Anime Recommendations

[Del Murder]

My wife and I got really into Attack on Titan and we realized that anime includes a whole library of stuff we haven't really tried. The only other anime I watched regularly was Dragon Ball Z as a kid. Does anyone have good recommendations for us? I think we would prefer something original with some good suspense and writing, much like AoT.

[Freya]

full metal alchemist brotherhood is a great entry point for newbies. It's a great show and takes some darker twists. It's how I got my husband to start watching anime. We then watched AoT next ha.

[krissy]

death note

cowboy bebop

fma brotherhood as kc said

terror in resonance

ghost in the shell

sailor moon, you can watch with the kids

[Wolf Kanno]

Cowboy Bebop ~ About a crew of out of luck bounty hunters trying to make a decent wulong in the 22nd century. The show is a love letter for Western media through the lens of Japan and has something for everyone. Fantastic soundtrack.

Samurai Champloo ~ two samurai who hate each other are roped in by an orphan girl to help them find a samurai who smells like sunflowers in Tokugawa era Japan. Same team as Cowboy Bebop and also a love letter to Western and Japanese culture. Also great soundtrack.

The Big O ~ Forty years ago, everyone in the world lost their memory and society collapsed. Now in the remnants of that Paradigm city. Roger Smith is a negotiator by day and the pilot of the mysterious robot Big O in disaster as he tries to uncover the truth of what happened forty years ago and the underbelly of the new society. It's basically Japanese Batman the Animated Series if it was directed by David Lynch on medication.

X/1999 - Kamui Shiro has returned to Tokyo after the mysterious death of his mother. He is trying to dodge his destiny as the one who will decide the fate of the world. Will he join the seven psychics known as the Seven Seals to save humanity, or will he join the Seven Harbingers and save the earth by wiping out humanity instead?

xxx Holic -~ Watanuki is a high school student who can see the dead. They pester him all the time until he finds a house run by a witch named Yujo who offers to rid him of his curse in exchange for working at her shop. Now Watanuki is learning more about the world of magic used in everyday life and helping Yuko's eclectic clientele deal with their problems.

Vision of Escaflowne -Hitomi was an ordinary school girl who loved to tell fortunes at her school, but her life changed forevor when she met a prince from another world who slayed a dragon at her school and accidentally took her back to his world of swords, sorcery, and mecha. Hitomi finds herself in a world filled with political turmoil and her power of divination is now coming true.

Gungrave - Brandon was once the top hitman for the mafia group Millennium until he was murdered by his best friend Harry. Now brought back from the dead, he must protect the daughter of the woman he loved and the former head of the mafia group he saw as a father. Despite the supernatural bookends of the plot, the majority of the plot is really just about Brandon and Harry joining the mafia and working their way through the ranks.

Revolutionary Girl Utena (don't watch with your kids) - Utena as a child was distraught when her parents died and almost came close to joining them until a prince arrived and saved her. She was so impressed by the prince she decided to grow up and become a prince just like him. Years later she joins a school connected to the ring the prince gave her and finds herself in a series of surreal duels against the Student Council who are all fighting over a girl named Anthy known as the Rose Bride. The series is heavy on some taboo subjects, but also has a strong LGBTQ elements as well for its time frame. Very surreal.

Wolf's Rain - In the far future, the world is on the brink of destruction from a cold winter. People and nobles whisper the old prophecy of wolves leading people to paradise, but wolves have been extinct for centuries.. In truth, wolves learned how to disguise themselves as humans and now walk among them. Four of them meet and are now on a journey to find the promised land. This series is kind of depressing. Not going to lie, the last five episodes are designed around destroying you emotionally.

Witch Hunter Robin - Robin is a witch who has been raised to hunt down her own kind along with the secret organization known as SOLOMON. But what is the truth about mankind's relationship with witches in modern times, and can Robin really trust her own organization?

Outlaw Star - Jean Starwind dreams of going into space, he finally gets his chance when he takes on a dangerous mission with an outlaw named Hilda who has him and his partner Jim help her steal the most advanced space ship in the galaxy. Now, the two, along with their crew are being hunted by the government, other outlaws, and pirates left and right since their ship is the only means of reaching the greatest treasure in the whole galaxy. Hinjinx ensue.

Yu Yu Hakusho - Yusuke Urameshi is a delinquent and a punk who has no future according to his peers. That all changes the day he does something unexpected and saves a child's life at the cost of his own. The afterlife wasn't prepared for him yet and instead give him a second chance at life and working for them as a Spirit detective hunting down rogue demons and wayward spirits. Was a rival series to Dragon Ball back in the day but is a bit edgier, more dark humored (especially the english dub) and is thankfully much shorter.

Paranoia Agent - TV series by Satoshi Kon, it details a world where people are hearing rumors of a kid on roller blades with a gold bat will randomly assault people. The strange thing is that each of his victims seems more happy after the attack. This story is mostly a character story with each episode following a different victim and their troutty lived before the attack. Who is the serial assaulter Little Slugger? Is he real or imaginary?

FLCL
Haibane Renmei
Neon Genesis Evangelion

I also always recommend Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo!, and One Piece. Though none of them would fit the criteria you asked for. Also Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Patlabor.

[Fynn]

For newer stuff, I really can’t recommend Beastars enough, and that’s getting a second season this summer. It’s basically Zootopia if Zootopia actually took the allegory far enough to make it a meaningful commentary on society and the human condition. Definitely check it out!

Another recent anime I love but is a bit harder to recommend but is excellent nonetheless - Devilman Crybaby. It is incredibly violent and sexual, which is why I can’t recommend it to everyone, but it’s also just an incredibly relevant social commentary that moved me to tears.

[Shauna]

Are you looking for anything in particular, genre-wise?

[Depression Moon]

I'm surprised you just getting into anime when you've been around us all these years. Why the start now?

[Jinx]

JUJUTSU KAISEN JUJUTSU KAISEN JUJUTSU KAISEN


THERE'S A LORD OF THE RINGS REFERENCE IN IT THAT MIRIEL WILL LOVE

[Dr. Acula]

Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell are amazing, definitely recommend.

Aggretsuko if you want something cute and funny.

[Quindiana Jones]

Naruto and Bleach were my gateways, but are really not that good and very genre specific.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Death Note were my "oh this is why people rave about anime" moments. FMA:B is a shouneny mystery thriller thing. Death Note is pure suspense all the way through, though a lot of people vastly prefer the first half.

Cowboy Bebop is a masterpiece, and is legitimately superior in the dub than the sub. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn should be paraded around the town for what an amazing job she did, in particular at a time when dub VAs weren't necessarily taken very seriously.

My all-time favourite is Baccano! It's an erratic suspense/thriller/comedy with the focus being around a train journey that ends in disaster.

[Jessweeee♪]

There's a lot of great recommendations in this thread. I'll echo Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell as babby's first decent anime.

Monster is also great is you like suspense. An ex-surgeon tracking down the serial killer who ruined his career. Its a bit long at 74 episodes tho.

[WarZidane]

Kinda surprised nobody's mentioned Psycho-Pass yet.

The basic premise is similar to things like Minority Report (authorities have a way to check how likely you are to commit a crime and mete out punishment based on that), it's a very good psychological thriller series. Fair warning, there's gore.

[Wolf Kanno]

Aggretsuko if you want something cute and funny.

I will strongly second this. It's an adult cartoon, but not in an explicit way. It just deals with grown up issues like working a dead end job, invasive parents, and trying to date in your 30s. It is also funny as hell.

[Del Murder]

I started FMA Brotherhood. It's very good! Thanks for all the recommendations. I'll come back to them after I binge this.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

A lot of the ones I'd recommend are already here, but for a pillar of the genre is regards to movies (that aren't Ghibli), I always recommend Akira. (language and violence warning)

I'd say for an older anime, try something like Dominion Tank Police if you tried and enjoyed Ghost in the Shell. The whole thing is on youtube with good quality (dubbed, but hey)

For something newer, you could try Black Lagoon, but maybe not around young kids. (language and violence warning.)