Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor 2 the Movie

50 different series from 50 different years. While most of these are my favorites from year to year, I have included some I thought should get a bit more of a spotlight on. It actually took me a lot longer to put this list together than I thought it would, some years had a lot of good picks and it was hard to pick out either a favorite or one that should be highlighted.

Note there are a few years I have not seen a show from (a few years from the 70s) so I will add some from my PTW or that were impactful.

Mamoru Oshii is a popular creator and has been involved in several anime in both major and minor roles.

This stack is intended as a guide to specifically just his own creative works, all anime listed here were either directed by Oshii or created by him.

Entries not directed by Oshii have a note explaining his involvement.

These anime have strong & dark depictions of suffering, mental illness, trauma violence, sex and various sociopolitical and economic problems in a grounded way and without sugarcoating it, although in fiction it is often impossible to completely avoid the distorting lense of epicness or melodrama when portraying reality.

When I say that these shows portray reality, I don't mean to say that they are necessarily based in material reality, as some are sci-fi or fantasy. What I mean, is that these shows portray the bleak and harrowing aspects of human condition without pulling any punches, and without romanticizing it (to some extent).

These shows often have a positive and hopeful overall message and/or ending sometimes, so I wouldn't call this a list of "depressing" shows. However, they have in common that they revolve around brutal and mature depictions of psychological, physical and spiritual pain of individuals and society, while also having a haunting and opressive feel to them.

Fairly unknown animes that have a very good story, animation, and soundtrack that you might like.

If I found out I had a year left to live, these are the shows that I would rewatch into the ground.

Anime from 1998 or before (with a few exceptions) with great animation

Thrillers, Political dramas, mysteries, and action films that are a little too aware of the way things work...

"You cannot stare evil in the face; it has no face. It has no body, no bones, no blood. Any attempt to describe it ends in glibness and self-delusion."
- Mario Spezi & Douglas Preston, The Monster of Florence

"Who can gaze into the mirror without becoming evil? The mirror does not reflect evil, but creates it."
- Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence

Vaporwave is a music and visual aesthetic that emerged in the early 2010s and is characterized by its use of samples from 80s and 90s pop culture, creating a nostalgic and dreamlike atmosphere. While there is no specific genre of anime that is vaporwave, many anime series and films have been noted for using certain elements that have made them popular among vaporwave enthusiasts. Here is a list of essential vaporwave anime that you might enjoy:

The films contain at least some of the following elements that contribute to Vaporwave:

-Aesthetics and Neon
-Vintage CGI
-90s consumerism
-80s/90s business/corporate life and setting
-70s thru 90s Asian culture
-Liminal space and cinematography/ minimalism
-Light toned color palette (especially white, pink and cyan)
-Digital revolution and post-internet
-Funky/pop/electronic music/OST and subgenre of Chillwave
-Philosophical and sometimes depressing themes on existentialism
-Avant garde, mind-bending, surreal storyline/narration
-Subgenres of mallsoft, officesoft, futurefunk, virtual utopia, cyberpunk and more.

Basically a Letterboxd vs MAL comparison for 2023.
It's an interesting look into how normal people view anime.

no recaps no short films basically
"Most Popular Anime Film" aka more than 100k watched and how popular it is right now (March 2023) on Letterboxd (as that's how sorting by Film Popularity works and I'm lazy)
I've also labelled movies with less than 5k ratings as "niche" so now you can blend in with normal people.

11 (22%) of the movies were produced by Studio Ghibli.

The only entry you wouldn't expect is Comet in Moominvalley.

Shoutout to the bunch of movies I had to remove when I realized I missed a few stuff (Redline and Aria the Benedizione)

Movies from 1990-1999
Other Movies: Spring and Chaos

Standalone Animes Movies & OVAs from the 80s & 90s that I want to watch.
Only a few notable ones are apart of a series.
Two of the movies are from the 1970s.

More: Twilight Of The Dark Master

Works that carry an extremely atmospheric direction

Anime with OST's that will make you shout, sob or even make you doubt your existence...

This is part 2! Check out part 1 here: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/11695

The biggest anime film directors making standalone anime films outside of Studio Ghibli films.

Directors:
> Hosoda, Mamoru (Wolf Children)
> Shinkai, Makoto (Your Name.)
> Kon, Satoshi (Perfect Blue)
Also Included:
> Oshii, Mamoru (Ghost in the Shell)
> Otomo, Katsuhiro (Akira)