike the other action anime of the decade, Rekka has a less than stellar performance. The 42 episode run does no justice into diving into the manga’s deeper intricacies and narratives, and it whimpered out towards the end of it’s run in 1998 with an unsatisfying ending.
1 Slam Dunk
Before Kuroko no Basuke, Haikyuu and Blue Lock (among other sports anime) there was Slam Dunk. An anime about a high school basketball team that took the Japanese anime sphere by storm when it first aired over the course of 3 years between 1993 and 1996. Following Hanamichi Sakuragi, a fiery red-headed student who enrolls at Shohoku High, who falls for Haruko Akagi (a girl embroiled within high school sports), Hanamichi (despite his hate for basketball) joins the team due to his infatuations and ends up staying as he finds camaraderie in his fellow teammates who praise him for his inhuman capabilities on the court.
The show was canceled just before the anime reached the National Arc, and Slam Dunk deserves justice for its unfinished ending. Considering its fresh approach to the sports genre, at the time, and the fact that the current audience is receptive to darker themes in general, it would be interesting to see how a new anime could develop. It would allow characters to explore the grittier storylines of players failing to achieve their dreams that was never spotlighted on the anime’s first go around. The film The First Slam Dunk recently released and shows there is a want for it, so an entire anime rework may do it justice.
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