1980's
Anime Comes Into Its Own
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Anime Releases In Japan
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Mobile Suit Gundam |
Yamato: Be Forever Cyborg 009 Super Galaxy Mobile Suit Gundam I Mobile Suit Gundam II Baldios (Space Warrior Baldios) Queen Millenia movie Mobile Suit Gundam 3 My Youth in Arcadia Cobra movie Godmars movie Votoms Orguss Mospeada Cats Eye Lupin III series 3 Giant Gorg The Southern Cross Hokuto No Ken (Fist of the North Star) Lensman Z Gundam TV-ZZ Gundam Maison Ikkoku |
Dragon Ball Z |
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In the 1980's, Japan experienced an economic boom that amazed the world. The financial problems that had plagued it since World War II were mitigated --- at least for the decade --- by strict spending policies and drastic government reform. What would later be known in the 1990's as "the bubble economy" enabled Japan to skyrocket to equal economic standing with other world superpowers. Anime during this time period split into two directions. One direction involved the "japanization" of anime characters and deliberate addition of distinctly Japanese cultural elements in background and plot. The other moved off further into the fantastic, resulting in characters and backgrounds that seemed out of this world: characters with a rainbow assortment of hair colors, magical powers, and strange lands that are more reminiscent of the world of Alice in Wonderland than any place in the real world. A small portion of the American public had by this point become avid fans of anime, but it was still very much an underground cult following in the United States.