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'''First Anime:'''
* ''[[Astro Boy (
* [[Kimba the White Lion]] (Japanese name Jungle Taitei or Jungle Emperor). Aired in Japan from 1965 to 1966. This series from [[Osamu Tezuka]] was the first TV anime produced in colour. Its story of a lion cub becoming king of the jungle after the death of his father bears more than a passing resemblance to a [[The Lion King|certain popular movie]].
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* [[Trope Maker]]: ''[[Gigantor]]''. Aired in Japan from 1963 to 1965, Gigantor, or Tetsujin 28, was the beginning of the [[Humongous Mecha]] genre.
** [[Super Robot]] [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[
** [[Real Robot]] [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'': A cultural phenomenon in its own right, Mobile Suit Gundam (or Kidou Senshi Gundam) aired in Japan from 1979 to 1980. It has survived in several iterations since, most recently as the ongoing ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'' and ''[[Gundam AGE]]''. It is notable (at least in its earlier entries) for establishing the [[Real Robot Genre]], grounding the robots somewhere closer to reality (both size- and technology-wise) and focusing more on the life and tribulations of their pilots. The plots of the series are pure military drama, and would work just as well were the robots to be replaced by tanks, ships or any other modern fighting vehicle, with the Gundam taking the role of game changing, cutting edge technology.
** [[Transforming Mecha]] [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Macross]]'' (1982). Best known as the source for the first third of Robotech (1984) in the US, it helped launch the Transforming Robot genre, along with the [[Transformers]].
** [[Deconstruction]]: ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': The most influential series on the Humongous Mecha genre since Mobile Suit Gundam, Evangelion aired in Japan from 1995 to 1996. In America, it was released commercially into the market prepared by such series as Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon. While many other series could be called better gateways for people starting out in anime, this is a must for anyone who wants to go further in the mecha genre, or who are interested in dark psychological drama and eschatology. It's also one of anime's most (in)famous examples of [[Mind Screw]].
** Reconstruction: ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'': Airing in Japan from 1996 to 1997, Martian Successor Nadesico was a sometimes-humorous, sometimes-serious parody/satire of the [[Humongous Mecha]] and [[Space Opera]] genres. Although it was much more popular in Japan than the west, its deconstructions and reconstructions of the genre influenced many shows to come after.
** [[Genre Throwback]]: [[
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* [[Trope Maker]]: ''[[Sally the Witch]]''. Often considered the first Magical Girl Anime, based off the Manga of the same name. With the original series airing between 1966 and 1967 and originally appearing in black and white for the first 17 episodes. Spawned a sequel series and had a large and lasting impact on Shojo Anime.
** General [[Magical Girl]] [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[
** [[Magical Girl Warrior]] [[Trope Maker]]: ''[[Cutey Honey]]''. Airing in Japan in 1973 to 1974. What began as the first Shounen program with a female protagonist became the Trope Maker of [[Magical Girl Warrior]] via the [[Periphery Demographic]] the TV series garnered (partly due to the toned down Ecchi elements). It set many of the standards for the genre.
*** [[Magical Girl Warrior]] [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. The first series most anyone thinks of when the words "Magical Girl show" are mentioned, although it is equally a sentai series. The original series aired in Japan from 1992 to 1993, and was kept alive in direct sequels until early 1997; it was still popular enough over a decade after its premiere that it was given a [[Live Action Adaptation|LiveAction]] [[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon|Adaptation]] in 2003. Since its production company terminated all licenses outside of Japan several years ago, it is no longer legally available in North America or Europe, unlike most of its contemporaries on this list.
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* [[Unbuilt Trope]]: [[Urusei Yatsura]] aired from 1981-1986. The first major work by [[Rumiko Takahashi]] this work parodied the [[Unwanted Harem]] genre before it become a genre. ''(Add to description here)''
** [[Trope Codifier]]: [[Tenchi Muyo!]]: The Tenchi OVA series, along with Ranma 1/2, introduced non-Japanese audiences to the unwanted harem genre. Followed by Tenchi Universe, the television Tenchi continuity, which aired in Japan in 1995 and differs significantly in scope from the original 1992 OVA. Tenchi Universe was then followed by several other series with (mostly) the same core cast and situations (but with often radically different implementations), as well as three motion pictures. A third OVA series released in 2004 extends the original OVA plotline, but leaves matters just as [[Tenchi Solution|unresolved]] as its predecessors.
** Deconstructions:
*** [[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2]]. Aired in Japan from 1989 to 1992, and based on the manga of the same name by [[Rumiko Takahashi]], Ranma 1/2 is a fusion of romance/comedy and shonen fighting, and was, along with Sailor Moon, one of the early-1990s gateway anime for North American fans. It is also a Deconstruction of the still [[Unbuilt Trope]] of the [[Unwanted Harem]], although most of this flies over the head of [[Values Dissonance|Western]] viewers, as they don't realize the [[Pillars of Moral Character|very real Japanese moral dilemma]] Ranma is in. (Being engaged to more than one girl is [[Serious Business]].) This series is also the [[Trope Codifier]] for the [[Love Dodecahedron]] sub-genre, with every member of the [[Unwanted Harem]] having his or her own unrequited love interest, and is often considered the best example of [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]] -- the [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]] trope was once called "Takahashi Couple" -- or even its [[Trope Codifier]].
*** [[
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* [[Unbuilt Trope]]: ''(Is there an earlier straight example?)'' ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'', aired from 1981-1986. The first major work by [[Rumiko Takahashi]] is often considered the original Magical Girlfriend [[Parody]], enough that the bumbling well-meaning Magical Girlfriend has become an archetype in its own right. The show's poster girl, a cutesy alien named Lum who habitually wears a tiger-striped bikini, is easily one of the most recognizable anime characters in history.
** [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Ah!
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* [[Unbuilt Trope]]: ''[[Dororo]]''
** [[Trope Maker]]: ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'': The anime started in 1984 (the manga in 1983). The main series ended in 1988, but material is still produced every so often up to this day. This series featured over-the-top martial arts fighting (which was very bloody, but mostly sanitized as shadows or detail-less glow in the anime) and pretty much defined the Shonen fighting genre in anime.
** Trope Codifier: ''[[Dragonball Z]]'': The first shonen fighting series to get really popular in America. Aired in Japan from 1989 to 1996 as the sequel to the original ''[[
** [[Parody]] Codifier: ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2]]''. Aired in Japan from 1989 to 1992, and based on the manga of the same name by Takahashi Rumiko, Ranma 1/2 is a fusion of romance/comedy and shonen fighting, and was, along with Sailor Moon, one of the early-1990s gateway anime for North American fans. Codified the [[Martial Arts and Crafts]] form of parody.
** Samurai/weapons variation, [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': Perhaps the most well-known samurai series, [[Rurouni Kenshin]] (also sometimes known as Samurai X outside of Japan due to licensing issues) aired in Japan from 1996 to 1998. A fictionalized look at Japan circa the end of the 19th Century, it blends historical fiction with high-powered shonen fighting. Two OVA series were released as well, the first very well received, the second, not so much.
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* [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'', one of the best examples of cross-cultural osmosis for integrating all the best known ''Western'' fantasy tropes in an anime.
** Subgenre: [[Trapped in Another World]]
*** Shoujo Romance [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]''. It started its run in 1992 and features an ordinary high school girl, Miaka Yuuki, who is transported into another world where she learns that she is the priestess of the god Suzaku and must find the seven Seishi, people with special ties to Suzaku, most of whom also happen to be handsome young men. Elements of the "ordinary girl stumbles into world where she is revered as a priestess/goddess/queen/person with otherwise special destiny which somehow links her to one or more [[Bishounen]] who will inevitably fall in love with her" plot turn up in a lot of other series which came later (''[[Inuyasha]]'', ''[[Escaflowne]]'', ''[[Kanata Kara]]'', ''[[Red River]]'', ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka
'''Cyberpunk:''': Fiction about a [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|sci-fi future]] where humans and technology merge. Frequently a dystopia or at least a [[Crapsack World]].
* [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Ghost in The Shell (
* ''[[
* ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]''
* ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]''
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'''[[Slice of Life]]:'''
* [[Trope Maker]]: ''[[Sazae
** [[Mundane Fantastic|"Fantasy"]] [[Slice of Life]] [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[
** 4-koma (ie sketch comedy) [[Trope Codifier]]: [[
** Subculture [[Slice of Life]] Trope Codifier: ''[[Welcome to The NHK]]'' aired July to December 2006, and took a look at some of the subcultures of Japan.
** [[Moe]] [[Slice of Life]] [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[K-On!]]'' aired from Spring of 2009 to Summer of 2010. Cute highschool girls form a girl band and do cute things together. Surprisingly ''K-On'' has appealed to wide demographic swath, including girls. This is generally attributed to the toning down of Otaku elements (such as [[Fan Service]]), and the heavy dependence on nostalgia.
'''[[Mons]]''' (A proper look at the [[Mons]] genre would require going into [[Video Games]], particularly the [[Trope Maker]], ''[[
* [[Trope Codifier]]: ''[[Pokémon (
* [[Deconstruction]]: ''[[
* Even bleaker [[Deconstruction]]: ''[[
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=== Films by Release Date: ===
* ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of
* ''[[
* ''Choujin Densetsu Urotsukidouji'' (English language title, ''Legend of the Overfiend'') (1987): For better or worse, this was the seminal (er, bad choice of words) work of the [[Hentai]] anime genre, and one of the earliest animated uses of Naughty Tentacles. It is one of the works most responsible for the [[All Anime Is Naughty Tentacles|rather shady reputation anime has had]].
* ''[[
* ''[[Grave of the Fireflies]]'' (Japanese title, ''[[Hotaru no Haka]]'') (1988): Poignant story of two children trying, and ultimately failing, to survive in war-torn Japan after their mother is killed in an air raid. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel (the author, needless to say, survived, but much of the rest is directly from his own experiences) that was well-known in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s but almost unheard of elsewhere. Widely respected as one of the finest animated films, ever, but also widely reputed to be among the ''saddest'' films ever shown -- so much so that AVClub.com has included it in their list ''[http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/not_again_24_great_films_too/3 Not Again: 24 Great Films Too Painful To Watch Twice]''.
* ''[[Ghost in
* ''[[Spirited Away]]'': (Japanese title, ''Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi'') (2001). Considered by many to be the best work by [[Hayao Miyazaki]], ''Spirited Away'' tells the story of Chihiro, a spoiled 10-year-old girl, who on the way to a new home gets stuck with her parents in a world of spirits, where her parents become pigs after eating spirit food. To save them, she will need to find her own courage and work at Yubaba's spirit bathhouse until she learns how to save them and return to her own world.
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