While the anime fandom was still growing in the 1980s, it was still full of plenty of series that are beloved even today. Anime like Dragon Ball, Zeta Gundam, and Saint Seiya helped make the medium into what it is today. That said, there are plenty of anime from that time period that never quite made it into the mainstream.
As much as anime was growing at the time, it simply didn’t have the fanbase to support every series that was becoming a fan-favorite. Some series had to settle for being cult classics, and only remembered by the true hardcore fans. Whether these were television series that never made the jump to franchises, or OVAs and films that experienced brief success before falling off, they all fell just shy of reaching the big leagues.
Genesis Climber Mospeada Is Remembered Because Of Another Series
Genesis Climber MospeadaImage via Tatsunoko Productions
Genesis Climber Mospeada is yet another great mecha sci-fi series to come out of the ’80s. The series follows a group of humans struggling to reclaim Earth from the violent alien race known as the Invid. Yet while most mecha series were satisfied with normal giant robots, Mospeada added in motorcycles that could transform into mecha armor to change things up a bit.
Mospeada achieved cult classic status in the West thanks to its cult classic status in Robotech, as it was the third part of the Robotech universe. However, Mospeada never really climbed beyond that as a series. It’s had more semi-sequels as part of the Robotech universe than it ever had on its own.
Heavy Metal L-Gaim is another mecha series from Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of Mobile Suit Gundam. The series takes place in the Pentagona Solar System, where the powerful emperor Oldna Poseidal aims to take control of every planet. However, the heir of one of the fallen planets stands in Oldna’s way, relying on the power of the legendary mecha, L-Gaim.
L-Gaim is once again Tomino at his best, this time teamed up with artist Mamoru Nagano to create an epic mecha space opera. However, while the series ran for over a year, it couldn’t quite stand up to all the other space opera of the era. It received a three-episode OVA, and other than that, it’s barely acknowledged outside of appearances in Super Robot Wars.
Gall Force 1: Eternal Story Had An Entire Franchise And Couldn’t Make It
Gall Force: Eternal StoryImage via AIC, Artmic
Rhea Gall Force released in the mid ’80s, during the peak of the OVA era. The film takes place in deep space, where two different species are at war: the alien Paranoids and the all-female Solonoids. Though at war, the leaders of both factions attempt to create a third race of beings that’s meant to bring peace to them all, with the unwitting aid of the Solnoid ship the Star Leaf.
Gall Force saw some success in the ’80s as it continued to receive films and OVAs that expanded the universe and the story. It’s also one of the first anime to be promoted as anime in the West as it aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. However, the series never made it out of the OVA era, and by the mid ’90s had already been forgotten in favor of bigger series.
Anime Dragonar MechaImage via Sunrise
Taking place in 2087, Dragonar sees Earth fighting against the powerful United Lunar Empire, which aims to wipe out the remaining humans living on Earth. Though the Earth is in a losing battle, they plan to turn the tide with three special prototype mecha called the Dragonars. However, when the Dragonars fall into the hands of three teenagers, they’re forced to become part of the fighting force to stop the Empire.
Dragonar‘s inability to become part of the mainstream is sadly well-documented. Originally, Sunrise intended to make this series into the next Gundam, which is why its storyline mirrors the original Gundam series so much. However, while it performed decently, it didn’t come close to the popularity of Gundam, and Sunrise simply moved back to the golden goose.
Outlanders Is A Waste Of The Manga’s Potential
Outlanders animeImage via Tatsunoko Productions
Based on Johji Manabe’s sci-fi manga from the mid ’80s, Outlanders was adapted into an anime in 1986. The story of an alien princess who gets married to a random Earthling in hopes of stopping the war between the two sides, Outlanders feels like a more epic, serious version of Urusei Yatsura. Although the manga was popular, it only received a single-episode OVA that completely misrepresented the story.
Unfortunately, the OVA’s poor adaptation, which lost much of the plot’s complexity in favor of adding more fanservice, soured the relationship between Manabe and the staff responsible for the series. This not only led to Manabe turning on the anime, but losing interest in the franchise altogether. While the series experienced a brief surge in popularity in the ’90s in America, it wasn’t enough to have this series break through and make a comeback.
Riding Bean Was Changed Into Another Anime
Riding Bean showing Bean and Rally VincentImage via AIC, Artmic
Riding Bean showing the main castImage via AIC, Artmic
Riding Bean showing Bean and RallyImage via AIC, Artmic
Riding Bean’s Bean smirkingImage via AIC, Artmic
Riding Bean showing Rally Vincent with her gun outImage via AIC, Artmic
Hardcore ’90s anime fans might find Riding Bean familiar. The single-episode OVA follows a single day for courier Bean Bandit and his partner Rally Vincent, which becomes especially destructive when they’re suddenly framed for a kidnapping. Based on a short-run manga, Riding Bean only ever got a single OVA before nearly being forgotten.
However, in the ’80s and ’90s, Riding Bean creator Kenichi Sonoda still had plenty of pull. He later re-worked the basic idea of Riding Bean into a more popular Gunsmith Cats. Though honestly, neither series was ever as successful or as influential an anime series as Sonoda’s best-known work, Bubblegum Crisis.
The Five Star Stories Was Seen As Impossible To Properly Adapt
The Five Star StoriesImage via Sunrise
Following his work on Heavy Metal L-Gaim, character and mecha designer Mamoru Nagano decided to make a solo project of his own. Entitled The Five Star Stories, the series was a more serious and mystical version of L-Gaim, this time following the powerful emperor Amaterasu and his adventures on the way to becoming ruler of the Joker System. Originally a manga, the series was enough of a success to get an anime movie in the late ’80s.
However, The Five Star Stories never really grew beyond being a cult classic favorite. Fans of the series cite the story’s nonlinear narrative and massive scale as making it “impossible” to fully adapt. Even if it got a full adaptation, a series like The Five Star Stories would likely remain as a cult classic, much like many of the other space opera anime of the modern era.
The Guyver: Bio-Boosted Armor Received Multiple Adaptations Across Several Decades
Guyver The Bioboosted Armor 1989Image via OLM
Around the same time Dragon Ball Z released, Yoshiki Takaya’s Bio-Booster Armor Guyver series received an anime adaptation as a 12-episode OVA. The series tells the story of the high schooler Sho Fukamachi after he accidentally bonds with the biological armor Guyver, transforming him into Guyver I. From there, Sho begins his battle against the powerful Cronos Corporation, which has designs on ruling the world.
Perhaps more than any other series, The Guyver has always remained right on the edges of going mainstream. The manga remained in publication for decades before going on hiatus in 2016, while the series was popular enough to even get a series of western live-action films in the ’90s. Considering it’s based on the incredibly popular Kamen Rider franchise, it seems like it should’ve garnered enough popularity to gain a full adaptation. Instead, it got a sequel in the mid 2000s that covered a bit more of the manga before being written off once again.
