Most psychological or Sociological Series

[Knucklejoe5000]

Many in depth story lines with deep character developement tend to get into human psychology. What series do you think is the most realistic, deap, or advanced?

[TronDD]

Gunslinger Girl - A fantastic illistration and commentary on ethics and emotion.
Narutaru - A horrifying look at the darkness and cruelty of human nature.

[Griffith]

I'll second the vote for Narutaru. Neon Genesis Evangelion is another good candidate in my opinion.

[xFordainedxx]

evangelion has to be the most without a doubt series has at least 100 references hidden in the show to religous beliefs and psychology beliefs(shinji is just one psychological point that makes this show take the cake)

narutaru i think would be second best an example why is the ep called "a fish's life, a human's life"i really liked it when that guy said "yeah its fun to play with lives"

[Spooky-Electric]

Is Naruto scary??

[TronDD]

Originally Posted by Spooky-Electric

I hate Narataru. Most disturbing anime I've ever seen. "Yay, let's watch little kids do horrible things to each other."

It's not exactly supposed to be a joyous occasion.

[Slade xTekno]

ROD the TV. Very deep. Psychological warfare used often. Char development is also good.

[jennwenn]

Well for a sociological more than psychological series, Rumic World TV is a great comedic and bittersweet look at everyday Japanese life, like the politics of housewives in an apartment building, or dealing with the loss of a job or death of a wife. Realistic, with strains of fantasy.

Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari (100 Stories) is an interesting look into the psychology of people so criminal, they seem like demons. (And there's some twisted stuff!)

Then of course there are the classics: Serial Experiments Lain and Evangelion.

We should keep in mind that surreal doesn't necessarily mean psychological, though they often go together in anime.

[ketchupsoup]

Pretty much all animes have psychology elements in them. A few that stand out would be Berserk, Rahxephon, and Kino's Adventures. Of course NGE and Lain would be the two most well known. Anyways, this is personally my favorite genre of anime, or at least one of them. So any others series suggestions would be great!

[sparrow]

not anime, but I like Kanon Iguchi's works (manga) for social psychological stories. Most of the time it's about social pressure among teenagers by their peers.

[Kensuke]

Haibane Renmei is good choice if you don't want über-angst or dark themed anime like NGE or Lain (I love those thought).

[dkellis]

Originally Posted by Slade xTekno

ROD the TV. Very deep. Psychological warfare used often. Char development is also good.

I found Spiral to have more instances of psychological tricks and tactics. However, for overall quality, ROD TV wins out. Depressingly easily.

Has anyone mentioned Perfect Blue yet?

[Jinto]

NaruTaru? No, too simple... the only charcter developement in this anime is settled around cruel force in every form (mentaly and physicaly)

NGE has a very impressive character developement. It tells very much about the problems of the (our?) society.

NATHATH is a very good "how'ld you behave if..." series. It does not show characters in their typical black and white schema. Its like different characters of different shades of grey. And it is a nice example for victims that become perpetrators.

edit: add SEL (well I almost forgot abou this)

[Anthias]

Edit - reread the thread. I missinterpreted it.

I would still say GSG (gunslinger girl) is the most psychological in theme etc. Very disturbing at times. And Perfect Blue if we are talking movies.

[Kain]

Well Narutaru and serial experiments Lain are quite psychological.

But, the one that has had the greatest psychological effect
on me is Neon Genesis Evangelion. Shinji keept whining so much
that I just wanted to reach into the screen and strangle him

[Wolfsbane68]

Now that it's almost done, I'd say Peacemaker Kurogane since it turned out to be acoming of age story.

[momojigari]

I'm quite glad that somebody brought up the Gunslinger Girl series. I recently finished watching the anime and I was quite surprised on the whole storyline.

I was really hoping that it was gonna be some gun-totting girls killin stuff ala NOIR..but instead we get a very good storyline pertaining to many important socio/pscyho issues today. Just to make u interested....it made me think about issues of ownership, relationships, being the same person as you were yesterday (personal identity )..etc...

But of course..we can't take the crown away from NGE. This series is will mess you up!! hell..i still didn't truly understand what happened in the end untill i had to do a lil' bit of research..quite a masterpiece.

[uzumaki]

Originally Posted by Kain

Well Narutaru and serial experiments Lain are quite psychological.

But, the one that has had the greatest psychological effect
on me is Neon Genesis Evangelion. Shinji keept whining so much
that I just wanted to reach into the screen and strangle him

waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa HAHAHHAHAHHAHA
okok
well i dunno. When it comes to these psychological things i prefer classic movies like hitchcock's psycho, etc. And books (books especially have tons and tons of this "psychological" stuff).
I guess the above mentioned are good matches for what you are looking for.
hmm I recommend you read "Of mice and men". Such a good book.

[SurfD]

ohhh kay. now I am seriously interested in watching Narutaru. I had avoided it because people kept comparing it to pokemon, and I wasnt in the mood for that kind of kids faire. Sounds like it is much different then I had been led to believe.

[Griffith]

The first episode of Narutaru may lead you to believe that it's a Pokemon-esque shoujo series, but it's much different. By the third episode you'll know.