>>837
No some of these people explicitly made a name in the 80s
Ichiro Itano - His work on Gundam and Macross cemented his talent
Hideaki Anno - His work on Nausicaa, various ovas and Honneamise
Yasuomi Umetsu - The Zeta Gundam intro by him was amazing, solo animation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkqoJ8hOsoQ
Toshiyuki Inoue - Worked on Akira
Masahito Yamashita - One of the biggest stars of the 80s, took Kanada style in new directions
Toru Yoshida - star of many sunrise mecha anime doing good realistic animation
Mitsuo Iso - Gundam War in the Pocket OVA in 1989
Masami Obari - Made a name doing great stand out mecha animation. Created that awesome Dragonar intro at the age of 20 on his own
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItCMX3A1qaE
Shinya Ohira - Worked on several OVAs and Akira
Hiroyuki Okiura - Entered animation at 16, was an amazing animator even before Akira.