If you’re into vintage/classic anime, don’t ignore the OVAs from that time period. Unlike the straight-to-video stuff that we know of today, back in the 80s and 90s the industry was so cash-flush that a lot of OVAs had movie-quality productions and many were animated by 1s and 2s with good sound and lots of creative effects for cel animation fans. If you only watched television series (+Akira), you’re definitely missing out on a ton of quality content.
Stuff like Riding Bean and Gunsmith Cats are both action series with broad appeal and the latter has some very notable animation.
Area 88 is basically Top Gun, but somehow even more 80s. California Crisis is also super 80s but not as good. However, nothing compares to the 80s “masterpiece” that is Cipher the Video and I’ll let you discover that little gem on your own.
If we’re talking aviation combat, might as well bring up The Cockpit, a collection of three short stories taking place during WWII. Yukikaze is another one but much more futuristic sci-fi.
Crusher Joe is okay, but the original movie is better and reminds me of OG Star Wars.
El-Hazard is OG isekai and the original has really good fantasy backgrounds.
Although if we’re talking high fantasy, that crown unquestionably goes to Record of Lodoss War, the series inspired by an actual Dungeons and Dragons campaign that was serialized in a monthly magazine and was so immensely popular that it spawned an entire multi-media franchise. It was often referred to as the Lord of the Rings of anime well before Jackson’s trilogy was ever a concept. The hand-drawn backgrounds in the original are absolutely stunning and remind me of fantasy oil and watercolor paintings.
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise is a full-length feature film from the 80s, but criminally overlooked when compared to something like Akira. It is basically a slow burn about the russian space-race, but the ending makes it worth it.
Patlabor is OG mecha and often revered as one of the most realistic series in the genre and has a couple of follow-up movies.
While we’re on the topic of realistic mecha, Flag is more recent, but gives an incredibly poignant perspective of the humanity behind war and tells the entire story framed from behind a camera lens.
Coo of the Far Seas is another obscure movie that is basically Free Willy with a sci-fi twist.
Dallos, Megazone23, Blue Submarine No. 6, and Freedom are all sci-fi series, as well as Iria: Zeiram the Animation which has a strong female lead.
I’m also going to plug my all-time favorite obscure anime, Teki wa Kaizoku: Neko-tachi no Kyouen, or The Enemy’s the Pirates!: The Cats’ Banquet, and if you can’t tell by the title alone, this is an episodic sci-fi/action/space adventure with slapstick comedy featuring several tracks from the Japanese-American metal-fusion band Air Pavilion (Danger on the Streets and It’s Only Love) who were most well-known for featuring the last recording of metal guitarist Robbin Crosby on one of their later tracks.
Trava: Fist Planet is another obscure one, but is worth watching if you enjoy well done Clerks-style casual dialogue and classic sci-fi aesthetics. The sequel would later morph into the massive full-length feature film project Redline that uses over 100,000 hand-drawn references and will most likely be the last of its kind.
Not sure why I feel I should mention Massugu ni Ikou, but if you like slice-of-life shows and animals this one has the most realistic animation of dogs I have come across and I’ll frame that by saying I am a huge fan of the Ginga Nagareboshi Gin series so I’m not just saying that casually.
I’m probably forgetting a lot, but those are some of the more notable, lesser-known stuff that I have seen (~2500hrs in the past four years) and would recommend to others. I like a wide variety of genres, but there’s automatically a soft spot for anything considered classic or even just evoking strong nostalgia.
