Never watched anime as an adult. Do animes that are "deep", meaningful, eye-opening, life teaching, emotional, etc also exsist? If yes, which ones? 28M

Hi Temporary_Wedding249, it seems like you might be looking for new anime to watch!

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A silent voice is a great emotional movie.

Perfect Blue - in response to the Fight club request - go in blind thank me later

[deleted]

Frieren! Very good anime with lots of emotion.

You sound like you would enjoy the works of Satoshi Kon, he mostly made anime movies, but also a 1 series called Paranoia Agent, most of his works are concerned with reality and illusion and not only has he been cited as a direct inspiration for  Darren Aronofsky(the director of requim for a dream), but his movie Paprika shares many similarities with Inception, to the point some have wondered if it served as an inspiration for it.

Kino’s Journey (2003)

{Monster}

{Welcome to the N-H-K}

{March comes in like a lion}

{Perfect Blue}

I think you might like Welcome to the NHK

Frieren might fit what you’re after? It’s a pretty engaging fantasy anime but also has themes of grief & mortality running through it. Vinland Saga may also do the trick, although moreso once you reach S2 and with your comments on the action genre you likely wouldn’t last through S1

Ping Pong: The Animation

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Sangatsu no Lion

The Wind Rises

Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Monster

I think "Violet Evergarden" might just be right up your alley, or if you wanna dig even deeper then "The Summer You Were There"(If you don't mind yuri(And if it's fully out, idk, I can't bear to watch the show after reading the manga)) might peg you don't a notch or ten. That is, if you feel like either series make you emotionally invested. We people react differently, but there was not a single dry napkin when we experienced those

Hi, I totally understand you, because I feel the same way 😁

There are so many incredibly good anime that you'll definitely enjoy.


I'd recommend starting with "Death Note," which many consider a good entry point.


Summary:


Death Note is a psychological thriller about a high school student who gains supernatural power and uses it according to his own twisted understanding of justice. This draws the attention of the world's best investigator, and a highly intelligent duel develops between the two sides. The anime deals intensely with themes such as morality, justice, and power.

Enjoy watching and best regards 😁

Clannad. Def watch After story too.
GTO - life teaching, sometimes (for me most times) emotional.
Vinland saga especially s2.
Barakamon - inspired me

Cyberpunk edgerunners is good start

Takopi's original sin is pretty emotionally devastating, although it has science fictional elements. Most of the drama however comes from reality, rather than science fictional gimmicks. Best to go in blind on that one

I can think of others, but they might have more significant science fiction or action elements

Yes, they exist.

Anime is a medium just like books or live action. There's cartoon-ish/silly ones, there's serious ones, there's ones that magically marry both tones.

Rather than tell you what to watch, it would probably be more helpful to tell you which animes to dismiss.

There's this genre called "battle shounen". It's about fighting and "rule of cool". Don't bother with these for now (if ever) when looking for mature storytelling.

Then there's the "overpowered Gary Stu living in a world modeled off the Dragon Quest franchise". These are cheesy enough to show to elementary schoolers despite having an adult audience. There's a lot of those recently thanks to successful light novel sales.

If an anime seems childish to you, feel free to move on to the next one. There are thousands of anime, and it is better miss out on a dozen of good ones and find a good one early on than to spend time watching 5 shallow ones to make sure none of the good ones slip under your radar.

I urge you to keep an open mind and stick for the long-term. Don't dismiss this medium.

Hopefully other users give you some decent recommendations to start with, good luck.

"Do meaningful entries exist in this vast medium?" is a profoundly ignorant question

Just imagine if somebody went around and said "So, these 'books', are they all just coloring pages for toddlers or are there any that have a story printed on them that is not for dumdums who've been held back multiple years in a row in elementary school? Is it worth reading them instead of using their pages as toilet paper?"

Monster,
It’s a little bit different, but really close to tv shows atmosphere and vibes

Not sure
But I'd recommend Hunter x Hunter 2011
It has action, but different and hits what you asked for.
It has real people with their own motivations that often cross eachother, A monster who is more human than Hero with egoistic ambitions.

It has a lot of quotes and meaningful plot .
It's not a movie, 148 episodes 22~ minutes.

The manga is still continuing ( Chapters rarely come out because author has some health problems )
But the anime doesn't end on a cliffhanger or something
You will be satisfied with the end, although there is much that comes after it.

I personally love it, it's my top 1.

For more realistic and super easy quick watch....My Home Hero.

I wouldn't say it's extremely deep, but interesting main characters, again super fast, easily finished in a day, kind of suspense, but not action.

Other titles you might like:

\-Orb: On The Movements Of The Earth
\-Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju
\-The Great Passage

There are a lot more deep, psychological, mystery genres...but there might always be a little bit of "supernatural" elements. But if you enjoy stuff like Inception, then there are definitely ones where you can suspend your belief.

The Tatami Galaxy

I don’t think you get the point of sci-fi and you might be categorizing everything fantasy as sci-fi. Nobody will ever call One Piece sci-fi but it is indeed a fantasy show (so are more than 90% of action adventure anime).

What makes sci-fi interesting for me is they are based on relatively realistic premises, to a point that you may be convinced that such premises might come true in the future. Admittedly, video based adaptations of sci-fi tends to become generic action adventure shows with some futuristic settings

There are quite a few shows that will meet your criteria. Some of my recommendations are:

Monster: Basically prestige TV in anime format. A psychological, crime, drama show that takes place in post berlin wall Germany. The series follows a doctor who is on a hunt for a serial killer who used to be his former patient. The series is extremely well researched, character driven and philosophical and basically asks the question what turns a human into a monster? Is evil inherent or acquired? Perfect show for someone not used to anime aesthetics.

Mushishi: An episodic supernatural show about a world where mysterious supernatural creatures named Mushi live which are basically the purest form of life. They are not malicious but should not be tempered with. It follows a travelling Mushishi or a master of Mushi knowledge who helps people who have gotten involved with a Mushi. This show is about humans and different facets of humanity, nature, life and society explored through the lens of their interaction with these mysterious creatures. A very philosophical show about the nature of life itself. Highly recommended.

March Comes In Like a Lion: A show about a prodigy Shogi player dealing with depression and loneliness and finding a new family with three sisters who also suffered through loss. An absolutely beautiful story about people finding solace by sharing their pains and helping each other heal. This one is a must watch show if you like some well written characters and good character development.

Attack on titan, monster, serial experiments lain, one piece.

Ergo Proxy if you're not too thick to understand the philosophical arguments and references.

If you want anything about life, you can just search the genres called "iyashikei" and "slice-of-life". In them you have examples like:

1. Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
2. Barakamon / Usagi Drop
3. Kino's Journey / Girls' Last Tour (sci-fi)
4. Mushishi / Aria the Animation (sci-fi) / Flying Witch
5. Anohana / A Silent Voice / Your Lie in April

These examples below are just because you mentioned Rocky:

1. Ping Pong the Animation
2. March Comes in Like a Lion

Below for something like Fight Club:

1. Perfect Blue / Paranoia Agent
2. Serial Experiments Lain (sci-fi)
3. The Tatami Galaxy

TBH you really limited yourself by singling out horror, sci-fi, and action. You will need to learn to suspend some reality.

Perfect Blue is a total mindf*ck but falls into horror/suspense.

AnoHana is a coming of age story and I never made it past episode 3 or 4 because I cried every damn episode.

From the New World is a dark fantasy. Very dark.

Gundam: Iron-blooded Orphans is sci-fi.

Grave of the Fireflies - drama about after WWII.

Sounds like you want to watch Frieren.

Mushishi - philosophical, very relaxing, thought-provoking - as it's episodic don't binge watch this, it'll spoil the experience. Here's a video that gives a general overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIZDnQtmFIU (it features brief clips but that won't ruin the experience for you). 46 episodes spread over two seaons, plus two specials and a movie (which is only 47 minutes long).

Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni) - STILL the best use of CGI in anime and a fantastic story (but it only features about the first 30 chapters of the 108 chapter manga, so you'll need to read the manga to finish the story). A highly memorable experience and well worth investing your time in.

The Garden of Sinners (Kara no Kyoukai) - this one is a movie series but some of them are only 30 minutes long, while some others are two hours. The storytelling is very complex but also very brilliant, it's a mixture of supernatural, horror, philosophy and a lot of complex dialog with some fantastic characters. It's for those that want to **think** without being spoon-fed the details this is first class.

Violet Evergarden - this is the one to get you bawling your eyes out, but not right away. Also features some of the most beautiful art you'll ever see in anime. Give it a few episodes though to start to worm its way into your heart. One season (13 episodes), a 'Special' (which, choronologically, fits between episodes 4 and 5), and two movies, with Violet Evergarden: The Movie being the last one (which completes the story).

I know you're mainly after series but do check out the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, most of them are masterpieces, such as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and others.

Orb on movements of earth for sure