Intellectually stimulating
- Psychological.
- Mystery.
- Action.
And the types of
These are the shows (and more) that fit into the intellectually stimulating
Let’s talk about it!
Intellectual anime to stir the imagination:
1. Wonder Egg Priority
Wonder Egg Priority might not have the best ending or last few episodes, but even still. The
It’s about 4 teenagers. The main and first one is Ai Ohto. The yellow wearing
She’s depressed because a friend she recently made committed suicide, which is clear from the first episode.
Later the
The
It has strong psychological elements that make you think as well.
2. Kino’s Travels: The Beautiful World
Kino’s Travels is an old school series by today’s standards. It dropped in the early 2000’s and is an underrated but short series.
It’s about Kino who travels the world, living in each place for a max of 3 days. She has a talking motorbike, which is weird at first, but the conversations they have is what makes the
More than that it’s the conversations Kino has with the diverse amount of people in different towns, cities, villages and countries.
Each person has a story because of how different each person’s environment is, upbringing, the laws and so on.
Kino’s Travels is a philosophical
3. Higurashi: When They Cry
Higurashi When They Cry is the kind of
That’s basically what Higurashi is in a nutshell.
One of the main characters moves to Hinamizawa, a cursed village as he finds out. And weird things start to happen.
People going missing forever, bodies showing up in lakes, random murders and more mysteries.
Each story is set in mini arcs that last 4 or so episodes, making this horror
4. Eureka Seven
Eureka Seven is a Mecha/Mystery
Renton Thurston is sick of the town he’s living in, and wants to experience something new. He gets his wish when a random girl shows up in a ship, and they leave together.
This random event is explained later.
There’s concepts ad parts of the story that give yo a lot to think about and uncover. Especially when talking about the main character called Eureka.
You just can’t find
5. Ascendance Of A Bookworm
Ascendance Of A Bookworm is an
It’s a female lead series with a girl called Myne. After dying from overwork in Japan, she’s reincarnated as a child with mysterious powers and abilities.
Her passion is reading books, hence “bookworm”. But being poor in this world and knowing that nobles have exclusive access to books, she invents things to make money to work towards her dream.
This leads to elements of entrepreneurship, business, sales, product management, and things along those lines.
Spice And Wolf fans will appreciate this series, and anyone who wants a quality
6. A Certain Scientific Railgun
The Railgun franchise as well as the Index franchise it comes from, are all clever in the way they build the world’s around them. And how the characters fit into it.
It’s a world full of espers that number in the millions in a place called Academy city. Espers are put on a pedestal in this place.
Out of millions, only 7 are ranked level 5. Mikoto Misaka is one of them and she’s a celebrity unlike a few others.
With the ongoing mysteries, battles, action, and how each plot builds up, it would be wrong to not include this
7. Monster
Monster is an
Kenzo Tenma has a choice to make:
- Come to terms with the fact he saved a future serial killers life, and move on.
- Or confront this serial killer in order to get rid of his heavy guilt.
He takes the 2nd option and pursues Johan Liebert, the boy who’s life he saved after removing a bullet from his head in surgery. Only for him to be a known serial killer years later.
Solid writing, but a slow build up so you have to bare with it.
8. Vivy Fluorite Eye’s Song
Vivy Fluorite Eye’s Song… One of 2021’s most underrated
It’s about Vivy who’s artificial intelligence. Her mission is to make people happy through her singing, and to improve at singing for this purpose.
The
You can think of Vivy as a female terminator. But better.
The visuals are absolutely stunning, not even Violet Evergarden could win in a battle of aesthetics. Ansd that’s saying something.
9. Cells At Work
Cells At Work is intellectually stimulating in ways most
This
White blood cells, Red Blood cells, Platelets, and other cells get character roles and everything from how your cells work to how they keep you alive is innovative.
You get to learn in a way that’s simple, but stimulating enough to keep your curiosity going.
10. Mieruko Chan
Mieruko Chan is another
It’s horror and comedy done right, with enough suspense and fear driven moments to make you feel Miko’s emotions and anxiety.
Miko’s friend Hana can’t see spirits like Miko can, but her positive energy helps. And Yulia Chan, Miko and Hana’s eventual friend can see them, but she’s fearless.
Almost every episode improves on the last in one way or another.
11. Shadows House
Shadows House is a 2021 underrated
The
Kate, a noble that Emilico the doll serves, is a lower class noble and is treated that way. They work their way up the ranks and things start to get out of control.
You can think of this
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12. Psycho Pass
Psycho Pass a 2010’s classic from Production I.G. It’s one of the only police
This
Akane Tsunemori tries to change this internally as a new recruit, but struggles. And this effort leads to a solid story (in part) later down the line.
13. Death Note
death note falls out the sky, a bored teenager picks it up coindientally, and shit hits the fan.
Society is never the same. He develops a god complex and starts dishing out “justice” as he see’s fit by writing down the names of those he doesn’t like, and having a demon kill them.
People have a lot to say about this
It lives up to the hype in so many ways.
14. Happy Sugar Life
Happy Sugar Life is a horror series that I feel is slightly underrated and deserves more attention. It’s messed up but the writer does a good job of organizing these messed up ideas.
Satou Matsuzaka falls in love with a child no older than 7 years old. Shio Kobe the child is called.
She’s abadoned by her mother, and Satou runs into her and adopts her into her own home. And that’s where this twisted relationship of love begins.
Masochists, normal teenagers turned into creeps through painful experiences, a strange but curious auntie, and a Yandere style MC with pink hair.
Happy Sugar Life breaks down these elements and more with the right amount of suspense, horror, and fear factor that makes the writing style special. And the use of art is unique as well.
15. Hyouka
Hyouka is a school
It’s basically one guy who’s got free time and is bored who decides to use his time to solve “mysteries”. Either real mysteries or one’s they make up.
About 4 characters get together in total, and then pursue that. But it goes from a mundane topic and is turned into something funny and entertaining.
It’s intricate and it makes you think.
16. Code Geass
Code Geass is a masterpiece in my eyes. Ignoring that for a hot sec, this
Lelouch almost dies, but is saved and gains the power of Geass. With it he can command someone to do whatever he wants.
In the first season the results of his actions goes horribly wrong, and will leave you conflicted. This happens a lot throughout the
Lelouch isn’t a cliche hero type, he’s the opposite. A conflicting protagonist who’s fighting for the sake of his sister, but is willing to get down and dirty (no pun intended) to achieve his goal.
The plot can be summed up as a game of Chess but in a military/mecha context.
17. Talentless Nana
Almost every episode of this 2020
Right from the first episode it involves thought to pick apart, dissect, and decipher what’s even happening. The character designs are intentionally misleading (main character more so).
It’s a mysterious
Honorable Mentions:
- Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Death Parade.
- Skip Beat,
- Madoka Magica.
- Eighty Six.
- Assassination Classroom.
- Monogatari.
- No Game No Life.
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