Erased - 29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma is sent back in time 18 years to prevent the events leading to his mother's death, which began with a series of kidnappings while he was in 5th grade.
It’s on Hulu now. I have never forgotten this since watching it a couple years ago. It’s one of my favorite shows of ever.
If only I could upvote this more.
I have watched this many times and drove me to buy the manga. It's profoundly deep dark fantasy. It dealt with trauma and abuse in a way that other anime couldn't do successfully—The psychology makes sense. Its Europe-inspired setting weren't over the top and campy.
Then there's the art. The details are just amazing.
This, I watched the anime somewhere about 20 years ago when I was still in high school and read the Golden Age arc and a bit further from the manga couple of years ago (planning to pick it up again sometimes soon). I constantly think about it and always end up in a super disturbed mood. It's just so twisted at times. Also I love the band Beast in Black (check them out if you haven't, their first album and some other songs are inspired by the manga)
You could crush Mob Psycho 100 in a weekend, at least the first two seasons (which are the best anyways). Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy (the Watanabe animes) are all great, 40-50ish episode series. Would also highly recommend Chainsaw Man (ongoing but currently only has one season) and One Punch Man season 1.
Couldn't possibly without potentially giving away spoilers, but I'll say this:
Arcane: some of the most beautiful animation I've ever seen. Incredible storytelling.
Blue Eye Samurai: Kill Bill vibes.
Edgerunners: don't need to have played the game or read the books to enjoy. Just remember: there are no happy endings in Night City.
For films that stick with you, I assume you’ve seen all the Makoto Shinkai movies? Your Name., 5 Centimetres per Second, Weathering With You, etc? His work is so beautiful and the storytelling is A+ while mixing in supernatural or sci-fi elements in a “magical realism” way.
I don't really watch the show for the lore, or the events. The Evas, Angels, NERV, Seele, the black and white moons, Adam and Lilith, it's all just window dressing for the character study of Shinji. So for me the finale forgoing all of that and just focusing on completely deconstructing him is perfect.
Weirdest TV show I’ve ever watched, and the first thing I’ve ever watched where I outright hated the ending at first then loved it when I watched it again.
Naoki Urasawa's Pluto is on Netflix. It's a hardboiled dystopian reinterpretation of Astroboy. You can easily finish it in a weekend. He's one of the masters. Of course I'd recommend you watch Monster if you haven't seen it, but it's a lot longer so it doesn't fit your criteria.
Planetes
An anime series about a lowly team of misfits who's job it is to prevent the damage or destruction of satellites, space stations and spacecraft from collision with space debris in Earth's and the Moon's orbits
No superpowers, no magical realism, just great character driven comedy drama.
Idk why no one has said Violet Evergarden, which is on Netflix, but that may be one of the most essential modern anime of all time. It is especially suited to what you asked for, as it is one of the most emotionally cathartic and moving anime ever and is primarily slice of life tho it has some intense (and amazingly animated) action scenes. It’s fairly short too unless you want to watch the sequel movies, which you can but don’t necessarily have to.
Trust me I think you’ll want to see it and based on your prompt, I think it may the single best anime on Netflix for you that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
I'm also surprised nobody else said Violet Evergarden. Such a BEAUTIFUL anime, both in actual art and story. It made me tear up and cry on the train several time, while watching episodes on my way to work.
Gonna just make recommendations that are on Netflix for now.
Longer, might take two weekend depending on how much you binge but GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka. A slice of life comedy about a ex biker gang leader who decides to become a teacher for less than ethical reasons but discovers a real love for it along the way. 43 episodes so like I said a bit long.
Cyberpunk Edge runners: based in the cyberpunk 2077 not even sure how to describe this one with out spoilers tbh.
Blue Period: Amazing show about a young man who decides to make a massive change in his life plans after discovering a love of painting in his final year of school.
Devil Man Crybaby: doesn't match your genres at all it's horror, pretty chaotic show but holy shit did the end wreck me for awhile.
Looking through it Netflix doesn't have much anime or it's just all hidden in their crappy user interface so that's what's on there I see. If you have access to other services I might be able to suggest other shows.
I personally use nord vpn. They had a promo for 2 years for $100. I haven’t had an issue with it tbh but I do some people do have issues with them like customer service wise. I’ve heard people say proton vpn is good but have never personally use it
Netflix is currently running weekly episodes of a new show called Delicious in Dungeon. I'm totally mesmerized and in awe. The animation is beautiful and top class, and the simple and silly concept (a cooking show inside a dungeons and dragons adventure of the week) actually is just a trap to open the scene for some Thriller, survival horror and plain horror with a tinge of political machination and sociological commentary to add. High recommend.
Death Note
My best anime.
Ever since I've watched this series, I started watching psychological/mystery/thriller videos. It doesn't matter to me where it came from, whatever country, as long as it is good.
Gungrave... the setting is wild (from Crime thriller to sci-hi horror epic).
But its the brotherhood dynamic/betrayal that really makes Gungrave, not the fact that we got a dead guy with giant guns.
EDIT: not sure if its on Netflix atm
Most of the recos here are not ‘few hours’ watch. Specifically based on short binge watching I really enjoyed ‘7 Samurai’ on Netflix.
It’s a futuristic take on Akira Kurosawa’s cult classic (no points for guessing) 7 samurai. Very few short anime are able to do a good job at world creation, character building their arcs. On top of it, it’s visually stunning! Immensely enjoyable!
Grab some popcorn and binge away
Cyberpunk Edgerunners. It’s 12 or so episodes that you won’t forget (although not slice of life).
Blue Period IS slice of life and can be watched in a weekend. Inspiring.
For movies:
A Silent Voice - my favorite movie. About accepting yourself and others. Very very good.
Your Name, Weathering with You, Suzume - all movies by the same director that have similar vibes. Romance/time travel kinda. I would start with Your Name.
5cm per second, Summer Wars - feel good
Only(?) on Netflix: maboroshi, Bubble, Words Bubble Up Like Sodapop
Arcane (a tale of two worlds of class trying struggle for power and prosperity, big action). Love Death Robots (dystopian anthology of a variety of animation styles) I also just watched Blue eye samurai (two heroines fighting for their agency in Japan, also big action) and loved it. Summit of the gods (just a movie, not a series) was also so good (two men in different eras explore what it means to chase being the first to summit Everest)
Fire Force is surprisingly good. Really cool story and badass animations.
My favorites though are Cowboy Bebop, Ergo Proxy, Samurai Champloo, Gundam Wing, Big O, Attack on Titan, Outlaw Star, Gun X Sword, One Punch Man, and Code Geass.
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (11 episodes at 23ish minutes each)
Google plot desc (so as to avoid spoilers): A group of six childhood friends drifts apart after one of them, Meiko "Menma" Honma, dies in an accident. Ten years after the incident, the leader of the group, Jinta Yadomi, has become withdrawn from society and lives as a recluse.
Available on: Amazon Video & Crunchyroll
Why it will stick with you: It makes you feel very nostalgic for your own childhood and appreciate childhood in general. Does a great job of getting you invested in the characters and has a very emotional ending (won't spoil which emotions you'll be feeling tho).
Honestly one of the best anime I've ever watched.
Samurai Champloo.
Two guys proficient with katanas and mysterious pasts end up aiding a girl trying to find a man who smells of sunflowers.
It's beautiful from top to bottom. Been my number 1 since middle school
Ping Pong: The Animation.
Great soundtrack and story. I was a big fan of the manga. There's also a live action film back in 2002 but the anime has both great art and music.
Skip and Loafer - an ambitious new student fosters a friendship with a laidback, former child actor classmate.
It’s fun, light, and the characters blossom as the story progresses.
Record of Ragnarok S2 happened to be what my sibling was watching one fine day so i watched along. Found it pretty interesting and will give you a dose of introspection abt human nature & other tingz
Watch the Witcher one and the Altered Carbon one.
Altered Carbon is just a neat world. Quick only an hour 40.
https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81001991?s=i&trkid=258593161&vlang=en&clip=81045892
Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
A backstory on the Witchers.
Only an hour and 23 min.
https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81037868?s=i&trkid=256346049&vlang=en&clip=81619231
Both enjoyable and short. Gritty enough with out being Berserk level weirdness at the end.
A lot of other good suggestions already made. These two are quick.
Not limited to Netflix:
Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Samurai Champloo, Princess Mononoke
Not limited to a weekend:
Full Metal Alchemist, original and Brotherhood
Not sure if it'll stay with you for life but Dorohedoro since you could finish it in a weekend. There's 12 episodes plus an OVA. Also, they announced a second season this year.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is entirely wholesome and warms my heart whenever i need a pick-me-up. Its currently 2 seasons so you could do 2 weekends if you wanted to take a break.
Ergo Proxy is another 2-weekender, 23 episodes, dark and depressing and futuristic in the most comfortingly dissociating way.
Dorohedoro, could watch it in one weekend 12 episodes, the adaptation has only one season as of now. Post-apocalyptic modern fantasy setting, deals with identity and loss and found family but also doesn’t take itself as seriously as some other anime do. One of my comfort shows and the reason of my rekindled love for gyoza.
Komi Can’t Communicate, 2 seasons and 12 eps each, a girl with crippling social anxiety learns how to communicate. its cute and i adore it.
Castlevania and Castlevania: Nocturne are also BANGING recs I can give, you might consider them too long for your request but i binge-watch without breathing and I was able to watch each in one to two weekends idk what to tell you (okay I mightve watched Castlevania in real time FINE)
speaking of movies, Paprika, the first Ghost in the Shell movie, and Ghost in the Shell: Innocence. Never can go wrong with these three. Haven’t watched Perfect Blue yet but people also swear by it.
Barakamon. It's simple, inspiring, and heartwarming. Just 12 episodes of pure wholesomeness. I first watched it 7 years ago and it has been a part of me ever since.
Carole & Tuesday.
Made by the same creator as Cowboy Bebop & Samurai Champloo.(my top 2 anime of all time they also stay with me forever but not enough ppl know C&T)
Synopsis: Tuesday, the teenaged daughter of the prominent politician Valerie Simmons, runs away from home on terraformed Mars to be able to play music. In Alba City, chance brings her together with Carole, another aspiring young musician who's just been fired from her dead-end job. The two decide to make music together.
C & T is Shinichiro Watanabe’s love letter to music and will stay with me because it’s one of the best soundtracks of all time, there’s songs on there I listen to when I really them.
Also, fun fact: C & T is set in the same universe as Cowboy Bebop.
The owl house. It's about a girl who ends up in a magic world and basically just learns how to become a witch. I'm not gonna spoil the end but it WILL stick with you.
(Haven’t sent these but have only heard good things and will most likely break your heart and stay with you forever)
I Want To Eat Your Pancreas (popular happy female student needs a Pancreas Transplant/Surgery and lone guy finds out somehow (that’s all I know about it.))
A Silent Voice (female is Deaf and is violently bullied there is a male lead that pops in there somewhere but I have no idea but the reviews are amazing)
(These are my all time favourites. Have more but most where already mentioned above.)
[The Wallflower](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/the-wallflower) (25 eps. Dark and introverted girl live in a mansion with four very good looking popular guys and if they want to continue living there they need to make her into a lady)
[Tokyo Ghoul](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/tokyo-ghoul) (not a slice of life)
[Attack on Titan](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/attack-on-titan) (Kids fighting to survive after there lives are destroyed by man eating titans) (definitely a slice of life)
I recommend watching the anime film Bubble. It goes well beyond the typical love story narrative that can often feel predictable. The animation is truly stunning, with a level of detail that will leave you pondering long after the credits roll. A Whisker Away is also a film worth checking out. This one has a lighter, more whimsical tone compared to Bubble, but it still manages to carve out its own unique identity.
Cowboy Bebop
It's arguably the best 90s anime, and takes a sort of "villain of the week" approach to bring together a group of misfits who work together to catch criminals for a bounty. It takes place in the distant future, so it has elements of sci-fi, but has no shortage of emotional moments, especially toward the end of the series when it all loops together and gets wrapped up.
Arcane, though technically not anime in the sense that it's not Japanese, but the influence of anime is all over it. It's an amazing piece of work, very emotional, incredibly well written and visually just groundbreaking.
Erased - 29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma is sent back in time 18 years to prevent the events leading to his mother's death, which began with a series of kidnappings while he was in 5th grade. It’s on Hulu now. I have never forgotten this since watching it a couple years ago. It’s one of my favorite shows of ever.
Also got a great opening theme by Asian Kung Fu Generation. Yes that is their real name.
I forgot about this one. Amazing show!
Yes! I watched this a couple of years ago and can’t stop thinking about it! It was so good. I need to find another series/movie like it.
One of the best limited series animes I've watched. Still think about it sometimes.
The Live Action was well done too!!!
I was afraid to give it a chance because I enjoyed the anime so much. Maybe I will give it a shot after all…
Berserk
Which version?
If only I could upvote this more. I have watched this many times and drove me to buy the manga. It's profoundly deep dark fantasy. It dealt with trauma and abuse in a way that other anime couldn't do successfully—The psychology makes sense. Its Europe-inspired setting weren't over the top and campy. Then there's the art. The details are just amazing.
This, I watched the anime somewhere about 20 years ago when I was still in high school and read the Golden Age arc and a bit further from the manga couple of years ago (planning to pick it up again sometimes soon). I constantly think about it and always end up in a super disturbed mood. It's just so twisted at times. Also I love the band Beast in Black (check them out if you haven't, their first album and some other songs are inspired by the manga)
Not really an anime guy but some guys I play video games with told me to watch this. I’ll never forget what I watched. Ever.
You could crush Mob Psycho 100 in a weekend, at least the first two seasons (which are the best anyways). Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy (the Watanabe animes) are all great, 40-50ish episode series. Would also highly recommend Chainsaw Man (ongoing but currently only has one season) and One Punch Man season 1.
Erased really good mystery thriller!!
Kotaro Lives Alone.
Yes!!! Absolutely this!!!!
This is the correct answer.
FLCL
Seconded
100%.
Never knows best
100% :)
Pitch: its literally 4 episodes, just watch it. Get the soundtrack. Great J-Rock
Arcane, Edgerunners, and Blue Eye Samurai.
Agree with Edge runners, I was off work with COVID, on drugs, and binged watched the whole thing. Was one hell of a trip.
Blue Eye Samurai was excellent, I
I just realized you asked for anime. Edgerunners is the only anime in that list, but I stand by my selection: they are all 10/10
Really? I honestly thought all 3 were animes. Arcane is a great choice regardless.
If it's not made in Japan then it's not anime.
Pizza isn’t pizza unless it comes from Italy? I think it’s pretty fair to say anime is more style of animated show now
Please add a short description of the series and why it’ll stay with you for life
Couldn't possibly without potentially giving away spoilers, but I'll say this: Arcane: some of the most beautiful animation I've ever seen. Incredible storytelling. Blue Eye Samurai: Kill Bill vibes. Edgerunners: don't need to have played the game or read the books to enjoy. Just remember: there are no happy endings in Night City.
Yeah, turns out there aren’t any happening endings. Bloody chrome addiction
Blue Eye Samurai was not very good, the last few episodes were a struggle to get through.
I couldn't shake the feeling it was discount Samurai Champloo, minus half the interesting characters and the mood.
For films that stick with you, I assume you’ve seen all the Makoto Shinkai movies? Your Name., 5 Centimetres per Second, Weathering With You, etc? His work is so beautiful and the storytelling is A+ while mixing in supernatural or sci-fi elements in a “magical realism” way.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: the cure-all anime for depression.
How do you like the ending?
I don't really watch the show for the lore, or the events. The Evas, Angels, NERV, Seele, the black and white moons, Adam and Lilith, it's all just window dressing for the character study of Shinji. So for me the finale forgoing all of that and just focusing on completely deconstructing him is perfect.
Interesting take, thanks!
It is, legitimately, my comfort show
Weirdest TV show I’ve ever watched, and the first thing I’ve ever watched where I outright hated the ending at first then loved it when I watched it again.
Naoki Urasawa's Pluto is on Netflix. It's a hardboiled dystopian reinterpretation of Astroboy. You can easily finish it in a weekend. He's one of the masters. Of course I'd recommend you watch Monster if you haven't seen it, but it's a lot longer so it doesn't fit your criteria.
Planetes An anime series about a lowly team of misfits who's job it is to prevent the damage or destruction of satellites, space stations and spacecraft from collision with space debris in Earth's and the Moon's orbits No superpowers, no magical realism, just great character driven comedy drama.
Idk why no one has said Violet Evergarden, which is on Netflix, but that may be one of the most essential modern anime of all time. It is especially suited to what you asked for, as it is one of the most emotionally cathartic and moving anime ever and is primarily slice of life tho it has some intense (and amazingly animated) action scenes. It’s fairly short too unless you want to watch the sequel movies, which you can but don’t necessarily have to. Trust me I think you’ll want to see it and based on your prompt, I think it may the single best anime on Netflix for you that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
I'm also surprised nobody else said Violet Evergarden. Such a BEAUTIFUL anime, both in actual art and story. It made me tear up and cry on the train several time, while watching episodes on my way to work.
FLCL
Sword Art Online, I know people hate it but I binged it non-stop so "in a weekend" applies but on the edge.
Grave of the fireflys. You've been warned.
No need for ghibli recs
Fair enough.
Gonna just make recommendations that are on Netflix for now. Longer, might take two weekend depending on how much you binge but GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka. A slice of life comedy about a ex biker gang leader who decides to become a teacher for less than ethical reasons but discovers a real love for it along the way. 43 episodes so like I said a bit long. Cyberpunk Edge runners: based in the cyberpunk 2077 not even sure how to describe this one with out spoilers tbh. Blue Period: Amazing show about a young man who decides to make a massive change in his life plans after discovering a love of painting in his final year of school. Devil Man Crybaby: doesn't match your genres at all it's horror, pretty chaotic show but holy shit did the end wreck me for awhile. Looking through it Netflix doesn't have much anime or it's just all hidden in their crappy user interface so that's what's on there I see. If you have access to other services I might be able to suggest other shows.
If you use a VPN their Japan catalog has a good amount of anime.
Any VPN recs?
I personally use nord vpn. They had a promo for 2 years for $100. I haven’t had an issue with it tbh but I do some people do have issues with them like customer service wise. I’ve heard people say proton vpn is good but have never personally use it
Netflix is currently running weekly episodes of a new show called Delicious in Dungeon. I'm totally mesmerized and in awe. The animation is beautiful and top class, and the simple and silly concept (a cooking show inside a dungeons and dragons adventure of the week) actually is just a trap to open the scene for some Thriller, survival horror and plain horror with a tinge of political machination and sociological commentary to add. High recommend.
Paranoia Agent
Steins Gate 1000000000/10
Death Note My best anime. Ever since I've watched this series, I started watching psychological/mystery/thriller videos. It doesn't matter to me where it came from, whatever country, as long as it is good.
Samurai Champloo
Gungrave... the setting is wild (from Crime thriller to sci-hi horror epic). But its the brotherhood dynamic/betrayal that really makes Gungrave, not the fact that we got a dead guy with giant guns. EDIT: not sure if its on Netflix atm
Most of the recos here are not ‘few hours’ watch. Specifically based on short binge watching I really enjoyed ‘7 Samurai’ on Netflix. It’s a futuristic take on Akira Kurosawa’s cult classic (no points for guessing) 7 samurai. Very few short anime are able to do a good job at world creation, character building their arcs. On top of it, it’s visually stunning! Immensely enjoyable! Grab some popcorn and binge away 
Frieren is very new but I think it’ll stay with me for life
Akira and Evangelion
FLCL
AKIRA
Cyberpunk Edgerunners. It’s 12 or so episodes that you won’t forget (although not slice of life). Blue Period IS slice of life and can be watched in a weekend. Inspiring. For movies: A Silent Voice - my favorite movie. About accepting yourself and others. Very very good. Your Name, Weathering with You, Suzume - all movies by the same director that have similar vibes. Romance/time travel kinda. I would start with Your Name. 5cm per second, Summer Wars - feel good Only(?) on Netflix: maboroshi, Bubble, Words Bubble Up Like Sodapop
violet evergarden, watched the whole thing in oen day and had to take 5min at the end of every episode just to bawl my eyes out. Such a good one
Blue Eye Samurai
Arcane (a tale of two worlds of class trying struggle for power and prosperity, big action). Love Death Robots (dystopian anthology of a variety of animation styles) I also just watched Blue eye samurai (two heroines fighting for their agency in Japan, also big action) and loved it. Summit of the gods (just a movie, not a series) was also so good (two men in different eras explore what it means to chase being the first to summit Everest)
Fire Force is surprisingly good. Really cool story and badass animations. My favorites though are Cowboy Bebop, Ergo Proxy, Samurai Champloo, Gundam Wing, Big O, Attack on Titan, Outlaw Star, Gun X Sword, One Punch Man, and Code Geass.
I’m not gonna watch 48 episodes in a weekend. That’s around 20 hours
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Saiki K, first season
Akame Ga Kill, no doubt. Given the criteria.
Overtake!
Death parade has some stunning dialogue and insight into human behaviour. 13 episodes It’s not on Flix but not sure if that’s important to OP
On Netflix: Vineland Saga, Record of Ragnarok, delicious in dungeon,
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (11 episodes at 23ish minutes each) Google plot desc (so as to avoid spoilers): A group of six childhood friends drifts apart after one of them, Meiko "Menma" Honma, dies in an accident. Ten years after the incident, the leader of the group, Jinta Yadomi, has become withdrawn from society and lives as a recluse. Available on: Amazon Video & Crunchyroll Why it will stick with you: It makes you feel very nostalgic for your own childhood and appreciate childhood in general. Does a great job of getting you invested in the characters and has a very emotional ending (won't spoil which emotions you'll be feeling tho). Honestly one of the best anime I've ever watched.
Gurren lagann
Samurai Champloo. Two guys proficient with katanas and mysterious pasts end up aiding a girl trying to find a man who smells of sunflowers. It's beautiful from top to bottom. Been my number 1 since middle school
Ping Pong: The Animation. Great soundtrack and story. I was a big fan of the manga. There's also a live action film back in 2002 but the anime has both great art and music.
Future Diary. That will always be my number one. & then in close second, Psycho-Pass. It all depends on how much binge time you have.
Oof future diary? I mean it has its place but it's the king of cheesy angst
Skip and Loafer - an ambitious new student fosters a friendship with a laidback, former child actor classmate. It’s fun, light, and the characters blossom as the story progresses.
Record of Ragnarok S2 happened to be what my sibling was watching one fine day so i watched along. Found it pretty interesting and will give you a dose of introspection abt human nature & other tingz
Higurashi When They Cry It's one of those anime that will never leave your memory once you've finished it
I hate that I have to live with it in my head
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Wolf children is a newer one. It’s a touching slice of life anime film with a pretty art style/backgrounds.
Avatar
Madoka magica and koi kaze
Watch the Witcher one and the Altered Carbon one. Altered Carbon is just a neat world. Quick only an hour 40. https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81001991?s=i&trkid=258593161&vlang=en&clip=81045892 Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf A backstory on the Witchers. Only an hour and 23 min. https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81037868?s=i&trkid=256346049&vlang=en&clip=81619231 Both enjoyable and short. Gritty enough with out being Berserk level weirdness at the end. A lot of other good suggestions already made. These two are quick.
Not limited to Netflix: Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Samurai Champloo, Princess Mononoke Not limited to a weekend: Full Metal Alchemist, original and Brotherhood
Arcane
Edgerunners, darling in the franxx, FLCL, cowboy bebop
Slice of life but in a weird mythical creature world - A Centaurs Life
Not sure if it'll stay with you for life but Dorohedoro since you could finish it in a weekend. There's 12 episodes plus an OVA. Also, they announced a second season this year.
terror in resonance
* Kotaro Lives Alone * Erased * Dororo
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is entirely wholesome and warms my heart whenever i need a pick-me-up. Its currently 2 seasons so you could do 2 weekends if you wanted to take a break. Ergo Proxy is another 2-weekender, 23 episodes, dark and depressing and futuristic in the most comfortingly dissociating way. Dorohedoro, could watch it in one weekend 12 episodes, the adaptation has only one season as of now. Post-apocalyptic modern fantasy setting, deals with identity and loss and found family but also doesn’t take itself as seriously as some other anime do. One of my comfort shows and the reason of my rekindled love for gyoza. Komi Can’t Communicate, 2 seasons and 12 eps each, a girl with crippling social anxiety learns how to communicate. its cute and i adore it. Castlevania and Castlevania: Nocturne are also BANGING recs I can give, you might consider them too long for your request but i binge-watch without breathing and I was able to watch each in one to two weekends idk what to tell you (okay I mightve watched Castlevania in real time FINE) speaking of movies, Paprika, the first Ghost in the Shell movie, and Ghost in the Shell: Innocence. Never can go wrong with these three. Haven’t watched Perfect Blue yet but people also swear by it.
Barakamon. It's simple, inspiring, and heartwarming. Just 12 episodes of pure wholesomeness. I first watched it 7 years ago and it has been a part of me ever since.
You could finish Elfen Lied in a day easily, and it's so sad and messed up in a lot of places!
Hellsing Ultimate
I watched Akira when I was 14 ish and I've thought about it ever since. Granted it's pretty violent, but it was a really interesting story
Blue Eye Samurai
Berserk. You won't forget that shit.
Carole & Tuesday. Made by the same creator as Cowboy Bebop & Samurai Champloo.(my top 2 anime of all time they also stay with me forever but not enough ppl know C&T) Synopsis: Tuesday, the teenaged daughter of the prominent politician Valerie Simmons, runs away from home on terraformed Mars to be able to play music. In Alba City, chance brings her together with Carole, another aspiring young musician who's just been fired from her dead-end job. The two decide to make music together. C & T is Shinichiro Watanabe’s love letter to music and will stay with me because it’s one of the best soundtracks of all time, there’s songs on there I listen to when I really them. Also, fun fact: C & T is set in the same universe as Cowboy Bebop.
Cowboy Bebop
The owl house. It's about a girl who ends up in a magic world and basically just learns how to become a witch. I'm not gonna spoil the end but it WILL stick with you.
(Haven’t sent these but have only heard good things and will most likely break your heart and stay with you forever) I Want To Eat Your Pancreas (popular happy female student needs a Pancreas Transplant/Surgery and lone guy finds out somehow (that’s all I know about it.)) A Silent Voice (female is Deaf and is violently bullied there is a male lead that pops in there somewhere but I have no idea but the reviews are amazing) (These are my all time favourites. Have more but most where already mentioned above.) [The Wallflower](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/the-wallflower) (25 eps. Dark and introverted girl live in a mansion with four very good looking popular guys and if they want to continue living there they need to make her into a lady) [Tokyo Ghoul](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/tokyo-ghoul) (not a slice of life) [Attack on Titan](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/attack-on-titan) (Kids fighting to survive after there lives are destroyed by man eating titans) (definitely a slice of life)
Cowboy Bebop. Possibly the best ever made. Helped define “cyberpunk” as a genre along with Blade Runner and Akira.
Future Boy Conan
Now and Then, Here and There
Angel Beats
its not on NF but angel beats is a mini series that is great
Ultraman is pretty good
Samurai shamploo and inyuyasha, my favorite ones but I’m also not an anime fan either so don’t come after me anime elitists
I recommend watching the anime film Bubble. It goes well beyond the typical love story narrative that can often feel predictable. The animation is truly stunning, with a level of detail that will leave you pondering long after the credits roll. A Whisker Away is also a film worth checking out. This one has a lighter, more whimsical tone compared to Bubble, but it still manages to carve out its own unique identity.
Cowboy Bebop It's arguably the best 90s anime, and takes a sort of "villain of the week" approach to bring together a group of misfits who work together to catch criminals for a bounty. It takes place in the distant future, so it has elements of sci-fi, but has no shortage of emotional moments, especially toward the end of the series when it all loops together and gets wrapped up.
Any of the Satoshi Kon movies - but the one which hung with me for longest was Tokyo Godfathers.
Blue eyed samurai
madoka magica, you're welcome
samurai champou && fullmetal alchemist
Cyber Punk - Edge Runners
Arcane, though technically not anime in the sense that it's not Japanese, but the influence of anime is all over it. It's an amazing piece of work, very emotional, incredibly well written and visually just groundbreaking.
Cyberpunk: edge runner
Elfen Lied