Gankutsuou

Much like how the west loves eastern media, the east also loves their share of western media.

For other classic examples, check out the anime made for the World Masterpiece Theater!

The Animation Kobe (アニメーション神戸) was an event established by Kobe in 1996 to promote anime and other visual media. The Animation Kobe Awards (アニメーション神戸賞) were given annually until 2015 by Kobe and the Organizing Committee to creators and creations.

The TV animations broadcast in Japan from September of the previous year to August of the event year, excluding rebroadcasts, become candidates. The candidates are selected not only from Japan but also from other countries. However, the committee sees more importance in a point of view promoting young creators of Japan.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Critics & Connoisseurs was a club that was founded in 2008 and ended club activities on the 31st of 2022.

The goal of the club was to come up with a list of highly recommended quality shows that are exemplary either within its genre or universally. An anime needed a 70% approval rate in our voting to get on the relation list. The following anime are all part of said list.

You can see the club page here:
https://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=2913

Anime Relation List Part 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/328
Manga Relation List: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/334

Anime with great worldbuilding, or the development of the fantastical environment and world! None of these anime take place in what you would call 'our universe', rather taking place in an alternative universe or fantasy/ sci-fi setting with amazingly well-tailored and fitting details in technologies and architecture that makes every world unique.


Feel free to DM or message me about any questions, suggestions, or opinions about this stack!

Bromance, Male-friendship, Ambiguous ambiance, Fujo-bait you know where it lead.
There is a ton of series non shounen-ai/BL tagged that contains "I SHIP THEM" moments.
(male) Characters have a strong moving emotional bond that fujoshi particulary enjoy.
Trying to avoid the already Boys Love tagged entries since everyone can find them.
I will create another Stack for Chineses-Korean / ONA shows (needing as much space as possible for this one)

Update note :
May 8, 2022 : 50 entries reached, I will take the time to explain for each series why I added them.

(Keyword : yaoi, shonen-ai, shounen-ai, danmei, BL, boys love, gay, fujoshi, fudanshi, fujobait, ikemen, bishounen, ambiguous)

This is a stack with anime that take place in different European countries, either completely or in several episodes when characters are traveling to these countries.

Countries included in this stack: England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, Switzerland

A small collection of visually distinct anime to feast your eyes on.

Series that range around 11 episodes to 26 episodes and have already reached their finale. Taking into account 2nd parts for the 26 ones.

Every animated media that has been made has the idea to tell a story and to express a feeling on the watcher. But then, there are some series which has a particular way to evocate their sentiments and they use different tools to do that. Thought provoking writing, displaying the characters' internal monologues, their struggles and fears, using particular cinematographic angles and by blending contrasting styles of animation, coloring and highly symbolical and metaphorical imagery - these are some of the many hallmarks signifying the said animation has psychological themes, and that it is avant-garde in it's approach. This method of expression is not limited to any genre, as well.

I do realize that animation like this may not be for everyone, but I firmly believe in it's artistic merits and integrity. Media like this allows us to peek into the human psyche and probably our own too, and it provides us with often interesting viewpoints of our world, even if fractured through the prism of the animated fiction. Shows like that also likes to ask us questions without answers, to give us moral dilemmas without solid conclusion or in summary, to provoke us to think.

The shows that were picked follow a pattern - the ones which are more straightforward, less abstract and easier to get into will be first and the more complex and obscure the works will be at the end.

A Collection of Power-Fantasy Animes where the protagonist has no equal!
Genre may vary :)
(open to additional suggestions)

This is the kind of stuff you'll want to show to your older relatives or a friend / significant other who isn't into anime in particular but is open to new experiences. Not necessarily to hook them on anime but simply to share a good time together.

What helps an anime end up on this list:
* either subdued or distinctly avant-garde appearance that transcends common anime design sensibilities;
* mature, adult-life-related themes;
* well-crafted, compelling story and character interactions;
* fresh and daring ideas or their execution;
* being otherwise remarkable as an art piece;
* moderate length.

What DOESN'T help an anime end up on the list:
* referencing or pandering to otaku culture, incessant fan service, and all that crap;
* slow-burn slice-of-life narrative;
* overly random, absurdist, reference-heavy humor;
* being too long or narratively incomplete;
* being too tropey;
* not being very good in general (regrettably, this includes bad and mediocre adaptations of good manga/LNs, so no Berserk, My Home Hero, or Golden Kamuy on the list).

These aren't absolute rules but they're hard enough that I would only consider minor exceptions. There is most certainly not enough room for every single piece that fits the bill, so take this as my personal, heavily curated top-50. If there is a sequel or a side-story that also deserves attention (or, conversely, one you should skip), I will mention it in the annotations, so please watch them.

List is subject to revisions and reordering.

Not all will be included otherwise ill have to make like 3 list
No Compilation works that adapt multiple books

A list of anime I believe share a similar style of storytelling to the works of highly revered author, Haruki Murakami.

I drew upon the subject matter and allegories frequently covered by Murakami in his stories. Those of escapism, eroticism, surrealism, loss, depression, loneliness, identity, and redemption.

More titles will be inducted over time, suggestions are welcome.

What I look for the most in an anime above everything else is high-quality writing. That's not to say that manga, visual novel, and light novel adaptations are written poorly; in fact, there are some that have incredible, masterfully-crafted storylines. I have simply personally found that some of the most unforgettable series for me have been novel adaptations.

Given that there currently exists no anime search option for this, the basis of this interest stack is to provide a list of full-length novels that have been adapted into series or movie format.

*Disclaimer: not enough space to add children's classics to this, go check out Nippon Animation's studio page if you want more!

Wacky and Trippy Anime

"Elitist" has been a very generic and broad term to generalise many types of not-so-mainstream or "deep" anime, so this list is very diverse and it's criteria are not always clear cut and objective. Nonetheless I try to provide a proper explanation for why each entry is included. Generally speaking these are shows that fit one OR more of these adjectives: Experimental, Avant-Garde, Psychological, Philosophical, Obscure, Classic, Critically Acclaimed, Artsy, Old, etc...

Some shows here are not necessarily obscure or underground at all, but they are still here because they have been stereotyped as "elitist" by the community over time, due to their experimental or artsy nature. Similarly, some shows here are not necessarily artsy or experimental in nature, but their old/underwatched/obscure nature gives them a reason to be here. Not all aspects have to be checked to be included. Only one per franchise.

I have personally watched the great majority of the anime in this list, but there are a couple which I haven't. Still added them because of how strongly they are stereotyped as "elitist" or have fitting characteristics to be classified as such. I know my list still lacks many essential classics, I will continue to add and expand into this list as I watch those personally.

For more recommendations, go to my other Interest Stacks, "Elitist Anime 2" , "Elitist Anime 3" and "Elitist Anime 4", whose links are:

- https://myanimelist.net/stacks/4256
- https://myanimelist.net/stacks/4756
- https://myanimelist.net/stacks/10188
- https://myanimelist.net/stacks/15961

Anime with unique art-style/premise and or surreal/dreamlike sequences

Like analysing a characters pshyche while watching anime? Then here's some shows you might be interested in
Though not all belong to the psychological genre, they all focus to some degree on the psychology of the characters

Most of the anime on this list are also pretty dark and deal with themes that can be tough to watch
So i wouldn't recommend this stack to the faint of heart


list will expand