A few older series I haven’t seen listed yet:

• Ergo Proxy
• Heat Guy J
• Pumpkin Scissors (note: has Unfinished Manga Syndrome, so the story stops without reaching a proper climax. Still fun.)
• Saiyuki (one of the four leads does look like a teen, so skip this one if that bothers you.)

Record of the Lodoss War (a D&D campaign turned into anime, if I recall rightly)

Mixed-age cast—the main characters are adults in the context of their society, but not all are necessarily 20+ years of age. Also be aware that there are two different versions of this, an OAV and a later TV series. There are significant differences in story between the two (the TV series adapts more of the original material, the OAV ends differently). I prefer the OAV, but it’s mostly a matter of taste.

.hack//sign (dot hack sign) is a pretty interesting one. It has several other series in its ‘canon’ if you like it. I’d say it was the adult oriented, well-presented premise of sword art online before sword art online was wet-dreamed up. A friend described it as ‘waving its dick around because they had an actual orchestra for the soundtrack’ in several scenes.

The last time I watched it (admittedly about ten years ago now), I found that it hadn’t aged all that well. The loose ends left because it was a prequel to some of the games in the .hack franchise were very noticeable. (It’s still a better version of the “trapped in a game” trope than SAO, though, because it doesn’t repeatedly reduce the female lead to a damsel in distress). And not all the main characters were adult, although some clearly were. The soundtrack is still excellent if you like Yuki Kajiura’s style, though.

And Yurikuma Arashi and Sarazanmai. Ikuhara always stays in the same vein.

The most similar anime I can think of that’s isn’t his is Princess Tutu.

Poor thing—the one time he shows some level of caution and understanding of what he’s getting into, he’s overridden by someone else having a brain meltdown. 🤣

I probably shouldn’t be posting when I feel too awful to concentrate, either. Apologies.

A skim of the article shows that it was not written from the viewpoint of a parent having to calm a hysterical crying child after having watched the movie. GotF is an emotional gut-punch even for adults. Incredibly powerful film, but that means it has to be treated with care and respect. That doesn’t mean it can’t be shown to children, but anyone who does so needs to be prepared for the consequences.

(As for me, I was in grad school when I saw it. I’m glad I did, but I don’t think I will ever be able to bring myself to watch it again.)

Have fun with your game of whack-a-mole, guys. Eventually, you’ll realize that the money you’re pumping into it is just wasted.

I’ve watched 200-odd episodes (plus several movies) of Detective Conan, AKA Case Closed, over the years, because sometimes I just need a mildly entertaining timewaster. So I’ve seen maybe 20% of that series as it presently stands.

Other than that, some long-running shounen nonsense (Hero Academia, Black Clover, Bleach, Fairy Tail, possibly others I’m forgetting), all of which would have been better if they were shorter. I’ve also seen most of Sailor Moon at one time or another, and it would have been better if it had ended sooner than it did.

The Slayers (104 eps) and Kyo Kara Maoh! (117? eps) were the longest I can think of that were worth watching a second time. Saiyuki (if you count all the variously-titled bits as a single series it must have passed 100 by now) might also qualify if it ever achieves a decent ending.

(I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting—I’ve seen a lot of anime.)

The anime is a good twenty years old at this point. In isolation, if you’re not familiar with the source material, it’s an okay-but-forgettable action series.