History Main / The90s

''Manga/{{Akira}}'', originally released in Japan in 1988, became a surprise [[CultClassic cult hit]] on home video in the West, ushering in an entire generation of {{anime}} fandom and helping, along with ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', to mount a serious offensive against the AnimationAgeGhetto. Following in its footsteps, ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'', ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', and ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' would go on to grab the attention of serious film critics the world over and signal the arrival of adult-oriented animation as an artistic presence. Meanwhile, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' redefined "CashCowFranchise" for millions of children (and [[PeripheryDemographic adults]]) around the world. ''Anime/SailorMoon'' gave girls strong female heroes to idolize besides ComicBook/WonderWoman;[[note]] while introducing many a young boy to ''*ahem*'' "mature" sensibilities. From Music/BarenakedLadies: "Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon, 'Cause that cartoon has got the 'boom;' anime babes, that make me think the wrong things." [[/note]] on the flipside, ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' redefined "action cartoon", and would be responsible for more kids taking martial arts than anything since ''Film/TheKarateKid'';[[labelnote:*]] while also introducing many a teenage girl to ''*ahem*'' "mature" [[HoYay sensibilities]]. [[MrFanservice Buff, handsome, sweaty men]] [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything slamming into each other]] every episode... this series alone could be cited for the rise of {{Yaoi}} in the US.[[/labelnote]] ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'' became the most famous and funniest show to [[NotSafeForWork never be able to be shown on US Television]].[[labelnote:*]] [[Creator/AdultSwim [adult swim] ]] once stated, when they said fans could request shows, "And before you ask... NO RANMA! THAT WILL NEVER BE SHOWN HERE! EVER!!!"[[/labelnote]] ''Anime/{{Slayers}}'' and ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar'' showed the D&D community that Japan was [[JustForFun/OneOfUs just as nerdy as we are]]. The Creator/{{Toonami}} Creator/CartoonNetwork block was launched, bringing {{Anime}} to the viewing options of The Nineties children en masse. Even though it took almost a decade for it to be widely accepted as "mainstream" media in the United States (it was already mainstream in UsefulNotes/LatinAmerica before that), [[{{Animesque}} and its influence should be obvious by now.]]

* AnimeAndMangaOfThe1990s: Even with Japan experiencing an economic bubble burst during this decade, and a moral backlash against anime with ultraviolent and hypersexual content after the "Otaku Killer" incident, the Japanese animation industry still upped the ante with [[Anime/SailorMoon lunar-powered]] or [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura card-wielding]] {{Magical Girl}}s, {{mind screw}}ing child-powered [[strike:angel-]] [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion alien-fighting mecha]], [[Anime/GundamWing multinational peacekeeping mecha pilots]], [[Anime/DragonBallZ hair-raising-powered cosmic guardians]], [[Anime/RanmaOneHalf genderbending martial artists]], [[Anime/CowboyBebop spacefaring bounty hunters]], [[Manga/SlamDunk high school basketball]], [[Manga/YuYuHakusho high school spirit detectives]], [[Manga/CaseClosed a high school sleuth in a kid's body]], [[Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne a teenage seer sucked into a war torn planet]], [[Anime/FushigiYuugi two girls trapped in an old Chinese book]], [[Manga/FlameOfRecca a fire-wielding ninja]], [[Manga/{{Berserk}} a giant sword-wielding demon slayer]], and [[Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries a kid destined to be a master by catching monsters]].

* UnkemptBeauty: At the other extreme end, there's the '70s trend that returned big after women spent the previous decade wearing heavy amounts of make-up and had skipped the hairspray.

* UnkemptBeauty: A 70s trend that returned big after women spent the previous decade wearing heavy amounts of make-up.

Because most media is TwoDecadesBehind, Fictionland ended up being set in this decade in TheNew10s, and at the start of TheNew20s this decade still looms large in pop culture.

See Also: The70s, The80s, the TurnOfTheMillennium and TheNew10s.

UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan reigned, retired, and returned. Mark [=McGwire=] and other beefy dudes beat out Roger Maris as home-run king, [[BlatantLies totally legitimately]]. The [[TheEvilEmpire New York Yankees]] "dream team" inspired Americans with good old-fashioned teamwork from 1997-2001. David Beckham became a star. [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague The NHL]] introduced a ridiculous new rule which they would abolish after it brought extreme controversy in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. Creator/{{Fox}} Sports, after a sudden establishment following their snatching of the NFL rights from CBS (resulting in a DisasterDominoes situation when they upgraded their affiliate base), introduced a glowing puck for American audiences. This also crashed and burned. The game's greatest player, UsefulNotes/WayneGretzky, retired at the close of the decade. ''Series/AmericanGladiators'', having debuted at the tail-end of the 80s, came out of nowhere and became a cultural icon with their superhero-esque Gladiators and determined contenders, as well as the frankly-bizarre events (dueling with giant Q-tips, rushing around inside giant metal hamster balls, etc.), with a [[Series/{{Gladiators}} British version]] becoming even more successful.

* ''Film/AsOne'': 2012 film about the first time ever North and South Korea competed as one team during the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.

* ''Film/{{Sunny}}'': The Past Arc of the Japanese (2018), Indonesian (2019), and Philippine (2024) remakes take place in the middle-late part of the decade.

* It was during this time that ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow'' started to become nationally syndicated and eventually became highest-rated nationally syndicated morning radio show in most major radio markets the United States.
* Chris Evan's (in)famous BBC Radio One Breakfast Show from 1995 until 1997. Initially credited with "saving" the station (the hugely-popular national station had suffered a drop in listeners following a serious shake-up under Matthew Bannister starting in 1993 in his attempt to re-position Radio One as a "youth" network following two decades of it being a "housewife's favourite"; Evan's show co-incided with an upturn in listener numbers) he increasingly became egotistical, dismissive of BBC and general broadcasting guidelines and often took what many thought was a bullying attitude to his on-air colleagues. Things eventually came to a head when he and the rest of his staff refused to come in for a Friday morning show leading to someone else having to cover for him. Evans was subsequently sacked and his career took a long, very slow nosedive which culminated in several flopped attempts at TV "comebacks" in the 2000s. He has now reached middle age, has regained much (if not all) of his former popularity and hosts the Radio Two Breakfast Show. He apparently regrets many of his past mistakes and behaviour.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen97'': Being a sequel to the [[WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries 90s animated series,]] this show remains in the same decade.

Modern culture's obsession with electronics was born in The80s and became dominant in the TurnOfTheMillennium, but it really came of age in the last half of this decade as people switched out computer models every other year. Dolly the sheep was cloned. GPS became operational. Cell phones became smaller and more common. Home computers that were actually easy to use instead of requiring a degree in programming became cheap enough to be affordable to everyone, and this, coupled with the invention of the World Wide Web [[note]]Invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee[[/note]], inevitably led to the explosion of the Internet [[note]][[MemeticMutation Invented by]] UsefulNotes/AlGore[[/note]], which opened the floodgates. [[TheInternetIsForPorn Porn]], [[WebOriginal/LOLCats gifs of kittens]], [[Rule34 porn]], jokes about the [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton Clinton]] sex scandal and [[EvilOverlordList evil overlords]], and [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment porn]] [[Rule34 involving Clinton]] were widely accessible for the first time. [[MessageBoard Bulletin Boards]] hooked up, moving from dial-in systems to the web. People began to band together to discuss their opinions of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'' on UsefulNotes/{{Usenet}}, the original "message board" system. [[UsefulNotes/EternalSeptember Soon, other people joined in]] to talk about other shows, too, and thus the seeds for the birth of [[Website/TVTropes this wiki]] were planted. So while in 1990 teenagers who "spent time on computer message boards" were nerds, by 1999 it was a social stigma among teenagers if you didn't have an e-mail address.

* Website/StarDestroyerDotNet was launched in 1998 and grew out of a usenet group dedicated to an UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny between ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/StarTrek''.