Taichi Keaton, a former British special forces operative, now works as an insurance investigator for the world-renowned insurance agency Lloyd's; but his true passion is history and archaeology, which he fulfills by teaching at universities and visiting various ruins. Make no mistake though, there is far more to Mr. Keaton's job than simply filing insurance forms and writing reports! His investigations take him around the world and into situations ranging from run-ins with the Russian mafia to solving murders and even foiling terrorist plots. There's never a dull moment, much to Keaton's dismay!
Taeko is a city-girl, born and raised in Tokyo, who has always held dreams of visiting the countryside. She finally is able to fulfill that dream during a vacation with relatives. Only Yesterday switches from visions of Taeko's 5th grade past, to her present self who is struggling with touch choices and feelings about love, herself, and her future.
What does anime for adults look like? Not just older teens or twentysomethings, but mature, older crowd cartoons that are set in a largely realistic environment and take their darn time to smell the roses?
Well, these are two examples. Only Yesterday is a rather thoughtful romance while Master Keaton is a Matlock-esque show about a fellow of all trades, but if you're looking for such genuinely if not exactly exciting adult toons - you've found them.
Dr Kenzo Tenma is a genius surgeon working in post-Cold War Germany who has a bright future ahead of him. He is admired by his colleagues, loved by his patients, and due to marry his boss' daughter, the beautiful Eva Heinemann. One day, when two patients in desperate need of emergency surgery are wheeled into his hospital, Tenma faces a terrible choice of saving the orphaned boy who came first or the mayor of Düsseldorf, whose recovery would raise the hospital's profile and boost his own career. Against the demands of his superior, Tenma does what he believes is right and saves the child. However, his decision not only damages his prospects, but unleashes a chain of events so horrific that it might have come from the depths of his worst nightmares. Laden with guilt, Tenma begins a journey across Germany in search of a formidable young man who will challenge his morals, his love for life, and his very sanity.
Both of these series feature a Japanese (or half-Japanese) man in serious and mature stories set in and around Europe. Master Keaton is a duller, more episodic series that is spread over all of Europe while Monster is more focused, compelling, darker, arced, and confined to Germany; but both are well worth watching. As each are based on works by the same seinen mangaka and are produced by the same director, animation studio etc., they are remarkably similar in style, execution, tone and so on. A fan of one simply must try the other as well.
At the end of the 19th century, in a time when social classes dominate society, a woman named Emma serves as a maid for a retired governess. One fateful day, a man named William from the upper class arrives at the mansion to visit the governess, and leaves having fallen in love with the young maid herself. In a time of such prejudice, love between the classes is frowned upon; but for William and Emma, their hardships are just beginning. Can the two break free of the bonds society has forced on them, or will they succumb to the pressure and banish each other from their hearts?
Both of these anime are rather mature, slow-paced, and have an emphasis on England. Master Keaton is about all of Europe rather than merely England while Emma focuses solely on this country; but both also are reasonably well researched (especially in Emma's case).
It isn't unusual for a person to feel that the world around them is strange and has unexpected secrets lying just beyond their sight. However, for most people this is just an occasional sensation that greets them upon awakening or chases them into sleep. For the mushi researcher Ginko, it isn't a feeling at all; it is a knowledge which guides his travels and motivates his life. Found in the cracks between what is conceivable and what is not, are the varied life forms collectively known as mushi. They surround us and affect us, but their intensely different nature makes them unrecognizable to most. Ginko brings these life forms into perspective for the lives of those most affected and most in need of an explanation.
Admittedly Master Keaton, while slow-paced, is rather dull and not even half the depth of Mushishi's expertly executed, complemative beauty, but both are serious, mature-minded and slow-moving series of an episodic nature where a protagonist moves from location to location aiding various people in their problems.