Somebody already mentioned it, but I also absolutely 1000% recommend Berserk. I am the same as you and only enjoy adult-oriented, 'serious' anime, and Berserk is hands down my #1 favorite anime by a large margin.. You might feel like it takes a bit to get going, but trust me, it will definitely be worth your time investment once you get to a certain point...
There are 3 ways to watch Berserk. There is the old 1997 anime, the 2012 movie trilogy, or the Berserk Redux Fan Edit:
1997 anime:
I highly highly recommend the 1997 anime over the movie trilogy. The 1997 isn't condensed like the movie trilogy is so it has time to develop the characters better. It also makes much better use of the music to highlight emotional or important themes/scenes. The downside is the animation is on the older side... it doesn't bother me since the story more than makes up for it, but since you mentioned animation quality I thought I'd mention it.
2012 movie trilogy:
The animation is more modern, yes, but it condenses everything so much that you won't get as attached to the characters so the impact of certain events that occur later on will not have nearly the same emotional impact, and this is the whole reason to watch Berserk.
Berserk Redux: (just google Berserk Redux to find it on reddit)
The Redux version is a mix of both of the above that a fan edited together. So it captures the best of both worlds. It keeps all the character development of the 1997 anime but also shows the more modern animated fight scenes of the 2012 movies. It captures the best of both very well.
I also saw somebody recommend Knights of Sidonia, and I can also highly recommend this anime as well. It does have a few jokes and comedic moments but it is very much a 'serious' anime. It's about the last remnants of humanity, who have survived on a gigantic spaceship for nearly 1000 years after the rest of humanity was wiped out by massive aliens. They must defend the ship (and thus the last of humanity) from the continuous alien threat while trying to discover new ways to combat them and figure out why they are attacking in the first place.
There are 2 seasons of Knights of Sidonia followed by a movie that wraps everything up. |