bateszi had asked me how the autumn season of 1998 compared to the autumn season of 2008. That’s like a red rag to a bull for my research-aholic brain, so here we go.
Using animenfo I came up with these titles as starting in Autumn 1998. I was purchasing Newtype around this time so a lot of these are familiar to me.
Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040
WHAT IS IT? A remake
At the time I was excited about this. AIC’s works had been a big part of getting me into anime fandom, and I liked what I’d seen of the original. I don’t think I saw much more than the first few episodes in the end.
Chosoku Spiner
WHAT IS IT? I think it was designed to sell a brand of yo-yos
This came out the same year as the original non-TCG shilling Yu-Gi-Oh and the first Pokemon movie. I think we were approaching the golden age of toy/game based anime.
Cowboy Bebop
WHAT IS IT? An original animation
This is the second run on WOWOW, where the entire series got broadcast, as opposed to the neutered TV Tokyo run.
Devilman Lady
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
This too I’ve seen a few episodes of, three random mid-series episodes at a Minamicon I think. It was fine, a more sci-fi take on Devilman with lots of Nagai’s psychosexual imagery.
EAT-MAN’98
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
Another show I caught a couple of eps at a con. This is one of those series whose popularity in Japan didn’t translate over to the US, possibly because Viz were still releasing manga via the US comics model, so it didn’t get the crossover that a modern release will. The anime is OK, but the manga is excellent.
Gasaraki
WHAT IS IT? An original animation
Ryousuke Takahashi’s attempt to ride the Evangelion wave. Not seen it.
Generator Gawl
WHAT IS IT? An original animation
Tatsunoko Pro’s attempt to ride the Evangelion wave. Not seen it.
Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
GAINAX’s troubled adaptation of Masami Tsuda’s manga. I’ve seen about a third of this. I should really finish it off via bargain hunting on ebay/con bring and buy stalls.
Let’s Nupu Nupu
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
This is the first time I’ve heard of this. Looks like one of those short gag anime that proliferated in the late night schedules this year.
Orphen
WHAT IS IT? A novel adaptation
This fantasy show got an English translation, I’ve never seen it though.
Mamotte Shugogetten
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
Recycled shonen magical girlfriend romance plot. The manga is published by Tokyopop.
Master Keaton
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
Screen outing for Naoki Urasawa’s insurance investigator.
Ojarumaru
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
The now very long running adaptation of the late Rin Inumaru’s story of a Heian era prince.
Only You Viva! Cabakura
WHAT IS IT? I’m not entirely sure.
This ran for 3 weeks in the Wonderful slot on TBS. That Wonderful timeslot could easily be a subject for a post of it’s own. It seems to exist in other media forms, but I’m not entirely sure what comes first.
Popolocrois Story
WHAT IS IT? A videogame adaptation
I can never remember which Popolocrois projects have got the kick ass animation in.
Saber Marionette J to X
WHAT IS IT? A sequel
It wouldn’t be the nineties without a Satoru Akahori show. This time with less Satoru Akahori than ever before! I’ve soft spot for Akahori’s blatent pandering, but this is probably a sequel too many for the whole Saber Marionette idea. He appears to have next to nothing to do with it and it just looks ugly.
Saint Luminous Girls High School
WHAT IS IT? Not sure if this is original, or a videogame adaptation or one of those multimedia blitzes.
This appears to be a curious hybrid of harem and detective show, two genres that were booming around this time.
Steam Detective
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
1998 must have been a fiscally rewarding year for Kia Asamiya, he had both this and Silent Mobius adapted into anime. Design wise this is my favourite Asamiya series, where he’s drawing on obvious Ishamori and Yokoyama influences.
Super Doll Licca-Chan
WHAT IS IT? A doll adaptation
A more literal take on the Licca-Chan franchise than the early nineties tie-ins. Here Licca-chan is an actual doll who helps a schoolgirl (who is secretly a princess!). Multiple layers of wish fulfilment for owners of the popular doll going on here!
Hanasaka Tenshi Ten-Ten-kun
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
No idea. But here’s the OP (Warning: contains rubbery pink angel nudity!):
Totsugeki !Pappara Tai
WHAT IS IT? A Manga Adaptation
Again, no idea, but here’s this show’s OP:
Yoiko
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
It’s Jack the anime!
I’ll See You In My Dreams
WHAT IS IT? A manga adaptation
Yes, a Business Jump manga got a TV adaptation (and even more shocking, a US release). It’s another short running time comedy show.
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OK that’s all animenfo had. A few of things to note, there was a large proportion of shows that ran throughout the year, rather than just in 13/26 episode “seasons”. In addition, shows seem less set in those 13 episode production blocks compared to nowadays. Finally, there’s definitely more variety in those late night slots, and the Wonderful slot has a lot to do with that.
Is there more risk taking in Autumn 1998 than Autumn 2008? I don’t know. Bebop definitely was ambitious, but this was the second attempt at airing it. The other two original anime shows were had their eyes on the prize of the larger potential anime audience that Evangelion had revealed, but within the confines of what the creators were known for (namely realistic mecha and superheroes, respectively).
I think the variety of shows is a result of the hunt for that audience. 1998 hadn’t got yet to the sort of otaku-focussed programming aimed at extracting money from a narrow money-rich portion of the TV audience that we’ve seen for much of the 2000s.
I think it could be argued that the Evangelion audience didn’t find something suitable until Fuji TV’s noitaminA slot, which seems to have tapped into an audience for anime that isn’t necessarily been serviced by other “boutique” anime shows.