Hokuto no Ken Movie

Anime digital archeology.

Lost: For media that is completely lost.
Partially Lost: These pieces of media have had over half their content found.
Found Media: Media that was once lost, but now found.
Partially Found: Media that's had up to half of its content found is listed here.

Anime adaptions of Weekly Shonen Jump manga

I remember going to the video store, browsing the shelves, and picking out a movie based on the box art alone. I'd look at the front, I'd look at the back, and more often than not I'd put it back on the shelf. Occasionally there'd be something like Ghost in the Shell or Ninja Scroll, and I knew I just had to rent it, or more accurately get my parents to rent it.

This isn't just a list of movies that were available on VHS at my local video store, this is also a list of movies that I would have rented had they been there. They have box art and synopsis appeal, regardless of the reality contained within.

This is my virtual VHS store, where we say Japanimation and we don't stock TV shows unless they're only a few episodes long. I hope you like violence and nudity. Things here also generally skew older, keeping with the VHS theme.

This is the good stuff list. If you want the bad stuff list, go here: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9520

Tags: Old, Oldtaku, Retro, Violent, 1980s, 1990s

these series have some Giga chad characters in them

Anime Movies from the 70s & 80s.
Other Movies: Doraemon Movie 07: Nobita to Tetsujin Heidan, Saint Seiya: Shinku no Shounen Densetsu, Little Nemo, Penguin's Memory: Shiawase Monogatari.

the essentials classics of the 80's and 90's

Anime released on VHS by Manga Entertainment/Manga Video in the UK. If you have any additions or corrections let me know.

(note: this does not include hentai as the stack would have to remain unlisted if it did)

Part 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31685

Every cinema or direct to video anime film that came out in 1985.

1985: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34028
Part 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34035
1987: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34036
https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34037

After the release and success of Akira in the US and UK, Western companies like Central Park Media and Manga Entertainment began licensing as many films and OVAs as they could get their hands on to satiate a market hungry for strange, violent animation. Some of them were genuinely great and are still regarded as classics to this day, but the vast majority were schlock made to appeal to the lowest common denominator. This was essentially the anime equivalent to the American grindhouse/exploitation boom of the 70s and early 80s, where films were marketed on their ability to shock and provoke.

Here are a handful I feel would serve as a good primer to this specific moment in anime history. While many of these films and OVAs are undeniably terrible, this is an era I do have quite a soft spot for and there are definitely some gems worth checking out too.

Fist of the North Star is a manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was one of Weekly Shōnen Jump's most popular titles during the 1980s. It is one of the best-selling manga series in history, with over 100 million copies sold worldwide (over 60 million copies in circulation in Japan).

Fist of the North Star was adapted into two anime television series produced by Toei Animation, which together aired on Fuji TV and its affiliates from 1984 through 1988, comprising a combined total of 152 episodes. It has since expanded into a media franchise, including several anime films, a live-action film, original video animations (OVAs), video games, and a series of spin-offs centering on other characters from the original story. It also has a number of video games and pachinko machines produced by Sega Sammy. A new anime adaptation was announced in September 2023.

Anime that are partially or fully lost.
Notes: I’m not including series that are only missing dubs. I’m not including anime that were previously lost media but have now been found. There are many series that I have been unable to find in the MAL database and therefore have not included. And, lastly, the information in this list is sourced from the Lost Media Wiki.