Shinseiki Evangelion Movie: Air/Magokoro wo, Kimi ni

An ongoing list of my favorite and personal anime movies.

Updated 9.12.2024

Films with dramatic/abstract visual portrayal of emotional struggle.

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R E T R O = at least 20 years old, but not yet 40 years old!
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░{ 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟐-𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟐 }
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Anime that either employ a cyberpunk style or contain elements of it, and are dark, moody, grimy and/or nihilistic.

Facing reality, rejecting the fantasy, and not running away from our issues.

Still a work in progress, updated as of 4/23/2024

anime with dark and psychological themes (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡

These movies either adapt source material, or continue the story and are considered canon

This list consists of psychological titles, which helped me to accept inevitability and cope with fears, thus affected my personality above all others. Anime that makes you realise a lot about the meaning of human life and death, relationships, principles and most important: "self-concept".

Nearly all of them induce depressive thoughts, portray social problems that we face IRL, have biblical references and slow pacing. So be sure that you are in the right mood and prepared to face dark side of reality.

P.S. Despite the hopelessness and predestination you may feel while watching, these works of art still bestow warmth and hope through understanding the uniqueness of existence. The world is truly a cruel place and life is lacking meaning and purpose, yet we got the flustering chance to experience ourselves and the universe we share.

List of series featured in SRW1 - SRWAlpha

This is a part of a series of stacks that are about artistic tendencies in anime (and that border the fine line between sophisticated and pretentious).

This stack is a work in progress.

Bibliography:
Broderick, Michael. “Superflat Eschatology: Renewal and Religion in anime.” Animation Studies: Animated Dialogues. 2007. 29-36.
Napier, Susan J. “Waiting for the End of the World: Apocalypctic Identity.” Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 249-263.
Tanaka, Motoko. "Apocalypticism in Postwar Japanese Fiction." 2011. University of British Columbia, PhD thesis. 16-33.

Choujin Densetsu Urotsukidouji Movie should be included here, but is tagged as hentai on MAL, so otherwise this list couldn't be public.

The "Scotland Loves Anime" film festival takes place annually in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It was started in 2010 and includes the "Golden Partridge" jury award and audience-voted awards.

The past winners of the Golden Partridge Award are as follows.

2021: Gyokou no Nikuko-chan
2022: Goodbye, Don Glees!
2023: Hokkyoku Hyakkaten no Concierge-san.

Music is perfect when it comes to stimulating your emotions and imagination. When I'm in a funk, these perk me right back up and get my creative juices a-flowing, and maybe they'll help you, too. (Requests welcome.)

Denpa as a genre usually refers to Japanese artistic works with themes associated with social isolation, existentialism, insanity that stems from living modern society, and the glorification of otaku/outsider cultures. Examples of denpa in other mediums include the films of Hideaki Anno (Love and Pop, Ritual) and the films of Shunji Iwai (All About Lily Chou-Chou), as well as the visual novel Wonderful Everyday Down the Rabbit-hole.

For more about denpa, check out this excellent blogpost about the genre: https://ontheones.wordpress.com/2019/06/29/on-denpa-a-guest-article-by-kenji-the-engi/

List of anime for "elitist". These anime have been considered as "deep" animations by various critics and analysts.

In this compilation there are animes with quite complicated stories that are not recommended for all audiences. As they are: cult, artistic, experimental, avant-garde, underrated, psychological, philosophical, unique or mind-blowing anime.

This list has a part 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/4197

SBS - the free to air channel with actual international content that everyone either spends 5 minutes watching or 3 hours watching, no in-between. They used to air a fair bit of anime alongside their normally scheduled programming, and you might even be able to catch a few Ghibli films every now and then today.