Bokura no

Series that range around 11 episodes to 26 episodes and have already reached their finale. Taking into account 2nd parts for the 26 ones.

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.

characters are put in depressing situations

Please... please, get me out of here...

Associated words: Dark (Visually and/or Thematically), Story-centric, Atmospheric, Abstract, Psychological, Unorthodox, Nihilistic, AND/OR Avant-garde
(Emphasis on AND/OR)


Do check out the other 'half': https://myanimelist.net/stacks/4917 (Some shows could also fit here)

The mecha genre is specific to the anime medium, for the reason that what once started from an interesting concept, over the decades and the various artistic interpretations it had gone through, did managed to reach it's full development and thematic recognition.

It's origin can be traced way back to the end of World War 2, and the notion of the general populace at the time, that the technological breakthroughs, and their further usage to help and safeguard mankind are the way that we should develop as a species, so that's when the bipedal metal giants were born - a figures with humane limbs and features, that are controlled by a person and which allows them to wield this overwhelming power in service of a greater good.

In this interest stack, I've presented the ways in this genre had changed, and the specific shows which had major impact upon the development of the mecha as a concept, and the ways it had branched out of the established norm for this genre exploring a broad spectrum of themes. The order of the shows is in chronological order, since that way the slight alterations and changes can be presented in more simple and efficient manner.

This is a part of a series of stacks that are about artistic tendencies in anime (and that border the fine line between sophisticated and pretentious).

This stack is a work in progress.

Bibliography:
Bednorz, Maksymilian. “What is Sekai-kei? It’s Horseshit.” Bednorz: The Weeablogue. 26 July 2018.
Howard, Christopher. “The Ethics of Sekai-kei Reading Hiroki Azuma with Slavoj Žižek.” Science Fiction Film and Television 7:3 (2014): 366-368.
Tanaka, Motoko. “Trends of Fiction in 2000s Japanese Pop Culture.” Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies. 14:2 (2014).
Thomas, Stefanie. “‘You Cannot See Yourself Unless There Are Others’: Sekaikei as Exhortation of Societal Participation.” The Phoenix Papers. 2:2 (2016): 31-38.

This is a list of anime that Quentin has either watched and liked or anime that he would most likely enjoy, based on his filmography of non-linear narratives and overall taste of foreign movies, for example.





“I want to have the fun of doing anime and I love anime, but I can’t do storyboards because I can’t really draw and that’s what they live and die on.” Quentin Tarantino.

You won't need to read the manga/novel or wait for a second season.

(May have spin-offs/specials, but the main story is complete)

Supernatural shows that have a bittersweet, often sadly melancholic nature and atmosphere. A very different level, from magical realism to almost open fantasy and horror, the main theme is the importance of suffering and sacrificing something important in order to achieve one's goal and save loved ones.

In this list, I tried to collect as many shows as possible that are dedicated to the deconstruction of certain genres, plot themes or various characters. Therefore, there are both tragedies like Madoka and Eva, and parodies like KonoSuba or Kaguya.