GOOD, Thought Prevoking Anime

[Amethyst Wind]

If you want something thought provoking but a little less shonen then try out 5 Centimetres Per Second. It's a really thought provoking story of how people change as they grow up. It's also only 3 episodes long (mebbe 4, been a while since I've seen it)

Also, while I haven't yet seen the anime, I'd strongly recommend the manga of Bokurano, that is some good reading right thar.

 

[Ciran]

Well I really liked Paprika, but that's a movie, not a show...most of anything done by Studio Ghibli is really good too, but again, those are movies. I find this fairly difficult, since I tend to read the manga of a series if there is one, since I really dislike fillers. Oh, Samurai Champloo is a really good series, and rather thought provoking in some of it's episodes.

 

[Copter400]

There's also Mononoke, not to be confused with the more famous Princess Mononoke. It's about a guy who goes only by the name of the Medicine Seller as he goes around killing mononoke, a sort of ascended ghost fueled by a powerful human emotion. To do this, he must find the Form (the shape the mononoke takes) the Truth (the reason for the mononoke's existence) and the Regret (what it is the mononoke wants). When he has found these three things, he can unsheath the mystical Sword of Excorism and finish it once and for all.

It's quite interesting, and has this wonderfully weird art style to boot. All the episodes are available online, too.

 

[The_Deleted]

Paprika or any of Satoshi KonsWork.
Sky Blue is a belter. Metropolois and Jin Roh & Spriggan.

 

[arcainia]

Looks like someone beat me to it, but I'd seriously recommend Kino no Tabi. It's a deep, thought provoking and beautiful anime. Also Haibane Renmei had a rather surreal feel to it, I really loved it (and I cried >>).

 

[oktalist]

The Wind of Amnesia.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

It combines the thought battles of Death note and throws in Mechs.

here is my question: how many good anime shows can you recommend that DON'T INVOLVE BIG FIGHTING ROBOTS??? to my cynical western mind it seems as tho every good idea for an anime program has been ruined by the afterthought of "we should throw in some Mechs, for good measure - everybody like mechs!" NOT TRUE

we'll start off with cowboy bebop - they replaced the mechs with hot-rod space ships, but the story was left to the characters and action

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Well I really liked Paprika

that movie was AWESOME

 

[Sarrazon]

Good, Thought Provoking Anime?

Cowboy Bebop, Most of the Miyazaki stuff - Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky. Paranoia Agent and Serial Experiments Lain are decent, but not really my thing (Paranoia Agent at least, not seen all of SEL. They're both total mindscrews). That should be enough to get it started.

Oh, Azumanga Daioh. Not the most thought provoking, but still everyone needs to see it.

 

[Xvito]

Your friend should watch Code Geass, which is one of the best Animes to grace this fine (or not so fine) world.

The ending to that Anime is complete awesomeness. It simply cannot be stressed enough, how good this Anime is.

 

[Nmil-ek]

Code Geass, can seem alittle clunky at times but the ending is absolutley fantastic.

 

[cainx10a]

I can't believe no one mentioned MONSTER, and Ghost in the Shell (2nd GIG is certainly worth it as it covers terrorism and extremism)

 

[WolfLordAndy]

As has already been mentioned, Ghost in the Shell SAC are good. Cowboy bebop isnt deep but is good fun anime with a nice story. Ergo Proxy was a bit too deep for me, I got a bit bored half way through it. (Though great closing credits song - Paranoid Android)

 

[ghostsprite9]

. hack sign synopsis;
-Strong plot involving a setting primarily situated in a MMORPG.
-Although slow it involves some quite deep an meaningful considerations, of what constitutes reality and a person's self.
-not much actual fighting considering the fact that most of the charachters are usually able to respawn, however the dialouge is immersive and doesn't get too repeditive.
- is okay undubbed.
Downsides;
-The story is very slow at times and there are occasionally episodes that could have been cut out if you saw the rest of the series first.
- There are a couple of instances of it takign itself too seriously although they may have been intended.

Please note; This story was done quite a while ago despite being a almost accurate representation of what technology will be capable of and therefore should be watched without trying to reference any content since those rare instances will probably be unitended.

Out of the dot hack series Sign is the only one that could be considered meaningful BY Its Self, he will probably hate the others if he sees them first.

what one is the first in the series
and i would say...
neon genisis evangelion
cowboy bebop
code geass
and thats all i can think for now

 

[TwistedEllipses]

Uhm, I liked Ghost in the Shell and its whole philosophical "what is real, what is life, what is consciousness"-theme.

I would recommend GITS (the films)/GITS Stand alone complex (the series)as great for playing around with various ideas that make you think about humanity and technology...

 

[mipegg]

Evangelion is a bit of a head screw

 

[Ultress]

It combines the thought battles of Death note and throws in Mechs.

here is my question: how many good anime shows can you recommend that DON'T INVOLVE BIG FIGHTING ROBOTS??? to my cynical western mind it seems as tho every good idea for an anime program has been ruined by the afterthought of "we should throw in some Mechs, for good measure - everybody like mechs!" NOT TRUE

The Mechs here don't degrade the quility of the show and not the main focus of the show