A Look Back at TV Anime from 1996

With how impactful 1995 was to the fate of anime moving forward, although not as easy to determine at the time, 1996 didn't have too many important series, let alone ones I bothered to watch.  Here are the very few number of brand new anime for that year that I ingested.

 

After War Gundam X

    The third Gundam TV series not set in the Universal Century, Gundam X tells a grim post war story about desperation.  It didn't fare well at the time of broadcast, resulting in the series being truncated at only 39 episodes and even thirty years later garners little recognition from fans around the world.  This was the second Gundam series I ever watched and the first one I completed.  It's been far too long since I watched it to remember if I even enjoyed it, but the mega beam weapon the X used will always stick with me.

Boys Over Flowers

    One of the seminal shojo and romance manga ever, the anime adaptation is well loved and was the first in a series of adaptations.  Again, its been a super long time since I watched this but I do recall loving the anime when I watched it.  I really need to watch it again and give it a proper review!

Rurouni Kenshin

    Rurouni Kenshin, in light of the original authors criminal problems, has a problematic history now.  It was a generally well received adaptation at the time it aired.  My first exposure to it was getting a VHS tape of TV anime broadcasts from a Japanese pen-pal at the time.  It was a few years later that I got around to watching the fansubs and greatly enjoyed the 4 episode prequel OAV series.  It is currently being remade and I watched the first few episodes but couldn't justify continuing due to the problematic habits of its author and the lower quality of the remake compared to the original 90's version.  As a whole the anime community needs to turn its back on Kenshin and its author.

Slayers

    This is the first anime series I hated...and still hate.  The story is obnoxious, Lina is a terrible main character and Naga and her stupid laugh holds a place of deep hatred in my soul.  I can't understand why this series is so damn popular and beloved.  By the time it came out I already had a distaste for fantasy anime, thanks to the Record of Loduss War...but the foolishness of this series pushed me over the top.  Don't get me wrong, I have a low of stupid anime but this series is just...horrendous.

Those Who Hunt Elves

    Those Who Hunt Elves is a series I have never gotten around to watching but I included it in this list because of the role it played, in conjunction with Evangelion, i establishing the viability of late night anime.  It too was forced in the a shinya time slot and became quite successful in light of that.  I do really need to watch this. 

The Vision of Escaflowne 

    The first time I saw Escaflowne, the best isekai ever in my opinion,  was the showing of it in a side room at Gencon by a group doing video programing, largely playing fansubs.  It was at a time when surround sound was more of a novelty outside of movie theaters and standing at the back of the room when the epic music kicked in was fundamental to my love of this series.  It was a fun fantasy story with mecha added in, cus of course, Sunrise.  Sadly the remake movie that came out at the turn of the century told too different of a story for me to care or enjoy.  The original TV anime will always hold a place in me heart.