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Originally Posted by jesh462
Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien was almost the opposite for me. The first episode seemed so stereotypical for this genre that I almost dropped it. Wow, did that opinion change! I actually disliked this show at first because it struck a sensitive chord with me personally. I'm not really going to elaborate there.
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It occurs to me that no one recommended
Haibane Renmei. The series hit me in the gut like no other story has, be it animated or live action. The reasons were deeply personal, and it meant a lot to me to learn that
I was not the only one to have been similarly moved.
I've pulled a few quotes from various sites to give you a rough idea of what to expect:
I'll add another three titles from a while back that are still worth watching for their thought-provoking, and often moving, content:
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Shuichi Nitori is a young, feminine boy in the fifth grade who transfers into a new school where he quickly becomes friends with a tall, boyish girl in his class named Yoshino Takatsuki. Yoshino soon learns of Shuichi's desire to be a girl and tells him that she wants to be a boy. Shuichi also becomes friends with two other girls in his class: Saori Chiba and Kanako Sasa. Saori instantly takes a liking to Shuichi and continuously encourages him to wear feminine clothes.
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Gender-bender anime are dime a dozen, but are usually played for laughs or, sometimes, as dark satire.
Wandering Son is the only one I've watched that deals with transsexual and transgender issues sensitively. My only criticism is that it can perhaps be a bit
too sensitive, to the point of being unrealistic; it can sometimes seem as though the show is too shy to face the very problems it brings up. The 11-episode series was broadcast in spring last year on the noitaminA channel.
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The story of Planetes follows the crew of the DS-12 Toy Box of the Space Debris Section, a unit of Technora Corporation. Debris Section's purpose is to prevent the damage or destruction of satellites, space stations and spacecraft from collision with debris orbiting the Earth and Moon. They use a number of methods to dispose of the debris, but the task is primarily accomplished through the use of EVA suits.
Though the story revolves around debris collection, the plot is actually a device for developing the characters and exploring a number of deep-seated social issues. The members of the Debris Section are looked down upon as the lowliest employees and they must work hard to prove their worth to others and accomplish their dreams.
Ongoing plot elements also include an upcoming exploratory mission to Jupiter on the new fusion-powered ship, the Von Braun, and the lead character's decision to join the mission, no matter the cost. Meanwhile, a terrorist organisation called the Space Defence Front tries to sabotage the mission in the belief mankind is exploiting space without first curing global problems such as famine and mass poverty.
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The anime, and the manga it was adapted from, dealt with
Kessler syndrome way before it even made headlines in mainstream media. For that reason alone, I feel the show is well worth watching.
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In 20xx, a civil war broke out in a small country in Asia in spite of the dispatch of United Nation forces. But a picture taken by accident in the battlefield accelerates the peace process. It is a picture of a flag which became the symbol of peace. However, just before the peace agreement is achieved, the flag is robbed by an extremist group bent on obstructing the truce. The UN dispatches a Special Development Command unit to retrieve the flag. An embedded journalist to assigned to record their activities. She is Shirasu Saeko — the very same woman who took the picture of the iconic flag.
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The OP of Flag is itself a moving tribute to combat journalism.