Introducing Old Anime to Young Fans?

[Kyrant]

So here's a topic that might be of interest to some of you.

My friend is a teacher, and helps to run/supervise the Anime Club at her school. She's been tasked with selecting shows that would both be appropriate for a school club, and engaging for the students. While she's already selected some works that are both popular and current (Little Witch, Mob Psycho, and the like) we both think that balancing it out with some selections from the 80s and 90s would add variety to the club, and expose the members to things that they probably haven't seen before. What would you all say would be a good point of exposure to the world of old-school anime, to those who might only be familiar with new things?

For clarification, the ages of the club members range from 12 to 18, and is pretty balanced as far as gender goes, with slightly more girls than boys. Because it is a school-run club, content has to be appropriate for that age group, but apart from that, anything goes. What do you think would be most enticing/eye-opening to that demographic,

[karageko]

tl;dr my suggestion goes to the (1979) Galaxy Express 999 movie, Blu-Ray version if possible!

When I think about difficulties of showing anime to a high school or younger audience at school, these are the things I tend to assume

1) Can't be overly gore-y but violence is probably okay
2) No nudity or anything overly risque
3) Probably should show something with action to keep eyes glued to the screen
4) Dated character designs may be a hard sell
5) Go for stuff with high production values

That being said, I basically ignored most of the above when I chose what to show to the anime club I ran at my high school (and had some pretty close calls as far as #2).

Anyway the first thing that came to mind satisfying the above was the (1979) Galaxy Express 999 movie. Technically outside of the 80s and 90s but it's still old and I think it may work better with kids than adults. I think it has enough action to keep children engaged while having some interesting themes, and I don't think anything is in the movie that would make this inappropriate for the school setting (the closest is a ~5 second shower scene which has no objectionable nudity and is pretty chaste by modern standards...).

I tried showing this to my college friends a year ago and a bunch of them didn't really click with how the plot progressed, so in that sense I think it could work better with kids who would be more likely to suspend their disbelief.

[davemerrill]

(full disclosure: I am decades past my high school years and have no idea what high school kids these days like or dislike, and once got in trouble by showing clips from the Macross movie and Lupin III Mystery of Mamo to my media productions class when I was in high school, because of cartoon boobs. OTOH I've been giving presentations on classic anime at anime cons to audiences of all ages for a while and seem to have some success.)

suggestions: The Gundam I-III compilation films, Giant Gorg, Rose Of Versailles, Famous Detective Holmes, pretty much anything Hayao Miyazaki worked on that they haven't already screened, Gatchaman, the '60s and '80 Astro Boy, Patlabor OVA, film, and TV, Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Robot Carnival, various Lupin III films/episodes, maybe the Dirty Pair TV series, the Dr. Slump movies Discotek released. The 999 films, like Karageko suggested.

[SteveH]

12 to 18 years old should be the 'sweet spot' for creating new fans.

I really fear that the current generation, thanks to the internet, has had their opinion firmly fixed that 'old' is dumb and boring and crappy. Some can overcome that, obviously, but in a club environment, where consensus is a watchword? I'm just not sure.

Of course I'm WAY past my expiration date as far as 'anime evangelism' goes.

Dave, of course, is right in line with my general thinking. I would be cautious about cartoon boobs and bloody violence (I love me some Mystery of Mamo, nobody can say otherwise, but the cartoon boob factor is pretty high).

I would be very shy about Dirty Pair, because it's just so damn easy to misconstrue the show just from the name.

What I might do is a 'compare and contrast' sort of viewing, at least for one part. Like show an episode of Lupin III pt. IV, then run an episode of Lupin III first series. (or vice versa).

One thing that ALWAYS worked was My Youth in Arcadia: Endless Road SSX episode 4. The 'treasure island of space' episode. With Discotek releasing (has released?) the series, this is the perfect time to drop some Harlock on the youth of America.

[llj]

This question gets harder over the years as it really does come down to the individual. There are some people who have an appetite for violence and nudity--others shy away from it. Some fans like mecha, others hate it.

Ultimately, I just go with my own tastes and to hell with compromising to what you think fits in with "mainstream" tastes. I've screen some anime I've disliked for non-anime-fan friends because they seemed popular with other people, only to find out that my non-anime-fan friends dislike these choices as well.

[SteveH]

This question gets harder over the years as it really does come down to the individual. There are some people who have an appetite for violence and nudity--others shy away from it. Some fans like mecha, others hate it.

Ultimately, I just go with my own tastes and to hell with compromising to what you think fits in with "mainstream" tastes. I've screen some anime I've disliked for non-anime-fan friends because they seemed popular with other people, only to find out that my non-anime-fan friends dislike these choices as well.

What you say is exactly fine for personal use, but go back up and re-read the starter and not just the thread title, there's a very specific set of parameters for this question.

I think I would add Gundam Wing and Samurai Troopers to the list. Both of those did very well with the young female demographic in the '90s.

I know Dave suggested the Dr. Slump movies via Discotek but that might just completely melt the kid's minds. But seriously, maybe the timing is right.

[usamimi]

Already some great suggestions in this! I'd add to the list:

-Sailor Moon R: The Movie
-Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
-Castle of Cagliostro
-The Unico films
-Project A-ko
-Whisper of the Heart
-Slayers
-Magic Knight Rayearth
-Escaflowne
-Cardcaptor Sakura
-Rurouni Kenshin
-Kodomo no Omocha

I remember these were ones that went over pretty well in my old anime club and have very minimal violence/nudity (there is some in the Sailor Moon R movie though it's completely non sexual, same with the bathing scene in Project A-ko.) Ultimately it'll come down to what you feel is acceptable to show, of course.

[Kyrant]

Sorry it took so long to be responsive, but thanks so much for the responses, everyone! My friend screened Castle of Cagliostro to the club, and from what I hear, it was a big success, with some of the students immediately wanting to know if they could watch more stuff with Lupin in it. So yeah, great recommendation there, and she's definitely open to trying more. I'll keep you posted.