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This is my personal list of Anime that I feel went beyond the standard anime style of art where all the characters look the same except for their hair style and color. This list represents a visionary and creative approach to the art of Anime whether they be mainstream popular anime or obscure personal artistic visions. They are in no particular order.

The following anime are one's I have personally viewed, I will add to the list as I view them.
1. Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari - (Check out the erotic tooth brushing in Nisemonogatari)
2. Mononoke - Artwork like animated traditional paintings. This is NOT Princess Mononoke.
3. Ergo Proxy
4. Shigurui: Death Frenzy – Incredibly violent, beautiful art.
5. Dead Leaves – Totally insane, wild art style
6. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt – In a similar vein as Dead Leaves
7. Texhnolyze – Bleak and depressing, Character Design by Yoshitoshi Abe. I love his artwork and anything he does.
8. Haibane Renmei – Written and directed by Yoshitoshi Abe
9. Tekkon Kinkreet – Visually unique, a true artistic masterpiece.
10. Steamboy – a wonderful combination of computer graphics and cell animation plus a great Steam Punk story.
11. Metropolis – Similar style to Steamboy.
12. Eden of the East – Good art and backgrounds
13. Cossette no Shouzou - Beautiful artwork and music
14. Sayonara Zesubou Sensei - Great satire/Commentary on Japanese culture & character types. Very funny
15. Pale Cocoon - Short, beautiful cgi
16. La Maison en Petits Cubes - A metaphorical exploration of an old man`s seemingly meaningless existence.
17. Angel's Egg - This is an example of High or Pure Art.
18. Kemonozume - A brutal adult love story with cannibalism, gore, sex, nudity, and very creative & artistic,
19. Time of Eve - A very artistic story about humans and androids.
20. Hundred Stories or Requiem from the Darkness - Ghost stories, creepy, gory with unusual artistic art and animation.
21. Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu or Tweeny Witches - A creative & artistic gem of a show for young teens thru adults. Spread the word about this under-recognized show.
22. Kaiba - A true work of surrealistic art. Should be on everyone's Must See list.
23. Midori: Shoujo Tsubaki - A sad & brutal story of a girl taken in by a Freak Show during the 1800's. Created by one man, Hiroshi Harada. Not for the Squeamish.
24. Tori no Uta - 35 min short, made of still paintings.
25. Paprika - Is it real or a dream? Beautiful art. Directed by Satoshi Kon who also directed.......
26. Paranoia Agent and Perfect Blue - Two more surreal dream/nightmare, psychological thrillers.
27. Cat Soup - Delightfully surreal work of art.
28. Cencoroll - Unique, creative short by one man, Atsuya Uki, felt unfinished, part 2 coming.
29. Mind Game - A truly artistic masterpiece. Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Dementia, Romance, Psychological.
30. Noiseman Sound Insect - 15 min short, bizarre, colorful, looks like an MTV experimental video.
31. Ursa minor Blue – Fantasy, a boy and his Grandfather save the Milky way from giant fish. Simple & Magical.
32. Kakurenbo-Hide and Seek – Kids play Hide and Seek with Demons. Great art, creepy. 30 min. short.
33. Iblard Jikan – 30 min. OVA by Studio Ghibli. Music and series of paintings of the fantasy world of Iblard, by artist Naohisa Inoue. Very beautiful and relaxing.
34. The Tatami Galaxy - A students journey to self discovery. An amazing, unique, unconventional work of art.
35. Fantascope Tylostoma - A man who appears every 700 years.. A story of passion. Artistic and Melancholy. Don’t betray a goddess.
36. Windy Tales – Beautiful Slice of Life anime. Flying cats and wind handlers.
37. Malice@Doll - Sex Robot Malice lives in a city devoid of humans. Surreal psychological drama about a robot who wants to feel.
38. Fuyu no Hi (Winter Days) - 35 different animators illustrate 36 stanzas of poem by 17th-century poet Basho. Won the Grand Prize of the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2003.
39. Genius Party - An anthology of 7 short films produced by Studio 4°C. Also produced Genius Party Beyond.
40. Sweat Punch - A series of five Studio 4°C shorts.
41. Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space – Surreal, demented anime in a similar vein as Kaiba.
42. Rain Town - Independent 10 min. animation by Hiroyasu Ishida. A little girl explores her dreary rainy town. Wordless, melancholy.
43. Aoi Bungaku Series - Six modern classics of Japanese literature: Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) & Run, Melos! (Hashire, Melos!), Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro, Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen) & The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito), and Ango Sakaguchi's In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita).
44. Glassy Ocean - Whale leaping, time frozen, ocean turned to glass. Beautiful, surreal, poetic.
45. A Tree of Palme - Beautiful, surreal landscapes, haunting music, about a puppet with a heart who mourns the death of a woman he was created to take care of. He goes on an incredible journey with new found friends to try to become human and understand his feelings. A complex and mature movie.



If you have a recommendation for this list please let me know!
If you feel an anime shouldn't be on this list let me know why.
Update: McNagah sent me a link to a great listing of Obscure and Artistic anime, http://images.wikia.com/animu-mango/images/f/fa/1276994333805.jpg
Updated 2-21-2013