Go Tokyo Your Experience
I remember that whenever we talked about Japanese animation from the 90s, everyone would reminisce about the students from grades 6 and 7 back then, who absolutely wouldn’t run around after class because they had to be home on time to watch the cartoons that aired at 5:30 (that’s what they were called at the time). In that era of numerous animated heroes, there was a high output of robot animations!
Therefore, almost every year there was a robot animation to watch. In short, while I may not dare to mention it to girls, for friends who are now middle-aged or older, robot animations are definitely an important memory in their hearts. Today’s discussion with everyone revolves around “the most interesting robot animations of the 90s” as voted by netizens.
This ranking was conducted through a voting survey by the Japanese website “ranking.goo”, which selected 36 outstanding robot animations from 446 votes. However, as usual, let’s start by looking at the TOP 20.
20th place “Brave of the Sun”
19th place “Kung Fu Cat Gang”
18th place “Mashin Hero Wataru 2”
17th place “Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team”
16th Place “Brave Police”
15th Place “Holy Sky War Chronicles”
14th place “Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz”
13th place “Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory”
12th place “The Legend of the Hero”
11th place “Hero King”
10th place “Mobile Fighter G Gundam”
9th place “Mobile Suit V Gundam”
8th place “Mobile Battleship”
7th place “New Mobile Report Gundam W”
6th place “Hero Command”
5th place “Wind Warrior”
4th place “Magic Knight Ray Earth”
3rd place “Overlord Dragon Knight”
2nd Place “Hot-Blooded Strongest”
1st Place “Neon Genesis Evangelion”
First, let’s talk about “The Hot-Blooded Strongest,” which is actually the third work in the Blueman series produced by the Japanese studio Sunrise. The main storyline revolves around a Blueman (Eldran) who guards the Earth and hands over giant robots to a group of elementary school students, allowing them to pilot them to fight against evil forces in defense of the Earth.
There are four works in this series: “Absolutely Invincible,” “Energetic Explosion,” “The Hot-Blooded Strongest,” and “Complete Victory,” with only the last, Complete Victory, not being animated. Unfortunately, “The Hot-Blooded Strongest” (Hot-Blooded Strongest Gozowler), which we ranked second this time, was not introduced in Taiwan back then, so it’s a pity that we missed this work during the years 1993-1994.
Another work I want to highlight is “Hurricane Warrior,” released by Sunrise Animation in 1993. If I had to name the most passionate and tear-jerking work I watched back then, it wouldn’t be “Princess Pearl,” but this piece, which features a group of “Steel Players” competing in matches. To this day, I still remember how the theme song goes and the protagonist’s special move, 44 Super Sonic Ball, translated by the local version at the time. It truly is a masterpiece—no doubt about it
Finally, we have the first place this time, which is “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” a series that can always be revisited for another 10 years. I remember when it aired in Taiwan, I turned on the Chinese television station just to watch this. The earlier parts with the battles against the Angels were quite enjoyable, but as the story gradually progressed into the later stages, I found myself struggling to understand the content related to religion, the emotional relationships between characters, and the scenes that could remain still for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Honestly, by the end, I was completely lost. What was with that applause at the conclusion? I was really confused back then (sweat). Of course! This isn’t the fault of “Evangelion,” it’s just that I couldn’t keep up (sweat).