Top 13 Most Thought Provoking, Deep, Woke Animes!

Hey everyone! I'm an anime fan myself, and I personally believe that the best animes are the ones that make you question reality, and truly think about stuff! I like thought-provoking shit, okay. I'm a big grown up now (barely lol), but when I was a kid I always wished that I could find the perfect list for the best thought-provoking animes... So, here I go. Makin a list. For the future generations. Wassup.

Top 13 Most Thought Provoking, Deep, Woke Animes!

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#1 Parasyte - aka, literally the best anime ever

I love this anime so much it's not even funny. Parasyte is a psychological thriller that centers around the events of a young man who gets infected by an extraterrestrial parasyte from outer space. The parasyte does not kill him, luckily, but he is then forced to live with it and coexist. This anime plunges deep into what it means to be human. It gives you a perspective on the bigger picture of reality; ecosystems, nature, other species of organisms... Talk about having empathy for other living beings!

Parasyte has a bit of blood and guts, and it does lightly cover some dark topics so... I wouldn't particularly recommend this anime to children, or anybody under the age of 12 years old.




#2 No. 6 - woke apocalyptic yaoi in disguise?

No. 6 is pretty neato. It centers around government corruption, wealth distribution, poverty, protesting, environmental disasters, and much more. The two main characters have this pretty low-key bromance romance thing going on. Honestly, I ship it.

I don't remember anything in this anime being outrageously inappropriate for children either.

After watching this anime I was literally like... Out of it... for like, 3 days. It's wicked sick.






#3 Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

This anime starts off pretty innocently enough. It's cute, it's homey. Whatever. But within the 12 episodes of artfully drawn animation, a reflective story is revealed and it will leave you pondering for the future of mankind. This anime takes place far off into the future, where humans have adventured all throughout the galaxies and created huge robots with powerful Ai. I don't want to spoil it, but the ending will blow you away. You're gonna be thinking about evolution and shit, and how breeding pools break off, and how politics and death and bigotry play into it and blah blah blah human nature blah blah blah.

It's 12 episodes long and it's on netflix. I'd say its safe to watch around kids.




#4 Mushishi - Japanese folktales... calming, surreal, and beautifully sad.

Mushishi is pretty simple in it's purpose: to artfully tell the stories of Japanese folktales. Every episode is based on an entirely new folktale, but the consistent theme is about... Mushishi.. Mushishi are basically spiritual parasite type of things. They aren't necessarily good or evil. They just kind of, are.

I like to watch this anime whenever I'm sad or anxious and need to relax. This anime isn't innappropriate to watch around kids, but if I were you I'd be careful on how much I'd watch around em because the anime can get kinda depressing from time to time. Don't wanna make any kiddos cry. lol





#5 Puella Magi Madoka Magica

I know, I know, you probably didn't expect this anime to be on the list. But surprisingly this anime is a lot deeper than it may seem like to the average eye.

The plot starts out innocently enough, but the final 3 episodes really like. Fuck shit up. It gets twisted and sick. Like. Bro.

The irony of it all is actually kind of funny though to be honest.


#6 Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan is pretty cool. As the plot progresses it might confuse you and seem less awesome sauce, but so far it's actually pretty neato. So basically this is like, humanity way in the future. And I don't wanna spoil anything, but boom, big titans are destroying cities and killing people. And now there is pretty much only like one main human civilization left surviving. I know this all seems cliche at first but seriously give this anime a go. It'll fuck you up.


#7 Revolutionary Girl Utena

This anime was made by the same people who made Sailor Moon, so that's how you know it's gonna be good. It explores the topics of bisexuality, women with power, gender, and more.

I've read the manga, I've watched the anime, and I've watched the movie. It's all golden content in my opinion. I guess I liked the manga the most though. The movie is super cool and trippy. I suggest getting turnt up and watching it.

This anime is appropriate for kids, I'd say, but the subjects they cover are rather adult in nature. So be careful?



#8 Ghost in the Shell 

Studio Ghibli collaborated and shit and made Ghost in the Shell as both a movie and an anime series. And then the Americans took the project to Hollywood and made it a live action film. Honestly, all the content is pretty amazing. It's fucked up, it's twisted. It's about robots and shits. It even inspired the creation of The Matrix, another amazing movie. Not appropriate for children.

#9 The Future Diary

I watched this anime in the Japanese Version (Mirai Nikki, subbed) an I absolutely adored it. Since then, an English dub was released. Personally I'm not a fan of the corny voice acting though, it seems a lot cooler in the Japanese version. Anyway, this anime is pretty cool. It has a lot of death and murder and at the end a kind of weird psychological thing happens. 

have you ever heard of the term "yandere?" Yeah well, the future diary is what made that term famous. Check out Yuno, yo. She's the real deal, a classic example of a crazy obsessive murderous girlfriend. lol



#10 Spirited Away

I've rewatched this movie more times than I can count. A few years back I lost count at like 7 times, but I've watched the movie at least a handful of times more after that. Spirited Away is truly a staple!

A young girl and her family are moving from town to town and as they curiously explore they get sucked into some sort of weird spirit realm. The girl's parents turn into pigs and she basically has to adventure and save them. A lot of detailed happenings occur along the way.

This movie is appropriate for children.





#11 My Neighbor Totoro


This is another Studio Ghibli Movie. Do I really need to explain? lol My Neighbor Totoro is whimsical, silly, artsy, and sad all at the same time. I recommend people of all ages to watch this film. There's actually a lot of conspiracy going around, where people are thinking that this move is symbolic of a real life murder of two children... Which kind of fucks up the movie a bit and makes it super sad tbh.




#12 Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is another Studio Ghibli film, and this one is actually based on a German fairytale novel. It's about a young girl who's so beautiful that a jealous witch curses her to be eternally old. That young girl has now aged into a young women frighteningly fast. Later in the movie she discovered the world famous.... Howl's Moving Castle. This movie has sad moments, happy moments, adventure, and romance. Appropriate for children.



#13 Princess Mononoke

Yet another Studio Ghibli classic. This movie has a lot to do with environmental issues and things of the sort. It's beautiful and thoughtful and reflective.



Honorable Mentions:
- Death Note (a thriller)
- Deadman Wonderland (brilliant)
- No Game No Life (artsy, colorful, cute)