I've seen Boogiepop, Lain, Paranoia Agent, NHK, NieA_7, Haibane, BLAME!, Ergo Proxy, Koi Kaze, GITS, Mushishi, various Makoto Shinkai works, Texhnolyze, Ray The Animation, and a few others/various OVA I can't recall. Basically, I'm into more..."intelligent" anime. And I know that sounds really fucking pretentious, but I couldn't think of a better word.
Now, I've been hunting high and low for series that share similar themes (that are which is primarily philosophical to some extent, or touching onto more mature themes rather than shōnen style anime.
This isn't exactly a 'halp me find new anime' thread, as I know there are a lot of those. Rather, it's a question of have I simply watched all anime that exists for, say, people over 18?
Cowboy Bebop is a good series, but I don't think it fits within the original poster's definition of the kind of anime they are after.
Cowboy Bebop always fits.
Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru [Seconded]
>>67
It may not be as psychologically or philosophically deep (though a fair number of the episodes are reasonably so) as some of the other titles listed, but the themes are reasonably mature. It certainly classifies as seinen, not shounen, at any rate.
Someday's Dreamers
Watch kaiba. You will be entertained.
Shinigami no Ballad
>Ray The Animation..."intelligent"
wait.. what?
No, you haven't exhausted all anime you're going to like; good anime are still being made (although not this year I'll admit). Given your tastes it seems you're actually after pretentious anime rather than simply intelligent ones. Something doesn't have to be experimental and have 'deep' existential themes to it to be intelligent or mature. Planetes and Cowboy Bebop are both really great fun; there are plenty of new Production I.G anime that are really great like Seirei no Moribito and Le Chevalier De'on.
You haven't exhausted all good anime you're just watching stuff that's been acclaimed in the US and thinking that's all there is.
Rebuild of Evangelion
> although not this year I'll admit
Kaiba? Kurenai?
Twilight of the Cockroaches
Sennou Chousashitsu, also known as Real Drive, is quite pretentious (and fansub only ATM). So it might be up your street. But to be honest, I found it quite boring, so didn't watch more than a few episodes.
I forgot to mention Gunbuster (the original not the crappy sequel) in my list of suggestions. That gives you a really strange view of the universe, and our place in it.
Urarochi Diamond
>>I found it quite boring, so didn't watch more than a few episodes.
You're lucky; I endured 6 and it never goes anywhere. It's self-indulgent, stupid drivel.
Restaurant of Many Orders
>Seirei no Moribito
Agreed that this is a good anime but it's hardly pretentious pseudo-intellectual drivel (although I've only seen up to ep 9 -- just snagged it based on your recommendation). Seems to be another martial arts/action/historical fantasy anime with more believable characters, plot, and setting sans crap filler eps and obnoxious comedic relief characters. Maybe the pretentiousness comes into play later in the series?
N.B. the production quality is really fantastic.
>>83
Thirded, although I could only manage 3 eps.
The Dunwich Horror
I was saying the Seirei no Moribito is an example of an intelligent/mature anime series that isn't pretentious.
Kin no Tori
>>87
orz
I'll put forward Otogizoushi as another intelligent historical fantasy/action anime. It's especially nifty how the second half is set in the present but with basically the same characters from the first half (set in the Heian period). Bit of a mind-fuck; it's done well.
Ursa Minor Blue
Spoiler: watching Otogo Zoshi might result in falling in love with Tokyo.
Genius Party
Rayca
>>94
That's one beautiful experimental anime that I have ever seen!
Inaka Isha
OP here, just saw that show. Awesome stuff, especially that little 5~ minute intro. Can't wait to see the next little bunch/season 2 if you can call it that.
Cream Lemon
ＦＬＣＬ．．．．．
Kanashimi no Belladonna
Amazing Nuts! and Alien 9. Have some Superflat anime.
Also, anything by Makoto Shinkai.
Eve no Jikan
>>102
God no. Shinkai's stuff is great and all, but 5cm depressed me so much.
Love can only be so pure in anime form!
Cencoroll
>Have some Superflat anime
YESSS!!!
Ushiro no Shomen Dare
Ummm...Evangelion? Yeah, you better have seen this or die.
Planet Busters
Take the X Train
Don't know if >>98 was joking, but episode 7 of cream lemon (Ikenai Mako-chan) was actually rather interesting...
Nakoruru
Eve no Jikan (aka Time of Eve) looks to be good, but only two episodes so far.
As "Pale Cocoon" & "Mizu no Kotoba" are also by the same writer/director, they might be worth a look too, but I haven't seen them yet.
BTW, why the weird fucking Captcha like "lube"?
Les Miserables
Hm... Cat Soup was really weird, I recommend it to you if you're interested in watching something different; Mononoke is quite good (not Princess Mononoke, just Mononoke. Tough the Miyazaki movie was pretty awesome too); Monster; End of Evangelion (a mindfuck, in its own way); most things by studio 4C, I guess; and I really really want to reccommend Beck since, even tough it is not that deep, it portraits youth quite well and has great character developments.
I was really disappointed with the second half <_< I actually wish they had skipped directly onto episode 26 (which is, by the way, my fav episode of the entire series :D). To the person who has started this topic: this isn't all that special, but it's a nice thing to watch. I really enjoyed it (except for episodes 15-26).
I second Kanashimi no Belladonna!!!!