They taped Toonami, traded Pokemon cards at recess and still hum the Sailor Moon theme. This list is for them.
If you were a kid in the US, UK, Canada or Australia in the late 90s, anime came to you through a TV block, a rented VHS or a friend's older brother. Those shows did not just entertain you, they were the first time a cartoon took you seriously.
The people who grew up on them are now in their thirties and forties, and they are the easiest anime fans to make happy at Christmas. Give them something from the show they ran home from school for.
1. Cowboy Bebop (1998)
1998 · TV series · Sunrise
The show that convinced a lot of grown-ups anime was for them too, and the one that has aged best.
Late-night adult animation blocks gave Cowboy Bebop to a whole generation of teenagers who had never seen a cartoon this cool: noir, jazz, westerns and kung fu films folded into 26 episodes. Yoko Kanno's Tank! opening is still the best minute and a half in anime.
For the fan who now owns a turntable, the Bebop crew is the gift. Spike's silhouette works even on people who do not know the show.
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
1995 · TV series · Gainax
A robot show that turned into a breakdown in public, and the series 90s kids still argue about at parties.
Hideaki Anno's Evangelion looked like a giant robot show about Shinji, Rei and Asuka fighting Angels in Tokyo-3, then went somewhere nobody expected. The Rebuild films finished in 2021, so fans who grew up with it finally got an ending at forty.
Asuka and Rei are the eternal debate, Unit-01 is the safe bet. Evangelion designs have the strongest graphic style of any 90s anime.
3. Dragon Ball Z (1989)
1989 · TV series · Toei Animation
Many kids in the West met Goku on after-school TV in the late 90s, and the five-episode power-ups were worth it.
Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and Piccolo against Frieza on Namek is the arc a whole generation watched in real time, episode by agonising episode. The Super Saiyan transformation is the image that defined what anime looked like to Western kids.
Goku and Vegeta are the rivalry, Shenron and the Dragon Balls the deep cut. DBZ fans love a gift that looks like the old broadcast.
4. Sailor Moon (1992)
1992 · TV series · Toei Animation
For a lot of girls and boys in the 90s, Sailor Moon was the first anime, and Usagi the first hero who cried and won anyway.
Usagi Tsukino and the Sailor Guardians fighting evil after school, with transformation sequences people can still recite, changed what a hero could be. Naoko Takeuchi's designs are still everywhere in fashion.
Sailor Moon gifts are the most nostalgic on this list. The crescent moon and Luna the cat are the subtle picks.
5. Pokemon (1997)
1997 · TV series · OLM
The cards, the Game Boy, the cartoon on Saturday morning. Pokemon was not a show, it was a childhood.
Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock's journey through Kanto started a franchise that never stopped, and the original series is the one 90s kids can sing the theme of word for word. Pikachu refusing his Poke Ball in episode 1 is where it all began.
Pikachu is the obvious gift and the right one. For the fan who played Red or Blue, their first starter is the personal touch.
6. Yu Yu Hakusho (1992)
1992 · TV series · Studio Pierrot
A delinquent dies saving a kid, comes back as a Spirit Detective and enters a tournament with demons. It is the template for half of modern shonen.
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei are one of the best quartets in anime, and the Dark Tournament is the arc fans who grew up on it still rank above anything since. Yoshihiro Togashi went on to create Hunter x Hunter.
Hiei is the fan favourite by a mile, Kurama a close second. The Spirit Gun pose is the nostalgic pick.
7. Berserk (1997)
1997 · TV series · OLM
The 1997 series was a tape passed between friends, and nobody who saw the last episode ever forgot it.
OLM's 25-episode adaptation of the Golden Age arc follows Guts, Griffith and Casca in the Band of the Hawk, and stops at the Eclipse, the most infamous ending of the decade. Susumu Hirasawa's music is a cult in itself.
Berserk fans who started in the 90s want the Hawk era: the Band of the Hawk, young Guts, or the Brand of Sacrifice.
8. Trigun (1998)
1998 · TV series · Madhouse
Vash the Stampede has a sixty billion double-dollar bounty on his head and refuses to kill anyone. The red coat is iconic for a reason.
Madhouse's Trigun starts as a goofy desert western and turns into a story about a pacifist being pushed to the edge. Its run on late-night TV in the early 2000s made it a cult hit with older Western fans, and Trigun Stampede in 2023 brought it back.
For the fan who still says love and peace, Vash and his red coat are the gift.
9. Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995)
1995 · TV series · Sunrise
For a lot of Western kids, Gundam Wing on after-school TV was the first Gundam, and Heero Yuy the first anti-hero.
Five teenage pilots sent to Earth in five Gundams, Wing Zero's angel wings, and a story about war and pacifism that was heavier than kids expected. Gundam Wing is the reason many fans started building Gunpla.
For the fan who still has a model kit on a shelf, Gundam Wing is the pick.
10. Slam Dunk (1993)
1993 · TV series · Toei Animation
A delinquent joins the basketball team to impress a girl and finds out he loves the game. Japan's most loved sports manga.
Hanamichi Sakuragi and Shohoku High made basketball huge in Japan in the 90s, and Takehiko Inoue's own film The First Slam Dunk in 2022 introduced it to a whole new audience in the West.
It is the deep cut on this list, perfect for the 90s kid who played ball and found anime through it. The Shohoku number 10 jersey is the gift.
The best part of a 90s anime gift is the conversation it starts. Expect to hear the whole story of the VHS they wore out.
Order by December 18 and free Standard shipping (7 to 10 days, tracked) gets it there for Christmas; Priority Express runs until December 22.
More gift ideas: Anime Christmas Gifts, Anime Stocking Stuffers, Cozy Anime Gifts, Anime Gift Boxes.
How we picked: the 90s series and the 90s runs that adult fans in English-speaking countries grew up with, ordered by how big each one was for that generation. Years are the original Japanese premiere.
