There’s a reason why retro anime from the ‘80s and ‘90s are still so popular today. The stories are timeless, thanks to their focus on character development and complex storylines.
But do you know when I realized the actual value of these masterpieces? Growing up, I learned that basically every anime broadcasted on TV during my childhood was censored.
Some censorship came from the animation studios themselves, but this decision was often left up to the network owners, who have their own standards for what is appropriate and what is not.
When it comes to blood, sexual content, and excessive violence, I understand why they would want to hide the dirt under the carpet. After all, we’re talking about networks that target their content to kids. Sometimes though, this is not the case at all.
References to Japanese culture and customs, characters’ names, and whole scenes or even episodes were cut out for the most ridiculous reasons. All this resulted in massive plot holes that nobody cared about because kids were deemed too young to realize their favorite anime made absolutely no sense anymore.
Do you remember when Sanji from One Piece was turned into a lollipop addict to justify why he always had a white stick in his mouth? Or when the executives in charge of Cardcaptor Sakura didn’t think anyone would want to watch a show centered on a female main character, changing it so that the protagonist of Cardcaptor Sakura wasn’t Sakura, but rather Syaoran?
We were forbidden from watching the real deal, which is a good enough reason to travel back in time and rewatch the top anime shows of our childhood – the complete version, this time!
#1 My Neighbor Totoro
1988 | 1h 26m
When two young girls move to the country to stay with their sick mother, they meet the magical spirits who live in the nearby forest. The film is partially autobiographical. When Hayao Miyazaki and his brothers were children, his mother suffered from spinal tuberculosis for nine years and spent much of her time hospitalized. He once said the movie would have been too painful for him to make if the two protagonists were boys instead of girls.
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#2 Princess Mononoke
1997 | 2h 13m
A representative work from Ghibli Studio and one of the most acclaimed ‘90s anime movies. On a journey to find the cure for a curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war. In this quest, he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime. With its epic story and breathtaking visuals, Princess Mononoke is a landmark in the world of animation.
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#3 Kiki’s Delivery Service
1989 | 1h 43m
During her mandatory year of independent life, a young witch finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service. When she begins questioning herself and loses her magic abilities, she must overcome her self-doubt to get her powers back. This ‘80s anime represents a heartwarming, gorgeously rendered tale of a girl discovering her place in the world.
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#4 Castle In The Sky
1986 | 2h 4m
Another one of Hayao Miyazaki’s works of art. Two kids with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle. Castle in the Sky thrillingly encapsulates Studio Ghibli’s unique strengths with a storytelling palette as rich and brilliant as its animation.
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#5 Ghost In The Shell
1995 | 1h 22m
2029. Cyborg Motoko Kusanagi is an officer for a secretive police division that deals with special operations, including counterterrorism and cybercrime. She’s on the trail of the Puppet Master, a genius cybercriminal who can hack and take control of cyborgs’ brains. A cyberpunk concept where man and machine not only coexist but are nearly indistinguishable.
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#6 Cowboy Bebop
1998 | 26 episodes
Set in 2071, Cowboy Bebop is a neo-noir science fiction anime that follows a bounty-hunting crew and their adventures of capturing wanted criminals. But it’s not all just fun and games, as the most prominent topics in Cowboy Bebop are those of existential indifference, loneliness, and the inability to escape your own past. Since its release, Cowboy Bebop has been consistently named one of the best animated series ever because of the animation style, characters, story, voice acting, and soundtrack, making it a huge commercial success.
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#7 Yu Yu Hakusho
1992 | 112 episodes
Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent, is killed by a car while saving a child’s life. For his incredible gesture of altruism, Yusuke is revived and appointed as Underworld Detective, for which he must investigate cases involving demons. Although the older animation style can take a while for more modern fans to get used to, it helps the show’s aesthetic and nostalgia.
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#8 Rurouni Kenshin
1996 | 95 episodes + 8 special episodes
The adventures of a young wandering swordsman who stumbles upon a struggling martial arts school in Meiji-era Japan. One of this classic anime’s main characters, Hajime Saitoh, was a real person. Saitoh was a swordsman for the Shinsen Gumi throughout the last days of the Shogunate government and the fighting leading up to the Meiji Restoration.
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#9 Dragon Ball Z
1989 | 291 episodes + 9 special episodes
Dragon Ball Z is the sequel series to the 1986 original adaptation. It picks up five years after the Dragon Ball series, with Goku now an adult and a father to Gohan! With the help of other powerful fighters, Goku defends the Earth from extraterrestrial enemies. Get ready for a long journey through the plotlines and events that made Dragon Ball Z so iconic!
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#10 Lupin The 3rd
1977 | 155 episodes + 27 special episodes
Follow the iconic gentleman thief and his cronies in their exploits around the world! Over fifty years after its creation, Lupin III is still not giving up its incredible popularity. Critical reception of the franchise has been largely positive, with the appeal of the lead characters being noted as the primary factor of the series’ success.
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#11 Trigun
1998 | 26 episodes
Vash is the most infamous outlaw on the planet Gunsmoke, and with a 60 billion double dollar bounty on his head, he’s also the most sought after. However, the real Vash is not the same man as rumor portrays him. The enigmatic and conflicted lead character in Trigun is actually more heroic in nature, as well as a complete and utter idiot at times!
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#12 Sailor Moon
1992 | 200 episodes + 5 special episodes
A group of schoolgirls discovers they are incarnations of princesses with superpowers and must use their abilities to defend the Earth. One of the most emblematic examples of the majokko genre and a great representation of the maturation of an emotional girl to a responsible adult. My sister and I enjoyed this show so much when we were kids. Totally recommended!
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#13 Neon Genesis Evangelion
1995 | 26 episodes + 2 special episodes (complementary ending)
When violent creatures descend on Earth to destroy humanity, Shinji finds himself a reluctant member of a squad of pilots using sentient machines to combat the threat. Don’t know about you, but every time the Evangelion topic comes up, it always creates a huge debate about whether it actually deserves all the hype or if it’s overrated. In the end, it doesn’t matter what you think about it; Evangelion is still considered a Japanese animation milestone!
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#14 Dragon Ball
1986 | 153 episodes + 2 special episodes
The original Dragon Ball series was adapted from the first 194 chapters of Akira Toriyama’s manga. This is the first time we meet the monkey-tailed Goku on-screen, befriending teenager Bulma, and then follow them on a mission to find all seven mystical Dragon Balls. With all its storylines beautifully uniting into one series, there’s no way that Dragon Ball could ever get boring!
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#15 Berserk
1997 | 25 episodes
A skilled swordsman joins forces with a mercenary group named “The Band of the Hawk”, run by the charismatic Griffith, and fights with them as they battle their way into the royal court. Unique, vibrantly and colorful art style and one of the most manga-accurate versions of the characters. Did you know the original manga heavily influenced the Dark Souls video game series?
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#16 Perfect Blue
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#17 Great Teacher Onizuka
1999 | 43 episodes
Eikichi Onizuka, a 22-year-old ex-gangster, is unemployed and desperate to find a job. Miraculously, his charisma gets the attention of a private school’s director, who appoints him as the teacher of a problematic class. With his unconventional manners, he becomes a role model for his hopeless students and guides them towards a society that had previously abandoned them. A landmark among the greatest anime of the ‘90s!
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#18 Hunter X Hunter
1999 | 62 episodes
Despite the first Hunter x Hunter not sticking as closely to the actual events from the manga as its 2011 counterpart, this old-school anime deserves a special mention! The series follows Gon Freecss, an orphan boy about to take the exam to become a licensed Hunter, allowed to track down secret treasures, rare beasts, and other individuals. And that’s basically enough to know that the plot will be soaked in action and adventures.
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#19 Ranma ½
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#20 Case Closed
1996 | Ongoing (1000+ episodes)
A genius detective, whose physical age was forcibly reversed to a prepubescent boy, must hide his true identity. This doesn’t stop him from saving the day by solving the most complex cases! Case Closed, also known as Detective Conan, is an ongoing series that marked the childhood of entire generations and has now released more than a thousand episodes.
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#21 Outlaw Star
1998 | 26 episodes
Gene Starwind and James Hawking run a small handyman agency and are hired to protect Captain Hilda, who drives a spaceship, the XGP-15A II, also nicknamed Outlaw Star, in search of a legendary place that enshrines an incredible treasure. This anime will impress you with its animation style and balance of dramatic and comedic elements!
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#22 Yu-Gi-Oh!
1998 | 27 episodes
The very first series from the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. Yugi Mutou is a shy boy who has finally completed his grandfather’s ancient Millennium Puzzle. Little does he realize that the puzzle unleashes an alter ego who challenges anyone who hurts Yugi to dangerous games. The Shadow Games reveal the true nature of someone’s heart, and the losers are often subjected to dark punishments. The author initially wanted to make Yu-Gi-Oh a horror work and, despite the change of plan, some horror elements still influenced the story as we know it.
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#23 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
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#24 Tenchi Muyo
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#25 Digimon: Digital Monsters
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#26 Akira
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#27 Pokémon
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#28 Fist Of The North Star
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#29 Slam Dunk
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#30 The Vision Of Escaflowne
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#31 Robotech
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#32 Grave Of The Fireflies
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#33 Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind
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#34 Porco Rosso
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#35 Serial Experiments Lain
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#36 Æon Flux
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#37 Kimba The White Lion
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#38 Ninja Scroll
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#39 Whisper Of The Heart
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#40 Slayers
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#41 Voltron: Defender Of The Universe
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#42 Nadia: The Secret Of Blue Water
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#43 Space Pirate Captain Harlock
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#44 Vampire Princess Miyu
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#45 Bubblegum Crisis
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#46 Astro Boy
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#47 Dirty Pair
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#48 The Rose Of Versailles
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#49 Urusei Yatsura
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#50 X
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#51 Cardcaptor Sakura
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#52 Cat’s Eye
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#53 Revolutionary Girl Utena
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#54 Fushigi Yuugi
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#55 Saint Seiya
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#56 The Big O
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#57 Black Jack
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#58 Space Battleship Yamato
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#59 Macross Plus
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#60 Doraemon
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#61 Gunsmith Cats
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#62 Dominion Tank Police
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#63 Pom Poko
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#64 Digimon Adventure
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#65 Captain Tsubasa
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#66 Maison Ikkoku
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#67 City Hunter
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#68 Dr. Slump
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#69 Devilman: The Birth
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#70 Galaxy Express 999
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#71 Devil Hunter Yohko
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#72 Aishite Knight
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#73 Golden Boy
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#74 Speed Racer
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#75 Princess Sarah
#76 Magic Knight Rayearth
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#77 Mazinger Z
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#78 Project A-Ko
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#79 Battle Of The Planets
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#80 Kaiketsu Zorro
#81 Space Adventure Cobra
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#82 Now And Then, Here And There
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#83 Ai No Wakakusa Monogatari
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#84 Magical Angel Creamy Mami
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#85 Tokimeki Tonight
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#86 Initial D
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#87 Heidi, Girl Of The Alps
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#88 Legend Of The Galactic Heroes
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#89 Kodocha
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#90 Patlabor: The TV Series
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#91 Monster Rancher
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#92 Romeo And The Black Brothers
#93 Kimagure Orange Road
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#94 His And Her Circumstances
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#95 Candy Candy
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#96 Black Magic M-66
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#97 Blue Seed
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#98 Cutie Honey Flash
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#99 Flame Of Recca
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#100 The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
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#101 Magical Doremi
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#102 Queen Millennia
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#103 Jubei-Chan: The Ninja Girl
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#104 Devilman: The Demon Bird
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#105 Alpen Rose
#106 Tosho Daimos
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#107 Kindaichi Case Files
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#108 Tiger Mask
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#109 Crest Of The Stars
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#110 Kishin Douji Zenki
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#111 Touch
#112 Martian Successor Nadesico
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#113 Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl
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#114 Key The Metal Idol
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#115 Aim For The Ace!
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#116 Princess Nine
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#117 Voltes V
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#118 Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure
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#119 Majokko Megu-Chan
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#120 Tomorrow’s Joe
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#121 Macross 7: The Galaxy Is Calling Me
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#122 Dragon Quest: Dai No Daibouken
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#123 Ghost Sweeper Mikami
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#124 A Wind Named Amnesia
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#125 After War Gundam X
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#126 Dear Brother
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#127 Bakusou Kyoudai Let’s & Go
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#128 Hiatari Ryōkō!
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#129 Mashin Hero Wataru
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#130 Kyou Kara Ore Wa!!
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#131 Jigoku Sensei Nube
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#132 Honoo No Toukyuuji: Dodge Danpei
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#133 Space Pirate Mito
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#134 Yume Senshi Wingman
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#135 Esper-Mami
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#136 Igano Kabamaru
#137 Stop! Hibari-Kun
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#138 Phoenix 2772
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#139 Azuki-Chan
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#140 Armored Trooper Votoms
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