Anime captures genuine essence and emotions of each moment of a given storyline much better than most western animation I have seen to date. Many have remarkable levels of realism. For instance, Ghost in the Shell the movie had its soundtrack finalized after hours of real world study. For instance, the sounds of bullets hitting metallic and concrete surfaces are different and it actually sounds really close to what things REALLY sound like IRL. And they tend to have superior and usually more realistic depictions of the realities of life, showing violence, drug use, psychology, sexual matters, etc, in a much more explicit and frank manner. The good and the bad together like IRL, warts and all. And anyone could win and more often or not there is no black and white separation of good guys and bad guys, since no one is perfect.
Well, at least that's how it is with the ones I've watched so far.
My current favorites are MACROSS (original, Plus and Zero) and Ghost in the Shell. Ghost in the shell is particularly suited for deep thinkers of social, political, economic, ethical and spirituals issues i.e. serious philosophical manners. Macross for the amazing mechanical concepts and its depiction both the triumphs and tragedies of war. And it is no surprise that if war is all one has ever been taught, trained and exposed to, that's all one will ever know. The culture of a people is extremely important both themselves and those around them. A culture of war and hatred will only lead to a culture of pointless death and destruction. The only solution to this is to replace it with a culture of love and most of all hope.
BTW, the Variable fighters would absolutely revolutionize warfare and most importantly defense if they were possibility to build and use successfully. Such great versatility, air superiority fighter, precision bomber, interceptor, mobile active missile defense platform, infantry support and direct ground assault, etc, all in one extremely sophisticated and versatile albeit complicated vehicle. Yes, such a thing would not be easy to create even if currently possible, but this is in essence no different to nuclear fusion, which is also very difficult but certainly within the realms of physical possibility to do well. Anything worth creating has its price.
There are others I enjoy as well but can't think of ATM.
