Most of my exposure with anime was whatever was on Toonami and Adult Swim in the 2000s. I've not watched stuff like, Ghost In The Shell, Cowboy Bebop (only disjointed episodes out of order), Neon Genesis Evangelion, which I know are highly regarded.
I've seen just about every Miyazaki movie at this point. I've seen Akeria.
I'm sure there's more mainstream shows and non mainstream shows that I'm missing and would enjoy.
Thoughts?
1917 - Nakamura Gatana. The very first anime: an entertaining short about an incompetent samurai.
1970 - Ashita no Joe. Excellent boxing drama with class conscious elements (despite being written by a conservative). Has a sequel from 1980.
1971 - Lupin III. Wacky hijinks of a thief and his crew, spawning a franchise lasting to this day and extremely popular in countries like Italy. The first eight episodes are significantly darker in tone, until Miyazaki (yes, that one) took over as director due to poor ratings. The 1977 version is the one most people remember, but part 1 is excellent too.
1973 - [NSFW] Belladonna of Sadness. Feminist arthouse movie about witchcraft, sexuality and revolution.
1978 - Future Boy Conan. Miyazaki's last full length TV anime, featuring many of his usual themes.
1979 - Mobile Suit Gundam. "Real" Mecha political drama that spawned not only a very popular series, but a whole genre. Has sequels in 1985, 1986 and a movie in 1988.
1979 - Rose of Versailles. Shojo drama about the period leading up to the French revolution, and an excellent portrayal of the societal changes that led there.
1981 - Chie the Brat. Very underrated and fun movie by a future co-founder of Studio Ghibli, featuring only local Kansai area voice actors.
1981 - Fang of the Sun Dougram. One of the peaks of real Mecha storytelling: the story of a guerrilla civil war, with a corresponding focus on politics.
1983 - Armored Trooper VOTOMS. Same director as above. Less of a political story and more of an atmospheric sci-fi mystery with a killing machine MC.
1983 - Cat's Eye. Knockoff Lupin III, but with art thieves. Surprisingly good and not too horny compared to the author's next work.
1984 - Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. One of Mamoru Oshii's best movies. It doesn't require knowledge of the setting.
1985 - Dirty Pair. Fun sci-fi/action comedy with surprisingly good writing and lots of western media influences.
1986 - Dragon Ball. Once you get past the most problematic part of the show, it's actually a fun show justifying the spawning of a shounen behemoth.
1986 - Maison Ikkoku. Slow burn romance story/slice of life show with some pretty bad filler, but the payoff is worth it.
1987 - Bubblegum Crisis. 7/10 sci-fi show with a 10/10 soundtrack.
1987 - [CW] City Hunter. The most 80s show around, an action/comedy with gorgeous art. The main character is unfortunately a huge creep.
1988 - Mobile Police Patlabor. A cop Mecha show made by a bunch of leftists? Why yes. The 1989 TV Version, it's 1991 OVA sequel and the first two movies are also excellent.
1988 - Armor Hunter Mellowlink. Revenge story in the VOTOMS universe.
1989 - Mobile Suit Gundam: War in the Pocket. Gundam at its most anti-war.
1992 - Sailor Moon. It's fun.
1993 - Irresponsible Captain Tylor. Half parody, half serious space opera, with some pro-anarchist themes and a kickass soundtrack.
1993 - Slam Dunk. Hilarious basketball Shounen worth watching even if you don't like the sport.
1994 - Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Gundam at it's most awesome/bombastic.
1995 - Tenchi Universe. Early harem show, but with a lot of heart missing from the rest of the genre. Less horny than the OVA.
1995 - Slayers. Konosuba, but better and not Isekai. Lina Inverse my beloved.
1995 - Neon Genesis Evangelion. Of course.
There's more , but I'll leave it at that for now.
1997 - Revolutionary Girl Utena. Arthouse feminist show by one of the directors of Sailor Moon. Also has a movie.
1998 - Cowboy Bebop. Atmospheric classic inspired by western cinema and beloved in the west to this day.
1998 - Initial D First Stage. Exciting racing show with an incredible soundtrack. Season 1 might have the worst CGI, but that's also where the show peaks, as the following seasons have a worsening pacing and side characters get pushed out of the frame completely by the dreadful Season 5.
1998 - Serial Experiments Lain. You've probably heard of this one.
1999 - Turn A Gundam. Yoshiyuki Tomino's late career classic.
1999 - [CW] Great Teacher Onizuka. This is a show of contrasts. Where it's good, it's really good. Where it's bad, it's really bad and uncomfortable. It is however absolutely a show that was considered a classic for many years. One of the characters is treated in a very ableistic way unfortunately.
1999 - The Big O. Again inspired by western media, it was a huge flop in Japan - but as a mecha show it does what it does really well.
2002 - Azumanga Daioh. The first slice of life/random nonsense go show, and at the same time the best at it - rivaled only by the more absurdist approach of Nichijou.
2006 - Welcome to the NHK. A show about social isolation, being preyed upon by capitalism and mental health issues. Has some flaws, but is absolutely worth watching.
2007 - Kaiji, Ultimate Survivor. A gambling drama that is highly likely hook you really hard, sprinkled with anti-capitalism on top and Nobuyuki Fukumoto's unique signature artstyle.
2009 - K-On! The platonic ideal of the pure slice of life show. IMO it only gets good in season 2.
2011 - Nichijou. As mentioned before, a more surreal Azumanga Daioh, with quality animation by the workers of the renowned Kyoto Animation.
2012 - Jojo's Bizzarre Adventures. Similarly to Breaking Bad, it lives up to the hype.
you gotta add the title for dougram! i know what it is without the title, but other people might not. otherwise i basically agree with all your picks, if you're going for a good understanding of anime history most of these are essential
i will say i'd pick urusei yatsura over maison ikkoku as rumiko takahashi goes, especially if beautiful dreamer is already on there, and i'd put ranma 1/2 over them both (though i'm biased there for gender reasons)
Yeah, I forgot lol. I was typing on the phone, but for some reason it lagged a lot. So I typed it elsewhere and copy-pasted it back.
As for Maison Ikkoku, it's because I have actually seen it to completion - unlike the other two you mentioned.
ahh, fair enough lmao. i think urusei yatsura and ranma are both much better madcap comedies but maison ikkoku has a more grounded dramatic core, and ranma gets the edge over uy because of the gender