I'm reviving this thread to add a few more suggestions, and to prevent other members from posting repetitive suggestion threads (fat chance I know, but one can always hope).
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Planetes (sociological)
It's a rubbish anime about rubbish collectors. Except that it's set in space. It's the year 2075, roughly one century after the first Apollo missions to the Moon. Man has successfully colonised the Moon, drawing much needed energy resources from it even as oil has run out on Earth. There have already been several manned missions to Mars, and at the time the anime begins, the first seven-year manned mission to Jupiter was about to begin.
The anime takes a highly realistic approach to space travel, going to great pains to portray the details and problems of adapting to a cold, hostile environment. In space, no one can hear your engines roar — that is the case in
Planetes as well. More importantly, the anime also explores the social divide between the haves and haves-nots. Humans are reaching out into new frontiers, while leaving old problems behind on Earth. Viewers are invited to think about the possible consequences of space travel, while reflecting on the problems of capitalism we see around us today.
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Hataraki Man (sociological)
If you've ever wondered about whether you live to work or work to live, then this is the anime for you. The anime is about a highly ambitious reporter/editor who works in a large Japanese tabloid magazine. It explores her obsessive pride over her job, and contrasts it against her co-workers and her boyfriend. To her, it's about maintaining high standards of professionalism. To most viewers, particularly if you're from outside East Asia, it's about sacrificing too much of your life to work. Western viewers are probably not going to agree with some of the perspectives offered in
Hataraki Man, but it'll at least provide insight on how the Japanese approach work. And as a fellow member of the media industry, I'm especially fond of this particular anime.
