# The 17 Best Sci-Fi OVA Anime of the 1980s

> From mecha-fueled space epics to grimy cyberpunk noir, this golden age of straight-to-video sci-fi spans landmark classics and half-forgotten cult gems. Which one rules?

*By YPB Team · Published July 13, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-17-best-sci-fi-ova-anime-of-the-1980s*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Gunbuster** — score 1000/1000
   Gainax's 1988 mecha OVA and Hideaki Anno's directorial debut, blending sports-anime spirit with hard sci-fi relativity.
2. **Appleseed** — score 551/1000
   A 1988 cyberpunk OVA adaptation of Masamune Shirow's manga set in the utopian city of Olympus.
3. **Riding Bean** — score 550/1000
   A 1989 action OVA following a getaway driver and courier tearing through Chicago.
4. **Patlabor: Early Days** — score 494/1000
   Mamoru Oshii's 1988 OVA about a police unit piloting giant labor mechs in near-future Tokyo.
5. **Angel Cop** — score 494/1000
   A violent 1989 cyberpunk OVA following a special police unit hunting terrorists in future Tokyo.
6. **Bubblegum Crisis** — score 428/1000
   A 1987 cyberpunk OVA following the Knight Sabers battling a rogue megacorporation in a neon Neo-Tokyo.
7. **Black Magic M-66** — score 350/1000
   Masamune Shirow's 1987 OVA about a journalist hunted by a rogue military android.
8. **Dominion Tank Police** — score 350/1000
   A 1988 comedic cyberpunk OVA following a tank-driving police squad in a polluted future metropolis.
9. **MADOX-01** — score 350/1000
   A 1987 OVA about a college student trapped inside a runaway military exoskeleton on city streets.
10. **Lily-C.A.T.** — score 350/1000
   A 1987 sci-fi horror OVA that transplants Alien-style dread onto a deep-space crew.
11. **The Guyver** — score 350/1000
   A 1989 sci-fi body-horror OVA about a teen fused with alien bio-armor battling monstrous Zoanoids.
12. **Gall Force** — score 257/1000
   A 1986 space-opera OVA pitting an all-female crew against a relentless alien war machine.
13. **Fight! Iczer-One** — score 257/1000
   A 1985 sci-fi horror OVA about an android heroine defending Earth from an alien invasion.
14. **Robot Carnival** — score 257/1000
   A 1987 anthology OVA of nine short sci-fi films from Japan's top animators.
15. **Megazone 23** — score 257/1000
   A 1985 OVA mixing transforming motorcycles, virtual reality, and 80s pop culture in a landmark sci-fi thriller.
16. **Goku: Midnight Eye** — score 257/1000
   Yoshiaki Kawajiri's 1989 cyberpunk OVA about a detective with a cybernetic all-seeing eye.
17. **California Crisis: Gun Salvo** — score 143/1000
   A 1986 road-trip OVA blending sci-fi mystery with sun-soaked 80s Americana.

Tags: 80s, animation, sci-fi, japan