old school anime series

5 Old School Series That Recently Received an Anime

By:

Published:

09/04/2018

Updated on: 15/07/2023

Today I’d like to make a list and somewhat talk about 5 old school anime series that recently received anime adaptations. A lot of the old school anime series has been receiving a bunch of anime nowadays. It’s like studios can’t decide which harem or ecchi to adapt next. Hence, they are going for the old-school anime series and re-making and adapting them again. In a way, this makes me happy because I do hope more old school anime series receive new anime. There are a lot of old school anime series stuff that was great but didn’t get the attention they deserved back then. Therefore, having them shine now just seems like a great thing. Well, let us get things started.

5 Old School Anime Series That Recently Received an Anime

Now then starting this 5 old school anime series list and let’s start this with the elephant in the room – an obvious series the everyone should know at this point.

5. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

5th in the list of 5 old school anime series receiving an anime is my wonderful Jojo – bringer of animal abuse and meme’s that never die. I swear you can make a 4 season anime series that consists of nothing but only JoJo memes….and I’d watch that and enjoy it. How I love this series with a passion! But I’m not here to fangirl about this series. This is a list so lists stick to the list.

All JoJo's Poster 5 Old School Series
All JoJo’s From Part 1 to 8

Series Summary

Well not really a summary to be honest since trying to summaries 8 parts would take forever. So, simply put JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure follows the story of the Joestar lineage with each new JoJo part following a new Main character and their story, starting with the first Joester in the 1880 and somewhat ending their story in the year 2011 with JoJo Part 6. Before the series decided to go back to 1890’s in Part 7 and then going to a somewhat alternative setting in Part 8. Yeah the timeline kind of gets confusing once you get to part 7

4 out of the 8 Parts received an Anime Recently

The series so far has received 4 anime adaptations, earliest starting in 2012. The first season covering part 1 and 2 of the manga with a total of 26 episodes, Season 2 and 3 covering part 3 Stardust Crusaders with a total of 48 episodes adapted from 2014 to 2015. And season 4 covering Part 4 Diamond is Unbreakable with a total of 39 adapted recently in 2016. Hopefully, Part 5 also gets an anime adaptation. That would make me a happy bear!

Jojo Bizarre Adventure Vento Aureo Poster
Jojo Bizarre Adventure Vento Aureo Color Spread
The JoJo Series Has A Lot of Influence in Japan

JoJo the series, that has been ongoing since 1986 and has never stopped since then. A series is now very much a historical part of Japanese history. Though it may not be noticed in the west, this series has so much influence in Japan. Think of it as Dragon Ball in the west. Although not everyone watched it, everyone has heard of it, that is even people who have never watched the series.

The Author Shot himSelf in the Foot (Not Literally of course).

Despite being very popular in Japan. The series never really took off in the west until recently.
The reason why Jojo never really took off in the west was due to the author naming all the Characters, stands and powers in the series after western rock bands from the 80’s and 90’s so localizing the series….as you can guess….would cause a lot of legal trouble in the west.

Simple put Hirohiko Araki (author) shot himself in the foot fangirling about old school rock bands in his manga now his series can’t be properly localized without a lot of censorship.

Speaking of the author.

Another thing I and many believe is that the immortal vampires – mostly Dio the main villain of Jojo. His story is actually based on the author’s life since the author of JoJo is immortal.
As you can see here. He can be spotted as far back as 3000.BC

Hahaha I’m just joking here obviously, but it’s honestly amazing how it seems like he hasn’t aged a bit since the 80’s

I talked way too much about JoJo though. It’s time to move onto the next series.

4. Ushio to Tora

4th in the list of 5 old school anime series receiving an anime is Ushio to Tora. Also known as GET HYPE the goddamn anime. Joking no one calls it that just me but with good reason. This anime is the embodiment of nothing but pure hype. There are a few things in this series that bothered me. Which I will get to in a bit. But other than one minor problem this series is a blast and probably one of the most fun shounen anime to watch. Too bad, it started airing in the same season as Dragon Ball Super, Charlotte, Overlord and Fairy Tail(2014). Safe to say the series got COMPLETELY overshadowed by the popular stuff.

Ushio to Tora Visual
Ushio to Tora Season 1 Poster

Series Summary

Ushio to Tora follows the story of Ushio a middle school student who lives with his eccentric father at a shrine who often tells him about how this shrine 500 years ago, his samurai ancestor battled that a wild beast looking tiger who left nothing but havoc and destruction in its path until it reached a standoff with the wild best and was finally able to seal the wild tiger in the shrine with the legendary beast spear. where Ushio lives. But Ushio never paid attention to what his father said because he believed them to be nothing but made up stories.

Until one day while doing his chores Ushio found a path to a basement where he opened the seal and found the legendary beast(Tora) And the Beast Spear that has him sealed. Tora started talking to Ushio to get him to remove the spear and un-seal him. But Ushio wouldn’t agree. Which made Tora go mad and threaten to kill the MC when he is able to free himself. But then a sudden outbreak of youkai which threatens the lives of his friends. Ushio is forced to take the beast spear and un-seal Tora and use his and the power of the beast spear to defend his home.

Now becoming the new wielder of the beast spear Ushio sets out on is story wielding the beast spear that stops Tora from going on a rampage again, partnering up with a companion that is looking for any chance to kill Ushio and set him self-free.

The New Adaptation

Ushio to Tora is based on a manga of the same name by author Fujita Kazuhiro who started serialization of the manga back in 1990. It was recently turned into an anime by studio MAPPA and Studio VOLN. Which consists of 2 seasons. Season 1 airing back in 2015 which consists of 26 episodes, And Season 2 which aired in 2016 which had 12 episodes which mainly  is the adaptation of the final arc of the manga. The series also had an OVA adaptation back in the 90’s which had 10 episodes. But we not talking about that old anime we talking about the new adaptation.

Part of the Generation of Manly Manga

Since Ushio to Tora was a series that started in the 90’s it can be considered one of the few shounen mangas from back then that started right when the generation of MANLY shounen manga Like, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 1 and Fist of the North Star ended. Being somewhat part of that Generation you can see some manly inspiration Ushio to Tora pulled from those series. Being an over the top high action high octane series that doesn’t know when to calm down at times.

Ushio to Tora Opening 1
Ushio and Tora In the Opening Sequence

The one problem with this series

As I stated right at the start, There are a few things that bothered me about this series and it might bother allot of new anime watchers also, And that’s the series episodic nature. Normally for me, episodic episodes really wouldn’t bother me at all. They can be really fun to watch, having a new story each episode giving the main character more life and meaning-making you care about him or her more. But Ushio to Tora does episodic episodes in 2 ways that were really annoying for me at the start.

1. The Whole First Season is basically Episodic

That is a major problem you can’t have almost all 26 episodes of a series be episodic (Except the first 3 episodes). That is dragging out things for too long without having at least one serious long arc (that at least lasted 4 or 5 episodes) in the middle or end.  Granted yes the episodic episodes were fun and exciting to watch. But fun and exciting is not important if it fails at developing the characters so that you care about them. Which leads to my 2nd problem with the series.

2. There hardly isn’t any character development due to the series episodic nature

The episodic nature of this series kills all forms of character development that could have been had throughout the series. Since the series tells a new story each episode. Let’s say something series happens in that episodic episode someone died or the MC powered up and became more series and stronger to fight towards his goal of protecting someone in that episode. ALL that build up all that set up in that one episode to actually develop the character to make him maybe strong. ALL vanishes the next episode, all the build from the last episode is just GONE. Because the next episode tells a brand new story and because of that it’s like the character development from the last episode NEVER happened. Everything is reset you are back to square one in this new episode. This was something I truly hated.

Despite My Complaints, The Series is Still Great

If you can get past the episodic stuff the series as a whole is still damn exciting and fun to watch. There are people who are not like me and simply want to get entertained they want a series to keep them hype with amazing action then this series is still a must watch. Plus all the problems in season 1 are completely fixed in season 2. Which makes sitting through season 1 worth it because season 2 is AMAZING. In all honesty, it could be considered one of the best shounen in recent memory. Despite being an anime adapted from a manga that ended in the 90’s.

Ushio to Tora Opening 2
Ushio Summoning His Spear In The Second OP

If you are all interested in getting this series you can buy it here: Ushio & Tora Blu-ray Box Set

Now Then off to the next anime that is surprisingly still linked to Ushio to Tora in a way.

3. Karakuri Circus

3rd in the list of 5 old school anime series receiving an anime is karakuri Circus. I know NOTHING about this series just gonna make that clear now. This is actually the first time I’ve heard of it. The only thing I know is that the same author of Ushio to Tora is the author of this series, And the fact that this was the manga the author started writing after Ushio to Tora ended. So it’s a series from the 90’s it can be classified as old school and fits on this list. But as I stated I know nothing about this series. But that doesn’t mean I can’t tell you news about the series and maybe give you a summary of at least the first chapter.

Series Summary

The Series follows Katou Narumi who suffers from a rare case of Zonapha Syndrome – that stops his breathing if he doesn’t make other people laugh. He was a trainer learning Chinese Kenpo but had to leave it all behind due to his rare situation. He needed to make people laugh or he would simply Die. So moving back to Japan he started to work as a clown to which to him was the only thing he could think of that would combat his Disease. But there was 1 major problem with his plan. Even tho he is a clown, He just isn’t funny.

That’s a real problem for someone that needs people to laugh or else he dies.

Then one day he meets a boy wandering around with a massive suitcase this boy is called Saiga Masaru. Due to the MC weird nature and worrying that he will die if he can’t make anyone laugh – the boy with the suitcase started laughing at him. Which ends up saving the MC from dying. Later he finds out this little boy is an inheritor of a fortune and is being pursued by assassins. Wanting to save the boy who saved him by laughing, our MC decides to fight these assassins. But these assassins are not what they seem. After breaking one of them the MC realises that these assassins are nothing but puppets with a lot of weapons at their disposal.

One thing leads to another and the fight with these puppets leads into a Circus where they meet Shirogane. A woman standing high in the sky on some wire. She jumps down to save the boy takes his massive suitcase and summons a big puppet from the kid’s suitcase and telling him that she was asked by the kid’s late grandfather to protect him using this puppet in the suitcase.

And So the story of these 3 characters start to intertwine all revolving around a Circus.

A setting that might turn of many people from watching it

The setting seems silly, the idea behind the story seems weird and the fact that the main focus of this series revolves around a  Circus. I can see many people avoiding this series with only a few picking it up. Not to mention the fact that it’s coming out this year. A year filled with a bunch of major popular manga and novels getting anime adaptations. I fear that this series might suffer the same fate as Ushio to Tora. A great series overshadowed by the popular stuff. Honestly, this sucks.

One Thing You Can Count On with This series.

This is a series from the same creator of  Ushio to Tora so and despite the weird setting, this series will have a lot of action and the few people who will watch it will probably end up enjoying more than the popular stuff that will be airing. I just hope it doesn’t suffer from the same episodic problem as Ushio to Tora which I don’t think will be the case.

The studio adapting this will be Studio VOLN, The same studio that worked on Ushio to Tora, and its set to have 36 episodes. So that pretty much already confirms the adaptation will be very faithful to the manga. This is something I’m looking forward to.

Karakuri Circus Manga Cover Volume 1

2. The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis – Encounter

2nd in the list of 5 old school anime series receiving an anime is the new remake of The Legend of the Galactic Heroes franchise. I don’t want to talk about this series man, I really don’t. Production I.G what the actual hell are you doing to one of My favourite anime ever. I got a lot to say about this series allot. I want to express my love for The Legend of the Galactic Heroes franchise. But I can’t do any of that here because if I did that it would mean I’d be promoting this remake anime which is something I don’t want to do. I’ll get to the reason for why I don’t want to promote this anime in a bit.

The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis – Encounter 2nd Anime Visual

Series Summary

In humanity’s distant future, two interstellar states—the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance—are embroiled in a never-ending war. The story focuses on the exploits of rivals Reinhard von Müsel and Yang Wen Li as they rise to power and fame in the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.(Source)

Why I Do Not Want To Promote This Series.

The original series that came out 1988 and ended 1997 was one of the closest anime you could call a Masterpiece. One of the best anime ever made a true classic. This remake that’s coming out this year insults the old school classic. Production I.G seems to simply be making this as a test to see if they could turn this old school series into a new franchise.

The reason why I say this is because this new remake will only be 12 episodes long. That alone is an insult to the original series which consisted of 110 episode. Each episode having meaning and progress slowly setting up future and current events developing all the main cast while also showing us in detail the tactical and planning side of interstellar warfare.

Fitting In All that Planning and Set Up the original series did In A Simple 12 Episode Series Just Isn’t Possible

Though On Top of this new remake of the series and it’s 12 episodes, it was announced that it will also receive 3 movies. But that still isn’t enough to fit in all the story from the original. Which is why I believe Production I.G isn’t taking this new remake seriously. They simple testing the waters to see if this old-school series name still holds some value in modern times. If it does I.G can make a brand new franchise of it. This is reasoning I can understand but not something I want to support. And What Makes this worse is.

If This Remake Fails It will Give the Whole Series A bad name

Though old-school fans of the series will know it’s still great. New people who come to anime when they hear or see this series new series and its name now will think about this horrible adaptation and not know about the classic which is great. Essentially making this new remake the face of The Legend of the Galactic Heroes franchise. But that is the worst case scenario I hope doesn’t actually happen. For now, I’ll put my hate to the side for this new adaptation and I’ll watch it. But I will not support it.

If you are in any way interested in the original series. You can buy them here: Legend of the Galactic Heroes Blu-ray Box

1.Banana Fish

Now to the 1st in the list of 5 old school anime series receiving an anime. Banana Fish another series I actually knew nothing about until recently when it was announced it will receive an anime. Apparently, it was a real classic series back in 1980’s when the series was ongoing. MAPPA studio recently announced that it will take this old-school classic and adopt it and hope it becomes a success now in the modern-day. Obviously considering the time period when this series was still ongoing will not fit in current times to MAPPA studio might have to modernize the series to fit current times.

Banana Fish 2nd Anime Visual

Series Summary

Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of “Papa” Dino Golzine, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash’s older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa’s insatiably ambitious hands—and it’s exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx’s acquaintance…

You Can Buy The First Volume Of The Manga Here, Banana Fish Volume 1

MAPPA Studio Riding On The Fujoshi Hype Train

I should state once again I know nothing about this series. But from what I’ve seen this will be a series that covers Shounen Ai themes that will please a lot of Fujoshi fans while also telling an interesting story other people who are not a fan of those themes can watch. Hopefully, it won’t suffer the same fate as Yuri on Ice which was indeed very popular but catered more to the Fujoshi then normal watchers. Many were turned off by its Yaoi themes and dropped the series. Despite the overall story of the series being really good.

Interesting How MAPPA makes Both Normal Viewers and Fujoshi fans happy but…

Despite MAPPA over the years now catering well to both Normal viewers and Fujoshi audiences. For some reason, they still, haven’t made a Yuri series. I do wonder whats up with that. That’s another audience they could easily capture yet they won’t make a Yuri series. Come on man MAPPA get to it and I’m dying over here I need a new Yuri series.

Well anyway as I said before. Despite the yaoi like themes in this series it seems to give off the overall story and its characters seem interesting. It is something to look forward to.

Before ending this article covering, 5 Old School Anime Series, since we still on the topic of  MAPPA studio, let me mention 1 more old school anime series receiving an anime adaptation this year.

BONUS ANIME 👏👏👏

This is another old school anime series receiving an anime. MAPPA just recently announced that there will an adaptation of another old-school manga from the 1960’s titled Dororo. I believe it doesn’t have a set release date just yet. Should be noted this will actually be the series 2nd adaptation/remake of this series. Since the series did get an anime back in the 60’s. The series is old school samurai based series with a mix of Supernatural elements involving demons. The concepts and themes in this series sound really interesting. I sadly do not know much more about this series but it’s probably something you should keep an eye on because it might end up being a really great old school anime series.

Dororo Anime First Visual

Dororo Anime Visual

If you want to know more about the series and its first trailer which looks really interesting art style wise. We actually posted a news article about it on the site which you can check out here: Tezuka Osam’s Supernatural Historical Manga ‘Dororo’ Gets A New Anime Adaptation

That pretty much wraps up this article. 5 old school anime series that received anime recently. There are actually some more old school anime series that will have new adaptations coming out in the future. Like the new Cute Honey series airing this season, but seeing how long this article has already become, I decided to draw the line here. We can just make another article like this in the future covering more anime. But for now, this is enough. I do hope you enjoyed the list, And if there are any new old school anime series you looking forward to, be sure to post them in the comment section.

If you interested in another list check out my previous list article: 5 Korean and Chinese Animation Worth Checking Out

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