Expansion & Experimentation — the 1970s || Creators

#AnimeHunters

Welcome anime classic lovers. Following my post about anime in the 1960s, today's post is about the expansion and experimentation era of anime — the 1970s. You could also call it the Mecha Boom Era. This post is all about the masterminds and studios behind iconic series of the 70s and those who shaped the decade. I'm working on a second part with more details about popular 70s anime, which is soon to come. Let's get started!

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The 60s were the birth of tv anime as we know it today. This had consequences for the film industry in the 70s, as animated films now faced competition from tv anime. This especially affected Toei Animation, which had been a big shot at the anime film industry for decades. As a result, many animators left for other studios, and the 70s saw a surge of new studios being founded. At that time, many young animators were practically pushed into the role of director. The inclusion of these young talents allowed for a wide range of experiments, building on the achievements of the 60s.

In the 70s, Japanese anime reached continental Europe with productions aimed at both European and Japanese children. Some of the most well-known examples include Heidi, Barbapapa, and Vicky the Viking. For the first time, children in Italy, , , East and Southeast Asia, as well as across Latin America, were introduced to anime and manga.

Japanese productions were offered at a low price, which increased global interest in them. Their success led to more and more productions, which became particularly popular outside of Japan. The best example of this is the World Masterpiece Theater, which produced many beloved children's anime worldwide. Most of these children's series were produced by Nippon Animation starting from its founding year in 1975. The studio emerged from Zuiyō Eizō, which had already been involved in the production of these series beforehand.

It were Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata who worked at Zuiyō Eizō/Nippon Animation on these children’s series and were able to make a name for themselves for the first time. Takahata had his breakthrough with Heidi, Girl of the Alps, and Miyazaki’s most well-known work from the 1970s was Future Boy Conan. Both worked on many series from the World Masterpiece Theater, as the concept idea originally came from them.

Mushi Productions was more successful than any other studio in the 60s. Despite that, it went bankrupt for the first time in the 70s. However, former Mushi employees went on to establish two new studios, both of which are still well-known today — in 1972, both Madhouse and Sunrise were founded. In the following decades, both studios brought many successful shows to the market. Even today, they remain popular and continue to create new fan favorites.

Another studio from the 70s that I don’t want to leave out is Studio Pierrot. It was founded in 1979 but only started playing a role in the animation market in the 80s.

All of these studios contributed to making the 1970s a transformative period that shaped the development of anime for decades to come. This era saw the emergence of anime across a wide range of genres, from mecha and science fiction to romance and slice-of-life. The decade was marked by significant progress in animation techniques and storytelling, leading to the creation of several franchises that are still celebrated today. I’ll take a closer look at some of these series in the second part of this post.

One of the defining characteristics of 1970s anime was the birth of the mecha genre. In the 60s, Astro Boy had sparked interest in robots, and with series like Mazinger Z and Mobile Suit Gundam, the first works featuring piloted giant robots appeared — marking the beginning of the popular mecha genre. It was Go Nagai who brought it with Mazinger Z to the screen for the first time.

But it didn’t stop at piloted giant robots. Go Nagai also contributed to a whole range of genres with other popular works in the 70s. These include Devilman — whose anime adaptation was much less violent than the manga — and Cutie Honey, which is considered the first magical girl anime.

In addition to mecha anime, the 1970s also saw the rise of space operas and science fiction series. Leiji Matsumoto shaped this genre like no other with series such as Space Battleship Yamato, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, and Galaxy Express 999.

Overall, the 1970s was a transformative decade for anime, laying the groundwork for the diverse and dynamic medium we know today. From pioneering mecha battles to heartwarming tales of adventure and friendship, anime of the 1970s continue to inspire and captivate audiences around the world.

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I actually wanted to cover ten popular series from the 70s in this this post. But honestly? It would have been way too long, so I’ve decided to split the post into two parts. So stay tuned — another part about the 70s is coming soon, where I’ll dive into iconic series of that time. You can look forward to it!