Gamba no Bouken

If you've ever seen an anime and thought, "Wow, this anime has really good background art", and "Wow, this episode preview at the end looks amazing!" chances are it was made by Shichiro Kobayashi. An icon of Japanese animation, Kobayashi has had a fruitful career spanning over thirty years as the art director for several iconic shows. While known generally for his vibrant and highly detailed palettes, Kobayashi brought the animation technique known as "postcard memories" or "harmonies" to life alongside director and innovator Osamu Dezaki and character designer Akio Sugino, which are cels of animation superimposed with gouache to give off a lasting image.

Kobayashi's influence defined anime background art, and his output has been replicated by other art directors since—his own studio, Kobayashi Production, consists of students and proteges alike that have equally contributed to formative works in anime.

The following list is a selection of shows that contains Kobayashi's most notable and prettiest backgrounds, and I highly encourage you to check them out.

Documentary on Kobayashi: https://youtu.be/V1tiKOsCz2M
Kobayashi Production's credits: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=1460

Animes starring anthropomorphic animals.

Part 1: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/3719
Part 3: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/6893

For the most part one entry per series. Subject to change as some are unfinished.

In 2012, The Asahi Shimbun announced the 104 TV anime that they considered to be the most representative and memorable of all TV anime between 1963 and 2012. It's a good starting point for exploring general TV anime history, and the shows are all worth giving a shot. The list was not ranked, and ordered by release date.

does not include anthropomorphic characters.

Anime that are heavily overlooked on MAL (at the time of writing, under 20k members). Most, if not all of them are also underrated. Will likely add stuff in the future as I watch them.

This is a stack of the best Anime from the 1970s. In short order, this decade was known for Mecha, Literary, and a bit of Sports Anime. This decade is frequently seen seen as laying the framework for the coming decade. Very notably, the beginnings were planted of a genre that will go on to become very popular in the 1980s: Mecha.

Along with Mecha, there was a huge focus sci-fi, especially in space. Much of this type of anime would come from a studio known as, Sunrise. This studio came into being after Osamu Tezuka, the father of manga, left his own studio, Mushi Production to work on personal projects. Without him, Mushi Pro ran into financial problems, leading to its bankruptcy in 1973. Former employees formed two new companies out of the ashes of the old company: Madhouse and Sunrise, two of the most influential Anime Studios to date.

And while Mecha seemed to be appealing to boys (Shonen), some Shojo (girl anime) also became quiet popular during this time. Both leaning very heavily on merchandising with in some cases the help from Bandai. For television outside of Japan, many animation for kids was censored of anything seen as political or sexual.

Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata made a series of literary anime with Nippon Animation. Taking influence, literary and story-telling anime were made by many other studios. After leaving Nippon Animation, Miyazaki continued making popular anime, including Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. This anime was a movie installment of the anime series Lupin III which started a few years earlier, and now is a long running series that has spanned decades with varying success.

There were additionally, some sports anime sprinkled throughout the decade also, following the popularity of sports on TV in Japan.

And then there's The Belladonna of Sadness. It was a first look into the world of Avant Garde for many. No words can accurately describe the experience of the Anime.

And that is a quick walk through of the 1970s. I will be releasing a stack for the best anime of the 1980s next week, so stay tuned. :)

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About List:
Anime is listed by a balance of popularity and score around time of release to give a more retro vibe, as opinions on anime seems to change notably over time, be it nostalgia or something else. Seems to be especially the case with Mecha Anime. But, regardless, the rating around the time is included for your own viewing.

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For those looking for good anime from the 60s, I don't plan on making a stack for the 1960s as of yet, but here is what would likely be included:

Tiger Mask
Sasuke
Dororo
Star of the Giants
Muumin
Astro Boy
Puss-in-Boots (Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko)
Kamui the Ninja: Stories Other Than the Legend (Ninpuu Kamui Gaiden)
Attack No.1

(v. 0.6.88 - 4646)

list of anime related to director OSamu Dezaki's career

Stories told from an animal's perspective.

One entry per series.

For anthropomorthic animals, see https://myanimelist.net/stacks/25544

from here:
https://w.atwiki.jp/sakuga/pages/100.html

This part covers 1943-1983
Part 2 coming soon, whenever I finish it.

I'm not knowledgable about all of these, as the list wasn't originally made by me, so some entries are missing detailed descriptions. Sorry about that.

Anime (not just the obvious ones) that contain animals either as the protagonist or in a relationship with humans etc.

Miniature worlds that are explored through the eyes of insects, mice, small animals, lilliputians (little people), fairies, etc. I'll make note of the ones that are a bit more interesting or polished for an adult audience, as opposed to dated children's series, which, unfortunately most of the titles on the list fall under.

For most series the score is falling over time, however some special series it is rising over time.

This is the list of these series that used to be scored lower on MAL but have been rising in score over the years, excludes currently airing series and series where the score rise happened when the series was airing or within 5 years of its airing.

Source: Wayback Machine

Last Updated: 29th March 2024