Seeing frequent posts in threads asking for suggestions so I thought I'd make a list. These aren't guaranteed to be leftist in their politics, or even politically driven, but these are anime that always get suggested whenever anyone asks a leftist what anime they should watch. Feel free to add to it.

The following anime I have seen and also recommend:

  • Ghost in the Shell 1995 film
  • Ghost in the Shell Innocence
  • Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex (2002) & 2nd Gig (2004)
  • Jin Roh
  • Patlabor films 1 & 2
  • Angel's Egg
  • Cowboy Bebop (series & film)
  • Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988-1997 OVAs)
  • Serial Experiments Lain
  • Haibane Renmei
  • Texhnolyze
  • Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
  • Berserk (1997)
  • Mushishi (all series & films)
  • Evangelion (all series & films)
  • Death Note
  • Satoshi Kon films (Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika)
  • Paranoia Agent
  • Planetes
  • Kino's Journey (2003)
  • All the famous Studio Ghibli films
  • FLCL (2000)
  • Akira
  • Steins; Gate (2011)
  • Little Witch Academia
  • Kaiba (not Yu-gi-oh)

These are anime that I have seen and personally would not recommend, but they frequently come up as suggestions and are very popular:

  • Madoka Magica
  • Gurren Lagann
  • Psycho Pass (except season 2)
  • Shinsekai Yori
  • Monster
  • Trigun
  • Ergo Proxy
  • Code Geass

The following are anime that I have not seen but are also frequently suggested:

  • Gundam (I haven't seen any so I can't say which series or films are recommended)
  • Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
  • Revolutionary Girl Utena
  • Hunter x Hunter
  • The Rose of Versailles
  • Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
  • Ranma 1/2
  • Sailor Moon
  • Mob Psycho 100

That's about as far as it goes for anime that leftists regularly recommend for others to watch from my experience, but I'm sure I'm forgetting some, especially older anime.

I'm happy to suggest anime that I would recommend that don't fall in this list as well, especially for romance/comedy since they rarely get talked about in leftist groups.

  • Gosplan14 [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Patlabor films 1 & 2

    Watch all that Patlabor has to offer, from Episode 1 of the 1988 OVA to Mini-Pato. It's amazing from start to finish and the only thing I'd recommend skipping is the 2002 movie, which is very bad.

    Kino’s Journey (2003) Afaik, the author is a chud.

    Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure It's very fun, but its politics are actually kinda bad ngl.

    Revolutionary Girl Utena I'm currently watching this one with a bunch of comrades, and it's one of those weird animes. It's very good though.

    The Rose of Versailles It's fantastic, but there's one terrible scene late in the anime that is handled extremely badly and kinda ruins an aspect of the plot.

    Gundam (I haven’t seen any so I can’t say which series or films are recommended) It does live up to its reputation. I haven't watched that much of it, but Zeta Gundam is very good and the 1996 OVA 08th MS Team, set parallel to the 1979 anime (but not requiring knowledge of it), was fantastic.

    Mob Psycho 100 Yup, it's very good. It also has quite an unique artstyle.

    My suggestions:

    The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (1993) A wonderful parody of the space opera genre, on a space ship overseen by a fool (or is he?) and forcefully thrust into an anarchist mode of operation. The anime also ends up as pretty critical of war and has a fantastic soundtrack by Kenji Kawai. The only issue is the occasional sexism, but it plays a minor role.

    Ashita no Joe (1970) A class conscious boxing anime, with good humor, fantastic characters and story and with characters one-upping each other over being the biggest :gigachad:. It's well worth the watch if you can get past the crusty audio due to it being 51 years old now.

    Welcome to the NHK (2006) Social isolation, getting preyed on by capitalism, mental health issues and otakus. Truly a fantastic story, despite having one arc that I didn't like much.

    Hinamatsuri (2019) Seemingly a manga about girls with telekinesis and a mafioso dad. Actually, it manages to provide lots of social commentary.

    Less political anime that I enjoy anyway: Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (literally 1984) - Oshii's first avant garde movie. It's also quite fun and despite being set in a series, doesn't require knowledge of it. Soukou Kihei Votoms (1983) - A fantastic mystery-driven mecha anime with a storytelling rivaling the quality of AoT (a shame that one ended in such a shit way) K-On!! (2009 and 2010) - The Slice of Life anime. Initial D (1998, 1999, 2001, 2004-2006, 2012) - Takumi goes fast. Season 5 is terrible. Slayers (1995, 1996, 1997, 2008, 2009) - Fantastic parody of the fantasy genre. Very funny and with great characters. Maison Ikkoku (1986-1988) - A really fun and cozy 80s romcom

    • Cromalin [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Jojos politics are wack. Obviously there's the nazi shit, but it's way weirder than that.

      spoiler

      In part 7 they assassinate the president, and it seemingly takes a well articulated stance against American imperialism, but it also seems sympathetic to him and has multiple predatory gay characters.

      And then there's Utena, which is my favorite anime of all time, which I will keep saying until the climate apocalypse stops me.

    • ForgotMyLogInAgain [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The Rose of Versailles It’s fantastic, but there’s one terrible scene late in the anime that is handled extremely badly and kinda ruins an aspect of the plot.

      spoiler

      That scene towards the end of the series with Andre and Oscar?