My thanks to all who have commented and participated in the poll below. Your comments have forced me to think a little more about just what counts as old school anime. In particular, I needed to think about how to separate it from both ancient anime and modern anime. An old school anime has the following qualities:
- Not black and white
- Uses cel animation
- Character animation is less influenced by Disney’s style, usually with a sharper look
- Has a story which appeals to teenage and older anime fans, which appeal is proved by current fans of anime still seeking out these stories
- First aired between 1970 and 1999
The fifth point likely surprises some of my readers. My old parameters for old school anime stretched from 1960 – 1989. This was based on the misconception that Ashita no Joe, an old school anime par excellence, aired in 1967, and I expected to find many others like this show in style. Ashita no Joe actually only officially aired in 1970 (a pilot episode did appear in 1969), and only two anime exist in the in 60’s to which do not strike me as ancient: Tiger Mask (1969) and Star of the Giants (1968). Not enough to classify the 60’s as an old school decade!
Medieval Otaku 