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Which era of anime do you prefer, and why?

New
Nov 30, 10:19 AM
#1
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Nov 2025
169
I am dividing them in such a manner bc 2000s anime are considered old now, you might not like it, but it is what it is.

I am going to go with post-2020 because it is better to live for the future than be stuck in the past.
Nov 30, 10:34 AM
#2
BIKINI⚔️ARMOR

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May 2019
11141
Pre-1999 for the aesthetic celluloid animation.

Nov 30, 10:37 AM
#3

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Jul 2013
13034
I think the best anime era was the 2010s. Yeah, I am still watching anime shows from back then. btw I am not watching 2020s anime; I am still watching 2010s anime in 2025. Anything wrong with that? I am watching stuff like Senran Kagura, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Harukana Receive, which were all produced in the previous decade.
Nov 30, 10:41 AM
#4

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Jun 2024
80
Bring back the 90's! We need more gore and nudity in anime! Also cell animation 😎
Nov 30, 10:42 AM
#5
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Nov 2025
169
Reply to STURRAMAK
Bring back the 90's! We need more gore and nudity in anime! Also cell animation 😎
@STURRAMAK If this happens, I quit anime.
Nov 30, 10:52 AM
#6
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Apr 2023
365
Right now I am 00-centric, including late 90s and early 10s, so it's something like 1995-2012 period for me.
Stanis150Nov 30, 10:59 AM
Nov 30, 11:02 AM
#7

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Feb 2025
872
There are plenty of quality anime from 2000-2019.
Nov 30, 11:06 AM
#8

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Sep 2016
23648
2000-2019 is the most obvious choice here.
*kappa*
Nov 30, 11:16 AM
#9

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Apr 2012
3662
If you want to split it up into three eras, I would suggest "before late night anime got big" and "before the international streaming market" rather than "before the year number reached twice the cube of the number of hand digits people have" and "before a line I will arbitrarily draw as "old" and assign my opinion as general consideration.
Nov 30, 11:20 AM
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Nov 2025
169
Reply to logopolis
If you want to split it up into three eras, I would suggest "before late night anime got big" and "before the international streaming market" rather than "before the year number reached twice the cube of the number of hand digits people have" and "before a line I will arbitrarily draw as "old" and assign my opinion as general consideration.
@logopolis pre-1999 (Cell anime era), post 2000s (digital era), post 2020 (streamer era)

But sure, what dates would you suggest? pre-1996 (Evangelion) / post 2006 (Haruhi) / post 2018 (Demon Slayer) ?
BattleheartNov 30, 11:23 AM
Nov 30, 11:29 AM

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Jun 2011
14522
2000-2019 is such a wide range, splitting it into 2000-2009 and 2010 to 2019 would be more interesting I think. I'd pick the 2000's, but 2010's brought the fans AOT and HxH, 2 of the most common entries in many people's top 5 anime.

That said, the older the anime is, the better I vibe with it. I don't know what it is, but older anime are so good at creating that atmosphere that suck you into the show, and you can tell when you compare some of the anime remakes to the OG version.
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Nov 30, 12:09 PM

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Sep 2018
5520
Post-2020, because of its sheer variety and quantity of good anime.

Even if a good chunk of seasonals are the most generic and low quality isekai/fantasy/harem/romcom, what's left is still a significant amount of anime that stand out and do things that no pre-2020 anime ever did before.
Nov 30, 12:43 PM

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Oct 2010
22283
pre-1999 has like 4 eras though which are damn different
anyways, I prefer the 80s
Nov 30, 12:46 PM

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Oct 2017
5589
Reply to Battleheart
@logopolis pre-1999 (Cell anime era), post 2000s (digital era), post 2020 (streamer era)

But sure, what dates would you suggest? pre-1996 (Evangelion) / post 2006 (Haruhi) / post 2018 (Demon Slayer) ?
Battleheart said:
But sure, what dates would you suggest? pre-1996 (Evangelion) / post 2006 (Haruhi) / post 2018 (Demon Slayer) ?
Just separate them by decade. They largely are pretty distinct, granted I think the 2010s and 2020s are very similar content wise. Still the 2000s are different than the 2010s/2020s and 90s, 90s different than the 80s and 80s from the 70s.

If I had to rank all the decades (based on story, art style, other production stuff like music etc):

80s

2000s/2010s - It's pretty close though with maybe a lean to the 2000s. I probably have more highly rated 2010s anime. Though I have seen more 2010s shows versus 2000s anime.

90s

2020s - Lots of solid shows though nothing has wowed me either. Still time though. 2026 looks really promising. Decades like the 90s and 2010s benefit a lot from the later half of the decade anyway, so I am not going to judge until the decade is over.

70s - Simply because there isn't a lot content for this era, though I have largely liked what I have watched.
BilboBaggins365Nov 30, 1:04 PM
Nov 30, 1:02 PM

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May 2021
37
1990s, the art style just feels like lost history rich in culture. Watching it on those fat CRT tvs felt calming and home like. The animation seemed to have more detail and quality, even if it didn't the visuals were good enough to fool me. It was like anime done the hard way and you were watching the hard work the animators put in. Though anime today can have a stupid level of quality like the Chainsaw Reze Arc movie. 90s anime didn't have all of the quality of life tools & improvements in today's animation, yet they still made it work.
(>'O')>
Nov 30, 1:22 PM

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Sep 2018
14727
2000-2019 mainly since that era had lots of ecchi series. I doubt we will ever see stuff like that anymore given increasing censorship that prevails more with time.
Nov 30, 1:32 PM

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Apr 2020
1002
Μid 2000s and 2010s for me, because I feel like those two periods had a lot of good anime and the amount of seasonal releases felt right also nostalgia.The 2020s is a close second, because while we got a lot of series which ended up as throwaways, we also got some great series with amazing productions, especially the last three years.
Nov 30, 4:06 PM

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Feb 2021
5058
I love the 2010's anime character designs and aesthetics.
"Nobody could laugh at someone who's trying their hardest" -Machio-

Dec 1, 9:29 AM

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Apr 2011
1792
I'm a child of the 80s but I love all eras of anime equally.
Dec 1, 9:48 AM

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Jul 2022
90
I love the animation and aesthetics of 90s-2000s anime. Anything that looks like Getter Robo: Armageddon.
Dec 1, 9:50 AM
(Bad) Luck Cat

Online
Oct 2025
158
I'm really biased towards the look of cel animation and some old character designs, but overall I don't have a favorite era.
9 hours ago

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Nov 2019
677
pre-1999 and 2000's early 2000's have the best animes and the best animation.
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