Recommend an anime: more difficult

[Kpt._Rob]

Trust me on these two, Mushishi and Kino's Journey.

Mushishi is my favorite (as is probably evidenced by my avatar). It's a quiet contemplative story about a healer who wanders from town to town, treating sicknesses caused by the interactions of humans and nature spirits called Mushi. It's very minimal on action, depending more on interesting stories and a breathtakingly beautiful aesthetic to keep the viewer enthralled. Unless you're the sort who demands high action, blood, and tits (and based on your OP it sounds like you're not) it would be impossible to go wrong with Mushishi.

Kino's Journey is also really good, it's about a young traveler in a fantastic land, the journey she has, and the philosophical insights she comes to as she sees the ways that different people live in the different city-states in this world. It's got a little more action, but it's not overwhelming, and it's got some pretty strong characters. I don't like it as much as Mushishi, but it's pretty good too.

 

[Asimus]

Hotaru no Haka great movie about world war 2
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=332

 

[GundamSentinel]

What comes to mind:
Cowboy Bebop, Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell SAC.

DO NOT RECOMMEND ME ELFEN LIED. That show is exactly the kind of childish, immaturity I am talking about: a show that pretends to be sober and intelligent, but resorts to cheesecake cat girls, inappropriate panty shots at dramatic moments, and sensationalist gore. Adult content does not equal maturity.

So true...

 

[Palademon]

Yeah, all anime must be immature since the stereotype that is jokingly reinforced by it's fans includes constant oversexualisation.

Death Note is the anime I can get people who hate anime to watch. EDIT: But I'm sorry that the main 'tagonists are both rather young and therefore it wont be as good because of the obvious demographic. But they do work with mature adults.

I'm sorry that Code Geass is also good but you'll hate it for being immature since it has stupid proportions and fanservice.

 

[loc978]

Just how cerebral do you require your anime to be?
...not that I disagree with you about Gantz and Elfen Lied...
Still, it's hard to recommend something without a list of popular anime series' you've seen.

At the risk of recommending things you've already seen, I'll just throw some favorites out there:

I'll recommend Black Lagoon [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lagoon], like I do to everyone. It's sort of a rhapsody of childish entertainment (with adult content) and crime drama with a heavy dose of over-the-top pulp action. Unlike many anime, it really doesn't pander to a specific audience or pull punches in terms of how fucked up the world it depicts is though.

For a more serious recommendation: Planetes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetes] (プラネテス, Ancient Greek: ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ "wanderers"). I consider it to be the most realistic depiction of near-future space-based sci-fi I've ever seen... aside from that, it's mostly a slice-of-life/romantic comedy show.

Another serious recommendation: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell:_Stand_Alone_Complex]. Difficult to describe if you're completely unfamiliar with Ghost in the Shell... but suffice to say it's very complex sci-fi. There's very little character development to be had in the series, but if you enjoy well-written plots and engaging world-building, this is a very good series. The movies weren't bad, but this is better.

For a movie recommendation... Perfect Blue [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Blue]. Not your average anime, it's a psychological thriller revolving around a young female Japanese pop music idol. Quite gritty and a pretty massive mindfuck.

 

[lord.jeff]

Fooly Cooly, it's one of my favorites or most things by Gainax(Immature at times yes but they tend to have good characters and story) are pretty good, also Serial Experiment Lain and Trigun.

Have to agree with you on Elfen Lied.

 

[rezaDN1992]

I assume you also have been recommended death note and full metal alchemist. I also liked the first season of code geass. My other anime are only for anime fans like hellsing and soul eater.

 

[Jayse]

I majorly derped there but to make up for my epic reading fail, here are smore suggestions.

Gankutsuou
Serial Experiments Lain
Great Teacher Onizuka
Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~
Ergo Proxy
Mushishi

 

[Kuranesno7]

Anime:
Ergo Proxy
Texhnolyze
Serial Experiment Lain

Manga:
Blame!
Biomega

Not sure what you mean by mature, but the animes are at least intelligent and the mangas are unpretentious.

 

[Popido]

Try love/comedies as a genre. Theres a good amount of mature content if you avoid the shitty harem ones.

Hmm.. oh I know!

 

[Technicolor]

Honestly I can't recommend you anything. I can't think of any quality anime that takes a simple approach without the use of rather extreme visual content.

Really because most animation, or at least good animated products, tend to emphasize the visual aspects of their subject.
It's like if Pixar said "Up should be a down to earth drama, about a man struggling to cope with the death of his wife & and his aging mediocrity", and then dropped the part about living a life of adventure and reaching your dreams.

I can reccomend you comic books, particularly the works of Alan Moore, I don't know if you'd consider them "mature" enough

(Btw, I agree on Elfen Lied, it really could've used a better director)

 

[maninahat]

Hotaru no Haka great movie about world war 2
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=332

That is Grave of the Fireflies (see OP). If you know any more shows like it, please recommend it.

 

[V8 Ninja]

As some other people have said, Paranoia Agent is really good and mature. For some reason, I want to recommend The Animatrix (probably because it's in plain sight on my desk). It's not really "Mature", but it's not childish either.

EDIT: Crap, I just remember Serial Experiments Lain. It's great and mature, but it will take you a couple of weeks to understand what happened.

 

[K1NG_IC3]

Surprised nobody suggested Death Note, but maybe it is already well-known across the board. Far from an expert in anime that is outright smart but know some that have very nice psychological tones to it.

Ghost in the Shell and .hack// are some more popular ones that take itself more seriously than most. Neon Genesis Evangelion is popular two, very twisted even though its all teenagers (in fact, the point that all the focused protagonist are teenagers enhances the experience, making all their mental horror more believably).

"Welcome to NHK!" can work for some - http://myanimelist.net/anime/1210/Welcome_to_the_NHK!

All-in-all though, best to look back at classic animes that aren't too crazy. Older animes sometimes take themselves seriously through the whole thing without ridiculous plotholes and quirks. Characters still tend to be out there and outright cartoonish. Hope you get recommended some good ones!

 

[Sacman]

Just off the top of my head...

Serial Experiments Lain...

Boogiepop Phantom...

Gungrave...

Ghost in The Shell... movies and show...

Paranoia Agent...

Darker Than Black...

Ergo Proxy...

 

[maninahat]

Honestly I can't recommend you anything. I can't think of any quality anime that takes a simple approach without the use of rather extreme visual content.

Really because most animation, or at least good animated products, tend to emphasize the visual aspects of their subject.
It's like if Pixar said "Up should be a down to earth drama, about a man struggling to cope with the death of his wife & and his aging mediocrity", and then dropped the part about living a life of adventure and reaching your dreams.

I can reccomend you comic books, particularly the works of Alan Moore, I don't know if you'd consider them "mature" enough

(Btw, I agree on Elfen Lied, it really could've used a better director)

I kind of agree with you, in that cartoons tend to rely on visual extremity (which often leads to excessive graphic violence, extreme exploits, and larger than life characters). Though I know plenty of examples that don't. Yes, I would consider Moore to be mature, though the movie version of Watchmen isn't. For some reason, the film felt it had to raise the game, showing slow motion death and splatter to the extent that it crosses the line from stark to indulgent. That is the problem I have with much anime. It crosses that line.

 

[Asimus]

Hotaru no Haka great movie about world war 2
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=332

That is Grave of the Fireflies (see OP). If you know any more shows like it, please recommend it.

Hadashi no Gen
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=627
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCHbF9lG3lE

 

[Ice Car]

Oh, and if this might count, Clannad and Kanon 2006 are good ones. They can technically be for all ages, but they are also good animes for all ages. Clannad is very funny too.

 

[maninahat]

Yeah, all anime must be immature since the stereotype that is jokingly reinforced by it's fans includes constant oversexualisation.

Death Note is the anime I can get people who hate anime to watch. EDIT: But I'm sorry that the main 'tagonists are both rather young and therefore it wont be as good because of the obvious demographic. But they do work with mature adults.

I'm sorry that Code Geass is also good but you'll hate it for being immature since it has stupid proportions and fanservice.

I don't think immaturity is necessarily bad (I've enjoyed plenty of anime shows that are) I just have trouble finding anime that isn't immature in some way. Fanservice to me suggest immaturity, because it shows a kind of contempt the makers have for its audience. They seem to think the audience can't stay focused on a show without promising them boob and ass shots every few minutes. That is what damages "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou", a gentle, pastoral story which still needs to intice its audience with lesbian robot chicks.

 

[JoJo]

If you want an anime that's more mature and realistic, then I'd recommend Aishiteruze Baby, which is about a high-school student who has to take care of his younger cousion after her mother abandons her. It's fairly light-hearted but over around 26 episodes manages to tackle themes such as child abuse, suicide and parental abandoment in a serious manner, but always remaining upbeat overall. I can also guarantee it is 100% free of overt fanservice, magic, extreme violence and gore.