Recommend an anime: more difficult

[Evidencebased]

I'm not entirely sure what you're looking for, but the best "mature" anime I've seen (that haven't been mentioned yet) are:

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Set in a fantasy version of ancient Korea, the plot revolves around a famous female bodyguard who gets roped into protecting a cursed eight year-old prince. It is a bit slow but it takes itself very seriously. It also has truly epic fight scenes, great characters, some of the most beautiful art I've seen outside a Ghibli film, and absolutely no fanservice.

Towards the Terra
A remake of an old movie from the 80s, this series takes place in the future and follows the conflict between the psychic "Mu" and a dystopian human society run by artificial intelligences. The main characters start out as teenagers, and Joley in particular is a bit annoying, but there are several time skips showing how they grow into interesting adults. A very serious anime dealing with genocide and the dark side of human nature.

House of Five Leaves
A slice of life series about a samurai who falls in with a gang of kidnappers. It's only thirteen episodes and pretty much nothing happens, but the characters are so engaging you might not care. Plus it's on Hulu, so if you're in America you can watch it for free!

Whew! So glad someone finally recommended Seirei no Moribito! It is honestly the most mature/clever/decent anime I've ever seen -- adult protagonists with adult relationships and absolutely NO black-and-white morality? Yeeeesss.

Also second House of Five Leaves -- it's slow-paced and thoughtful, and much more about the characters than any kind of action-packed plot. Has a very nice art style, too; muted and stylized rather than flashy or cute.

I also wanted to re-recommend Ergo Proxy and Dennou Coil. They likewise focus more on having a smart, deep story and realistic characters rather than pandering or trying to titillate. And I'd recommend KURAU Phantom Memory, too -- it has its actiony moments but it's more of a look at this character and how she makes do in a body that isn't entirely her own, in a world that doesn't entirely accept her...

 

[Evidencebased]

(I liked D. Grayman, and it gets pretty dark, but you have to wade through a looot of stupid to get to the interesting stuff. )

 

[Axelhander]

First of all, ignore everyone saying Gantz.

Gantz is NOTHING, but gratuitous fan service, bad dialogue and people standing around screaming about strength.

This man posts truth.

 

[Evidencebased]

And:

Last Exile (clever steampunk story, no fanservicey bits or "kawaii" bullshit, but still pretty full of adventure and action -- starts with a sick airship battle!)

Eden of the East (smart, modern concept with good writing and relate-able characters who don't do stupid things just to further the plot)

Casshern Sins (post-apocalyptic, pretty contemplative and dark <-- haven't actually finished it yet, so no guarantees about the ending!)

Now and Then, Here and There (whooooa not child-friendly. AT ALL. But very adult themes, handled maturely.)

 

[cabalistics]

The one thing I'll say about Gantz is that yes it is weird and violent and perverted but it's so compelling to watch, Even though I did'nt like the characters much I just had see what happened next. It's kind of a shame that they only animated the least interesting part of the story because the characters do grow and the plot becomes so much more epic and crazy after what was covered in the anime which ends on a crappy filler episode.

Basilisk is a good one I'd describe it as Romeo and Juliet with warring ninjas.

Berserk is amazing but you'll be hunting down the manga to find out what happens next, although there is a new Berserk anime coming I dont know will it continue or retell the story

Blue Gender is another good one I happened across. It reminds me a lot of Starship Troopers, the original book not the movie

 

[poppabaggins]

Read through the first page:

My suggestions
-Paranoia Agent
-Ergo Proxy
-5 Centimeters per Second (movie)
-Eden of the East (possibly fits your criteria, college-graduates, themes about where people belong in society)
-Now and Then, Here and There (kid protagonists, but more like child-soldiers, not childish)


And for a website recommendation: anime-planet.com shows recommendations for the anime you select.

 

[blind_dead_mcjones]

i'm probably going to sound like a stuck record and its probably already been recommended but i recommend both Patlabor Movies,

reasons why:

- interesting plots
- are geuninely mature (i.e. characters with depth, no rediculous ammounts of gore violence or swearing, etc)
- no fanservice, sexualised characters or rediculous out of place romance subplots at all
- adult protagonists
- themes about society
- portraying why humongous mecha would actually kinda suck (the robots, known as 'labors' are little more than glorifed forklifts/cranes, with some designed for use in law enforcement)
- while the action scenes are very few and far between they are among the most well choreographed i have ever come across (especially the fight between noa's labor and the type zero at the end of the first film)

 

[StormShaun]

I think I already commented.....

Clannad, nuff said

 

[infohippie]

I couldn't see if these two had already been recommended, but I would suggest you try Voices of a Distant Star and Wings of Honneamise.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

There's one anime I've been obsessed over for a while now, and that's Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Don't let the cutesy look and OP fool you, it's an incredibly dark anime, and it's amazing. It's not super gory (Although there are a few scenes), no pointless fanservice or over sexualized characters (Not even a single panty shot.), great action and characters, and one of the best villains ever. Not to mention it's from Shaft (The studio behind Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and Bakemonogatari) and is their best work yet.
It's a fairly new anime (10 episodes so far, but the last 2 are suspended) and it's by far the best anime of the season, if not the year, and encourage everyone to watch it.

 

[Inchronica]

Cowboy Bebop ...
Trigun ...
Vampire Hunter D movies.

 

[Evidencebased]

The one thing I'll say about Gantz is that yes it is weird and violent and perverted but it's so compelling to watch, Even though I did'nt like the characters much I just had see what happened next. It's kind of a shame that they only animated the least interesting part of the story because the characters do grow and the plot becomes so much more epic and crazy after what was covered in the anime which ends on a crappy filler episode.

Basilisk is a good one I'd describe it as Romeo and Juliet with warring ninjas.

Berserk is amazing but you'll be hunting down the manga to find out what happens next, although there is a new Berserk anime coming I dont know will it continue or retell the story

Blue Gender is another good one I happened across. It reminds me a lot of Starship Troopers, the original book not the movie

Berserk is great -- incredibly violent -- but oh my lord I hated Basilisk so damn much! I spent the entire first half waiting for that main female character to open her eyes for just one second and be useful in any way at all... and then I spent the second half just hoping for everyone to die, because by that point I loathed every single character in that show. Your mileage may vary, obviously! (The fight scenes were very cool, though. That's pretty much the only thing that kept me watching.)