Defining Works · 1998
1998 may be anime's single greatest year for tonal range. Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Serial Experiments Lain, Initial D, and Outlaw Star were all airing simultaneously — a spectrum from neo-noir jazz to desert western to techno-horror to underground racing. The dataset's 1998 palette is the most diverse of any year: Blue-Green outliers (Lain) alongside warm western reds (Trigun), cool suburban blues (Lain again) against the amber of Keiichi's garage. No other year in the dataset contains this breadth of visual ambition.
