Even though I'm a huge fan of Rick Moranis, I also happen to be a huge anime fan, even as a kid. You could say that I have mixed tastes, but then again, doesn't everybody? Here is a list of my favorite retro anime released in chronological order.



Astro Boy (1980 - 1981)

This reboot of the first TV anime ever made based off of the 1950's manga Iron Arm Atom is, in my opinion, the best of the 3 anime versions of Astro Boy.

Long story short, in this version, it's the 2030's, a boy named Tobio gets into a car accident, his father Dr. Tenma makes a robot in his likeness, the robot isn't what Dr. Tenma expected, the robot runs away and ends up at a robot circus, a performer named Cathy gives the robot her pair of boots, Dr. Elefun rescues the robot, and names him Astro.

Shortly after, Astro has to deal with prejudice between robots and humans, which is rather common. He even goes to a human school where he makes friends with the kids he rescued from a haywire roller-coaster. And then, Dr. Elefun builds him a mom and dad, and on New Year's Day, he gives him a tomboyish kid sister named Uran, who has 4 episodes out of the 52 centering around her, including her debut.

There's also Astro's rival Atlas, who was built with the same blueprints. Atlas hates the way robots are oppressed by humans and since it's Astro's job to save people, the 2 of them often fight.

Good story, okay character development, humor, tearjerkers, etc. What else is there to say?



Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z (1986 - 1996)

The two Dragon Ball series are among the most well-known anime out there.

The first one follows a monkey-tailed kid named Son Goku, who, along with a teenage girl named Bulma, search for the Dragon Balls to grant a wish. Along the way, they meet a lecherous shape-shifting pig named Oolong, a gynophobic desert bandit named Yamcha and his shape-shifting talking cat Puar, the Ox King and his warrior daughter Chi-Chi, the perverted hermit Master Roshi, dwarfish monk Krillin, and others.

The second one has Goku married to Chi-Chi and together, they have a son named Son Gohan. Goku learns from his long lost older brother Raditz that he's actually a Saiyan, a humanoid species with monkey tails hailing from planet Vegeta. When Goku's former rival Piccolo kills both him and his brother, he trains Gohan to fight against 2 more Saiyans that come to Earth, Nappa and Prince Vegeta. During the fight between our heroes and the Saiyans, Piccolo dies, and Goku comes back to life after the others find the Dragon Balls. Goku and Gohan defeat the Saiyans and end up in the hospital.

Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma head off to Piccolo's home planet of Namek to find the Dragon Balls, which are bigger than Earth's Dragon Balls, in order to revive Piccolo. Meanwhile, Vegeta betrays Frieza, who is the brains of the operation, and defects to the good side, becoming Goku's rival. And as for Goku himself, he heals up, trains under intense gravity before arriving on Namek, and gets ready to fight Frieza.

The storylines are interesting, the characters are fleshed out pretty well, and the art styles and attacks are spectacularly well done.



Ranma 1/2 (1989 - 1996)

Ranma 1/2 was about a teenaged martial artist named Ranma Saotome, who, on a training trip to China with his father Genma, accidentally gets his dad turned into a panda after knocking him in a spring, and the panda knocks Ranma into another spring, turning him into a girl. Every time that they get splashed with cold water, they will become what they're cursed to be, and warm water changes them back to normal.

On top of that, Ranma is engaged to the youngest Tendo daughter, Akane, who has no interest in men. But as time passes, Ranma and Akane have a bond that gets tighter and tighter, even if they deny it.

Other characters with curses include Ryoga, Ranma's rival who turns into a black piglet, Shampoo, Ranma's other bride who turns into a cat (which Ranma is afraid of), and Mousse, a near-sighted martial artist with a crush on Shampoo who turns into a duck.

This is a pretty funny series. Check this out sometime if you can.



Tenchi series (1991 - 1997)

Tenchi Masaki was the grandson of a Shinto priest. One day, he comes across a sealed cave containing Ryoko, a rebellious Space Pirate that has been dormant for 700 years. She develops a crush on Tenchi.

There's also Princess Aeka, who vies with Ryoko over Tenchi, Sasami, Aeka's more mature kid sister, Mihoshi, a ditzy space cop, Washu, a mad scientist who happens to be Ryoko's "mother", and Ryo-Ohki, the half-rabbit, half-cat thing that is also Ryoko's spaceship. They all live with Tenchi, his father, and his grandfather.

This anime used to air time after time on Toonami, and I was ADDICTED to the characters. They're funny, compelling, and bizarre. In fact, some of my usernames on other sites were inspired by Ryo-Ohki!



Yu Yu Hakusho (1992 - 1996)

14 year old Yusuke Urameshi was a delinquent who doesn't care what anyone says, but is quick to defend children and his girlfriend Keiko. One day, while saving a boy he was making goofy faces at from a speeding car, Yusuke dies. No, really, he dies. However, the forces of the Spirit World did not expect Yusuke to risk his life protecting that boy, so they offer him a second chance at life. When Yusuke lives again, Koenma appoints him the position of Spirit Detective with shinigami Botan by his side. Joining Yusuke are Kuwabara, his rival, Kurama, who has a fox spirit inside his body, and Hiei, a rude, aloof demon.

This is another great anime series. You got to love how Spirit World is like.



Sailor Moon (1992 - 1997)

14 year old Usagi (Serena) Tsukino was just an ordinary schoolgirl who often gets 30s on her tests, until one day when she comes across a black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead. The cat's name is Luna, and she tells Usagi that she's a warrior known as Sailor Moon, who has to find the reincarnated Moon Princess. With the help of Ami Mizuno, Rei Hino, Makoto (Lita) Kino, and Minako Aino, who are the Sailor Senshi Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus respectively, they find the Moon Princess, who turns out to be Sailor Moon herself after she cries out a tear that creates the Silver Crystal!

Later on, Usagi and Mamoru (Darien), the latter who goes by the alias of Tuxedo Mask, go steady and meet a strange girl with pink hair who calls herself Usagi. Enter Chibi-Usa (Rini, a character a lot of people hate, but I personally don't hate her). Chibi-Usa was sent from the future to retrieve the Silver Crystal to save her parents, and guess who her parents are? Usagi and Mamoru, or rather, Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion.

And more later on, we get 3 more Senshi: Sailor Pluto a.k.a. Setsuna (Trista) Meioh, Chibi-Usa's kind guardian, Sailor Uranus a.k.a Haruka (Amara) Tenoh, a masculine woman with intentions different from the Inner Senshi, and Sailor Neptune a.k.a. Michiru Kaioh, Uranus/Haruka's feminine life partner. And Chibi-Usa is in training as Sailor Chibi-Moon.

As a female individual, I really adore this series. It's colorful, the characters are handled with care, and the fact that it runs on believing in love makes it all the more enjoyable for me.



Pokemon (1997 - now)

This is merely an honorable mention. If it weren't for Pokemon, I wouldn't be a big anime fan. I loved the older episodes, but the newer ones are rather annoying. The games, on the other hand, are still good.

Yu-Gi-Oh (1998 - 2004)

(Specifically, this covers the reboot that aired in 2000. I decided to add this because of the updates on this site, and sadly, I couldn't put any pictures related to it on this article, so I settled for the first season's ending.)

It starts with a shy, game-obsessed boy named Yugi Mutou, who has spent 8 years of his life trying to put together the Millenium Puzzle, which contained the spirit of an Egyptian Pharaoh, and thus Yami Yugi showed up into his life.

Originally, Yami Yugi would punish bullies and criminals by torturing them after they lose a Shadow Game. In the reboot, this was completely toned down, and Yami Yugi was reduced to being Yugi's literal game face, but he also became one of Yugi's closest friends, so close that despite wanting to help the Pharaoh recover his identity, Yugi doesn't want him to leave.

Also, the only game in the reboot is the card game that the series made popular, but while the monsters, spells, and traps are what keep people watching, it's the moments that various characters have. There's funny moments, a lot of them from Jonouchi (Joey). There's depressing moments, a few having Yugi think about what will happen once the Pharaoh leaves forever. There's moments of all kinds up the yin-yang. Too bad 4Kids cheapened the impact of anything powerful in the show.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX (2004 - 2008)

(Okay, since anything from the turn of the millennium is apparently retro now, I'll add this show, too.)

Yu-Gi-Oh GX is the sequel to the previous Yu-Gi-Oh anime. It focuses on a 15 year old boy named Judai (Jaden) Yuki, who, on the way for applications for Seto Kaiba's Duel Academy, bumps into Yugi, who gives him the Winged Kuriboh card. This is one of the cameos that Yugi will have throughout.

The series is about Judai at Duel Academy with friends, rivals, and teachers in his life. The show completely hits its stride and starts handing out a ton of action and character development to just about everybody in the second half of the first season called the Seven Stars arc, which is my personal favorite arc in the entire series. However, in season 3, it turns into a completely different show, and taking character development up to 11, especially for Judai, who is the target for a monster named Yubel.

I stopped watching anything after GX, so that's it for my opinions.
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And those are my favorite nostalgic anime.

You can find some of these titles on places such as YouTube and Amazon. Until next time, sayonara!