New Criticism

[http://www.otakunovideo.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/331594-mio_akiyama_through_the_ages-370x1024.jpg|181x502px|Mio Akiyama Through The Ages]Anime is vast. AnimeSuki lists 725 anime works licensed for U.S. release in the past decade alone.

I certainly understand why fans like new shows. There are plenty of interesting shows this year.

I don't understand the assumption that every anime fan is watching the latest shows being released in Japan. Fans frequently ask for my thoughts on the latest shows, and I have to explain that I rarely watch them. I'll watch recent shows eventually, but I want to catch up on all sorts of older shows.

Moreover, I think fans shortchange themselves when they focus on the new.

Anime is incestuous (and not just in the Yosuga no Sora sense). Most anime creators were otaku in their youths, so their works (consciously or unconsciously) reference previous anime works, especially those a decade or two old. Some of these references are simple cameos, but many are far more subtle. For example, I didn't fully understand the origin of Evangelion's infamous 1995 Instrumentality ending's abstract imamgery until I saw the many metaphor-rich and visually experimentational sequences of 1978's Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

Also, the staff of earlier shows approached their material differently. Much as I love the postmodernism of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the plotless comedy of Lucky Star, I get different satisfaction from the aggresive story focus of 1980's anime, from Armored Trooper VOTOMS to Gundam and Macross. The 1990's introduced wild premises, from Ranma 1/2 to Tenchi Muyo!. You may find that the anime of a different time suits your tastes better than that of today's series.

There's nothing wrong with the new, but there are far larger worlds to explore.