The Year 1990! History of Heisei Animation] Vol. 2 Heisei 2 (1990)--Anime industry at a turning point with the return of children's robot animation, the approach of video games, and GAINAX's entry into the TV animation market

This is the second installment of a series of articles looking back on the turbulent 31-year history of Heisei, a period in which a variety of anime were born and then disappeared, along with the titles of the anime. It's beginning, beginning, beginning!
⇒ [ A Brief History of Heisei Animation] Part 1! Heisei Anime History] Part 1: 1989 - From OVA to TV animation, "PATLABOR" and the voice actor unit "NG5" exploded in popularity at the dawn of a new era.

The turbulent 1990s, which led up to the end of the century, began with the revival anime boom that had continued from the previous year, starting with "Heisei Tensai Bakabon" and "Tsuruhime Jaaa! which began airing in January, "Heisei Genius Bakabon" and "Tsuru Hime Ja!" were followed by "The Delightful Moomin Family," "Moretsu Ataro," "Sunset on Third Street," and "Mitsume ga Toru," all of which were based on nostalgic manga or revival anime that were broadcast consistently throughout the year. This trend would continue for several years to come.

It was also the year that "Chibi Maruko-chan," a national anime that continues to this day, was launched. The comical and humane drama that anyone can relate to, and the witty narration by Keaton Yamada. Furthermore, because the series was set in the 1960s and 1950s, during the childhood of the original author, Momoko Sakura, it attracted a great deal of attention from the generation that knew the culture and customs of the time, and gained support from a wide range of people.

On the other hand, Sunrise, which has an established reputation for producing robot animation, released "Yusha Excizer. This was a huge hit, both as an animated film and as a toy, and laid the foundation for the "Yusha" series. The "Yusha" series, which featured everyday drama and robot action centered on the interaction between the main character, a child, and a reliable robot with a personality, captured the hearts of its main target audience, children, and grew to become one of the most popular series of the 1990s.

It should be noted that in addition to the "Yusha" series, there was a rapid increase in robot animation for younger audiences, as if in reaction to the realistic robot animation boom of the 1980s.

Among them, it should be mentioned that many robot anime with a comical taste influenced by "SD Gundam," which had been extremely popular among elementary school boys since the late 1980s, were produced, starting with "Majin Hero Den Wataru 2," a sequel to "Majin Wataru," which was aired in 1988 and gained great popularity. The year was characterized by the broadcast of a large number of works featuring robots of low stature, such as "Cattie Ninja Den Teyande," "NG Knight Ramune & 40," "Karakuri Kengouden Musashi Road," and "RPG Densetsu Hepoi. In particular, "The Magical Heroes: Wataru 2," "NG Knight Ramune & 40," "RPG Densetsu Hepoi" and "Karakuri Kenkouden Musashi Road" had strong road movie elements heavily influenced by RPGs such as "Dragon Quest," and their worldviews and stories were influenced by games.

Coincidentally, in November 1990, Nintendo's new game hardware, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), was released, coinciding with the further heating up of the popularity of video games. The advent of the Super Famicom, which boasted graphics and sound capabilities superior to those of the NES, probably posed more of a threat to the animation industry than ever before. According to one theory, the SNES dominated the toy market during the year-end sales season. Robot animation toys sold very little.

Ramune & 40" was short-lived due to poor ratings and toy sales, but it was a big hit with anime fans in the high-teens and above, and was developed into novelizations, OVAs, radio dramas, and other media. This work led to director Hiroshi Negishi and screenwriter Satoru Akahori teaming up on many subsequent works and becoming a core part of the anime boom of the 1990s.

The work was truly symbolic, foreshadowing future trends in the animation industry, with its fusion of animation and video games, visual development in OVAs, interaction with fans via radio, and novelization to complement the work.

In terms of symbolism, "Nadia of the Mysterious Sea" should not be forgotten. The film version anime "Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise" and the OVA "Aim for the Top! and OVA "Top Aimed at!", which were highly acclaimed by animation fans for their works that targeted a more mature audience.

This work, created by the company founded by members of the independent film production team "DAICON FILM" and others, is based on Jules Verne's fantastical science novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," but from the beginning there are many scenes that pay homage to anime and special effects that have influenced the production team. The final scene (the launching scene of the N-Nautilus) was traced directly from the launch scene of "Space Battleship Yamato," shocking anime fans with its maniacal content not seen in conventional TV animation. In addition, the selfish heroine Nadia, who destroyed the image of heroines up to that point, also attracted a great deal of attention (also, sexy scenes and romantic comedy depictions that were unbelievable for an NHK animation (......)).

The general director of this work is Hideaki Anno, who later worked on "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Shin Godzilla. The middle "Island Arc" was directed by Shinji Higuchi, who later made a name for himself as special effects director for the live-action film "Gamera: The Great Monsters Battle in the Air," and has worked on numerous high-profile films including "Lorelei," "Sinking of Japan," and "Shin Godzilla," and in 2018 made his comeback to the animation industry after a long absence with "Himine to Masotan. The character design was by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, music by Shiro Sagisu, and other distinguished staff members.

The excessively maniacal, yet royalistic juvenile storyline of this work was well received by a wide range of audiences. Of course, it was also highly acclaimed by anime fans, and was later made into an animated feature film. (However, GAINAX ran out of budget halfway through production, and had to drop out. (However, GAINAX ran out of budget halfway through production, and Group Tac finished the rest of the work.) The fact that the staff who would later create "Evangelion" released this work in 1990 was an epoch-making event that heralded the arrival of a new era.

Another thing to keep in mind is the group of anime works that were broadcast on the variety program "Gimia Bureiku. Originally a variety program for adults broadcast at 10:00 p.m., the program began airing Fujiko Fujio A.'s "Laughs and Smiles" in October 1989 as one corner of the program. The black content, which had never been seen in conventional animation, attracted a great deal of attention, and by 1990 it had grown to become one of the most popular contents. There must have been many children who inadvertently watched the program and were traumatized by it. In the same year, "Ya Hyakuyacho Omote Urai Make-up Artist," written by Shotaro Ishinomori, was also aired on the program.

These works should be kept in mind as unprecedented examples of TV animation for adults, rather than for animation fans (although there had been animation for adults before that).