Anime sucking lately

Is it just me or has there really not been any real quality anime show's in the past few years. There are a few exceptions of course (Fulmetal Alchemist, Paranoia Agent, Texhnolyze - but those are 3 years old still)

When asked to recommend anime to newcomers, I find myself always referring people mostly to 90's/pre-90's anime (Cowboy Bebop, Kenshin, Escaflowne, Berserk, Lain, Kimagure Orange Road, Maison Ikkoku, Now and Then Here and There are some of my personal favs).

Most anime of late has gone down the drain in terms of originality, and involving storylines and it seems the only saving grace for anime can come from directors like Watanabe (Bebop, Champloo), Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon or the odd cool show - Death Note. However, it seems like in the past couple of years, Watanabe's taken some time off and hasn't produced anything outside of S.Champloo (I hear he's working on Genius Party, but he's only contributing one segment to that film).

What are your thoughts? Does anyone beg to differ - maybe i've just been out of the anime loop too long and don't know any better? Can anyone recommend some good post 2004 anime that can hold a candle to some of the 90's stuff i listed?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Coming from the Wikipedia page on RahXephon (so take it for what it's worth) - "One of Evangelion's producers was similarly frustrated with anime as a whole, stating that much of what was released in the "post-Eva era" was "mass-produced junk".

Like OmniSlash24 said, the trend for anime of late has been a shift towards producing countless numbers of school life/shonen shows. If you're into that, then you probably won't see where I'm coming from. Tafer, I don't agree with your argument that we were starved for anime at all. Sure, the animation quality has improved a great deal since the 90's - (that's a natural consequence of better technology over time etc), but the overall originality and appeal of anime has been lost because of these "mass produced" shows that are veering more to please crowds with cheap thrills (ecchi, male bachelor in all female setting type shows) than new storylines. In the past at least, characterization and plot development were SOMEWHAT important, even to shows with ecchi. (Great Teacher Onizuka, Golden Boy).

Who knows - maybe I'm just bashing anime of today because of my nostalgic memories of watching old greats. I certainly think it's more than fond memories though. Great storylines, music, and heart went into these shows (when are we going to get another show like Kenshin!) I used to be able to call myself an anime fan - that's not the case anymore.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Thanks for the recommendations folks. I've taken a look at the first few episodes of Toppa Tengen and it's definitely grabbed my interest enough to make me keep watching, unlike some of the other shows that've been recommended to me of late (Darker Than Black, Lucky Star). The show's got a killer intro (good hook), a great man's man of a character in Kamina, and an interesting overall story arc. Other anime I'm looking at: Mushishi - seems like just the original anime i was looking for, and Planetes - heard this one picks up later on.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Wasn't PPD licensed by ADV not too long ago? I think a few volumes are available on amazon right now. I was especially interested in seeing Zetsubo Sensei - the premise seems really interesting to me, and I agree it is a darn shame that no one's taken upon themselves to sub it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Does anyone know the reason why they stopped abruptly with the Berserk anime series? I'm sure this has long been discussed, but I only recently got into reading the manga and I feel like it's a great tragedy that this series never got continued past volume 12. It's one of the greatest anime and most detailed manga's out there and for no production company to snap it up is shocking to me.

I was speaking idiomatically.