Top Anime of 1996

Detective Conan

名探偵コナン

High school detective Shinichi Kudo is ambushed by members of the Black Organization and force-fed an experimental poison that shrinks his body to that of a seven-year-old. Under the alias Conan Edogawa, he moves in with his childhood friend Ran Mouri and her bumbling private-detective father Kogoro, secretly solving cases through Kogoro while hunting for leads on the syndicate and a way to reverse the drug.

Good

TV|1|Winter 1996

FINISHED

Lupin III: Dead or Alive

ルパン三世 DEAD OR ALIVE

Action

Adventure

Comedy

After busting four prisoners out of jail, Lupin III sets his sights on the national treasure of Zufu, a small nation whose late king hid it on a remote floating landmass known as the Drifting Island. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon Ishikawa fly in by mini-helicopter to search the island. There they run into the lethal Nanomachine security system guarding the treasure, and into General Headhunter, Zufu's ruthless ruler, who has his own plans for it. Getting off the island alive turns out to be harder than finding it.

FINISHED

Birdy the Mighty

鉄腕バーディー

Sci-Fi

Drama

Tsutomu Senkawa is an ordinary middle schooler until he gets caught in a street chase and is killed by accident. The interplanetary agent responsible, Birdy Cephon Altera, saves him the only way she can, by merging their bodies together. Sharing one body means covering for each other constantly, a secret that starts slipping once classmate Natsumi Hayamiya notices something is off about Tsutomu. This four-episode 1996 OVA is the original animated adaptation of the Birdy the Mighty manga and predates the later Decode TV series.

—

OVA|

FINISHED

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars

美少女戦士セーラームーンセーラースターズ

Shoujo

Action

Fantasy

In the fifth and final season of Sailor Moon, Usagi Tsukino and the Sailor Guardians face a threat from beyond their galaxy. Three idol singers called the Three Lights enroll at Juban High alongside Usagi: in secret they are the Sailor Starlights, warriors from the destroyed planet Kinmoku searching for their lost Princess Kakyuu. They have followed her to Earth ahead of Sailor Galaxia, a corrupted Guardian whose Shadow Galactica hunts the star seeds that hold each Guardian's power.

FINISHED

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

機動戦士ガンダム第08MS小隊

Action

Sci-Fi

Drama

During the One Year War of Universal Century 0079, Ensign Shiro Amada takes command of the 08th MS Team, a small Earth Federation unit fighting a guerrilla campaign against the Principality of Zeon in the jungles of Southeast Asia. His soldiers pilot RX-79[G] ground-type Gundams against Zeon forces dug into the region. Shiro's path keeps crossing that of Aina Sahalin, a Zeon test pilot tied to a secret mobile-armor project he is ordered to hunt down. This OVA is a self-contained One Year War side story.

FINISHED

Crayon Shin-chan: Great Adventure in Henderland

クレヨンしんちゃんヘンダーランドの大冒険

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Adventure

A school field trip to Henderland, a theme park built around a fairy tale, goes sideways when Shinnosuke wanders off from his classmates and winds the key of a dancing doll in the park's restricted section. The doll, Toppema Mappet, tells him the fairy tale is real: the evil twins Makao and Joma have a princess under a spell, and only a living person can use the magic cards that beat their dark magic. Shinnosuke agrees to help once he finds out the twins have swapped his parents for enchanted puppets.

FINISHED

After War Gundam X

機動新世紀ガンダムX

Action

Sci-Fi

Drama

Fifteen years after colony drops left Earth's ecosystem in ruins, teenage salvager Garrod Ran stumbles onto a buried military relic: the mobile suit Gundam X. He joins the crew of the mercenary ship Freeden, using the machine to shield psychic Newtypes from factions eager to restart the war that nearly ended civilization. Garrod and the Freeden's crew make their way across a scorched, rebuilding Earth.

—

FINISHED

Dragon Ball: The Path to Power

ドラゴンボール最強への道

Action

Shounen

Fantasy

Goku, a tailed boy raised alone in the mountains, meets Bulma when she nearly runs him over while hunting the seven Dragon Balls. As they set off to gather the orbs, their path runs into the Red Ribbon Army, whose General White and General Blue hunt the same wishes from Muscle Tower and beyond. Master Roshi and the android Number 8 enter the chase along the way. This feature condenses and retells the early Dragon Ball story as a tenth-anniversary film.

FINISHED

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie

ソニック☆ザ☆ヘッジホッグ

Kids & Family

Action

Sci-Fi

Sonic and his sidekick Tails are called in when the president of South Island reports that he and his daughter are being held by Dr. Robotnik, who claims he's been forced out of his own city, Robotropolis, by a rival called Metal Robotnik. Skeptical but curious, Sonic and Tails head into Robotropolis to shut down a runaway power generator and confront the impostor, only to find the rival is closer to Robotnik than it first appears. What looks like a rescue mission turns into Sonic walking straight into one of Robotnik's own schemes.

#10

FINISHED

Slayers Return

スレイヤーズRETURN

Action

Fantasy

Adventure

Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent take a job from the village of Biaz, whose people have been pressed into labor by the Zein, an organization with designs on world domination. What actually draws Lina is the elf treasure the villagers say lies buried under the place. Clearing the Zein out proves the smaller of the two problems. Like the other Slayers features, this one pairs Lina with Naga rather than with the television cast.

—

#11

FINISHED

Dorami & Doraemons: Robot School's Seven Mysteries

ドラミ＆ドラえもんズロボット学校七不思議！？

Kids & Family

Action

Sci-Fi

Dorami is days from graduating the robot school when its machines and computers turn on the students, and her brother Doraemon vanishes along with the principal in the confusion. Using the telepathy card he leaves behind, she calls in The Doraemons, seven cat-type robots posted to different countries and eras; Dora the Kid, the gunman of the American West, reaches her first and stays at her side. Stripped of most of their gadgets, the two work through the school's seven mysteries. It is a short, screened with that year's main Doraemon feature.

#12

FINISHED

Slayers: The Book of Spells

スレイヤーズすぺしゃる

Action

Fantasy

Adventure

Sorceress Lina Inverse and her longtime rival Naga the Serpent take odd jobs across three self-contained adventures. In the opener, a rogue magician tries to turn Lina into a spell-casting chimera monster, and she and Naga have to shut the scheme down. Next they help a clumsy young swordsman named Jeffry hold off marauding soldiers and earn his knighthood, then chase a sorcerer who has stolen an artifact called the Shadow Reflector, capable of spawning loyal doubles with opposite personalities. Each story wraps on its own, unconnected to the wider Slayers timeline.

#13

FINISHED

City Hunter: The Secret Service

シティーハンタースペシャルザ・シークレット・サービス

Thriller

Action

Shounen

James McGuire, a candidate for president of the Republic of Guinam, arrives in Tokyo and hires Ryo Saeba, officially as his own bodyguard. The real job is protecting Anna Shinjo, a member of the police's newly formed Secret Service unit assigned to guard McGuire and a protégée of Saeko Nogami, who is also the daughter he has not seen in years. McGuire's past follows him to Japan, the hitman Dunkirk soon has Anna in his sights, and Umibozu has an old score of his own to settle with the killer. This was the first City Hunter TV special.

#14

FINISHED

Dragon Ball GT

ドラゴンボールGT

Action

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

Years after the end of Dragon Ball Z, Emperor Pilaf stumbles upon the Black Star Dragon Balls hidden inside Kami's Lookout and accidentally wishes Goku back into a child's body. Unlike the regular Dragon Balls, the Black Star set scatters across the galaxy after granting a wish, and if all seven are not returned to Earth within a year the planet will explode. Goku sets off on an interstellar hunt alongside his granddaughter Pan and Trunks. This anime-only sequel continues the story without adapting Toriyama's manga.

#15

FINISHED

Rurouni Kenshin

るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-

Action

Shounen

Drama

Meiji-era wanderer Kenshin Himura, once the feared assassin Hitokiri Battosai, now carries a reverse-blade sword and has sworn never to kill again. When he arrives in Tokyo in 1878, he meets Kaoru Kamiya, a young instructor struggling to protect her family's Kamiya Kasshin-ryu dojo from a killer using the Battosai name. Kenshin defeats the impostor and takes up residence at the dojo, where he is joined by the orphan swordsman-in-training Yahiko Myojin and the brawler Sanosuke Sagara.

#16

FINISHED

The Vision of Escaflowne

天空のエスカフローネ

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

Isekai

Hitomi Kanzaki, a high-school track runner known for her tarot readings, is pulled from Earth to the planet Gaea when a boy named Van Fanel appears battling a dragon during practice. On Gaea, where Earth hangs in the sky as the Mystic Moon, Hitomi is swept into a war as the Zaibach Empire moves to conquer the land. Her visions awaken as Van, aided by the Asturian knight Allen Schezar, pilots the ancient guymelef Escaflowne against Zaibach's advance.

#17

FINISHED

Kodocha

こどものおもちゃ

Shoujo

Drama

Romance

Sana Kurata is an eleven-year-old child star who headlines the variety show Kodomo no Omocha. Her bigger problem is sixth grade, where the classroom has stopped functioning: Akito Hayama, a sullen classmate, leads a small revolt that has left the teachers unable to hold a lesson. Sana decides to fix him, and her relentless meddling slowly changes the standoff between the two of them.

—

#18

FINISHED

Slayers Next

スレイヤーズNEXT

Action

Fantasy

Adventure

Sorceress Lina Inverse and the swordsman Gourry Gabriev reunite with Zelgadis and Amelia and set off after the Claire Bible, a legendary source of magical knowledge. Their hunt keeps crossing the priest Xellos, whose help leads them into as much trouble as it solves and who hides ties to the Monster race. This second Slayers TV season continues the party's travels as those Monster forces take an interest in Lina's most dangerous spell.

—

#19

FINISHED

Mysterious Play OVA

ふしぎ遊戯 OVA

Shoujo

Action

Fantasy

After returning to the real world with priestess Miaka Yuuki, celestial warrior Tamahome vanishes into a strange red light and finds himself back in the Universe of the Four Gods, fifty years later, and now living in the body of his old enemy Nakago. Confused about his own identity, Tamahome has to figure out how to reunite with Miaka despite the mix-up, while a lighter second story sends the celestial warriors and priestesses on a chaotic hot spring bus trip.

#20

FINISHED

X: The Movie

X／1999

Action

Fantasy

Drama

Kamui Shiro returns to Tokyo after years away and learns he holds the power to decide whether humanity survives or is sacrificed to heal the planet. Two rival oracles, the sisters Hinoto and Kanoe, have each gathered an army around opposing answers to that question: the Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth. Both sides converge on Kamui the moment he is back in the city, and reuniting with his childhood friends Kotori and Fuma Monou pulls him toward a fight none of the three saw coming.

#21

FINISHED

Tenchi Muyo! In Love

天地無用! in Love

Action

Sci-Fi

Romance

Tenchi Masaki starts vanishing from his own home movies after the escaped criminal Kain erases his mother Achika Masaki from history to strike at Jurai's royal family. To save Tenchi from being wiped out of existence, Ryoko, Washu, Sasami, Mihoshi, Aeka, and Kiyone follow Kain back to 1970 Tokyo to protect Achika before he can finish the job. This feature film picks up after the Tenchi Universe TV series and closes out its own story as a stand-alone adventure.

#22

FINISHED

Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-Express

ドラえもん: のび太と銀河超特急(エクスプレス)

Kids & Family

Action

Sci-Fi

Doraemon goes missing for days, and when he turns up he explains why: he has been queuing in the 22nd century for tickets to the Galaxy Super-Express, a mystery train that never announces where it is going. Nobita Nobi, Shizuka Minamoto, Suneo Honekawa, and Takeshi Gouda board with him and arrive at Dreamers' Land, an enormous amusement park planet split into western, fantasy, ninja, and dinosaur worlds. While they are enjoying the rides, parasitic aliens called Yadori begin taking over the visitors one by one.

#23

FINISHED

Angel Densetsu

エンジェル伝説

Shounen

Slice of Life

Comedy

Transfer student Seiichirou Kitano has a naturally gentle heart and a face so frightening it empties classrooms on sight. When Seikichi Kuroda, the school's self-appointed tough guy, tries to put the new kid in his place, he ends up seeing the boy behind the rumors up close and starts to realize the two do not match. Struggling to make himself understood past his own appearance, Kitano finds unlikely allies inside a school that has already decided who he is.

#24

FINISHED

Sanctuary

サンクチュアリ

Thriller

Action

Drama

Akira Hojo and Chiaki Asami survived the killing fields of Cambodia together as children, and as young men they made a pact to remake Japan into a sanctuary of their own. A round of rock-paper-scissors settled who took which road: Akira dropped into the yakuza underworld to build power and funding from below, while Chiaki went into politics to reach the Diet from above, each clearing the way for the other. This one-episode OVA adapts the opening chapters of the twelve-volume Sanctuary manga.

#25

FINISHED

Boys Over Flowers

花より男子

Shoujo

Drama

Romance

Tsukushi Makino, a middle-class girl enrolled at the elite Eitoku Academy, just wants to coast through unnoticed among classmates from Japan's wealthiest families. That ends when she stands up to the F4, the four heirs who run the school by fear, and earns the personal hatred of their leader Tsukasa Domyoji. His campaign to break her instead drags the two into a stubborn, prickly relationship Tsukushi never wanted.

—

#26

FINISHED

Black Jack: The Movie

ブラック・ジャック劇場版

Thriller

Sci-Fi

Shounen

Dr. Black Jack is blackmailed by the mysterious Jo Carol Brane into treating a group of genetically enhanced superhumans excelling in science, sports, and art. When his patients begin deteriorating from a mysterious wasting condition no one can explain, Black Jack has to trace its cause before it kills them. Pinoko tags along as his unlicensed medical practice collides with the ethics of engineered perfection. The 1996 film stands as a self-contained story outside the TV continuity.

Top 250

Top 250

Detective Conan

Lupin III: Dead or Alive

Birdy the Mighty

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Crayon Shin-chan: Great Adventure in Henderland

After War Gundam X

Dragon Ball: The Path to Power

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie

Slayers Return

Dorami & Doraemons: Robot School's Seven Mysteries

Slayers: The Book of Spells

City Hunter: The Secret Service

Dragon Ball GT

Rurouni Kenshin

The Vision of Escaflowne

Kodocha

Slayers Next

Mysterious Play OVA

X: The Movie

Tenchi Muyo! In Love

Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-Express

Angel Densetsu

Sanctuary

Boys Over Flowers

Black Jack: The Movie