 Gravitas
I'm interpreting from your reply that you are looking for series with a bit more gravitas. Even a series like Pokemon can get deep with the environmental themes, but its harder to take it seriously with all the fluffy merchandising on screen.
SERIES
Cowboy Bebop
(Recommended ->Cowboy Bebop: Remix Collection followed by the OVA Knocking on Heavens Door)
Samurai 7
Cowboy Bebop has one of the finest anime soundtracks ever made and the Remix DVD's remastered all 26 episodes' audio and video with extras. Samurai 7, on the other hand, has the most consistently intricate animation I've seen on a series yet. Cowboy Bebop episodes have a standalone feel compared to the tighter storyline of Samurai 7.
MOVIES( from personal really good to best):
Sky Crawlers
Blood: The Last Vampire (NOT The live action one)
Sword of the Stranger
All these movies have amazing animation and explore thought provoking themes.I enjoyed Sword of the Stranger the most because it balanced the intellectual storytelling, character development (love that dog) and visceral action the best out of the three, while doing each element very well.
Not to say I don't enjoy more light hearted fare. I just finished and liked Zero no Tsukaima (The Familiar of Zero). Sometimes I want steak, sometimes I want candy.
ps. Look in the Fullmetal Alchemist 2 thread on this forum to see my writeup on Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood |