The gaps are in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1991, and 2026.
1977 — Lupin III Part 2
1978 — ???
1979 — ???
1980 — ???
1981 — Urusei Yatsura
1982 — Ginga Patrol PJ
1983 — Stop!! Hibari-kun!
1984 — Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
1985 — Twinkle Nora Rock Me
1986 — Maison Ikkoku
1987 — Project A-Ko 2
1988 — Gunbuster
1989 — Ranma ½
1990 — Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
1991 — ???
1992 — All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku
1993 — Sailor Moon R
1994 — You’re Under Arrest
1995 — Neon Genesis Evangelion
1996 — Kodocha
1997 — The End of Evangelion
1998 — Cardcaptor Sakura
1999 — Ojamajo Doremi
2000 — Sakura Wars
2001 — Angelic Layer
2002 — Azumanga Daioh
2003 — Tokyo Godfathers
2004 — Samurai Champloo
2005 — Strawberry Marshmallow
2006 — ARIA the NATURAL
2007 — Gurren Lagann
2008 — Library War
2009 — K-ON!
2010 — Squid Girl
2011 — YuruYuri
2012 — Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions
2013 — Kill La Kill
2014 — Barakamon
2015 — Non Non Biyori Repeat
2016 — Your Name
2017 — Little Witch Academia
2018 — Ms Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles
2019 — Kaguya-sama: Love is War
2020 — Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
2021 — Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S
2022 — Spy x Family
2023 — Stardust Telepath
2024 — Look Back
2025 — CITY the ANIMATION
2026 — ???
Sounds like you might be talking about Angelic Layer from 2001 wasn’t it?
Edit: Actually, no, too far from the original description, I was just basing it on the kids having their moves transferred to robots that would do the actual fighting, and it was sort of a tournament. But even if you might’ve misremembered some parts, Angelic Layer still seems like a big stretch.