The 2000s were a spectacular decade for anime, marked by the medium’s rapid global growth, compelling ventures into experimental territory, and the establishment of popular tropes and conventions that remain relevant to this day. 2005, while not the most prolific or memorable year for the medium, has also given audiences numerous brilliant classics, some of which can be called revolutionary.
Aside from eternally relevant hits like Eureka Seven and Mushishi, most anime from 2005 are not widely discussed today. However, many of the year’s best shows, while forgotten, happen to be astoundingly ahead of their time and feel fresh, unique, and innovative despite premiering over two decades ago.
Kamichu! Is a Quintessential Iyashikei Anime That Doesn’t Deserve to Be Forgotten
An unorthodox subgenre of slice-of-life anime focused on “healing” the audience through meditative, conflict-free stories, iyashikei can be traced back to the ’90s, yet the genre’s rise in popularity certainly happened in the mid-2000s. And one of its pioneers, which happens to (if barely) predate all the biggest iyashikei hits, was Kamichu!.
Taking place in the 1980s, on the tranquil shoreline of Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, Kamichu! begins with the life of its protagonist, ordinary middle school girl Yurie Hitotsubashi, changing overnight. Mysteriously, Yurie turns into a Shinto goddess; yet, instead of her new status urging her to go on some world-saving quest, the young goddess’s life remains pleasant and tranquil, albeit with the added challenge of learning how to be a better local deity.
A quirky mix of mundane and supernatural, Kamichu! is a feel-good, relaxing series that, despite not being a mainstream hit, played a part in popularizing the iyashikei subgenre and remains one of its best, most quintessential exemplars to this day. Kamichu! premiered in the summer of 2005 – an entire season before Aria the Animation and Mushishi, two of the biggest iyashikei hits of the 2000s.
Peculiarly, Kamichu! also has elements of “cute girls doing cute things” anime, although it was released a few years prior to the 2000s’ “moe boom.” However, compared to the more conventional CGDCT series, Kamichu! doesn’t emphasize the “cuteness” of its heroines nearly as much, treating them as grounded, multifaceted people instead of superficial archetypes.
The Extreme Ideas Speed Grapher Explores Feel More Relevant Today Than Ever
A gritty, suspenseful psychological thriller released during studio Gonzo’s golden days, Speed Grapher is a unique mix of old and new influences. In its tone and aesthetic, Speed Grapher borrows heavily from classic film noir, while its themes, albeit mature and disquieting, explore subjects that only become more relevant with every passing year.
In the world of Speed Grapher, the disparity between the rich and the poor has reached its morbid apex, leading to all sorts of disgusting, exploitative acts becoming the norm for the ultra-wealthy behind the scenes. A former war photographer, Tatsumi Saiga, comes to investigate one such place where the elites gather, the Roppongi Club. However, upon being exposed, Saiga becomes tangled with the victimized “goddess” Kagura and awakens a destructive supernatural power.
What follows is a gripping investigation of the ruling class’s deplorable conspiracies, made even more riveting through gritty, gory action and complex, enticing worldbuilding. Speed Grapher is not a show that shies away from extremities – it features graphic violence, grotesque, uncomfortable imagery, and an in-depth, unflinching exploration of such themes as child abuse, sexual violence, and predatory behavior towards marginalized people.
However, the show isn’t pointlessly gory – all of its most unhinged aspects serve to further illustrate and critique the extreme wealth disparity in a satirical yet poignant way that feels extremely relevant to modern socioeconomic realities. In terms of story, Speed Grapher is stunningly cutting-edge; unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the series’ dated, inconsistent visuals, which betray this niche classic’s age.
Paradise Kiss’ Treatment of Its Characters Feels Like a Breath of Fresh Air
To call Paradise Kiss forgotten would, undeniably, be misleading – the series is still revered as a classic and a staple of its genre; however, like most josei shows, it has been unfairly underrepresented in the mainstream. The influence and groundbreaking nature of Paradise Kiss, nonetheless, can’t be denied: even today, this romantic drama feels ahead of the curve.
Based on a manga by Ai Yazawa, the creator of another forward-thinking 2000s masterpiece, Nana, Paradise Kiss follows the coming-of-age tale of Yukari Hayasaka, a high schooler drained by meaningless expectations, who ends up pulled into the eccentric and wondrous world of high fashion. Whereas even modern romance anime struggle with giving their characters depth and autonomy, Paradise Kiss prioritizes its cast’s complexity above all else.
The characters of Paradise Kiss are complicated, flawed individuals with often dysfunctional relationship dynamics and non-linear arcs of growth. However, their realistic multifacetedness is precisely what makes them feel so refreshing and compelling to follow. Yukari’s arc benefits especially from the narrative allowing her to be, on occasion, unlikable, as the audience feels gratified by her gradual exploration of self and fight for personal independence.
The series’ exploration of queer themes and treatment of LGBTQ+ characters is also phenomenally ahead of its time for a mid-2000s anime. Paradise Kiss features excellent, progressive gender-nonconforming and queer representation handled with respect and nuance. The way Paradise Kiss treats its characters feels like a breath of fresh air, and even 20 years later, it remains one of the most brilliant and inspiring anime series about self-expression and the pursuit of passion.
Shuffle! Is a Forgotten Icon of Subversive Harem Anime
By the time the mid-2000s rolled around, the harem genre was already fairly well-established. Consequently, audiences knew what to expect from these kinds of shows – the abundant fan service, the lack of character depth, and the endless “will they, won’t they” drama that goes nowhere and remains in the status quo limbo till the end. And, at first, this is exactly what fans got in Shuffle!, one of the harem genre’s forgotten old-school classics.
Set in a world where demons and gods co-exist with humans, Shuffle! narrates the romantic adventures of Rin Tsuchimi, as average of a protagonist as one would expect from a harem rom-com, and his numerous supernatural and human love interests. Shuffle! notoriously begins rather slow, with the kinds of slice-of-life shenanigans and lecherous jokes typical of older harem anime.
Things, however, don’t stay the same for long. After a rather uninspired beginning, Shuffle! develops into a surprisingly daring and even groundbreaking story that has place for dark, dramatic twists, compelling melodrama, and even psychological thriller elements that contrast with the early episodes’ lighthearted tone. Shuffle!’s characters also receive intriguing development outside their romantic escapades, which was rare in the 2000s harem anime and remains uncommon to this day.
The aspect of Shuffle!’s plot that, nonetheless, sets the series apart the most is its finale. Unlike most harem shows at the time, Shuffle! doesn’t end ambiguously and culminates with a clear, if somewhat unexpected romantic resolution. Nowadays, most romance fans appreciate the protagonist choosing a girl at the end, yet that wasn’t always the case, which makes Shuffle!’s decisiveness admirable.
Noein: To Your Other Self Combines High-Concept Sci-Fi & Grounded Character Drama
Stories about multiverses and alternate timelines have always had a place in science fiction, yet they haven’t become a staple in anime and pop culture in general until years after Noein: To Your Other Self premiered. An overlooked sci-fi gem, Noein follows a pair of kids, Haruka and Yuu, who, against their will, get swept up in a large-scale war across timelines and dimensions.
In Noein’s world, two versions of the future, La’cryma and Shangri-La, are locked in a conflict spanning multiple dimensions. The key to stopping the destruction of space-time lies in the Dragon Torque – a mysterious artifact that happens to be Haruka herself, with versions of familiar faces across universes vowing to either destroy or protect her.
The storyline of Noein is complex and riveting, elevated through unconventional plot twists and ambitious combinations of different timelines into one grandiose narrative. In that regard, the series resembles more modern sci-fi classics likeSteins;Gate and Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction much more than the conceptually simpler science fiction of its time.
Aside from the multi-layered time travel mechanics, Noein also acts as an excellent coming-of-age drama, weaving grounded character development into its high-stakes multiverse plot seamlessly. Clever, intricate, and rivetingly mind-bending, Noein: To Your Other Self undeniably deserves more attention from modern sci-fi fans.