Perfect Blue

insert wojak meme

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

Full of despair and disturbing are understatements when it comes to these anime.

Warning: if you're not a hardcore horror/psychological fan, watching these may leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Films with dramatic/abstract visual portrayal of emotional struggle.

thrills & chills guaranteed

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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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It does what it says on the tin. All movies here can be seen stand alone with no context needed.

Real bangers that will leave you on the edge of your seat, your mind blown or your eyes tearing up.

This is a collection of series to see if you're searching for a female lead you will be able to cheer for as more as possible. Her main goal will not be romance.

Anime that either employ a cyberpunk style or contain elements of it, and are dark, moody, grimy and/or nihilistic.

This list contains all movies that aren't related with any anime series. (Pre 2014)

Part 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/1267
Part 3: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/7998

I watched 35 movies from this list and these are my most favorites:

- Wolf Children
- The Tale of Princess Kaguya
- Tokyo Godfathers
- The Wind Rises
- The Girl who Leapt Through Time
- Kiki's Delivery Service
- 5cm Per Second
- Perfect Blue

These animes were the landmarks in anime industry. Critically acclaimed shows and popular for its story, characters, development, and the amazing experience that the audience might feel. Some of them are old and modern, but it has the same level of "masterpiece" that I've seen so far.

These are the family based films and films can be watched together with your family. Who said your parents and sibling can't watch anime? Of course, they can too. As long it's decent XD Jokes aside, here is my collection of animes films that your family might enjoy too.

This collection was composed of mystery and horror animes. Some of animes were purely mystery and some of them were combination of both. They are great shows that will make your mind blown and thrilled at the same time. It may be the animes aren't meant for everyone but I still hope you'll give it a try. They are still enjoyable to watch.

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.

These are some pretty good psychological anime series and movies.. Some are new and some are a little older. Enjoy!

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.