Zetsubou Sensei has the highest throw-away blink-and-you-miss-it gag rate of any anime I’ve seen. You need to pause every time the chalkboard is visible to get all of the jokes

Mushishi and Kino’s Journey

My 70-something father in law is a no-life hikkikomori who just watches anime all the time, now that he’s retired

I would also add Welcome To The NHK to the list of SOL with anxious characters. That show is amazing.

Watched the first 2 episodes of Go! Go! Loser Ranger! last night as well as the first episode of Yatagarasu.

I really enjoyed the complex interpersonal politics in Yatagarasu. Loser Ranger is mostly just fun IMO.

It definitely does get more of an actual story as it goes.

Not necessarily, they could take the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood approach and speedrun the material that was already covered by the original.

That said, if they did that, it’d probably not be as good as the original because the original’s pacing was almost peak chill anime.

Those are quite solid, as are Princess Knight and Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis. Kimba The White Lion is especially noteworthy for having been ripped off somewhat by Disney with The Lion King coming out decades later (Kimba -> Simba, not exactly subtle). This was something of a full-circle moment since Tezuka directly cited his heavily rounded artstyle as being inspired by Donald Duck comics and gleaned many of his animation techniques from Disney.

Also worth checking out if you like Astro Boy is Pluto, which retells/reinterprets an arc from Astro Boy from a different perspective. Naoki Urasawa is fantastic in general and is a huge Tezuka fan himself, so Pluto was made as a loving tribute.

You should also consider some other creators IMO, such as Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of Gundam (and therefore the “real robot” mecha subgenre that imagines the mecha as realistic mass-produced war machines). Since you appreciate classics, the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam is a phenomenal work that spawned a franchise that’s as big in Japan as Star Wars and debatably has been handled better/more consistently over the years.

Go Nagai is noteworthy for codifying the “super robot” genre with his seminal classic Mazinger Z, but he also created a few other all-time classics that have had many reboots and reinterpretations of their own, such as Cutie Honey (one of the first “magical girl” manga), Devilman, and Violence Jack (one of the first post-apocalyptic manga).

Another one of the all-time greats is Yoshihiro Togashi, the creator of YuYu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter. He elevated the classic shounen action genre into more narratively engaging ensemble pieces with complex yet self-consistent power systems. The creators of Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, and many other manga all regard him as one of the greatest innovators and masters of the art of writing compelling manga.

Of course I’d also be remiss not to mention the works of Hayao Miyazaki and his team at Studio Ghibli. Their innovations are more technical and focused in the sphere of films rather than serialized shows, but they shouldn’t be overlooked nonetheless. Even Miyazaki’s directorial debut, “The Castle of Cagliostro” was remarkably beautiful and well-crafted for its time.

While the creators were a team of one writer and one illustrator, you really shouldn’t sleep on Ashita No Joe (“Tomorrow’s Joe”, in English). It’s the first hugely successful and influential sports manga/anime and essentially the entire sports anime genre is influenced by it in one way or another.

Edit: I had mistakenly listed Cyborg 009 as one of Tezuka’s works, however it was made by Shotaro Ishinomori, who also notably created the Super Sentai (adapted in the US as Power Rangers) and Kamen Rider franchises. His artstyle is heavily influenced by Tezuka’s because he worked directly under him on Astro Boy and Alakazam The Great.

Sure, and that’s fine. I wasn’t talking about this one show at all in my initial comment, mostly just responding to what you were saying about sticking to western media.

You asked for classic anime recommendations and I gave you some. Have you seen any of those shows? If so, did you like them?

I’ve seen thousands of anime, so I can give better recommendations the better I understand your taste.

Edit: I’m also a big fan of zombie stuff in general, so if you’d like recommendations for classic zombie stuff I’ve got those too.

Experiencing other cultures doesn’t take away your ability to follow your religion.

You’re supposed to love thy neighbor after all, and part of loving others is trying to understand them, is it not?

I didn’t comment on this one show. I commented on the general sense of this post pointing toward you justifying not consuming foreign media anymore.

Yeah, agreed. It’s right up there with Toradora for pure romance anime.

Lovely Complex is one of my all-time favorite anime of any genre. It’s an easy top 20 and I’ve seen probably a couple thousand anime series at this point, for context.

Who is this for?

This post feels like essentially a diary entry in public. I don’t know how or even if you want other people to engage with this.

That said, I’ll take a stab at it.

There’s a lot to learn about yourself and the rest of the world by opening your mind to the perspectives of other cultures, whether you agree with their perspectives or not.

I guess all I’m trying to say, really, is this: don’t give up on an entire culture (or artform) just because one experience made you uncomfortable. Walling yourself off from new and foreign experiences will only stunt your growth and slow your journey of self-discovery.

If you want some classic anime recommendations, check out the following:

Touch

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Macross Plus

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Legend of The Galactic Heroes

Ranma 1/2

Lovely Complex

Let me know if you’d like some more recommendations and if you’ve seen some of these how you liked them.

This is an excellent List. I’m just here to second Lovely Complex and Toradora! because they’re two of my all-time favorites. Lovely Complex gets bonus points for being a romance that keeps going long after the two protagonists get together. They get together maybe halfway thru the show to my recollection and the rest of the show is so much better for it compared to the more typical endless “will they won’t they” shenanigans.

Totally underrated show

Love all 3 of these. Phenomenal list

Legend of The Galactic Heroes

Mushishi

Odd Taxi

Steins;Gate

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (seasons 1 & 2)

Guren Lagan is the best “saturday morning cartoon” type of anime I’ve ever seen. It’s the pinnacle of that vibe.

My favorite is probably Gas Gas Gas, but there’s really just so many bangers on that show

The one thing I hope they get right is the cheesy eurobeat soundtrack during the races