Great stories please

[Sinanju]

I'm looking for anime's with stories that will make me just sit, concentrate, watch and enjoy it. Something that you really can't take your eyes of, and isn't layed back, as in comedy for example.

Something like Monster or Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. Can be drama, can be horror, can be mystery, can be action, can be emo enough to make me cry. Kinda everything except futuristic things or any kind of mecha. Just something that really pulls you into the story, in a rather fascinating way.

Help is greatly appreciated as it's kind of a hard request xD

[jedinat]

KgNE was so much sh*t, and Monster was just...really boring. I happen to like great stories too. See the dilemma in such a request? lol. But I guess you've narrowed it down to "nothing episodic or without plot."

Anyways, I thought Juuni Kokuki had a great story.

[cerrian]

Some of the plot heavy stuff that I'm aware of are:
Ayashi no Ceres
Escaflowne
Last Exile
Scrapped Princess
Serial Experiments Lain
Strawberry Panic
Witch Hunter Robin
Wolf's Rain

Great plots but probably too futuristic for you:
RahXephon
Terra e... (Towards the Terra)
Seikai no Monshou (Crest of the Stars)
Seikai no Senki (Banner of the Stars)
Gankutsuou

My favorites for the most satisfying plots are Last Exile, Scrapped Princess, Strawberry Panic, and Towards the Terra.

[Deus ex Digital Boy]

Earth Maiden Arjuna

[Practical joke]

I totally second Last Exile, really really great show. also second Wolf's rain it gets you dragged into it pretty fast and it also makes you watch it till the end.
Also Death Note is a must-see. You might also like Tengen Toppa Gurenn Lagann might've misspelled it there. It's epic in every meaning of the word ( mecha).but definately worth watching
I really missed the Full Metal Alchemist name, also one of the anime's you should even see when you don't like the setting.
Code Geass, also partially mecha, but it's totally worth it to watch. I, for one, cannot stand mecha myself, but this one really got my attention after the first episode.
It's a guess, but have a look at what ef: a tale of memories has to offer you, you might quite like it.
and to finish with a longer show, but that did made me watch it in 2 days completely, was hunter x hunter. ( I advice strongly against doing that, cuz it's a very long show, but I tend to do that with most of the anime I've seen )

[Practical joke]

Originally Posted by jedinat

KgNE was so much sh*t, and Monster was just...really boring. I happen to like great stories too. See the dilemma in such a request? lol. But I guess you've narrowed it down to "nothing episodic or without plot."

Anyways, I thought Juuni Kokuki had a great story.

at 4 am, I might miss things.

Monster was indeed, a very slow-going show, but for me, after the show got further, ( about ep 45-50) it really was getting into an amazing plot and unexpected bendings. (grimmer's first appearance).

[Arkuatic]

Mushishi-very interesting stories/events
Shinigami no Ballad-stories about a shinigami aiding the passing of souls

I personally loved them both, great stuff

[Amray]

I would highly recommend "Death Note" and "Fullmetal Alchemist".
Great stories and very interesting. I'm going to say "Kiddy Grade" too.

[Smithsky]

I'll suggest Seirei no Moribito - great story, great characters, great fights and animation ;p

[Matrim]

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni - its plot is so sophisticated, one has to actually rely on info from the game on which the anime is based to make full sense of it. This is also a drawback, of course, but thanks to some dedicated posters, the AS Higurashi forum has the info that I anm referring to. So if you liked the mystery aspect of Monster, this can be a great choice.

Death Note - personally I think this series is vastly overrated but it can be addicting indeed, especially if one is not as cynical as me and is not purposefully looking for plotholes all the time.

[marioc380]

i'd have to say

Nijuu-Mensou no Musume
Kurenai
Shigofumi
Shingetsutan Tsukihime
Mnemosyne

[MuraKami]

Haibane Renmei, Baccano!, Bokurano, Requiem for the Darkness, Mononoke (the TV series), Read or Die (the OVA), Gungrave, Kaze no Yojimbo.
Series like Boogiepop Phantom, Paranoia Agent, and Noein (which I prefer much more to RahXephon) though great anime, I needed to watch more than once in order to better grasp the story line and messages. Anyway, they also glued me to the screen.

[cerrian]

Kaze no Yojimbo...now that's a great mystery story. Even if some of the supporting characters weren't all that memorable, the whole execution of the mystery and plot was excellently done.

[kk2extreme]

if u like KGNE, try true tears, very beautiful and has a solid plot.
jigoku shoujo, it is very episodic but the stories of each episoles are great.

[Anpatsuki]

Blood+ (super good!)