Daicon Opening Animations

A mix of great music and great visuals these are some of the best the medium has to offer.

Sorted by popularity. Not by personal taste.

What does "Otaku" even mean? Is it good or bad?

Surreal anime that have an upbeat tone!


Feel free to DM or message me about any questions, suggestions, or opinions about this stack!

Bygone days spent as an otaku, often captured in OVA format, have been lost as trends shifted. It’s undeniably melancholic to see the evolving portrayal of otaku in a meta-sense and slowly watching the dwindling importance of Akiba-kei.

This will serve as a continually-updated list of anime that I feel are representative of "otakucore" being a type of show that promonently features otaku characters as one of the main characters, and depictes the zeitgeist of otaku culture/Akiba-kei during the time of airing. Some are less obvious as otaku-oriented, but still contain many elements that are appealing to databasing-types (computers, figures, video games etc.)

Genshiken, Daicon IV and Otaku no Video are the essentials :3

(Still adding WIP)

Anime that have characters with rabbit features.

Anime made by the first generation of anime fans.

I’m coining the term Anime New Wave in reference to the French New Wave and the Japanese New Wave in film canon. Like both of these movements, the first generation of creatives to achieve any kind of mainstream success were establishing the medium themselves and were drawing inspiration from outside their art form, such as how Osamu Tezuka was inspired by the work of Fritz Lang or how Hayao Miyazaki’s adaptation of Lupin III was deeply entrenched in film noir and Golden Age Hollywood aesthetics. With the rise of an otaku culture punctuated by the first doujin anime and the development of Studio Gainax, anime began to have its ideas and themes codified into a replicable series of cinematic references. Dezaki’s beautiful use of intense lighting and postcard memories, Tomino’s frantic paneling and action set pieces, Takahata’s evocative pastoral landscapes and slow takes, the language of anime was being written one word at a time. In the late 80s we saw the rise of talented creators who speak that language as their first tongue, and the results were inimitable and immediate.

Some directors I am considering under the term include Hideaki Anno, Shinichiro Watanabe, Kunihiko Ikuhara, and Satoshi Kon, just so there’s a point of reference here. I’m trying not to include directors who are usually lumped in with others on this list but were actively working as primary creatives in the studio system in the 80s, such as Mamoru Oshii. Lastly, I’m trying to keep the list centered on the initial wave of anime created even though plenty of these creatives have gone on to work on other things, just so I don’t have it be too confusing to look at. Arbitrary, I know.

Feel free to post comments on my page if you have any suggestions.

This is a weird concept for a list, but I think it's worth putting it out there. These are anime which I consider help understand anime better because of their referential humour, commentary on otaku culture (whether it's anime or gaming), exploration of the industry and twisting of classic tropes in self-aware ways that put them in perspective. Also included a couple shows which are not necessarily meta or referential, but they are here for being aggresively "anime" in nature, if that makes sense. With how over the top they are and/or how stereotypically otaku their concepts are, I think they give a good idea of how anime has developed.

Note: If you truly want to understand otaku culture and anime history, I think an absolute essential is a short show called "Blue Blazers". It is live action however, so it can't be added here. I strongly recommend you check it out, even if the humour can be cringy, because of how deep of an insight it gives into the history of anime and the industry.

Featuring little to no dialogue and/or characters and the experience is carried by the music and/or visual atmosphere.

Part 1 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/311
Part 2 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/5128
Part 3 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/8036
Part 4 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/8173
Part 5 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9135
Part 6 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9240
Part 7 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9448
Part 8 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/9461
Part 9 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/20874

Anime present in Forgotten_VCR's mixtapes.

Their channel: https://www.twitch.tv/forgotten_vcr

More info on the mixtapes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11o-X0a0Rk9elAn4zZQv975Viho-CvDAe_DHeAnQ69Ro/edit#gid=0

WIP. SEE SOMETHING MISSING? MESSAGE ME!

This is a collection of anime that I think is important/useful, or just awe inspiring in terms of its animation. If you are looking to study animation or even just want to appreciate the craft, this stack is for you.

Animator's names of note to pay attention to regarding specific pieces.

animes about productions and creations of media content (Mangas, Animes, Movies, etc.)

A list based on the Magazine cover for "General Products Catalog"

After starting Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, I got curious about which anime use already-existing tracks from so-called "Western" bands or musicians as their openings. So for example, Stray from Wolf's Rain wouldn't count because it was written for the anime, even though it was performed by Steve Conte. On the other hand, Duvet by Boa would count. I don't have a clear distinction between "Western" and not in this case - I'm mostly thinking English-language songs, but tbh anything outside China-Korea-Japan would probably count for these purposes.

Back before moe blobs, harems, fanservicey slices-of-life, academia settings, and copy-paste isekai took over the world. Back when anime was less sterile and less safe.

Comical anime referencing multiple franchises.

Gems by Gainax

from here:
https://w.atwiki.jp/sakuga/pages/100.html

This part covers 1943-1983
Part 2 coming soon, whenever I finish it.

I'm not knowledgable about all of these, as the list wasn't originally made by me, so some entries are missing detailed descriptions. Sorry about that.

This series are pieces in the history of the medium, inovating or creating something new in the medium.

Descriptions in progress.