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If you liked Gunslinger Girl add

...then you might like Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica add

Same deal, cute little innocent girls suffer for our entertainment. I guess at this point everyone in the solar system has heard the name of Madoka, so I wouldn't say much about that. If you can get pass the ridiculous premise of Gunslinger Girl (well it's an anime), you may be surprised by how subtle the show is handled instead of making it as loud as possible. There is no super hyper character, no crazy plot twist or epic music, all you have is a great atmosphere created with good pacing, expert timing editing, great voice acting and appropriate music. Instead of trying to make you care about the characters, the show just presents them as real people with real emotion, little girls act like little girls even though they are messed up at some level. When a character died, it's genuinely sad rather than shocking or comedic, almost nothing is exaggerated. With all these care and passion the creator put into the show, they successfully create a truly unique work that is not just a copy and paste of some previous successful works, which makes the show more immersive and enjoyable. With well executed gun battles and one of the best use of classical piece in anime as icing on the cake, even though you may not be impressed but I doubt you would ever be angered by it. Turns out when it is done well, little girls suffering can be really sad. Damn it. Somehow I mess up the order, it should be the other way around. Btw, Mal is such a tsundere, she wouldn't let me change.

If you liked Mushishi add

...then you might like Bartender add

I feel that Mushishi and Bartender have a lot in common, at least in the way they make me feel: bitter-sweet, calm yet unsettling, but at the end I cannot find any more physical similarity other than they are both episodic and made by Japanese, and only Japanese can make them I'm sure. The former is more fantasy like but still roots in reality, and it's a beautiful reimagination of Japanese unique view of the world. The latter is a simple and straight-forward story about how the bartender serves his costumer with unique cocktails who has different backstory in a small bar called "Eden Hall" in modern Japan. I don't drink other than beers, but I'm sure you don't need any knowledge about cocktails to enjoy Bartender because it explains every details you need to know and at the same time it doesn't force-feed information or bog down the story. You may probably be surprised by how well the cocktails complement the feelings of the character, and be amazed by the different types of cocktails presented in the show. The characters are not spectacular but they really feel like everyday people that are easy to relate to, or I should say "us". Watching Bartender to me is like meeting up a stranger that I gaze upon thinking that it's a shame we didn't know each other earlier. If you like Mushishi for it's atmosphere and human element, you may also like Bartender. Watch it at the end of a busy or fruitful day if you can't go or find a bar nearby.

If you liked Perfect Blue add

...then you might like Jin-Rou add

Ever tired of the same art style and character design of today's mainstream anime? Getting sick of stupid character, bad dialogue, boring premise and incompetent storytelling? Well, Grandpa has something for you~~ No, I'm not old, at least not as old as Grumpy(RIP, man), but I am slightly older than EVA. And this is what I do when I exhaust today's pool of good anime, going back to the past to find some hidden gems, and some good gems I have here. Both anime take a realistic approach to their character design and art style which is almost extinct today. Although these two anime have totally different themes, the realistic style really fits them well to the point that it is difficult to image whether the anime will be as effective as in other art style. The talents behind these two anime are easily the best the industry ever has and they did deliver something really outstanding with good characters, clever writing, nice animation and soundtrack. If you happen to like some of the staff, like Satoshi Kon and Yoko Kanno, you may want to check these anime out as they are some of the earliest work they had done. I'm not saying that you should think these anime are good because they are old, after all you are entitled to your opinion and personal preference. But if you are someone like me who wants to see how anime can take in a direction totally different than today's anime, "Perfect Blue" and "Jin-Rou" are definitely not disappointing, and I'm just happy to share with you.