Is There Less Space Opera Anime Nowadays, Or Is It Just Me?

[Classic Speedy]

Admittedly I haven't kept up with the majority of new anime in the last few years so forgive me if I'm wrong, but does it feel like this genre has gone out of fashion? It feels like a lot of modern shows are earth-bound (or similar, like isekai) and lack the exploration feeling that comes with outer space shows.

Are there any modern anime, like in the last decade, that travel to the stars? Do I just have my blinders on? I'm talking about shows like Nadesico, Outlaw Star, Captain Tylor, etc. (before anyone mentions it, I have seen half of Space Dandy, that's a bit older at this point though)

 

[Golden Geek]

You're right that the genre has significantly died off in recent years in favor of what's trending (for a while it was shows with titles like My Little Sister Can't Be Laying Eggs!, now it's isekai).

I think the most significant space anime in recent years has been Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. Astra Lost in Space from 2019 was also pretty good. I haven't seen Eden's Zero, simply because "Fairy Tail in space" doesn't sound that great to me.

Bodacious Space Pirates (terrible English title) is over a decade old now but I remember seeing the ads on Anime Network and hearing good things about it.

 

[Frontier]

There's a new Legend of Galactic Heroes season coming out I believe.

 

[Classic Speedy]

There's a new Legend of Galactic Heroes season coming out I believe.

Does that show require watching all previous iterations or can you just jump right in? From what I understand that franchise has quite a long history, I don't know if I have it in me to start from the very beginning.

 

[Frontier]

Does that show require watching all previous iterations or can you just jump right in? From what I understand that franchise has quite a long history, I don't know if I have it in me to start from the very beginning.

You can start from the first season of the remake .

 

[wonderfly]

Are there any modern anime, like in the last decade, that travel to the stars? Do I just have my blinders on? I'm talking about shows like Nadesico, Outlaw Star, Captain Tylor, etc. (before anyone mentions it, I have seen half of Space Dandy, that's a bit older at this point though)

Even if they're not full blown "space opera", just "outer space" as a setting is missing nowadays (Tenchi Muyo or Dirty Pair, etc).

Yeah, sometime between 2001 and 2010, the "space opera" anime genre appears to have died (or maybe it was more like between 2005 to 2015, I don't know). Well, except for there's always a new "Gundam" series getting greenlit every year or two - but half the time it feels like the Gundam series is carrying on just out of "tradition".

Maybe it's like American cartoons - instead of fighting monsters and aliens to save the universe (like Justice League) suddenly cartoons became focused on exploring their feelings (like Steven Universe). EDIT: I like Steven Universe. I'm just painting with a broad brush, and the difference in tone between Justice League 2005 vs Steven Universe in 2015 is still something that strikes me as perplexing.

I watched this clip a couple months back (usually this Youtube channel shares clips from 80's and 90's anime, this was from 2012):



I was like "Uh, what just happened? Is there any demons or aliens that need killed somewhere?!?"

Yeah, I know, queue the "get off my lawn!" old man memes.

 

[Classic Speedy]

I'm fine with any genre as long as it's done well. That said, it's pretty weird that one of the genres that got many a fan into anime has been few and far between lately.

 

[PicardMan]

Anybody remember this promo?


Space themed anime were once the big ticket releases. Space opera seems like it's in a worse place than mecha in that the latter genre still has a Japanese fanbase, just the Western fanbase has turned on the genre. It seems like space opera is mainly legacy franchises. Maybe space and isekai could be mixed, but then I remembered that a space opera isekai has already been created. It's called Farscape. Isekai killed space opera anime and anime has a while ago belonged to the isekai loving zoomers. I might not get today's anime (except the battle shonen, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, and Jujutsu Kaisen seem like something that would be just as big in 2004 as it would in 2024), but the oldies of the past are still around and I'm happy this new generation is enjoying their isekai even if I don't.