Planetes

Worldbuilding - "the process of constructing a world, originally an imaginary one, sometimes associated with a fictional universe." These kinds of shows are usually set in a fantasy and/or sci-fi world, and excel at establishing & showcasing the rules/history/economy of their fictional universe. List was created through collective data from multiple websites of people's answers as to what shows are considered to have great world building.

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

When someone is passionate about something they can make anything interesting. Whether its some crazy dream like going to space or something you've never heard of before like playing the Koto, their contagious passion radiates off the screen and hook us in. This list of shows the different way that people persevere and follow their dreams. Since most Shounen shows has this trope such as becoming the Hokage or making it to Koshien, I'll be skipping the more superficial and generic motivations unless it had an interesting twist to it.

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!

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

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

Added Hayao Miyazaki's recent masterpiece, The Boy and the Heron. Mahito choosing to embrace reality, learning to value his current connections and partially overcome the immense grief caused by the death of his mother.

List is up to date as of 01/06/25

We've all experienced that frustrated feeling of enjoying an anime, only to find out that the rest of the show will never be fully animated or it has a horrible, rushed, incomplete, unsatisfying ending. Here is a list of anime with endings that are so fulfilling and complete that they will leave you with nothing but a heart full of contentment and/or bittersweetness. List was created through collective data from multiple websites of people's answers as to what shows are considered to have satisfying endings.

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.

Or somewhere else

"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

A selection of 21st century anime series featuring characters who are adults. From ordinary office workers to traveling peddlers to superheroes, adult protagonists can have a variety of life experiences and many different ways of living. Young emerging adults may still be trying to find their path in life, while established older folks are more likely to have mastered the art of adulting - or at least learned enough to muddle by. Some adults become jaded over time from repeated exposure to the reality that life is often painful, depressing, and unfair. Others retain a more positive outlook by focusing on their dreams for the future or take a more pragmatic approach by putting all their efforts into improving their lives here and now.

Everyone has on opinion on the 'best' anime. But which are the anime that—regardless of quality—you simply have to watch before you die? Here are the ones you need to see!

Shows/Movies of all kinds that are either meant for or can be enjoyed by an older audience. A treasure trove of excellence covering a wide range. Story-driven thrillers, well researched historical shows, brilliant world-constructions, poetic narrations, gripping thrillers, dark comedies, complex future visions, tightly packed action, avant-garde art, solid entertainment, tear-jerking dramas to light-hearted slices of lives.
No big-boob dumdums, high-pitched VAs, fan-/lip-service or plot-around-the-holes-type shows. Teenage angst and school-settings are rarities in these two lists.

The romance as a genre in it's typical sense, is a hit or miss for most of us, and this is understandable. Each of us has different outlook on life, our experience had shaped our personalities by particular ways and the way we comprehend the fragile and gentle feelings of affection within ourselves is something very personal.

But then again some stories, despite not having entirely romantic focus, can portray relationships in dynamic sense and with appropriate narrative depth. Series like these rarely gets the spotlight for this reason and are oftenly skipped by people who're usually interested solely in the romance aspect of the plots, which is one of the reasons this collection was made - as a showcase of various well written and emotionally expressive bonds of love.

The mentioned works are with broad range of genres, themes and moods, but in each of them one can find a well handled hint of, if not well explored, romance. As well as that, some romances that are breaking the mold of the usual adaptations are included, since they're rarely well explored within the medium and deserve our attention.

Although none of these anime have a tag/theme that denotes them as psychological, they all use cinematographic tactics often seen in psychological media to explore different aspects of the human condition and tackle atypical and philosophical topics.


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

An ongoing collection of science-fiction works that feature "realistic" space travel.

Though often featuring some vague advancement that allows for more efficient and practical spacecraft, the works listed all feature technology similar to what we know of today, and face similar issues. Instead of darting around hyperspace dressed in colourful shirts, much activity is done in orbit with bulky spacesuits. Instead of spacecraft being as common and affordable as cars, they're still rare and expensive rockets.

All works shown are in the present, near-future, or, in the case of one, an alternate past. Anything involving other worlds having been previously colonised, wars being waged across the stars or otherwise being outside the realm of possibility for the species within the next few decades do not qualify.