Like it or not, I'm old, but as I sit in my lounge recovering from a cold while Retrowave plays in the background, I can't help but reminisce of the Halcyon Otaku Days.
10. Dub Acting
Yes it was raw in places but I found the mix of dubbing teams across America, Canada and even my own UK fascinating, these days it's just crunchyroll and while the quality is better it's not exactly memorable anymore. Also I liked it when it was just acting and no baggage.
9. OVAs
I find too many mediocre anime undeserving of getting 12 episode runs all the time, those are the shows that needed the three episodes at most treatment, they are generally better quality and make more of an effort to cram in the best it has to offer.
8. Advertisement
Above is an image from a magazine promoting ADVFilms releases, this is back in the day where everything was advertised no matter how obscure it seemed.
(I don't miss the absurdity of being charged more for the sub)
7. Trailers
ADV used to put trailers on before every anime showing, I would not have discovered anime without it.
6. Discovery Stories
Gone are the days where you can discover anime on your own and have a story to go along with it, these days you just find out because it appeared in Fortnite.
5. Variety
You'd think it would get better but the variety has actually gotten worse in recent years, another look at the picture, you see a Sci-Fi, a Historical Drama and a Fantasy. These days it's Isekai, a slightly different Isekai or a no this is actually a good Isekai along with a host of other shows with an outstanding waifu as it's main selling point, along with a show just to keep Twitter busy for the season, what ever is still airing despite it being years old and a major anime revived from the dead.
4. Less Long Series
Remember the days you thought nothing could be as long as Inuyasha? Long series are nothing new, they hold the record for it but there are way too many these days, no one asked for a fight to take nearly half a year to finish!
3. TV Channels Playing Anime
I'm a Toonami viewer and a FoxKids viewer, I also lived through the 4Kids era, dodgy censorship aside, I wouldn't know half of the most legendary anime without it having a TV spot.
2. Old Anime Style
I still miss the old styles of anime, it was striking, sharp and felt more adult.
1. Missing the Wow Factor
Anime rarely wows me these days, this plays into why so many modern anime are missing from my top lists.
Notes: Age, changing tastes and how much anime I've consumed has played a role in my recent slumps in watching anime, there are things I don't miss about the past as well. Call it rose tinted glasses but I can't help but miss the old days of anime.
