Guaporense
03-28-13, 07:18 PM
When I discovered Miyazaki's work on my early 20's they were the first truly great animated films I ever watched, however, when I was kid, from 5-6 years old to 12-13 years old, I watched a ton of anime TV series and a few movies that were spin offs of these series. Though, thinking about it I didn't watch almost anything that I could consider great and watchable for an adult during those years.
Miyazaki and Takahata's work is completely different in nature (besides being animated) and one shouldn't think they are remotely similar to anything on this thread.
Since I live in Brazil, here TV networks aired huge quantities of anime mixed with western animation, as if all animation were equal (simplistic and aimed at children under 10), though even children's anime is usually more complex and serious, which means that much of the anime the brazilian TV networks aired were actually not suitable for my age, specially when I was under 10, but I watched it anyway. :)
I will list and comment on some of the shows I remember to have watched (in other words, the most memorable ones). Note that anything I say is from memory of well over a decade ago.
Also, I should note that all these TV series were based on mangas and many had spin off movies (some of which were live action movies).
I would list the series in rough chronological order but also grouping them into genres.
1. Saint Seya
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Couverture01j.jpg/230px-Couverture01j.jpg
I remember that I watched this TV series when I was 5-6 years old. It is the oldest anime I remember having watched. Later, when I watched a few episodes of it when I was older, I remember saying: that's sort of stuff wasn't adequate for 5 year olds: quite a lot of violence as this show is pure battle, with some graphic violence.
On a review at the ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/saint-seiya/dvd-1): The series is also incredibly violent. The fights are almost always punctuated by heavy blood loss. The first episode features Seiya chopping some thug's ear off, who then spends the rest of the battle spurting blood from his poorly-drawn head. It seems like any time someone gets punched, blood comes spilling out of the wound. Shounen action series these days seem to be a smidgen less bloody than this; it's as if they figured out that people want style and finesse in their action, and gallons of blood aren't necessary to keep the audience watching. Considering this is supposed to be a kid's show, the violence seems excessive. Then again, the entire series is one long fight, so I suppose expecting anything less than wanton violence is foolish.
The dub is mostly laughable. Seiya's voice actor is incredibly awkward, enunciating strange words and sounding not at all heroic. The English script is rife with poorly written lines, dialogue any actor would cringe at. It's one thing when the scripting is poor, but when the delivery only adds insult to injury, the result is a train wreck. Even the “random thug” voice they're using is anemic and somehow inappropriate. The female characters all sound the same, shouting ridiculous declaratory statements as though the entire universe rested on their very words. The Japanese dialogue seems to be a big step up, as it doesn't sound nearly as silly or over-the-top.
Anyway, when I was 6 years old this was the best TV show ever. :)
2. Yo yo Hakusho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CaqbfZyiMs
Rated PG on the US. :) The video above would suggest a higher rating, though, at least there isn't any sex on the show.
One of my favorite TV shows when I was 7-8 years old. One very interesting thing about anime series is that they predated US TV series with long story arcs. Even children's shows such as this and Saint Seya had long story arcs, something that even today is lacking in children's TV series made in other countries.
Anyway, like Saint Seya, this is a show that consists entirely of battles and story arcs relating to battles.
3. Dragon Ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwK7mqTcICc
At monumental 500 episodes in total (and I think I watched it all from when I was 6 to 12 years old), Dragon Ball was the most memorable TV series of my childhood. Some of the fights lasted 20-30 episodes (the Goku vs Freeza fight I think lasted nearly 30 episodes in total, that's the length of 8 normal movies!, the Majin Boo fight lasted, I guess, even longer).
Also, one should have already noticed that like the series above, this TV series is nearly 100% battle, that's 500 episodes of fighting! Yeay! :D
Of course, I wouldn't recommend this series (or any other on this thread unless I comment on it). Just because I loved it when I was 10 years old doesn't mean I would like it if I rewatch it now, reading a review while I am writing this thread gave the show a rating of 1. Anyway, when I was 10 this was a 5 show.
4. Captain Tsubasa
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/thumb/e/ee/Captain_Tsubasa_vol._01.jpg/200px-Captain_Tsubasa_vol._01.jpg
Differently from the three TV series above, Captain Tsubasa is not focused on martial arts battles involving superpowers, instead it is focused on football/soccer. Also one of my childhood favorites.
However, like the series focused on martial arts, each game was treated like a battle between the teams and some games could last for several episodes, echoing Dragon Ball.
5. Sailor Moon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/thumb/5/5e/Sailor_Moon_Vol1.jpg/200px-Sailor_Moon_Vol1.jpg
Another anime series that was hugely popular on Brazil was Sailor Moon, one of the numerous series in the magical girl genre. Being my younger sister's favorite series when I was on the third and fourth grades, I also watched some episodes, though it was too girly for me to appreciate fully. :D
6. Sakura Card Captor
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AoVrRgnprc0/UD-eBM9U-yI/AAAAAAAACnA/RnaLEBOEtxU/s320/cardcaptor_sakura_kinomoto_desktop_800x600_wallpaper-205933+(1).jpeg
If Sailor Moon can be considered "too girly", Sakura Card Captor was nauseating girly, in fact one network even censored the series because "it promoted homosexuality" (I think there were a few episodes where the male characters wore dresses). Though I remember having a few male friends at school who liked this TV series.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6dm0zqfnZP8/UD-d99Q_sLI/AAAAAAAACmw/B7Uph9fG9B8/s320/card-captor-sakura_10.jpg
It tells the story of a 10 year old girl who accidentally liberates the magical powers of a set of cards and stuff.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4rd-5dbhpLo/UD-d2LYuDpI/AAAAAAAACmY/UL9WCTgXYLM/s320/Card_captor_sakura-005.jpg
These posters give an idea of the tone of the series.
7. Super Pig
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LPpavd-53sE/TV2ebbu3xJI/AAAAAAAAAXA/ur-P17nXabg/s400/pig+%25283%2529.jpg
A parody of the magical girl shows, like the two above, Super Pig is the story of a girl who finds an alien pig from planet Oinko (oinc in Japanese) that gives her the ability to transform into a flying magical pig, thus, Super Pig.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j7cQYeZkxFE/TV2eYSz12II/AAAAAAAAAW4/D2nc2ABKH4o/s320/pig+%25281%2529.jpg
Rescuing a kid:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--sYluiPOUyU/TV2ecXqM0nI/AAAAAAAAAXE/o5quhsozJbI/s320/pig+%25284%2529.jpg
8. Pokemon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Pok%C3%A9mon_episode_1_screenshot.png
Instead of manga, this TV series was based on a videogame. Truly of the anime series completely devoid of artistic value. Still is the most popular anime series ever outside of Japan. It generated 5 billion dollars of merchandise sales over the first 5 years of the franchise.
I remember that it was incredibly popular at school in fourth grade.
9. Digimon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/LOGODIGIMON.jpg
Digimon was made by another company than Pokemon in order to cash in into the money involved into kids having magical pets with supepowers fighting one another. What more can I say? When it came I reached fifth grade and a watching a ludicrous TV show like this became uncool while it would have been super cool when I was in fourth grade. Though I still watched the whole first season.
10. Patlabor
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/15/Patlabor_manga_cover.jpg/230px-Patlabor_manga_cover.jpg
A TV series about a near future world were giant robots/mecha were in common use for large scale construction work. To police these mecha a mecha police was established.
This is one of the least childish anime series I remember watching. It had a lot of actual character development and wasn't focused on battles/games or on magical girls and stuff. I think this is one of the anime series that are better for adults than children, though I don't remember much about it to be sure.
11. Nadesico
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/de/Nadesico.jpg/230px-Nadesico.jpg
I don't remember much about this series, besides having watched a couple of episodes, it had spaceships, giant robots, spacetimewarping technology and people with huge pupils. It is certainly not as childish as the TV series above Patlabor.
12. Neon Genesis Evangelion
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Evangelion_retouched.png/270px-Evangelion_retouched.png
When I was 12 a local TV network showed this TV series, I watched only 5-6 episodes but they were much more powerful and disturbing than anything I had ever seem, I was nearly traumatized by it. Truly not show adequate for children but our local TV networks though it was adequate enough that they showed it on the weekend mornings for preschoolers!
Voted the greatest animation of all time in a pool in Japan (beating all Miyazaki's and Takahata's work), this is truly a great TV series. I decided to watch the whole 26 episodes a short time after I discovered the Ghibli movies (that's it, in my early 20's). Despite some silly things (think of teenagers piloting giant clones of supernatural/apocalyptic monsters), on the whole this TV series is a masterpiece, perhaps the single most powerful emotional experience I ever had watching a TV series.
13. Cowboy Bebop
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/37/CowboyBebopDVDBoxSet.jpg/230px-CowboyBebopDVDBoxSet.jpg
Like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop was an adult TV series that I watched as a kid, like NGE, it was too much for me at the time (when I was 12-13). I am thinking of watching the whole series some day.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Cowboy-bebop-754433.jpg
I remember that I watched several episodes of Cowboy Bebop on a cable TV network that aired all these TV series subbed. Anyway, I remember it was a bit "too strong" for me.
Ultra violent anime series like Yo Yo Hakusho are still accessible for children because they lack the depth, drama and complexity that would make them too strong and challenging for young viewers. What defines the age group accessible for a TV series is mostly the degree of complexity. Not violence nor sex.
For other members: tell us about your childhood anime experiences.
14. Inuyasha
http://sosotakuu.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/inuyasha.jpg
One of the last anime series I watched as a kid, Inuyasha was one of my sister's favorite series, like Sakura Card Captor and Sailor Moon, but it is not in the magical girl genre, though it is made for the same demographic group. While I liked it, I noticed that grown ups apparently didn't reading a review of it right now.
15. Lupin III
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NEmHwVnsFFY/TlGQn3wvZ2I/AAAAAAAAAWE/OuY--6pRc4Q/s1600/lupin-third-group-shot-hero-envy.jpg
A 1970's anime series, much later on I watched the movie based on the characters on the series directed by Miyazaki. I don't remember much about it, other than being a very entertaining action/adventure TV series.
Miyazaki and Takahata's work is completely different in nature (besides being animated) and one shouldn't think they are remotely similar to anything on this thread.
Since I live in Brazil, here TV networks aired huge quantities of anime mixed with western animation, as if all animation were equal (simplistic and aimed at children under 10), though even children's anime is usually more complex and serious, which means that much of the anime the brazilian TV networks aired were actually not suitable for my age, specially when I was under 10, but I watched it anyway. :)
I will list and comment on some of the shows I remember to have watched (in other words, the most memorable ones). Note that anything I say is from memory of well over a decade ago.
Also, I should note that all these TV series were based on mangas and many had spin off movies (some of which were live action movies).
I would list the series in rough chronological order but also grouping them into genres.
1. Saint Seya
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Couverture01j.jpg/230px-Couverture01j.jpg
I remember that I watched this TV series when I was 5-6 years old. It is the oldest anime I remember having watched. Later, when I watched a few episodes of it when I was older, I remember saying: that's sort of stuff wasn't adequate for 5 year olds: quite a lot of violence as this show is pure battle, with some graphic violence.
On a review at the ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/saint-seiya/dvd-1): The series is also incredibly violent. The fights are almost always punctuated by heavy blood loss. The first episode features Seiya chopping some thug's ear off, who then spends the rest of the battle spurting blood from his poorly-drawn head. It seems like any time someone gets punched, blood comes spilling out of the wound. Shounen action series these days seem to be a smidgen less bloody than this; it's as if they figured out that people want style and finesse in their action, and gallons of blood aren't necessary to keep the audience watching. Considering this is supposed to be a kid's show, the violence seems excessive. Then again, the entire series is one long fight, so I suppose expecting anything less than wanton violence is foolish.
The dub is mostly laughable. Seiya's voice actor is incredibly awkward, enunciating strange words and sounding not at all heroic. The English script is rife with poorly written lines, dialogue any actor would cringe at. It's one thing when the scripting is poor, but when the delivery only adds insult to injury, the result is a train wreck. Even the “random thug” voice they're using is anemic and somehow inappropriate. The female characters all sound the same, shouting ridiculous declaratory statements as though the entire universe rested on their very words. The Japanese dialogue seems to be a big step up, as it doesn't sound nearly as silly or over-the-top.
Anyway, when I was 6 years old this was the best TV show ever. :)
2. Yo yo Hakusho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CaqbfZyiMs
Rated PG on the US. :) The video above would suggest a higher rating, though, at least there isn't any sex on the show.
One of my favorite TV shows when I was 7-8 years old. One very interesting thing about anime series is that they predated US TV series with long story arcs. Even children's shows such as this and Saint Seya had long story arcs, something that even today is lacking in children's TV series made in other countries.
Anyway, like Saint Seya, this is a show that consists entirely of battles and story arcs relating to battles.
3. Dragon Ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwK7mqTcICc
At monumental 500 episodes in total (and I think I watched it all from when I was 6 to 12 years old), Dragon Ball was the most memorable TV series of my childhood. Some of the fights lasted 20-30 episodes (the Goku vs Freeza fight I think lasted nearly 30 episodes in total, that's the length of 8 normal movies!, the Majin Boo fight lasted, I guess, even longer).
Also, one should have already noticed that like the series above, this TV series is nearly 100% battle, that's 500 episodes of fighting! Yeay! :D
Of course, I wouldn't recommend this series (or any other on this thread unless I comment on it). Just because I loved it when I was 10 years old doesn't mean I would like it if I rewatch it now, reading a review while I am writing this thread gave the show a rating of 1. Anyway, when I was 10 this was a 5 show.
4. Captain Tsubasa
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/thumb/e/ee/Captain_Tsubasa_vol._01.jpg/200px-Captain_Tsubasa_vol._01.jpg
Differently from the three TV series above, Captain Tsubasa is not focused on martial arts battles involving superpowers, instead it is focused on football/soccer. Also one of my childhood favorites.
However, like the series focused on martial arts, each game was treated like a battle between the teams and some games could last for several episodes, echoing Dragon Ball.
5. Sailor Moon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/thumb/5/5e/Sailor_Moon_Vol1.jpg/200px-Sailor_Moon_Vol1.jpg
Another anime series that was hugely popular on Brazil was Sailor Moon, one of the numerous series in the magical girl genre. Being my younger sister's favorite series when I was on the third and fourth grades, I also watched some episodes, though it was too girly for me to appreciate fully. :D
6. Sakura Card Captor
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AoVrRgnprc0/UD-eBM9U-yI/AAAAAAAACnA/RnaLEBOEtxU/s320/cardcaptor_sakura_kinomoto_desktop_800x600_wallpaper-205933+(1).jpeg
If Sailor Moon can be considered "too girly", Sakura Card Captor was nauseating girly, in fact one network even censored the series because "it promoted homosexuality" (I think there were a few episodes where the male characters wore dresses). Though I remember having a few male friends at school who liked this TV series.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6dm0zqfnZP8/UD-d99Q_sLI/AAAAAAAACmw/B7Uph9fG9B8/s320/card-captor-sakura_10.jpg
It tells the story of a 10 year old girl who accidentally liberates the magical powers of a set of cards and stuff.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4rd-5dbhpLo/UD-d2LYuDpI/AAAAAAAACmY/UL9WCTgXYLM/s320/Card_captor_sakura-005.jpg
These posters give an idea of the tone of the series.
7. Super Pig
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LPpavd-53sE/TV2ebbu3xJI/AAAAAAAAAXA/ur-P17nXabg/s400/pig+%25283%2529.jpg
A parody of the magical girl shows, like the two above, Super Pig is the story of a girl who finds an alien pig from planet Oinko (oinc in Japanese) that gives her the ability to transform into a flying magical pig, thus, Super Pig.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j7cQYeZkxFE/TV2eYSz12II/AAAAAAAAAW4/D2nc2ABKH4o/s320/pig+%25281%2529.jpg
Rescuing a kid:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--sYluiPOUyU/TV2ecXqM0nI/AAAAAAAAAXE/o5quhsozJbI/s320/pig+%25284%2529.jpg
8. Pokemon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Pok%C3%A9mon_episode_1_screenshot.png
Instead of manga, this TV series was based on a videogame. Truly of the anime series completely devoid of artistic value. Still is the most popular anime series ever outside of Japan. It generated 5 billion dollars of merchandise sales over the first 5 years of the franchise.
I remember that it was incredibly popular at school in fourth grade.
9. Digimon
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/LOGODIGIMON.jpg
Digimon was made by another company than Pokemon in order to cash in into the money involved into kids having magical pets with supepowers fighting one another. What more can I say? When it came I reached fifth grade and a watching a ludicrous TV show like this became uncool while it would have been super cool when I was in fourth grade. Though I still watched the whole first season.
10. Patlabor
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/15/Patlabor_manga_cover.jpg/230px-Patlabor_manga_cover.jpg
A TV series about a near future world were giant robots/mecha were in common use for large scale construction work. To police these mecha a mecha police was established.
This is one of the least childish anime series I remember watching. It had a lot of actual character development and wasn't focused on battles/games or on magical girls and stuff. I think this is one of the anime series that are better for adults than children, though I don't remember much about it to be sure.
11. Nadesico
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/de/Nadesico.jpg/230px-Nadesico.jpg
I don't remember much about this series, besides having watched a couple of episodes, it had spaceships, giant robots, spacetimewarping technology and people with huge pupils. It is certainly not as childish as the TV series above Patlabor.
12. Neon Genesis Evangelion
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Evangelion_retouched.png/270px-Evangelion_retouched.png
When I was 12 a local TV network showed this TV series, I watched only 5-6 episodes but they were much more powerful and disturbing than anything I had ever seem, I was nearly traumatized by it. Truly not show adequate for children but our local TV networks though it was adequate enough that they showed it on the weekend mornings for preschoolers!
Voted the greatest animation of all time in a pool in Japan (beating all Miyazaki's and Takahata's work), this is truly a great TV series. I decided to watch the whole 26 episodes a short time after I discovered the Ghibli movies (that's it, in my early 20's). Despite some silly things (think of teenagers piloting giant clones of supernatural/apocalyptic monsters), on the whole this TV series is a masterpiece, perhaps the single most powerful emotional experience I ever had watching a TV series.
13. Cowboy Bebop
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/37/CowboyBebopDVDBoxSet.jpg/230px-CowboyBebopDVDBoxSet.jpg
Like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop was an adult TV series that I watched as a kid, like NGE, it was too much for me at the time (when I was 12-13). I am thinking of watching the whole series some day.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Cowboy-bebop-754433.jpg
I remember that I watched several episodes of Cowboy Bebop on a cable TV network that aired all these TV series subbed. Anyway, I remember it was a bit "too strong" for me.
Ultra violent anime series like Yo Yo Hakusho are still accessible for children because they lack the depth, drama and complexity that would make them too strong and challenging for young viewers. What defines the age group accessible for a TV series is mostly the degree of complexity. Not violence nor sex.
For other members: tell us about your childhood anime experiences.
14. Inuyasha
http://sosotakuu.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/inuyasha.jpg
One of the last anime series I watched as a kid, Inuyasha was one of my sister's favorite series, like Sakura Card Captor and Sailor Moon, but it is not in the magical girl genre, though it is made for the same demographic group. While I liked it, I noticed that grown ups apparently didn't reading a review of it right now.
15. Lupin III
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NEmHwVnsFFY/TlGQn3wvZ2I/AAAAAAAAAWE/OuY--6pRc4Q/s1600/lupin-third-group-shot-hero-envy.jpg
A 1970's anime series, much later on I watched the movie based on the characters on the series directed by Miyazaki. I don't remember much about it, other than being a very entertaining action/adventure TV series.