In no order:
One piece - I’m a manga reader but I’ll tune into the anime for emotional parts. I’ve been a fan of this for about 23 years now. I always recommend the manga over the anime though.
Chainsaw man - I’m a manga reader, I loved seeing it animated, but I think they sort of messed up releasing only 1/3rd of the first arc for season 1. If they finished the first arc in season 1 I bet it would be in everybody’s top 10. I always recommend that everybody just read it.
Haibane Renmei - this is a real piece of art. This is a cozy slow burn with a real emotional wallop for people in a certain headspace. This one genuinely made me a better person.
Serial experiments lain - hard to explain without spoiling it. Super good, super 90’s. Amazing vibe that I don’t think any others have gotten close to replicating.
Mob Psycho 100 - about a psychic boy and his conman father figure. feel good with a good message and a good boy. The characters are fantastic and the animation can get really crazy good. It has some of the best animation I’ve ever seen. It has a lot of genuine emotion put into it.
Frieren - about an near-immortal elf after the journey has already ended. this one is still airing, but I’m loving it. I like the chill vibe and interesting story. I love how emotionally mature it feels. I’m not a fan of over the top anime emotions and enjoy how down to earth and realistic these characters act.
Restaurant to another world - I like watching fantasy people/creatures eat and enjoy our foods.
Akira - although the movie is about 1/3rd of the story with the ending slapped on, it’s still very fun to look at. I wish they had given this story a trilogy of 3x 3 hour movies instead of cutting out characters and only covering the beginning of a wild story. I always recommend people read the manga.
Made in abyss - the author is a weird pedophile but the story and world are so intriguing. It makes me feel dirty watching it but I need to know what’s at the bottom of that damn hole. I’ve been reading it as well and that just makes me feel even dirtier.
Outlaw Star - A rogue with a gun that shoots magic bullets and his weird crew vs a magical taoist space pirate and his weird crew vs. Cyborg brothers all after the greatest treasure in the universe. Its a weird mashup of themes and genres and somehow it all works.
I’m primarily a manga reader and actually watch very little anime. Making that list was actually pretty difficult and my list for favorite manga would be pretty different.
One Piece : I gotta post some spoilers to talk about it:::: large plot spoilers The main characters dad is literally based off Che Guevara and is always portrayed as the side of good. His ship is named Granma, same as Che’s. He’s the leader of a force named the revolutionary army. His second in command is named Invankov: queen of the kamabakka kingdom which is an island of gender fluid people who can physically change genders any time they want thanks to Invankovs hormone powers. They go around liberating islands from the world government and freeing slaves.
The main character and his crew embodies freedom and I’d say communist ideals but they never really explicitly say so.
There is an arc where they must dispose of a king who was hoarding doctors for himself. It feels like a metaphor for socializing healthcare.
In most of the arcs after the introductory ones, they team up with natives to force out occupiers who are displacing them, or straight up enslaving them.
One of the first long form arcs they fight what’s basically a world government funded NGO who is trying to coup a king in the Middle East by controlling the resources (water).
They fight the CIA of their world.
There are consistent themes of freeing slaves throughout.
The world government is controlled by disconnected incestuous billionaires that all gave themselves the title of “saint”
There is a villain who is liberal coded, who creates a Disneyfied kingdom using fear.
Another is libertarian coded who occupied a land that he turned into a weapons manufacturing island.
There is an alt right coded villain who also turns the occupied kingdom into a weapons manufacturing island. ::: It’s a big commitment due to length.
I love the absurd art style (aside from every woman looking like the same character and some portrayals I found insensitive or offensive) but a ton of people have a hard time getting past how goofy it looks. Characters can look ridiculous and proportions mean nothing. Humans heights seem to vary between 1ft - 30ft tall.
The absurdist and cartoony nature of it can be off-putting to a lot of people but personally I love it and wish more things were like it.
There are a lot of problematic elements throughout that you’d need to look past and just enjoy the overarching message.