There are many great anime series coming out now, and many of those series were actually influenced by older anime, which have made a major impact on the anime comunity.

Mobile Suit Gundam is one of those series that really changed everything. Back in 1979 when the original Gundam television series came out, things were forever changed. Gundam has spawned off many sequals, and with out Gundam I doubt we'd be seeing anime like the Macross series or even Neon Genesis Evangelion. Gundam also influences new series that are coming out today, Vandread, Argent Soma and Gasarki, for example. In fact, it's influenced more than just mecha. Let's face it--Gundam started the whole mecha thing--with out Gundam what would the anime comunity be like now?

In 1979, like Gundam, the Rose of Versailles, a 40 episode-long series, was released in Japan. The story takes place during the French revolution, and he main character is Oscar, a woman who was raised by her father to be a man. Because Oscar's father, General Jarjeyes, wanted a son and not a woman, he raised Oscar to be just like a son. Now, the reason I think that this anime really changed things is because Oscar acted as strong as a man, and many people didn't (and some still don't) think that it is possible for a woman--GIRL POWER!!!--to act as strong as a man. Therefore, much of the shoujo comunity was forever changed. Perhaps we wouldn't be seeing anime like Sailor Moon or Utena now if it weren't for the Rose of Versailles.

In 1967, Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co. received the rights to make a Lupin III anime based on the manga. The series was very popular having many episodes and movies. Then in 1979 the most popular Lupin III film was released, the Castle of Cagliostro. From what I hear, Speilberg and other directors were actually inspired by this film, so you can imagine how that might have changed the anime comunity a bit.

Lets not forget about the most popular anime in America, anime like Dragonball, Sailor Moon, Pokemon. Anime in America can also have a huge effect on the anime that's in Japan, believe it or not.

The few anime that I listed here are just a few of the anime that really revolutionized the industry. Because of what these anime have done, they will most likely for ever be classics, and they have inspired even more new classics, like Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke), Akira and continuous others, and even more to come. Anime has been forever changed because of these titles, and anime won't ever be the same again.