Curated playlist
Existentialist anime and manga
- Ghost in the ShellGhost in the Shell is a Japanese cyberpunk franchise that began as a manga by Masamune Shirow. Its 1995 animated film made a lasting impression on the creators of The Matrix. The Wachowskis showed it to producer Joel Silver and told him,…
- Cowboy BebopCowboy Bebop lost its toy company sponsor after early footage showed it would never sell spaceship toys.
- Neon Genesis EvangelionDirector Hideaki Anno called Neon Genesis Evangelion a metaphor for his own four-year depression.
- The Wind RisesIn The Wind Rises, a boy with weak eyes builds planes instead of flying them. It follows engineer Jiro Horikoshi.
- Berserk (manga)Kentaro Miura's manga Berserk kept going after he died in 2021. His friend Kouji Mori now supervises the story.
- Puella Magi Madoka MagicaPuella Magi Madoka Magica hid its dark story behind cute, pastel marketing on purpose.
- Devilman CrybabyDevilman Crybaby, in the words of Newsweek's Emily Gaudette, was "the bloodiest, most profane animated series of the year." Masaaki Yuasa directed the Netflix series, which arrived on the 5th of January 2018. Within days it had become one…
- Serial Experiments LainThe anime Serial Experiments Lain begins with a dead girl's email.
- Space Runaway IdeonSpace Runaway Ideon came straight out of director Yoshiyuki Tomino's studio after Mobile Suit Gundam, the signature work he had just finished. Sunrise produced it, and Tomino both created and directed it. The story sends ordinary human…
- Revolutionary Girl UtenaRevolutionary Girl Utena begins with a teenage girl in a boys' school uniform who raises a sword to win another girl's hand. Her name is Utena Tenjou, and the prize is Anthy Himemiya, a mysterious student known as the Rose Bride. Anthy is…