Picture this: You’re old. If that sounds about right, then you were probably cognizant enough to be anticipating upcoming fall season anime way back when SEGA Dreamcast launched on September 9, 1999. Commercial history may paint the company’s console as a flop at this point, but that famed 9/9/99 date was a big one for video games. As it turns out, it was also a big one for anime! While anime may not typically launch in early September, this time 26 years ago had fans in the shadow of some real giants, and a few now-neglected gems, of the art form. Here are nine anime we were waiting for while standing in line to snag our Dreamcast pre-orders at Electronics Boutique. ZOIDS Premiere Date: September 4, 1999 Why did we care ? While it wouldn’t see the light on TV in the United States until 2002, ZOIDS: Chaotic Century was the first in a series of anime adaptations based on TOMY’s popular mecha toys and model kits. Thanks to licensing phenomena like Pokémon , the late ‘90s were like a second wind for the cross-media licensing energy of the ‘80s, as companies scrambled to bring their franchises to animated life in hopes of hooking kids with an itch for collecting. By the time the Dreamcast was in our hands, kids in Japan were already falling under the spell, turning blithely toward the camera and staring us straight in the eye as if to say, “you’re next.” Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: Pen Pen TriIcelon Reign: The Conquerer Premiere Date: September 14, 1999 Why did we care? Hey, kids, remember Æon Flux ? Even if you never watched a minute of MTV’s Liquid Television block, you might recognize the art of creator Peter Chung, who went on to provide character designs for Madhouse’s 1999 anime series Reign: The Conqueror , AKA Alexander Senki . When Dreamcast launched it was less than a week away from airing in Japan, and nearly four years away from debuting on Adult Swim! Featuring direction by Yoshinori Kanemori—who also helmed a bunch of the goofy 1995 Street Fighter cartoon—and series composition by Sadayuki Murai ( Boogiepop Phantom ), Reign wormed its way into our heads between rounds of SoulCalibur thanks to Chung’s idiosyncratic designs and the promise of a stylish alt-history reimagining. Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: SoulCalibur Infinite Ryvius Premiere Date: October 6, 1999 Why did we care? Just because we looked forward to something back in 1999 doesn’t mean we think about it now. Case in point: Infinite Ryvius . At the time, anime fans were focusing on the Sunrise production, which had Goro Taniguchi of Code Geass fame at the helm. Prolific writer Yosuke Kuroda ( My Hero Academia , MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM 00 , Birdie Wing -Golf Girls’ Story- ) provided series composition and Hisashi Hirai ( Mobile Suit Gundam Seed ) handled character designs, making for a series many were keen on watching even if most of them couldn’t tell you a thing about it today. Fun fact: The story is set 200 years in the future… from this year! Get ready for its grim portents of space station sabotage to come to fruition sometime around 2225. Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: Air Force Delta Excel Saga Premiere Date: October 7, 1999 Why did we care? Back in the day, we would laugh at anything. That includes Excel Saga , J.C.STAFF’s 1999 adaptation of Koshi Rikudo’s absurd comedy manga of the same name. Would any of the jokes still land today? Probably! Am I willing to find out? I don't think so, Tim . Like much of the humor circa the Dreamcast Era, Excel Saga didn't have the luxury of slowing down or taking a breather in between gags. Y2K was on the horizon; LAUGH OR DIE, folks! Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: Ready 2 Rumble Boxing RELATED: SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance Creative Director Ben Fiquet on Breathing New Life Into a Franchise He’s Loved Since Childhood Blue Gender Premiere Date: October 8, 1999 Why did we care? Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers came out in November 1997. Pens to paper, that puts the premiere of creator Ryosuke Takahashi’s Blue Gender anime just shy of exactly two years later. With director Masashi Abe at the helm at AIC, there was clearly something special slithering out of the pipes with this one. That “something special” was giant killer bugs. Since Blue Gender had its fair share of intense violence and a dash of nudity, it came in not quite as hot when it aired on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block. By the time that happened, Dreamcast had already been discontinued for two years! Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: Blue Stinger The Big O Premiere Date: October 13, 1999 Why did we care? As the ‘90s waned, animation from around the globe found itself in the shadows of the decade’s giants. Among those giants stood the cowled colossus that was Batman: The Animated Series , which would find itself on TV in anime form in a patchwork of varied noir and mecha inspirations known as The Big O . There was a lot to love about The Big O , even if the majority of us didn't get a chance to love it until 2001. Was the Dreamcast dead by the time it aired in the United States? You betcha. Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: Trickstyle Now and Then, Here and There Premiere Date: October 14, 1999 Why did we care? Much like the Dreamcast launch itself, AIC’s Now and Then, Here and There is an experience that sticks with you. While the latter is far grimmer than the former, both have earned their place in history and are equally deserving of a revival. And look, far be it from me to compare what those poor kids went through to me waiting to pick up my Dreamcast pre-order, but those lines were long, man. Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: Expendable Image: Nippon Animation Hunter x Hunter Premiere Date: October 16, 1999 Why did we care? In a traditional linear timeline, the 1999 anime adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter came before the 2011 anime adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter . Thus, folks at the time were understandably excited to witness the very first anime adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter . However, the true cycle of time is such that the mere notion of getting a chance to legitimately watch the 1999 anime adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter would be as novel today as it was 26 years ago. Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: House of the Dead 2 ONE PIECE Premiere Date: October 20, 1999 Why did we care? Though it wouldn’t catch on around the world until later, anime fans with an eye for Weekly Shonen Jump hits were seeing the first appearances of Eiichiro Oda’s ONE PIECE pirates in animated form around the time Dreamcast launched. In a perfect world, we’d be playing the latest ONE PIECE game on our SEGA Dreamcast 5 right now, but the best burn brightest and, by that very light, fade fastest. Unless you’re ONE PIECE , of course. ONE PIECE burns eternal. So, too, does the heart of SEGA’s ill-fated console, which we celebrate on this most sacred of days. Be forever, Dreamcast! Dreamcast Launch Game Pairing: Power Stone
