Mind Game

The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition.

Based on judging by a jury of artistic peers, awards are given in four categories: Art (formerly called Non-Interactive Digital Art), Entertainment (formerly called Interactive Art; including video games and websites), animation, and manga. Within each category, one Grand Prize, four Excellence Prizes, and (since 2002) one Encouragement Prize are awarded.

(Source: Wikipedia)

The Oofuji Noburou Award (大藤信郎賞) is an animation award given at the Mainichi Film Awards. It is named after Japanese animator Noburou Oofuji.

Following the death of Noburou Oofuji in 1961, Mainichi established a new award in his honor to recognize animation excellence. A specialist in silhouette animation, Oofuji was one of the earliest Japanese animators to gain international recognition.

With the growth of the animation industry in Japan, the award in the 1980s came to be dominated by big budget studio productions, over the work of the independent animators for whose efforts it was originally established. To address this concern, the Animation Grand Award was established to reward large scale cinematic animation, enabling the Oofuji award to focus on shorter pieces again.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Films with dramatic/abstract visual portrayal of emotional struggle.

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

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

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 anime have bizarrely unique, wildly niche, or oddly specific concepts. From sentient clothes, to vampires in space, to undead idols, some of these anime may leave you wondering, "who even came up with this idea?..."

Examples include Hoshiiro Girldrop from Poputepipikku or Serious Squadron Gachi Rangers from Mitsudomoe, maybe even the first episode of Osomatsu-san. I suppose that even Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo would count in a certain measure,...I suppose many anime include in-universe anime, but few make of it an entire episode / a longer section of it as a gag, or alternatively change the current anime radically in style/genre to make it seem like nearly a different anime entirely.

Art direction, harmony with the narrative, framing and uniqueness.

Most unic anime form 2000s

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.

"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

Anime with unique art-style/premise and or surreal/dreamlike sequences

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

Surreal anime that have an upbeat tone!

Art house, in relation to cinema, is a genre of films that are intended to be serious artistic works rather than merely popular entertainment but the descriptor can also be applied to anime. Furthermore, avant-garde refers to innovative, experimental, radical or unorthodox concepts and techniques. This can of course also be used in reference to anime and manga.

As MAL currently sadly only allows a max of 50 entries on interests stacks this list mainly prioritises the stand out and most high quality examples of avant-garde and art house anime television shows, feature films, OVAs and short film compilations. For a more comprehensive list which features the numerous experimental short films on the site as well as manga, I direct you to my accompanying Art house, Avant-Garde and Experimental club of the same name.

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.

List of obscure confusing plot-centered anime from the stone age that will automatically make you have a superior anime taste.

anime that really, really stick out, and are worth watching even if you aren't an anime fan, and are just a fan of great visual media in general.

Movies that bang
Some of them are short movies