Earlier I was having a brief discussion with a friend about some controversies involving anime studios (he believes there's been studios that were just money laundering/tax write-offs run by the yakuza), and I came across this interesting blog post involving the political tension behind the movie
Future War 198X and the waves it made in the nation.
Whether you agree with the animators' movements/stances or not, there's definitely a different feel to anime and the industry from this time-period that is no longer felt today. Maybe it's just hindsight being 20/20 in looking back on the effects of the Cold War, but it's rather alien, yet fascinating.