Twenty Years Ago!  The anime we would have been watching in 2002 if only we could have…

What a seminal year for anime. Ghost In The Shell, Full Metal Panic, She, The Ultimate Weapon and Azumanga Diaoh!

S,TUW was the first movie or TV show that left me in genuine shock and when it finished I just sat there staring at the blank laptop screen for quarter of an hour unable to properly process what had happened. The next time I watched it I cried a lot but I will never forget just sitting there unable to think after the first viewing. Amazing show.

I didn't start watching anime properly until around 07/08 so I don't think I ever knew that these were all from the same year.
 
2002. In Australia. Three nieces and a nephew (all under ten at the time) to entertain and a multi-region DVD player. I got them hooked on shows including Steel Angel Kurumi, Ah, My Goddess, Super Gals, Those Who Hunt Elves, Martian Successor Nadesico, Princess Tutu, A Little Snow Fairy, Excel Saga, Angelic Layer .... and all the Ghibli movies I could buy. I'm happy to say they are still all anime fans, but I don't have to buy their stuff anymore. They did enjoy it when I went back to Aus a couple of times via the shopping streets of Japan!

Actually, I think Steel Angel Kurumi was 2003, as I remember visiting the Madman head office to beg for an advanced copy of the last disc the week before I went to Europe for three months (and they let me have it).
 
Let's see what have I watched from that year?:
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Japanese titles in order are Voices of a Distant Star and She and Her Cat, so I guess this year marks 20 years since Shinkai made his debut! Next is pretty obvious Ghost in the Shell. Then The Cat Returns, She, The Ultimate Weapon and Millennium Actress.

All of those were watched later though either through AnimeCentral, the Manga Force Collection, Film 4 or even later streaming. The only anime I distinctly remember watching that year was, as mentioned, Spirited Away. Actually scratch that, I do distinctly watching it, but it was after the Oscar win which was in 03, but I also remember I lived in a flat down the road from a Blockbusters where I rented it from and I moved there early 04! Found this on Wikipedia "the film was released on DVD and VHS as a rental release through independent distributor High Fliers Films PLC following the film's limited theatrical release. It was later officially released on DVD in the UK on 29 March 2004, with the distribution being done by Optimum Releasing", so I think I actually rented the Optimum release. Sorry for the tangent, but it was the first Ghibli I saw and at some point later I remember watching the rest on Film4 before I bought the Blu-rays starting 5 years ago.
 
Though I'm not too familiar with early 00s anime I've looked through the charts and it's quite incredible to see how few series there were. Season's seemed to average about 25 shows compared to the overproduction we see these days with well over 60 shows a season. Sounds like a better time.

As for the stuff I've actually watched from the time (albeit well over a decade later for three of them) there's only five. Though I wasn't aware of it being anime I'm sure I was watching Pokemon around that time and I definitely remember the Pokemon Heroes movie featuring Latias and Latios. More recently I've seen Macross Zero, Haibane Renmei and Rahxephon. Quite the far cry from Pokemon for sure.

Other 2002 series like Chobits, Princess Tutu and Azumanga Daioh have been on my watchlist for quite some time now. Might finally get around to watching them soon. I should really take a good look at the old charts sometime given most of the anime I've seen is post-2010.
 
There were a lot fewer dedicated anime channels back then; no ONAs at all, not so many movies and the big dedicated anime channels in Japan today hadn't got started (and often showed reruns rather than sponsoring lots of original content). Even late night anime in general wasn't such a big thing. There was a lot of rubbish too, just as there is now, but I like to think that the names which have stuck in our memories best did so for a reason (and in the US at least, where the BBFC didn't cripple the release of anything longer than normal, there was a natural 'quality filter' effect because fans were limited to the most appealing series). Though quite a few things still got missed.

R
 
Rui said:
There were a lot fewer dedicated anime channels back then; no ONAs at all, not so many movies and the big dedicated anime channels in Japan today hadn't got started (and often showed reruns rather than sponsoring lots of original content). Even late night anime in general wasn't such a big thing. There was a lot of rubbish too, just as there is now, but I like to think that the names which have stuck in our memories best did so for a reason (and in the US at least, where the BBFC didn't cripple the release of anything longer than normal, there was a natural 'quality filter' effect because fans were limited to the most appealing series). Though quite a few things still got missed.

R
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Not too sure if this was responding to my post but when I say a "better time" I'm not referring to accessibility or the quality of shows but rather the amount of shows being produced. With the ever increasing amount of anime produced each year it becomes more apparent that there's just too many shows relative to the workforce. Heard plenty of stories of inexperienced animators (and even some non-animators) on Twitter being contacted by desperate studios. Sadly the industry shows no signs of showing down with big companies pushing for more shows.

I might have worded it pretty badly but what I mean to say is 25 shows a season would be a lot healthier for the industry than 60. Sorry about getting off topic.
 
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ActionFaust said:
I might have worded it pretty badly but what I mean to say is 25 shows a season would be a lot healthier for the industry than 60. Sorry about getting off topic.
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I more-or-less knew what you meant, I was just rambling (sorry). We only got a small portion of what was out in Japan but it was also easier to build up more of a fan atmosphere when everyone knew most of the big shows, whereas now there's so much being produced that there's insane pressure to catch the attention of fans and win their support. And the race to the bottom currently happening in the industry is definitely bad for the hobby overall. It's been this way for a few years now and the cracks are starting to show at every level; it's unsustainable to keep up this level of pressure.

I'm a big spender anime-wise and I've actually started buying less in spite of more being produced lately, which is weird. It feels as though a lot productions are seen as more 'disposable' than they have been in the past and I don't like the feeling of desperation which trickles through.

R
 
I'm currently reading the article, and would like to say that Full Moon wo Sagashite is still on my list of things to watch the rest of as I did think the early episodes were a lot of fun, another series from that period that I haven't completed but consider to be bucket list worthy (that sadly never got an official release for the anime in English) is A Cheeky Angel/Tenshi na Konamaiki - A boy makes a wish to become "the manliest man", the genie "mishears" him and makes him "the womanliest woman". Tokyo Mew Mew looked really cute as well would love to see that. Has anyone here heard of Hanada Shonen-shi? (I burst out laughing when one of Hanada's relatives yelled "Hanada's fallen in the toilet again!") 🤣

Full Metal Panic, Raxhephon, Voices of a Distant Star, Chobits, Azumanga Daioh, The Twelve Kingdoms, Princess Tutu, Ghost in the Shell SAC, Spirited Away, Haibane Renmei, Saikano, and Millennium Actress are all great, I own all of them (apart from Saikano cuz it's just too sad to watch twice so I sold my DVD boxset after viewing), mostly on Blu-ray now, and I'd also like to mention Petite Princess Yucie as a hidden gem that I own on DVD boxset (the ADV US release) - a Gainax co-production with AIC IIRC, it really made an impression on me when I watched it and it's a title I will revisit eventually :)

Will also note that IMO the best anime that started in 2001 and ended in 2002 are Read or Die OVA, A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, and X TV :)
 
I'll add a couple more series I remember loving back in 2002 (and possibly before that date): Gunsmith Cats, Bubblegum Crisis 2040 (the first proper anime series I bought on DVD), Cowboy Bebop, Chobits Read Or Die, Noir, Galaxy Angel, Phantom Quest Corp (still one of my favourites and deserved more than just the four episodes), His and Her Circumstances, Ramen Fighter Miki and Ai Yori Aoshi.
 
I'm loving seeing everyone's memories of 'forgotten' series as well as the better known ones that have survived! However, I don't think anyone's mentioned Naruto the TV animation which also began airing in Japan in 2002 (to my surprise as it didn't make it to the UK until c. 2006). Looking back to when that series was fresh and new, it caught my attention with the Zabuza/Haku arc (the Land of Waves) which (as in the manga) was doing something very different from the standard shonen fare I'd seen up till then.
 
Sarah said:
I'm loving seeing everyone's memories of 'forgotten' series as well as the better known ones that have survived! However, I don't think anyone's mentioned Naruto the TV animation which also began airing in Japan in 2002 (to my surprise as it didn't make it to the UK until c. 2006). Looking back to when that series was fresh and new, it caught my attention with the Zabuza/Haku arc (the Land of Waves) which (as in the manga) was doing something very different from the standard shonen fare I'd seen up till then.
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I do really like the Naruto anime, though I've not seen all of it and if I ever do a "complete" watch I'll skip all the filler, so thankyou for mentioning it :)
 
Oh wow, I never realised Princess Tutu was on HIDIVE! I started watching that years ago when it was (very briefly) on Netflix. They removed it before I was any more than halfway through. I'm going to start watching it again with my 10-year-old son ASAP. What a great show that was, now I'll finally get to see how it ends!
 
RadFemHedonist said:
I do really like the Naruto anime, though I've not seen all of it and if I ever do a "complete" watch I'll skip all the filler, so thankyou for mentioning it :)
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Almost certainly better (and faithful to the manga) without all the filler - so a very good idea; although that set me wondering if there exists a filler-free Naruto yet, like Dragon Ball Z Kai...?
 
Sarah said:
Almost certainly better (and faithful to the manga) without all the filler - so a very good idea; although that set me wondering if there exists a filler-free Naruto yet, like Dragon Ball Z Kai...?
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I have wondered the exact same thing before, maybe they will do a "Naruto Kai" one day and I really hope they do :)
 
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