You're in luck OP, "cerebral" anime happens to be one of my favourites! Let's go! Buuuuut it's getting late, so just one recommendation for now!
Kino's Journey - Starting with my top recommendation here. Kino's Journey is the story of a young traveller named Kino. Kino travels by motorbike in a fantasy European-esque setting, going from country to country, staying at each country for no more than three days (Kino explains that three days is enough time to learn what a country is like). Each country that Kino visits usually has some kind of cultural or social theme, which will usually be what the topic of the episode will be. The series covers many different themes, including cannibalism, democracy vs dictatorships, prophecies, the relationship between man and machine, science, religion, traditions, work and war. I find this series to be endlessly fascinating and keeps me thinking about it years after I watched it. Watch this!
