The purpose of this entry is to highlight the most influential anime in the most influential genres. It catalogues series by their relationship to their genre — as Trope Makers, Trope Codifiers, Deconstructions and Reconstructions — and films by release date.
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Series by Genre
Genres Codified Pre-1991note
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Anime as a Whole
- Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom, 1963). It is considered the second "true" anime series ever produced. The first, which began in 1962, is called Instant History. The latter appears to exist only in mentions on web pages (a search of amazon.co.jp for the hiragana/katakana title returned no entries). Although all but forgotten in the United States, Atom is something of a cultural institution in Japan, where the title character's early-2000s "creation date" was practically a national holiday. And a CGI feature film version reached theatres in North America in October 2009.
- Kimba the White Lion (Janguru Taiteinote , 1965). This series from Osamu Tezuka was the first TV anime produced in colour. While it is a story of a lion cub becoming king of the jungle after the sudden death of his father, don't be confused - overall, it bears little resemblance to that certain popular movie made decades later.
Battle Shounen
Note that most of these series come from Shonen Jump, the most popular shounen magazine in the world.
- Unbuilt Trope: Dororo (1969). Anime based on a Osamu Tezuka manga about a wandering swordsman. The anime later had a remake in 2019.
- Trope Makers:
- Tiger Mask (1969), based on the 1968 manga of the same name. While technically a sports anime, its use of outlandish villain gimmicks, over-the-top special moves and execution of every common Fighting Series trope makes it one of the earliest examples of the genre. In fact, its writer Ikki Kajiwara dominated the genre between the late '60s to early '70s, straddling the fence between sports and fighting manga, with works like Tomorrow's Joe, Kick no Oni, Karate Baka Ichidai or Judo Sanka (give or take a Kurenai Sanshiro or Animal 1).
- Kinnikuman (1983). Started as a gag-filled parody manga of Ultraman in 1979, but by 1980 it became at least semi-serious. The fights mostly revolved around straight-up Professional Wrestling at first, but it wasn't long before outrageous and outlandish attacks began to slip into the series. Kinnikuman is more in line with later Shonen than North Star in terms of its lighter tone, and, like North Star, it spawned a franchise that's still around today.
- Fist of the North Star (1983). This series featured over-the-top martial arts fighting (which was very gory in the manga, but mostly sanitized as shadows or glowing white liquid in the anime) and pretty much defined the Shonen fighting genre in manga and anime of the 80's, being easily the most popular manga of the early 80s. It stood among other series for being the first one to have the fighters' attacks actually following the reader's eyes instead of simply showing the two fighters on the same panel, a technique that Dragon Ball imitates and redefines, and since then every good battle shonen follows this rule. During its run, many mangas tried to imitate its style until Dragon Ball redefined the Battle Shonen genre. The main series ended in 1988, but material is still produced every so often up to this day.
- Trope Codifiers:
- Dragon Ball (1986). The first shonen fighting series to get really popular in America; the second half is credited with popularizing anime worldwide. Became the most popular series in Mexico during the nineties. Like Fist of the North Star, the franchise is still active to this day, despite the original story ending decades ago, with Toei providing numerous non-canon films, two canon films, two sequel shows, and too many video games to count.
- "The Big Three" - these Shonen Jump properties brought anime to the forefront of Western pop culture after Dragon Ball Z ended and are considered to have refined the latter's tropes during the beginning of the 21st century. They include:
- One Piece (1999): The story is about Monkey D. Luffy, a young man who journeys with his crew to become the "King of the Pirates" by finding a treasure known as the "One Piece". It is based on the best selling manga of all time and is a Cash-Cow Franchise spawning several films, spin-offs, video games and even a live action series.
- Naruto (2002): The story is about Naruto Uzumaki, a boy who dreams of being the Hokage, the leader of his village, while also dealing with a fox demon sealed within him. Was the most popular anime/manga series in the West during the 2000s. It also has a sequel series which focuses on the titular character's son.
- Bleach (2004): The story is about Ichigo Kurosaki, a teenage boy who becomes a Shinigami. The series is frequently compared to the above 2 shows. Unlike them, which their anime adaptations all ran continuously up until the end, the anime series ended in 2012 before the manga finished. That is, until 2022 which the anime was revived by adapting the last arc. The series was also one of the headling anime series of [adult swim] and also helped to bring back Toonami (which that also helped to revive the popularity of English dubbed anime).
- Parody: Ranma ½ (1989). Based on the manga of the same name by Takahashi Rumiko, Ranma 1/2 is a fusion of harem comedy and shonen fighting, and was, along with Sailor Moon, one of the early-1990s gateway anime for North American fans. Codified the Martial Arts and Crafts form of parody.
- Deconstruction: Hunter × Hunter (TV+OVA 1999, TV 2011). Based on Yoshihiro Togashi's 1998 manga, the story follows a young boy who sets out to find his father by following in his footsteps as a Hunternote . Hunter x Hunter takes several tropes common to the genre and plays around with them, subverting them or taking them to their logical (and sometimes terrifying or depressing, especially in the Chimera Ant Arc, which is covered in the second half of the 2011 anime) conclusions. Due to the manga's frequent hiatuses, there are two anime adaptations: one from 1999 that was a modest success, and one from 2011 that helped the franchise gain even more prominence.
- Decon-Recon Switch: Attack on Titan (2013). The story of the remnants of the human race fighting mysterious giants, Attack on Titan takes stock shonen tropes to their logical (and often fatal) conclusions, though it becomes muddied later on when humanity comes back from the brink while also discovering dark secrets about itself and its enemies. Generally credited with the revival of anime in Western pop culture through streaming services like Crunchyroll, Attack on Titan has become as popular as fellow shonen series that play their tropes straight.
- Satire: One-Punch Man (2015). The fighting shonen genre typically begins with the main character being relatively weak then throughout the series makes him/her stronger. This series begins with Saitama already being established as the universe's strongest man, being able to defeat any enemy with a single punch. Ironically, it's not a Shonen, but a Seinen.
- Reconstructions:
- My Hero Academia (2016). Set in an Urban Fantasy version of Japan where people are born with superpowers, My Hero Academia follows a powerless boy who becomes the protege of the greatest hero alive, in the wake of a supervillain uprising. Considered the Spiritual Successor of the Big Three and has risen to prominence comparable to its predecessors.
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019). A story about a boy whose family was killed by demons, except for his sister who had turned into a demon, and his quest to turn her back into human. He does so by becoming into a Demon Slayer. Despite being very violent compared to most other shounen anime before it, the anime still has the usual shounen tropes (such as themes of family and friendship). The anime is also one the most successful anime series in the late 2010s and early 2020s. The Movie based on the Mugen Train arc, became the highest grossing Japanese film of all time in 2021 beating the likes of Spirited Away which had held the title for around 2 decades.
- See also Kill la Kill below under Magical Girl Warrior.
Fantasy
- Record of Lodoss War (1990). A straightforward (i.e. tropey) adaptation of a first-edition Dungeons and Dragons game, and an excellent example of cross-cultural osmosis. Codified a Japanese take on Western Fantasy, inspiring elements of early JRPGs and the Legend of Zelda series.
- Dark Fantasy: Berserk (TV 1997, Movies 2012-13, TV 2016). Mixing Dung Ages medievalism with demonic horror, this series adapted from the manga Berserk by Kentaro Miura is well known for its beautiful story and its utterly nightmarish monsters and violence. It focuses on a one-eyed mercenary badass with a giant sword who seeks vengeance against his former commander and best friend for betraying him in one of the most unforgivable manners imaginable, and roams the world killing any demon that comes for him.
- See also the Isekai folder below.
Humongous Mecha
Super Robot Genre
- Trope Maker: Gigantor (Tetsujin 28, 1963). The beginning of the Humongous Mecha genre.
- Trope Codifier: Mazinger Z (1972). The show that launched the Super Robot Genre. While Tetsujin 28 was the original giant robot, Mazinger is probably the most influential.
Real Robot Genre
- Trope Maker: Mobile Suit Gundam (Kidou Senshi Gundam, 1979). A cultural phenomenon in its own right, Mobile Suit Gundam spawned a franchise that is still producing new series today. It was the first major attempt to ground giant robots in a military context, both in how they fought and the drama for the pilots.
- Trope Codifier: Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982). Best known in North America as the source for the first third of Robotech (1984), this was the first successful show that got rid of the Super Robot tropes that Gundam still kept (like colourful Ace Custom robots for the main characters) and was grounded to the point that several episodes had no fighting.
- Deconstruction: Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). The most influential series on the Humongous Mecha genre since Gundam's debut and also one of anime's most (in)famous examples of Mind Screw. In America, it was released commercially into a market prepared by such series as Ranma ½ and Sailor Moon. This series is a must for anyone who wants to go further in the mecha genre or anyone interested in dark psychological drama and eschatology.
- See also Martian Successor Nadesico below, under Space Opera.
- Genre Throwback: GaoGaiGar (1997). Unapologetic of the original Hot-Blooded-ness and other tropes associated with mecha. When it ended and showed through DVD sales that it was a massive hit with otaku, what followed was a ton of remakes and sequels of old-school Super Robots, from Getter Robo to Mazinger Z to even Kotetsu Jeeg, as well as new entries such as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
- Reconstruction: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007). Produced by the studio responsible for Evangelion, Gurren Lagann is an honest return to form for the mecha genre. It embraces many popular tropes of the Super Robot era and takes them further. Most notably, it was created as a deliberate Spiritual Antithesis to Evangelion, which can be best seen in its protagonist, Simon, who starts off similar to Evangelion's protagonist, Shinji, but takes a more positive route in his character growth.
Magical Girl
- Sally the Witch. Often considered the first Magical Girl Anime, based off the Manga of the same name. With the original series airing between 1966 and 1967 and originally appearing in black and white for the first 17 episodes. Spawned a sequel series and had a large and lasting impact on Shojo Anime.
- Himitsu no Akko-chan (1969). One of the first and one of the most defining examples of Magical Girl Anime. Based off a Manga of the same name and sporting two remakes, running from 1988 - 1989 and 1998 - 1999.
- Cutie Honey (1973). The first Magical Girl Anime to feature truly evil villains and transformation sequences. Has had many, many remakes over the years, including two live action movies. Trope Maker of the Magical Girl Warrior.
- Cardcaptor Sakura (1998). A magical girl series by CLAMP. Besides simply being wildly popular, the show broke many of the genre molds and proved that kawaii; did not have to equal fluff. The main characters, Sakura and Li Syaoran, return later as alternate incarnations in the universe-hopping Tsubasa Chronicle.
- Sailor Moon (1992): Trope Codifier of Magical Girl Warrior by merging Magical Girls with Sentai. Created what Magical Girl means to the West, with scores of copycats, including the long-running Pretty Cure Franchise.
- Deconstructions:
- Revolutionary Girl Utena. Arguably the first deconstruction in the entire genre. More info down below under Magical Girl Warrior.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica. What many fans consider as the Evangelion of Magical Girls, it is the Trope Codifier of the Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction. First aired in 2011, the 12-episode series takes the expected traits of the average Magical Girl show and turns it upside down in a not very happy, tightly woven plot with acclaimed music and visuals. Turns into a Decon-Recon Switch at the end of the TV series, but even that is deconstructed in The Movie. Generally considered to be a modern classic.
- Reconstruction: Little Witch Academia. First created as a 26-minute short film in 2013, a short movie in 2015, and a 25-episode series in 2017, this reconstructs the 'Cute Witch' subgenre with light adventure.
- Deconstructive Parody: Magical Girl Ore. Puella Magi Madoka Magica created a subgenre of "Dark" magical girl shows that wallowed in despair and pain and subversion of expectations. Ore take all of those same traits, but Played for Laughs instead.
Magic Idol Singer
- Trope Maker and Trope Codifier: Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel. Aired in Japan from 1983 to 1984.
Romantic Comedy
- Trope Codifier: Maison Ikkoku aired from 1986 to 1988, based on Rumiko Takahashi's manga of the same name which ran from 1980 to 1987. One of the classics of anime romance, and the template for many romantic comedies even today. It's not uncommon for people to refer to (name of modern romantic comedy) as "better when it was called Maison Ikkoku." Maison Ikkoku codified the Pretty Freeloaders trope and combined it with Unlucky Everydude, and used a more generalized/realistic form of Belligerent Sexual Tension.
Harem
- Unbuilt Trope: See Urusei Yatsura below, under Magical Girlfriend.
- Tenchi Muyo!: The first OVA series, along with Ranma, introduced non-Japanese audiences to the unwanted harem genre. Followed by Tenchi Universe, the television continuity, which aired in Japan in 1995 and differs significantly in scope from the original 1992 OVA. Tenchi Universe was then followed by several other series with (mostly) the same core cast and situations (but with often radically different implementations), as well as three motion pictures. A third OVA series released in 2004 extends the original OVA plotline, but leaves matters just as unresolved as its predecessors.
- See also Ranma ½ above, under Battle Shounen. This series is a Trope Codifier for Love Dodecahedrons—every member of the Unwanted Harem has his or her own unrequited love interest—and Belligerent Sexual Tension, of which it is often considered the best example (the trope was once named "Takahashi Couple").
- School Days deconstructs the Unwanted Harem trope by going in a completely different direction from Ranma 1/2. Ranma asks the question "How does an honourable man deal with multiple obligations to marry?" School Days asks "What happens if the guy decides to boink ALL the girls?" Answer: Nothing good. Aired in 2007. Also the source of the "Nice Boat" meme.
- Affectionate Parody: Ouran High School Host Club a show that both is and delightfully parodies a shojo romantic highschool comedy/ reverse harem, making fun of fangirls, moe, gender differences, teenage angst, romantic hero stock characters, yaoi, yuri and all with a shower of rose petals and a nudge on the fourth wall.
Shoujo Drama
- Trope Maker: Princess Knight (Ribon no Kishi, 1967). Distributed under the title "Choppy and the Princess" in America, Princess Knight followed the adventures of Princess Sapphire, a young girl who was mistakenly given the heart of a boy and a girl, and how she was raised as a boy in order to inherit the throne of her country in order to thwart the efforts of Duke Duralumon. The story shows Sapphire's interactions and conflicts with people and her own heart, staples of shoujo that still hold to this day.
- Trope Codifier: The Rose of Versailles. The highly influential 1972 manga/1979 anime that changed how shoujo manga and anime were perceived. The manga in particular is notable for being the first shoujo manga to achieve critical and commercial success, and to become popular with teenage girls and women (rather than elementary school girls, for which shoujo manga was typically aimed up until that point). The anime is equally notable for being a hit worldwide except for English-speaking areas, where it remained stubbornly unavailable until 2013.
- See also the Magical Girl and Magical Girl Warrior folders.
Space Opera
- Space Battleship Yamato (a.k.a. Star Blazers, 1974). It was the first popular English-translated anime that had an over-arching plot and storyline that required the episodes to be shown in order. Even while being toned down a bit by editing, it also dealt with much more mature themes than any other productions being aimed at the same target audience at the time. As a result, it paved the way for the introduction and popularity of future arc-based, plot-driven anime translations. It also heavily addressed Japanese thoughts about WWII, the nuclear bomb, and so forth.
- Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Character created in 1953, first animated in 1978. The series that launched the Leijiverse proper, and one of the archetypal examples of the Space Opera genre.
- Martian Successor Nadesico (1996). A sometimes-humorous, sometimes-serious parody/satire of the Humongous Mecha and Space Opera genres. Although it was much more popular in Japan than the West, its deconstructions of the genre influenced many shows to come after.
- Parody: Space☆Dandy. Created by Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe the series and produced by Studio Bones. The series follows around the spectacular adventures of Space Dandy and his brave space crew... in space. With a dub that premiered in [adult swim] even before the Japanese premiere, this was also one of the first series that had a "simuldub" (dubs that come out around the same time as the original Japanese release) release which soon became a common practice for many anime releasing in the West during the mid-to-late 2010s.
- See also Cowboy Bebop below, under the [adult swim] folder.
Sports Anime
- Trope Maker: Kyojin no Hoshi (Star of the Giants) (1968). The "star" of the story is Hyuuma Hoshi, a young pitcher dreaming of making it big in the majors like his father had until the older man was injured in World War II and had to retire. Star of the Giants established that baseball anime almost always star the pitcher- as opposed to American baseball shows that tend to depict other positions almost as often as the pitcher.
- Trope Codifiers:
- Captain Tsubasa. Many series followed Captain Tsubasa, the most important sports comicbook (not just manga) in history, having brought interest in football in Japan, where previously it was unknown, and inspired an entire generation of football players across the entire world. The Hero is a natural soccer loving boy, but still need others to learn and progress. A lot of Shōnen tropes were used too.
- Modern: Slam Dunk. While there had been sports anime before it, '"Slam Dunk'' established many of the genre conventions later anime would follow. It also was written with the purpose of educating viewers on the sport: just as Sakuragi is learning the rules and techniques of basketball, so do we by following his progress.
- Shoujo: Attack No. 1, based on the 1968 manga and airing starting in 1969. Kozue Ayuhara comes to college and joins the volleyball team, shows talent that impresses the coach and eventually the other players, and through intense training rises to become one of Japan's Olympic champion volleyball team. Trope Maker for many of the shoujo sports anime tropes, including having a crush on the male coach.
- Romantic: Touch (1981). One of Mitsuru Adachi's first major works. Touch established him as dominating the subgenre of sports with romance, which he continues to this day with recent works like Cross Game. It also established as obligatory the tragic background story for the hero and the use of sports as a catharsis for the complications of life and romance.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys Codifier: The Prince of Tennis, a show about tennis, is the first noteworthy sports anime that attracted a huge female and yaoi fanbase which became a common element in the genre.
- Kuroko's Basketball, Free! and especially Haikyuu!! (which are about basketball, swimming and volleyball) later also contribute this element in the 2010s for western audiences.
Genres Codified Post-1991note
Adult Swim
These series are notable for their impact on a certain generation of Western fans rather than genres in their home country.
- Cowboy Bebop (Japan 1998; Adult Swim 2001). Just your run-of-the-mill Cyber-Noir Space-Cowboy Yakuza show with a jazz soundtrack. With few cultural barriers, an exciting (mostly-) episodic format, and what many consider is the best English dub, it was the premier gateway anime of the 00s.
- FLCL, i.e. Fooly Cooly (Japan 2000; Adult Swim 2003). A six-episode OVA about a twelve-year-old boy learning to deal with sexuality, heartbreak, and parental neglect... oh, and the giant fighting robots that periodically erupt from his forehead. Warmly received in Japan, it was an instant cult classic upon its premiere in the U.S., so much so that Adult Swim itself ordered two sequels a decade-and-a-half later. Notable for the quality of its dub and for being Avatar: The Last Airbender's creators' favorite anime.
- See also Bleach and Attack on Titan above, under Battle Shonen (which both helped to revived anime's popularity in the west), and Space☆Dandy above, under Space Opera (which helped popularized simultaneous dubbing).
Isekai
- Aura Battler Dunbine (1982) is the Trope Maker, about a young man transported to a fantasy world where he becomes a Mecha pilot.
- Codifier with Shoujo Romance: Fushigi Yuugi. It started its run in 1992 and features an ordinary high school girl, Miaka Yuuki, who is transported into another world where she learns that she is the priestess of the god Suzaku and must find the seven Seishi, people with special ties to Suzaku, most of whom also happen to be handsome young men. Elements of the "ordinary girl stumbles into world where she is revered as a priestess/goddess/queen/person with otherwise special destiny which somehow links her to one or more Bishounen who will inevitably fall in love with her" plot turn up in a lot of other series which came later (Inuyasha, The Vision of Escaflowne, From Far Away, Red River, Harukanaru Toki no Naka de...).
- The Familiar of Zero was the Trope Codifier that forever married the "isekai" genre alongside the Harem Genre. The male lead Saito Hiraga is something of an Ur-Example of the isekai brand of Stock Light-Novel Hero. While certainly a Chick Magnet and overall Nice Guy, he is only the Deuteragonist and thus lacks many other Escapist Character traits such as being an Invincible Hero; it can be said that most isekai stories afterwards are simply Familiar of Zero fanfiction with Saito promoted to protagonist out of Wish-Fulfillment (as admitted to by Sword Art Online author Reki Kawahara).
- Sword Art Online. A light novel series turned anime in 2012, it follows a gamer who gets trapped in multiple video games and has to fight in order to make it out of them alive. One of the first anime of The New '10s to gain mainstream recognition, Sword Art Online is considered the shaper of isekai in its modern form and paved the way for the Stock Light-Novel Hero archetype although Sword Art Online is technically not an isekai itself.
- Deconstructions:
- Re:Zero: Starting Life in Another World. A web novel series which was given an anime adaptation in 2016. Follows a teenage NEET whose sanity is challenged when he is mysteriously pulled into a fantasy world where he is repeatedly put in lethal situations as he tries to adjust to this new reality. It became a Sleeper Hit and one of the most popular anime of 2016.
- The Rising of the Shield Hero: A very dark deconstruction that received an anime adaptation in 2019. It follows Naofumi, a college student who is summoned to another world with three other heroes, but while they are given powerful offensive weapons like a sword, bow and spear, he is given a weak shield and shown nothing but constant contempt and disrespect. A betrayal and False Rape Accusation made by his first party member completely destroys the little reputation and optimism he had left, and thus is born the "Demon of the Shield" — an Anti-Hero who despises this new world and will do whatever it takes to return to his original home.
- Deconstructive Parody: KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! A one-shot web novel turned light novel series turned 2016-2017 anime, KonoSuba tells the story of a NEET who is taken to an RPG Mechanics 'Verse after death and forms a party with less-than-pleasant caricatures of RPG archetypes. Makes fun of the "grand quest in another world" plot by having its protagonists being more concerned with money and food than defeating the story's Big Bad. Like its 2016 contemporary Re:Zero, KonoSuba exploded in popularity when it first came out.
- Reconstruction:
- Ascendance of a Bookworm is about a girl who loves books being reborn as a young girl in a fantasy medieval-like world. After finding out that books are rare in her new world, she invents ways to make one along with inventing other ways to make her life easier in this new world. The show returns isekai to its Shōjo fantasy roots, casting aside the RPG Verse of more modern shows.
Magical Girl Warrior
- Trope Maker: Cutey Honey (1973). What began as the first Shonen program with a female protagonist became the Trope Maker of Magical Girl Warrior via the Periphery Demographic the TV series garnered (partly due to the toned down Ecchi elements). It set many of the standards for the genre.
- Trope Codifier: Sailor Moon (1992). The first series most anyone thinks of when Magical Girls are mentioned, although it is equally a sentai series. It was still popular enough over a decade after its premiere that it was given a Live Action Adaptation in 2003. Sailor Moon Crystal, a new anime series that follows the manga more closely, started airing in 2014.
- Deconstruction: Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997). Compared stylistically to The Rose of Versailles, it combines a chivalric romance story about a duel for a princess's hand with a surreal, Jungian thriller. Its post-modern narrative and feminist themes distinguish it from any other anime ever made.
- Reconstructions:
- Genre Throwback: Pretty Cure. The most popular modern-day magical girl show in Japan. It plays many tropes straight again, but with a post-modern flavor and Dragon Ball-styled physical fighting.
- Kill la Kill (2013). Made by a crew including most of the alumni of fellow Reconstruction Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill is in many ways a throwback to Cutey Honey and makes fun of several magical girl tropes, such as costumes and Transformation Sequences that are farcically revealing, but is heart a fighting series played straight.
Magical Girlfriend
- Unbuilt Trope: Urusei Yatsura (1981). The first major work by Rumiko Takahashi might be a parody of the Magical Girlfriend fantasy if there were an earlier straight example. The show's poster girl, a cutesy alien named Lum who habitually wears a tiger-striped bikini, is easily one of the most recognizable anime characters in history; because of her, the bumbling, well-meaning Magical Girlfriend has become an archetype in its own right.
- Trope Codifier: Ah! My Goddess (Aa! Megami-sama; OVA 1993, TV 2005). The standard-bearer for the Magical Girlfriend genre, Goddess is based on a long-running manga which started in 1988.
Mind Screw
- Trope Maker: See Neon Genesis Evangelion under Humongous Mecha. A must for anyone interested in dark psychological drama and eschatology—they don't call it a Gainax Ending for nothing.
- Trope Codifiers:
- Serial Experiments Lain. Starting with Lain (1998), late night Japanese television became a forum for experimental anime with other shows following it such as Boogiepop Phantom (2000), Texhnolyze (2003) and Paranoia Agent (2004).
- See also Revolutionary Girl Utena above, under Magical Girl Warrior, and FLCL above, under Adult Swim.
Mons
- A proper look at the Mons genre would require going into Video Games, particularly the Trope Maker, Shin Megami Tensei.
- Trope Codifier: Pokémon: The Series (1997). A major multimedia franchise, Pokémon was the first major Mons series to be targeted towards children, and also the first to make it across the Atlantic; though the RPG series is the true core of the franchise, the anime tends to be the more well-known version. Since then, most Mons series have followed the graphical stylings and kid-friendliness of the Pokémon franchise. It's also something of a template insofar as the adaptation of video games to anime, of which it is by far the longest-lived and most successful.
- Deconstructions:
- Digimon Tamers (2001). The first anime to ask the question: "How would the existence of Mons work in real life?" Well, the government gets involved, many of the kids become emotionally traumatized, people die period, and cities get levelled. Also had an unprecedented level of depth compared to its predecessors, which were themselves no slouches in that department – the characters get a huge amount of development, and there's a whole website explaining the sheer intricacy of the world-building process of the series. The hardest Mons series on the Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness.
- Shadow Star (2003), by Mohiro Kitoh, perhaps best known for his other genre deconstruction, Bokurano. The premise of the genre, namely that kids gain control of powerful beasts and go on adventures, gets twisted by averting the last part: instead of going on adventures the children form terrorist groups to shape the world as they see fit, and being a immortal one-man army, they are pretty effective and deadly, develop symptoms of A God Am I and reap a lot of hate. Controlling this power turns the kids life to worse since they get sucked into the conflict. Almost all owners of a shadow dragon die before the series ends.
Slice of Life
- Unbuilt Trope: Sazae-san (1969-). Based on the 1946-79 comic strip depicting ordinary life in Japan. When it first started airing, it was considered very liberal and supportive of strong women in Japan; today, it is seen as enshrining traditional Japanese life. The anime is notable among animation buffs for being both the longest-running animated series in the world and the last still-running animated production to utilize traditional animation*.
Iyashikei
- Trope Codifier: ARIA (2005). ARIA is often identified as a trope codifier for "pure" Slice of Life anime. Set in a fantastical world, yet there is little or no adventure beyond the typical life issues we see on Earth. For people who like lovely imagery of beautiful girls against a wondrous backdrop, this Slice of Life series is a nice change of pace from the action and fanservice of most other anime. Known for a slow pace, and beautifully drawn scenery. Often compared with the earlier manga Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.
Schoolgirl Series
- Trope Codifier: Azumanga Daioh (2002), which can best be described as an anime sketch comedy starring a group of high school girls and their teachers. Originally aired in five-minute segments during the week, which were then combined on Saturday into a half-hour episode.
- Moe Codifier: K-On! (2009). A comedy about four (+1) adorable girls who form a Rock & Roll club and grow into their responsibilities as bandmates, students, and senpai — when they aren't goofing off and drinking tea instead of practicing. Director Naoko Yamada's naturalistic approach to the characters appealed to a wide audience and inspired many imitators, which lead to the association of "cute girls doing cute things" with Slice of Life. Also the first anime to have an opening theme, "Go! Go! Maniac," top the Oricon charts.
- Parody: Haruhi Suzumiya (2006). A slice-of-life in name only, this light novel adaptation puts a twist on the standard school club plot with its eponymous character, whose boundless imagination (and her excessive jerkassery) combined with her supposed reality warping ability creates a number of fantastical scenarios for her to enjoy, and her fellow club members to deal with. Notable for causing a worldwide cultural impact when it first came out; in Japan, it proved that light novels could be a credible medium for anime adaptations, and in the West, it became one of the first non-shounen series to become widely popular in the anime fandom.
Films by Release Date
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Naushika, 1984). Post-apocalyptic SF/Fantasy story about the futility of war and Man's place in nature (both extremely common themes in postwar Japanese culture) and the dangers of biological warfare. Its success paved the way for the founding of the highly influential Studio Ghibli.
- Angel's Egg (1985). Perhaps the purest expression of True Art Is Incomprehensible as applied to animation, this visual tone poem by Mamoru Oshii is as gorgeous as it is impenetrable.
- Project A-ko (1986). For many US fans, this Schoolyard Comedy meets Sci-Fi Parody was the first feature-length anime available, while in Japan its surrealist humor influenced later works such as Excel♡Saga, Azumanga Daioh, and Kill la Kill. It directly inspired the 2003 American film Xtracurricular.
- Choujin Densetsu Urotsukidouji (Legend of the Overfiend, 1987).note One of the most notorious anime films of its era, this extremely explicit horror film was shelved in the children's section early in the Western anime boom. Urotsukidouji and its many hentai imitators established the once-common stereotype that anime is nothing but violence and rape; All Anime Is Naughty Tentacles is named after an outstanding feature of its exceptionally unpleasant scenes of sexual violence. If that didn't turn you off immediately, the film remains a powerful work of horror.
- AKIRA (1988). A philosophical Mind Screw of a film based on a much longer and even more complicated manga series. This was another of the first anime films to cross the Pacific to any appreciable audience. It shocked many US fans straight out of the Animation Age Ghetto with its gritty visuals and stark violence. This film is also notable for its highly fluid & detailed animation, particularly in comparison to most other anime and to animation in general at the time of its release.
- Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka, 1988), from director Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli. A tragedy about two children struggling to survive on their own in World War II Japan, based on a semi-autobiographical novel that was well-known in Japan in the 1960s-70s. Widely regarded as among the finest and most artistically sensitive films ever made, let alone animated.
- Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai, 1996). A cyberpunk thriller concerning cybernetic police operative Motoko Kusanagi and her struggle to uphold the law in a future where humanity and technology have merged. The first of a widely popular anime franchise that includes the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series. Also notable for influencing Western sci-fi flicks, most obviously The Matrix.
- Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, 2001). Considered by many to be the best work by Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away tells the story of Chihiro, a spoiled ten-year-old girl who must work in a surreal bathhouse for Japanese spirits to save her parents. Won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
- Your Name (Kimi no na wa, 2016). The movie that passed Spirited Away in world-wide box office returns, and propelled director Makoto Shinkai to stardom. It tells the story of a boy from Tokyo and a girl from a rural village who suddenly discover that they're switching bodies, though things eventually get more complicated.
