Hey All, as a long time anime fan, I wanted to start with a list of my favorites and give a bit of background and maybe add some fun facts that fans of the shows may not already know. So to start things off...
5 -- Kara No Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners
This may be the least known entry on the list, at least to English viewers, as it's not a series but rather 8 full length theater movies (10 if you count Recalled Out Summer and Extra Chorus) and was never dubbed. Aniplex also owns the rights so what you end up with is an extremely expensive ($399.99 MSRP YIKES!) subbed box set which alone is enough to turn off some viewers and lower ownership. I'd recommend streaming this one on a site like kissanime if you'd like to view.
Kara No Kyoukai may not be for everybody, and is definitely geared towards a more mature audience and is easily one of the darkest works I've seen. It's produced by studio Ufotable, known for their unbelievably high quality animation, and is one of Type Moon's earliest works. As part of the Nasuverse it exists in a different world, but same universe as the more popular FATE series, but you'll notice many similarities in themes between the two and across everything Type Moon produces. Even better, the music is by my favorite Japanese composer, Yuki Kaijura (Sword Art, Madoka Magica, Fate) who formed the group Kalafina to help with the score. The result are films that are beautiful and captivating with quality animation that holds up even though released nearly 10 years ago. Each of the 8 main episodes incorporates some type of dark social theme into the overarching supernatural plot including suicide, incest, murder, rape, and terrorism -- so obviously not for a younger crowd. The 8 movies are told out of order chronologically, which really forces the audience to pay attention. It's not often I find a mystery thriller that captivates me as much as KNK and think this may be one of the more hidden gems in the industry if you haven't already seen it. I also appreciate it more and more as I watch other Type Moon productions and see the themes carried throughout. All and all it earns my highest recommendations, but probably not a buy for the majority of viewed due to the $$$. Check it out on kissanime if you want to give it a try.
4 -- Puella Magi Madoka Magica
What we have here is a deconstruction of the Magical Girl anime genre. What starts off so innocently takes a turn for the dark around episode three and spirals downward from there. What we expect from a Magical girl series is for a young girl to have a wish fulfilled by a mysterious yet cute creature and proceed to battle the world's evil after becoming a magical girl. What Madoka gives us the very real nature of the danger fighting this evil. It explains the consequences with obtaining superhuman powers and teaches us there is a very real cost to each wish. The dark undertones of this show should have been apparent with the combination of Gen Urobuchi (nicknamed Urobutcher after Psycho Pass, Fate/Zero, Black Lagoon) and Yuki Kaijura again on the amazing score.
The animation is extremely unique, the girls almost look out of place in the world, and especially in the realms of witches which kind of look like a drug induced trip most of the time. I once read that this was because the character design was completed independently of the rest of the animation which caused the stark contrast, but unfortunately couldn't refind the source to verify. If you give this one a try, make sure you're watching a blu ray, or updated version as it will have better background animation that adds the ambiance of the show. I could not have been much more pleased watching this show, and while the Rebellion movie did have some flaws, it was still a beautiful sight. The character development for such a short 12 episode show is truly amazing. This is one of the more popular selections on my list and has spawned many spin off manga's and figure arts including mixups between Madoka and Shaft's other productions like the Monogatari series.
3 -- Stein's Gate
Stein's Gate is in my opinion is one of the best plots surrounding time travel of all time in any format. Time travel is a tough plot device to carry out effectively without feeling like a cop out, but Stein's Gate manages this spectacularly. The story starts admittedly a little slow and the eccentric main character can be a bit off putting from the get go, but if you stick with this, once it really kicks in (I would say around episode 8 or so with 12 being the tipping point) you won't regret it. Every character with a name is relevant to the story in some way, and the main characters develop exceedingly well. What I found fascinating is that the theories and some of the references it makes to the study of time travel are real life and highly relevant. John Titor really was an individually who claimed to be a time traveller on popular web forums in the late 1990's, scientists have discussed the theoretical possibility of the creation of a mini black hole using the LHC, and the Many World Theory is also a popular topic on time travel. Having known a little about the above prior to watching this, I was instantly hooked. The movie, Deja Vu also doesn't subtract from the main series as I feel many anime movies do, I thought it added to in a way that explained so much. Stein's Gate is a Sentai show so the set is pretty reasonable price wise and has a great English Dub.
2 -- Neon Genesis Evangelion
Eva is arguably the most mainstream show on this list and possibly the most polarizing. It seems like viewers either fall in love with it or absolutely hate it. Either way I think it warrants a watch almost as a right of passage or validity for an anime fan. I would also admit to new viewers to stay away from the fandom at first as it feels like it can be aggressive to those who disagree there isn't a greater meaning to everything. I got the Perfect Collection as a gift when I was arguably too young to really appreciate it, but it stuck with me. Eva is a deeply psychological show questioning the meaning of life and humanity, and giant fighting robots. The characters are extremes with Asuka being a near post girl for the tsundere trope, Rei being a more Kuudere character, and Shinji just being the most obnoxious male lead among obnoxious male leads.
Where Eva shines is the story Hideaki Anno (Shin Godzilla) weaves. The plot and overarching themes are rich with religious, psychological, or cult references from all across the spectrum and it seems no detail was overlooked. There are small Easter eggs or fan theories like the map of Nerve Headquarters mirroring the layout of the human bran, all the way to the numbers on vehicles and parking spaces approaching 666 on either side until a pivotal plot point may happen. The last two episodes are some of the most hotly debated episodes I've ever seen so I would recommend watching and resisting the urge to get angry and immediately move on to The End of Evangelion Movie which is a much more appropriate and climactic ending. The End does step up quite a bit in terms of violence and mature themes in general, so again I wouldn't recommend for a younger audience. What I would recommend is watching The End twice - the first time normally, then again with audio commentary -- it gives an entire different viewpoint on the show
1 -- Your Lie in April (Shigatsu Wa Kimi No Uso)
Surprised after the 2 - 5 this would be #1? Admittedly music anime are a guilty pleasure of mine (Sound!, Love Live), but YLiA is by far my favorite. I played the piano for several years as a child so very much appreciate the classical songs throughout. Overall I think it would be best classified as a romance drama, and I will admit that it's one of 3 anime all time to get me to shed a few tears. Plot wise we have a child piano prodigy who gave up playing for several years after being traumatized by the death of his mother and is brought back into the music scene by an eccentric violinist -- all that is disclosed in the first few episodes so I'm not spoiling much there at all. I think this show excels all around. The classical music selection is captivating. The art style is crisp and beautifully colorful and at times I felt like I was watching a painting. More importantly I actually felt something for the characters. The development of Kousei and Kaori is among the best I've ever seen and builds towards one of the most emotionally powerful episodes in memory.
The show is not without its flaws and some viewers have disliked small periodic scenes of slapstick comedy and another criticism is how dealing with past emotional abuse is almost forced on Kousei. I can see this point and do not discount any viewers opinion who has suffered some type of trauma on this argument, but for those who have experienced something, it has been noted as being somewhat off putting. For me the music, the art, the characters, and a lot of the positive quotes and messages really pulled through easily making it one of my favorites. Unfortunately this is again an Aniplex show so the box sets are pricey ($159.99ea....), however it is currently on the English version of Netflix dubbed quite nicely.
Well that's a wrap for now. This is my first attempt at making a Top X list so feedback is appreciated! I could write more, but felt like I rambled enough as is so trying to keep it somewhat shorter. If anybody has other suggestions or wants a different list made let me know and I'll take a stab at it. Thanks for reading!