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Best 80s Animation TV Series

Explore the highest-rated 80s Animation television shows. Classic nostalgia and memorable series from the 80s.

#1. Ranma ½ (1989–)

★ 8.6/10 1,542 votes

Ranma Saotome, a teenage martial artist, and his father Genma travel to the 'cursed training ground' of Jusenkyo in China. There, despite the warnings of the Chinese guard, they fall into the cursed springs. From now on, whenever Ranma is doused in cold water, he turns into a girl and a cute, well-built redhead at that. Hot water changes him back into a man again, but only until the next time. To make matters worse, his father engages him to Akane Tendo, a girl who hates boys.

#2. Robotech (1985–)

★ 8.6/10 384 votes

Robotech is an 85-episode adaptation of three different anime television series made between 1982-1984 in Japan; the adaptation was aired in 1985. Within the combined and edited story, Robotechnology refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island. With this technology, Earth developed giant robotic machines or mecha to fight three successive extraterrestrial invasions.

#3. Saint Seiya (1986–)

★ 8.5/10 1,460 votes

Ages ago, the goddess Athena was served by fighters called Saints who channeled the power of the Cosmos within them. Now a youth named Seiya has trained to become a Saint himself by earning the mystical Cloth of Pegasus. He is joined by other Saints with Cloths of their own to fight for Athena.

#4. The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984–)

★ 8.4/10 109 votes

Picking up where 'The New Scooby and Scappy Doo Show' left off. The main difference being that the team is now occasionally joined by Daphne Blake and friends to solve mysteries together.

#5. Dragon Ball Z (1989–)

★ 8.4/10 4,986 votes

Now happily married and with a son, martial arts champion Goku must defend Earth from a series of extraterrestrial invaders bent on destruction.

#6. Dragon Ball (1986–)

★ 8.3/10 3,457 votes

Young Goku sets off on a quest with his teenage friend Bulma to find the seven Dragon Balls, which grant whoever possesses them a single wish.

#7. Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics (1987–)

★ 8.3/10 161 votes

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics is a Japanese animated anthology series by Nippon Animation. The episodes are adaptations of a variety of folk and fairy tales, and not limited to Grimm's Fairy Tales.

#8. Space Cobra (1982–)

★ 8.2/10 227 votes

Cobra lived an adventurous life until his enemies began to hunt him down. He surgically altered his face and erased his own memory in order to hide from his foes and lead a normal life. Eventually, he regains his memories and re-unites with his old partner Lady Armaroid and his ship Tortuga. Cobra travels the galaxy, fighting the outlaw Pirate Guild, but also fleeing the law-enforcing Milky Way Patrol.

#9. ThunderCats (1985–)

★ 8.2/10 1,114 votes

The inhabitants of the planet Thundera evacuate just before it is destroyed. They were pursued by a band of mutants. All but one of their escape ships was destroyed. Only a small group of Thunderians (Thundercats) remained. With only half engine power, the group, which was led by Jaga, had to set a course for the nearest planet. Jaga commanded their ship while the other seven were in their stasis tubes. Jaga died on their journey to Third Earth and their ship crashed there. Soon they made friends with various groups in the area and they designed a fortress. Mumm-Ra the centuries-old embodiment of evil, along with the mutants that destroyed the rest of the Thunderians are a constant threat. But Lion-O, the new leader of the Thundercats, with his weapon the "Sword of Omens" will help the Thundercats to have a standing chance.

#10. SilverHawks (1986–)

★ 8.2/10 350 votes

Bionic policemen fight an escaped alien mob boss and his gang in space.

#11. BraveStarr (1987–)

★ 8.1/10 154 votes

On the planet New Texas, people live in futuristic conditions reminiscent of the Wild West. Here, Marshall Bravestarr fights for justice and righteousness with his supernatural abilities.

#12. Fist of the North Star (1984–)

★ 8.0/10 129 votes

It's the year 199x, and Earth burns with the fires of a nuclear holocaust. On the charred remains of the planet's surface, humans struggle desperately to survive a fearful world. The young wanderer Kenshiro rises to stand against the violent reality. Upon his chest are seven scars in the shape of the North Star!

#13. The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show (1983–)

★ 8.0/10 151 votes

The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show is the sixth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. It premiered on September 10, 1983, and ran for one season on ABC as a half-hour program made up of two eleven-minute short cartoons. The show is a return to the mystery solving format and reintroduces Daphne after a four-year absence. The plots of each episode feature her, Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, and Scrappy-Doo solving supernatural mysteries under the cover of being reporters for a teen magazine.

#14. Ulysses 31 (1981–)

★ 8.0/10 125 votes

Ulysses and his crew struggle against the divine entities that rule the universe, the ancient gods from Greek mythology.

#15. Hello! Sandybell (1981–)

★ 8.0/10 110 votes

Hello! Sandybell is an anime series made by Toei Animation in 1981. It was aired in Japan by TV Asahi. In the original title when it is made in Japan, her name is the spelling to which "E" is attached to an end by "Sandybelle". Similarly to Silver Fang, the show is relatively unknown in the U.S. but was quite popular in Asia, Latin America, Arab countries and Europe, particularly Scandinavia.