Oldschool anime and the future

[WildStar]

Has anyone else noticed how much classic anime focused on a futuristic setting. And it's not like a small percentage of movies and series but a pretty large percentage. Almost everything I watched had some futuristic angle to it. I enjoyed it as a kid and still do because it was neat to see what other people envisioned for the future whether it be in anime or live action, mainstream movies etc.

It's possible that the trend was partially made because of the time. Or that it was entirely because of the time. Thinking back on the cold war and whether we would even be where we are. We almost forget that our parents grew up fearing the future because of the nuclear weapons that were being produced by multiple nations. But who knows....I'm just curious what other people think.

[KT Samurai]

Actually, I've noticed a trend of the post-apocalyptic setting. Take a look at the list we have so far and count how many of them take place during or after the fall of mankind.

[Shian Kiri]

It would make sense considering that Japan emerged from an era of their own apocalypse known as the Atomic Bomb. It was a common theme that most Japanese directors at the time used and it was easiest for the vast population to relate to. It was also a time with rapid change in technology. Whether people believe it or not, war time brings about a lot of new technology as we try to out due one another.

World War I, II and the Cold War brought about huge leaps and bounds in terms of technology.

Of course when a new generation of people began to emerge who didn't have such an emphasis on World War II, they began to draw from their own imagination and we began to see more whimsical stuff. You can easily see how this has come about if you watch a lot of anime. As you start approaching the mid-90's, you start losing a lot of post-apocalyptic settings / vast technologically based anime's for more light hearted and slice of life stories.

[Jura]

Different audience, current events, and it's surely was affected by other media.

And why are so many moderators and admins in this thread? A4 is dying!

[mf wes]

It was probably easier to make more apocolyptic anime because of there being less people to animate.
Besides the 70's and 80's were just one big scare for WW3.
also what Shian said.

[Tarrasque]

I don't think it's true.

I've seen anime from '60s and '70s that cover all the genres that are covered by more recent anime, without any appreciable statistic difference.

Sports, racing, funny, sentimental, magical girls, horror, and of course sci-fi, and mecha.

Maybe it just depends on which genres were imported most in your country. After all, adventure, super robots and violent themes were the ones that lacked in American animation, so that's what many focused on.

[Funkgun]

Has anyone else noticed how much classic anime focused on a futuristic setting. And it's not like a small percentage of movies and series but a pretty large percentage. Almost everything I watched had some futuristic angle to it. I enjoyed it as a kid and still do because it was neat to see what other people envisioned for the future whether it be in anime or live action, mainstream movies etc.

It's possible that the trend was partially made because of the time. Or that it was entirely because of the time. Thinking back on the cold war and whether we would even be where we are. We almost forget that our parents grew up fearing the future because of the nuclear weapons that were being produced by multiple nations. But who knows....I'm just curious what other people think.
Just come to the Sci Fi channel
When they restarted showing anime, they sifted through most the Manga Ent. library of titles, most were 80's - 90's almost all of them sci-fi related.

So yeah there was a trend going on for quite sometime. What is funny, in Japan if there is ANY success in an anime story, in months time there are like four more clones of that story to capitalize on it.

I believe now, there is a major swing to supernatural type anime.

[symph lizard]

Maybe it just depends on which genres were imported most in your country. After all, adventure, super robots and violent themes were the ones that lacked in American animation, so that's what many focused on.

I think that's probably true. I've said before that what drew me to anime was the lack of decent sci-fi or maybe science fantasy (a la Star Wars) in American entertainment in the late 80s and early 90s. So I guess I didn't even pay attention to the other genres for a long time after I started swapping and buying tapes, but I do remember the one guy ranting about the romance anime. He was pretty weird, though.

If you can imagine somebody in the early anime fandom who stuck out as weird. Looked kind of like Kevin Smith as I remember it...

[Tarrasque]

I think that's probably true. I've said before that what drew me to anime was the lack of decent sci-fi or maybe science fantasy (a la Star Wars) in American entertainment in the late 80s and early 90s. So I guess I didn't even pay attention to the other genres for a long time after I started swapping and buying tapes, but I do remember the one guy ranting about the romance anime. He was pretty weird, though.

If you can imagine somebody in the early anime fandom who stuck out as weird. Looked kind of like Kevin Smith as I remember it...

Sorry, I'm not American, so I don't know who you're talking of. :P:P

Fact is, and I know that for sure, that in my country, for example, late 70s to late 80s were heavily robot dominated. That was the hype at the time. I checked recently on catalogs and I discovered we imported each and every super robot anime produced in the seventies except for Raideen.

Then, a big network got to prominence and basically monopolized all anime on public TV, and it was very heavily family biased, so violence was a no-no. So from late 80s to late 90s all we got lots of magical girls, romance, school and funny anime, and absolutely NO robots.

Still, there are a lot of sci-fi / robot anime produced in Japan in the eighties. That's why I say that regional situation mean a lot.

[Gamma]

I think I agree with the idea of representing the future in terms of the WW2 experience. After seeing two whole cities pretty much vaporized, the Japanese people as a whole probably had to stop and think about what their future was going to be like.

However, as far as a supernatural element being prevalent today, I have to say that pretty much all storytelling worldwide now has leaned towards the supernatural. Look at American television. Fringe. Medium. The Ghost Whisperer. 11th hour. Now look at the anime that most of us are watching now. Death Note. Elfen Lied. Bleach. Claymore. Haruhi. (I throw that last one in there because the idea behind that story scares the hell out of me.)

I think it's the result of the developments of mass communication since the 80s. With the leaps made in communication technology, the world has grown so much smaller. Of course then there's the theory of the collective unconscious but I'm not sure how much of a role that's playing here.

[mewmewpudding]

yah ive noticed their all like fucture like n stuff

[Funkgun]

However, as far as a supernatural element being prevalent today, I have to say that pretty much all storytelling worldwide now has leaned towards the supernatural. Look at American television. Fringe. Medium. The Ghost Whisperer. 11th hour. Now look at the anime that most of us are watching now. Death Note. Elfen Lied. Bleach. Claymore. Haruhi. (I throw that last one in there because the idea behind that story scares the hell out of me.)

Nothing like following a trend if it is successful huh? Yeah I had not realized that is where fiction has morphed toward lately till I read that.