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There are an endless amount of anime series to discover and enjoy, and it can be just as satisfying to stumble upon some hidden relic from the past as it is to obsess over the current anime season’s biggest hit. There is a tremendous amount of variety when it comes to anime, but each decade carries with it a distinct feeling that’s often channeled into its corresponding content.
There’s a ton of nostalgic love for the 1980s in every form of media, but it was also a very important time period for the anime industry. There’s an abundance of extreme and over-the-top content that reflects a very edgy side of the anime industry that’s been toned down in recent years.
10 Angel’s Egg Is A Somber Meditation On Hopelessness
Mamoru Oshii is responsible for iconic contributions to the anime industry like Ghost in the Shell and Patlabor, and all of his works carry a similar sense of existential curiosity and skepticism. Angel’s Egg is a masterpiece in minimalism that allows the audience to reach their own conclusions regarding a young girl and her compulsion to protect an egg. This young girl seems alone and abandoned, but Angel’s Egg doesn’t create tension out of her possible doom. Instead, it gets lost in a barren world that feels empty of beliefs and without direction, which can be a very edgy dismissal of society.
9 Fist Of The North Star Is A Celebration Of Muscle, Bravado, And Excess
The 1986 adaptation of Fist of the North Star may not be as viciously bloody as other action anime of the decade, but it’s a property that earns much of its edginess in swagger alone. The character designs in Fist of the North Star present to the viewer a world full of burly warriors who possess ancient and deadly martial arts skills. There’s a serious story where the fate of the world is at stake in Fist of the North Star, but its heightened look and energy increase its natural edginess. Nothing is normal in Fist of the North Star, and the characters bask in the tension that this creates.
8 Grave Of The Fireflies Turns Into Emotional Endurance
Grave of the Fireflies is edgy for very different reasons. Isao Takahata’s 1988 movie is a heartbreakingly beautiful expression of the horror of war, realized through a young brother and sister who are separated from their parents during World War II.
Grave of the Fireflies is a stunning character study that isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions, but the fact that it puts these young, innocent children in harm’s way through the entire film may come across as edgy or melodramatic to some.
7 Devilman: The Birth Is A Violent Look Into The Erasure Of Humanity
Go Nagai’s Devilman franchise has gained a rich life since its inception, and it’s the perfect property to reinterpret every decade. 1987’s Devilman: The Birth is the prototypical take on the dark series. Akira accepts the responsibility of becoming Devilman and ultimately learns that his friend, Ryo, is in fact Satan. Devilman Crybaby takes most of its cues from Devilman: The Birth, and it becomes a violent, bleak tale. Akira is forced to accept that he needs to banish his emotions and humanity in order to properly defeat demons, which is a very edgy principle.
6 Baoh: The Visitor Unleashes Violent Parasites Onto The World
Hirohiko Araki has become a household name in the anime industry due to his ongoing hit, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which has amassed a remarkable following. Baoh: The Visitor is a 40-minute solo OVA installment that adapts Hirohiko’s early shonen story about a biological weapon and the young girl who befriends him. Baoh is ripe with intense violence and melting bodies, all of which are made more intense through the perspective of the nine-year-old Sumire. Sumire’s grim precognitive visions and a lot of animal casualties make Baoh a heavy ride from the 1980s.
5 Violence Jack Gets Lost In A Broken World Where Evil Reigns Supreme
Violence Jack is a Go Nagai series that’s largely considered to have popularized the post-apocalyptic genre of anime and manga. There are three Violence Jack OVA installments, the first two from the 1980s and the concluding one from the ’90s, which focus on a shattered world that’s been overrun with criminals.
This dystopia segregates the strong from the weak, but it’s the most unscrupulous that thrive. Violence Jack attempts to help the helpless, but there’s an edgy feeling of hopelessness that courses through the series as the innocent are terrorized by the worst of humanity.
4 Vampire Hunter D Slices And Dices Its Way Through Darkness
Vampire Hunter D pulls from a lot of different genres as it ambitiously tells a dark fantasy that’s set in a post-apocalyptic nuclear dystopia that follows a stoic vampire hunter named D. There is no shortage of vampire horror anime, but Vampire Hunter D helped build the template and delivers a grandiose and bloody story. There are rampant demon slayings that are a constant reminder of the movie’s mature nature, but the bittersweet romance that brews underneath the action is also the type of inevitably tragic love story that’s appropriate in this painful world.
3 Demon City Shinjuku Puts Humanity On The Run From Monsters
Yoshiaki Kawajiri is an anime director who loves to look at worlds that are under the thumb of demon apocalypses, and the 1980s are full of these types of bleak stories. Demon City Shinjuku doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to its hero-versus-demonic-tyrant trajectory, but it excels when it comes to its bloody battles and creepy characters. Its main characters succumb to certain stereotypes, but this only makes Demon City Shinjuku come across as edgier as it reinforces outdated gender roles.
2 Akira Presents A Cynical World With Awful Body Horror Consequences
Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira remains a highly revered piece of anime and manga that continues to influence modern series and creators. Akira has become elevated to a totemic status, but it’s a movie where every frame is gorgeous and full of meticulous detail. It’s easy to get caught up in Tetsuo’s graphic transformation and the apocalyptic angle that takes over the narrative, but this vision of the future is cynical on every level. Kaneda’s incredible pursuit to save his friend is an inspirational burst of light, but his journey frequently seems hopeless.
1 Wicked City Delivers Non-Stop Nightmare Fuel That The Audience Won’t Forget
Anime gained a reputation of being violent, sexualized, and for more mature audiences during the 1980s, and it’s standalone content like Wicked City that helped establish that stereotype. Wicked City is sensationalized in every respect, but it knows exactly what it is and is a satisfying dose of procedural action and supernatural horror. Peace between the human and demon worlds is in jeopardy, but the real selling point of Wicked City is the brutal transformations and disturbing demons that fill the story. All of these aggressive visuals are gleefully exaggerated, and Wicked City wants to leave its audience shocked.
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