# Top 20 Anime of the 1980s

> From genre-defining cyberpunk and mecha epics to tender Ghibli fables and cult OVAs, this lineup spans the decade that put anime on the world map. Where do you stand?

*By YPB Team · Published June 10, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/top-20-anime-of-the-1980s*

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## Current results (3 votes)

1. **Fist of the North Star** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 1000/1000)
   The hyper-violent 1984 martial-arts series set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that defined shonen action.
2. **Akira** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 960/1000)
   Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 cyberpunk masterpiece set in a dystopian Neo-Tokyo, widely cited as one of the greatest anime films ever made.
3. **Urusei Yatsura** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 844/1000)
   Rumiko Takahashi's influential 1981 sci-fi rom-com about an alien princess and a hapless teenager.
4. **Bubblegum Crisis** — 0% (0 votes · score 584/1000)
   The 1987 cyberpunk OVA series following an all-female mercenary team battling rogue androids.
5. **Legend of the Galactic Heroes** — 0% (0 votes · score 584/1000)
   A sweeping 1988 space-opera epic often hailed as the finest science-fiction anime ever produced.
6. **The Super Dimension Fortress Macross** — 0% (0 votes · score 584/1000)
   The genre-defining 1982 series blending transforming mecha, idol music, and a wartime love triangle.
7. **Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam** — 0% (0 votes · score 584/1000)
   The acclaimed 1985 sequel that refined the original's mecha drama to near perfection.
8. **Gunbuster** — 0% (0 votes · score 454/1000)
   Hideaki Anno's emotionally charged 1988 mecha OVA about a girl piloting giant robots against alien threats.
9. **Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind** — 0% (0 votes · score 454/1000)
   Miyazaki's 1984 post-apocalyptic eco-fable that effectively gave rise to Studio Ghibli.
10. **Grave of the Fireflies** — 0% (0 votes · score 454/1000)
   Isao Takahata's harrowing 1988 wartime drama about two siblings struggling to survive in WWII Japan.
11. **Saint Seiya** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   Masami Kurumada's 1986 battle series about armored warriors defending the goddess Athena.
12. **Kiki's Delivery Service** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   Miyazaki's warm 1989 coming-of-age tale of a young witch starting a delivery business.
13. **Patlabor** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   The grounded 1989 mecha series imagining police pilots operating giant robots in near-future Tokyo.
14. **Castle in the Sky** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   Miyazaki's 1986 steampunk adventure following two children searching for a fabled floating city.
15. **Ranma 1/2** — 0% (0 votes · score 273/1000)
   Takahashi's 1989 martial-arts comedy about a boy cursed to turn into a girl when splashed with cold water.
16. **Dragon Ball** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Akira Toriyama's 1986 adventure series following a young Goku, launching one of anime's most enduring franchises.
17. **Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Gainax's ambitious 1987 film about an alternate-world astronaut training for the first manned spaceflight.
18. **My Neighbor Totoro** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Hayao Miyazaki's gentle 1988 Studio Ghibli film about two sisters and a forest spirit in rural Japan.
19. **Vampire Hunter D** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The gothic 1985 OVA about a half-vampire bounty hunter roaming a far-future world.
20. **City Hunter** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The stylish 1987 action-comedy following a wisecracking sweeper-for-hire in Tokyo.

Tags: 80s, animation, japan