People often call anime “retro”, but there’s no agreement on what that really means.
There are multiple ways to define it, and some people just go with the vibes anyways.
There can never be one correct definition for the term “retro”, and the label itself has no impact on the quality of the anime.
The term “retro”, as well as other age-related labels, is often thrown around in the anime community. However, there is no agreement on what any of this really means. For some, Neon Genesis Evangelion would not be considered retro — and that show is from 1995; for others, shows like K-On! might as well count as retro, and that one is from the late 00s! Let’s look at the most common definitions and try to see what actually makes sense.
Most common cutoff points based on years
The harsh truth is: most people don’t even think of anything when they refer to something as “retro”. There’s no real definition for most people: they just go with the vibes. However, some of the most common sentiments are shows made before a certain date/anime count as retro. Some of the most common year cutoffs are 2000 and 2010, as well as “some amount of years before the current date”, like 20 or 25. For cutoffs “before certain anime is released”, some of the most common points are Neon Genesis Evangelion and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu), 1995 and 2006, respectively. Others bring up anime like Akira (1988) and Attack on Titan (2013).
Animation style change
Another idea to consider is to look at the animation style. Traditional cel animation, which used to be the unquestionably dominating form of animation, started fading away slowly around the year 2000, with digital paint animation taking its place instead. By the mid-00s, more and more anime were being produced digitally, and the aspect ratio started switching from 4:3 to 16:9 as well, as that became the more widespread ratio of television screens. By the end of the 00s, the animation techniques became the ones we mostly see nowadays, however, the artstyle would still change and evolve.
“Retro” can never be properly defined
Overall, any of the points discussed can be considered a cutoff for “retro” anime. It is also perfectly fine to go with your feelings, and there can never be a definition for a concept like that. As for us, we usually use the cutoffs of the year 2000 (as it coincides with the end of the century, as well as the start of the digital paint era) or just the idea of “anything made before I was born is retro”. However, it needs to be addressed that these labels are mostly superficial: they don’t make anime better or worse per se.
Honestly, these labels are kinda useless.
Summary:
People often call anime “retro”, but there’s no agreement on what that really means.
There are multiple ways to define it, and some people just go with the vibes anyways.
There can never be one correct definition for the term “retro”, and the label itself has no impact on the quality of the anime.
The term “retro”, as well as other age-related labels, is often thrown around in the anime community. However, there is no agreement on what any of this really means. For some, Neon Genesis Evangelion would not be considered retro — and that show is from 1995; for others, shows like K-On! might as well count as retro, and that one is from the late 00s! Let’s look at the most common definitions and try to see what actually makes sense.
Most common cutoff points based on years
The harsh truth is: most people don’t even think of anything when they refer to something as “retro”. There’s no real definition for most people: they just go with the vibes. However, some of the most common sentiments are shows made before a certain date/anime count as retro. Some of the most common year cutoffs are 2000 and 2010, as well as “some amount of years before the current date”, like 20 or 25. For cutoffs “before certain anime is released”, some of the most common points are Neon Genesis Evangelion and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu), 1995 and 2006, respectively. Others bring up anime like Akira (1988) and Attack on Titan (2013).
Animation style change
Another idea to consider is to look at the animation style. Traditional cel animation, which used to be the unquestionably dominating form of animation, started fading away slowly around the year 2000, with digital paint animation taking its place instead. By the mid-00s, more and more anime were being produced digitally, and the aspect ratio started switching from 4:3 to 16:9 as well, as that became the more widespread ratio of television screens. By the end of the 00s, the animation techniques became the ones we mostly see nowadays, however, the artstyle would still change and evolve.
“Retro” can never be properly defined
Overall, any of the points discussed can be considered a cutoff for “retro” anime. It is also perfectly fine to go with your feelings, and there can never be a definition for a concept like that. As for us, we usually use the cutoffs of the year 2000 (as it coincides with the end of the century, as well as the start of the digital paint era) or just the idea of “anything made before I was born is retro”. However, it needs to be addressed that these labels are mostly superficial: they don’t make anime better or worse per se.
