1982: The Survey Says...!

Relatively new to anime blogging, Kraker hails from the UK and posts sporadically at his blog The Vanishing Trooper Incident on topics such as animators, the studios behind anime, and giant robot shows. Kraker's first major introduction to anime was Ghibli's Spirited Away and he's been hooked ever since. You can find him on Twitter at @Kraker2k posting thoughts on TV shows, anime and video games. (And thank you for the quick fill-in! - Ed.)

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Well, before I begin I should say as a writer who was born a few years after their chosen year I was in a pickle. There had to be away in which this era of anime could be tackled. It dawned on me that 1982 could be approached from two distinct angles. The first point of entry was to see which anime shows in 1982 were popular with the general viewing audience; after all what better way is there to gauge the waters of 1982 than seeing what the masses were watching? I managed to find a glut of data on 2channel about the viewing figures of many TV shows across the '80s. The second approach was to look at what kinds of shows were favoured by "fans", the sorts of people who went to conventions, made cosplay, and whom one could identify as the more traditional anime fan. For this, the end-of-year rankings from Animage Magazine compiled from its reader's votes came into play.

(Note: I am filling in the 1982 slot after the original author wasn't able to make it, so I've ended up putting this piece together at short notice as best I can.)

1981: Fart Jokes, Fighting Robots, and the Far-Flung Reaches of Space

Joseph Luster (@Moldilox) contributes to Otaku USA Magazine—where he writes articles, edits the video games section, and handles website content—and Crunchyroll News, where he serves as Assistant Editor and Pro Roustabout. He also writes about games for Sci Fi. Joseph got his start writing unprofessionally about Asian cinema at the now-defunct Kung Fu Cult Cinema site, and went on to get his pro start during the final era of Animerica Magazine.  Sometimes he finds a moment to post on his personal blog.

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Ask someone what 1981 means to them and you'll get a vast array of divergent answers. For many it will forever be known as the year I was born. For fans of anime, 1981 is exemplified by a steady stream of Super Robot series. Or perhaps manga adaptations like Toei Animation's second take on Ikki Kajiwara's pro wrasslin' Tiger Mask; or, from the same fine folks, the bottomless gag reel cobbled together from Akira Toriyama's legitimately hilarious Dr. Slump. Or perhaps Urusei Yatsura? Anyone?

While we're asking questions, a recent personal inquiry helped attach a nice booster rocket to this period of far-reaching reflection. When a friend asked, "What made you start writing about all this Japanese stuff in the first place?" I was suddenly faced with a sprawling, seemingly-endless hall of mirrors. What made me start writing about all this Japanese stuff in the first place? If it had taken me longer than half a second to answer, I probably would have entered a long phase of deep, dark self-reflection, but I had it in the bag.

I grew up watching so many cartoons and playing so many games, without any idea where they all originated from. Once I found out the majority of the stuff that kept my face planted in front of a TV set came from Japan, my fate was sealed. While I look at some of the shows I actually grew up on fondly, so much of it has aged poorly, sporting the pallor of a faded black Suncoast t-shirt someone wears way past its expiry, keeping a tight grip on their tits out of nostalgic obligation.

The anime of 1981, however, is home to a bunch of the stuff I wish I had grown up on.