I have been personally healed by Aria.

*all Aria anime

Forget Durarara, this is Narita's magnum opus. I particularly enjoyed the seamless event jumping. Narita tropes are all present: ensemble and unique cast, off the wall action and violence. So much violence.

PLEASE.

I'll just say that people will find me and stone me alive if I didn't include this.

Great comedy. One of the funniest out there; a classic.

This anime is pretty good, a nice spin on the high stakes subgenre. Though I would very much prefer if you read the manga.

A hard watch for some, some may find it ugly, but it's incredibly popular in Japan (at least back in the 2000's). Screwy dementia flick. If you liked Lain and Angel's Egg, you'd like this too.

fuckin' Akira, dammit

A strange, comedic, episodic slice of life look at cyberpunk lite through the eyes of children. It's very enjoyable, pretty family friendly as well.

DON'T GLARE AT ME? Digimon Tamers is a masterpiece. The Evangelion of Digimon. Directed by the same dude who did Lain. 

DETROIT METAL CITY!!! Oh man. A good comedy. Be warned, there are a lot of rape jokes thrown around (not seriously but... they're there)

What the heck just happened?

Dark comedy. Nevermind the pastel color palette, there's bread suicide in the first episode. A must watch.

A classic comedy brimming with charm.

*2011 anime also applicable

Ah yes, HXH. Just do yourself a favor and watch it. Best popular shounen? Best popular shounen. Mature in story and not in edgy crap.

Often cited as one of the best anime ever. I wouldn't go that far, but it's pretty high up there. Soundtrack is literally the most beautiful OST I've ever listened to. Recommended.

One of Miyazaki's first project. A cult classic in the Middle East, a great love story, may be hard to watch for those who don't like old animation, but it's worth it!

Anno's directorial debut. Can be seen as Beta Evangelion. Many similarities. If you liked Evangelion, give this a shot. Quite a bit of nudity (Anno wanted realism, which he achieved, but lots of people write it off as fanservice) A CLASSIC. MUST WATCH.

Part of the World Masterpiece Theatre. Just watch all of them. Every WMT title. But especially this one.

Inferno Cop will save anime.

'I love torturing children' starter pack along with Utena, Madoka, Bokurano and Evangelion.

Unappreciated gem by Sunrise, the mother of mecha anime. Overshadowed by Gundam and the like. Mecha is a subgenre, don't watch it for the mech. That's kind of its weakest point... watch it because goddamn, these teenagers are SO. WELL. WRITTEN. PLEASE. WATCH IT. It's worth every second. The acting is some of the best I've seen. The animation is fluid but average, however.

I'm not into romance, but Kaiba is a damn good romance. The art style is unorthodox. This anime is pretty dark. You're going to cry a lot watching it. If you liked Kemonozume, you'd definitely like this.

Beautiful romance. The art style is subjective and may turn many people off, but it is very well animated. If you liked Kaiba, you'd dig this.

Beautiful slice of life with some nice action thrown in. Kino is literally the coolest badass EVER. If you liked Aria, you'd like this. A lot. Personal favorite. I just... Love Kino no Tabi.

This show may be hard to watch for unseasoned anime goers. It uses a mix of rotoscoping and traditional animation. Trippy as HELL. Follows a psychiatrist and his patients. Love Irabu!

intellectuals only(tm)

A great bonding story between a mother and daughter(?) set in a unique setting. Gunplay, action, drama, comedy, Michiko to Hatchin has it all.

FABULOUS MAX!

Serene and calming anime about a quiet boy and his adventures (though not really) with youkai. Compare to Zettai Shounen.

We all know Eva is overrated, kind of eh for me, but for trope study I think it's important. A lot of things take inspiration from Eva, but honestly, not Anno's best.

It's an experience, all right. Not bad, but since it was pretty infamous, I say you gotta at some point, kind of hard to avoid.

That head sure is floating.

This made me want to kill myself. A+

But in all seriousness, the content warnings for this? Uh, just about everything. It's about child soldiers, war, innocence etc. If you're feeling brave then do yourself a favor and watch it. Surprisingly not a hard watch, you're so horrified you just keep going to the next episode. Maybe that's just me?

*Almost exactly the same as Nobody's Girl Remi

Directed by the same dude who did Rose of Versailles. Theatrically superior to the newer Remi, but watch them both anyway!

BEST GHIBLI MOVIE

Satoshi Kon's only TV anime. An honest to god shame, this is probably my favorite work by him. Everything comes together so seamlessly. It's... a hard feeling to describe. Even for Satoshi Kon, it was... so so satisfying. I'm not gonna sheepishly say, "give it a shot". WATCH IT. WATCH IT!!!

Do yourself a favor and watch every Satoshi Kon work in existence. Warning for rape and gore.

Same team behind Kemonozume. Ping pong has never been this trippy and exhilirating. Makes a boring game look great. What makes this different from other sports anime is that it is very character driven.

It's friggin Ghibli

Seems innocous at first but quickly molds into a tragedy. Uses motifs of Ballet performances like The Nutcracker. I was personally blown away. I was like, dude, are you serious?! This is.....!!!!! Or something.

Haven't seen Utena yet? Ho ho, shame on you. Get to it, thot!

Look, make it past episode 12 and it'll reward you generously. Not that the first 12 episodes are bad, but... you know what, you'll understand once you watch it.

Good luck.

I watched this when I was younger than rewatched it with my niece. It was really heartwarming honestly, kind of plain but did have appealing visuals when it needed to.

I think out of all the things on the list, this one deserved a caption rewrite the most. You won't really grasp it. I don't think I will. I loved Lain, it is a tad bit overrated but what I saw stuck with me, for an aesthetic/commentary piece like this I say that's what matters the most. I find it hard to describe what to expect here, but I do want to say I felt a lot of nostalgia for early 2000's tech.

I just want people to watch this, you know? I can't really describe it.

Batman, except mecha and classy as fuck. Many callbacks to 70's and 80's anime in terms of art style and mecha design/action. The show itself is heavily influenced by what I would guess to be Hannah Barbera shows. I can't say this is for everyone, but it's so slick and stylized it deserves a fair shot.

SATOSHI KON U GAIZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dementia at its finest. Character designs done by Final Fantasy artist Yoshitake Amano. If you liked Boogipop and Lain you'd LOVE this.

*same as Aria the Animation

Perhaps Berserk's anime was kind of botched compared to the manga because of its infamous ending-- it's still a great watch (except for the ending). Rifle with blood and gore, rape warning, etc.

Unorthodox romance.

Well developed characters and good romance. Staple mecha show from Sunrise. Will write more when I finish it!

Probably one of the most gorgeous anime you'll ever watch. If you don't agree, uh, well, that's not my fault I guess!