A seinen is, technically, a work intended for an adult audience. However, many anime belonging to this category are seen or can be seen by a younger audience. However, this is not the case for all of them, and especially not for these 8 animes in particular, which reveal all their richness when discovered at an adult age.
#1 Berserk
Berserk, whether it's the 1997 adaptation or the 3 films from the 2010s, is one of the works often seen by young people. This is not surprising given the great popularity of Kentaro Miura's manga. However, it's clearly best to experience these adaptations at a later age. It's not so much the violence that's a problem, but rather the underlying themes. These gain depth and impact as you reach a certain maturity. While anime is a good entry point into this universe, it's best to wait a bit to fully appreciate them.
#2 Planets
Makoto Yukimura is best known for Vinland Saga, but before that, he made Planets, a science fiction manga set against the backdrop of space debris and a journey to Jupiter. Unlike other anime of the genre, Planetstakes a very down-to-earth approach. The series approaches life in space using concrete scientific data, making it a slow and reflective work about humanity facing the immensity of the cosmos.
#3 On the Movement of the Earth
On the Movement of the Earth is an anime that has been much talked about in recent months. This may come as a surprise, as it deals with heliocentrism, a rather specific subject that one would have thought would be difficult to adapt into an anime. The result is a magnificent work, as intense as it is instructive. Nevertheless, it is clear that a minimum of knowledge on the subject, as well as on the context of the Inquisition, is necessary to fully appreciate the anime.
#4 Prison School
A work for adults often means a sulphurous work. With Prison School we are right in the middle of it with boys joining an academy previously reserved for girls, some of whom have generous curves. With such a premise, it is clear that the anime is aimed at a mature audience. That said, Prison School surprises with its offbeat and unashamed humor, going far beyond the reductive image one might have of it at first glance.
#5 Welcome to the NHK
Loneliness can lead to dark thoughts, and that's what happens to Tatsuhiro Sato, a hikkikomori, that is, a person isolated at home. Welcome to the NHK is an anime that can seriously dampen the spirits of many viewers as its outlook on life is so pessimistic. The most disconcerting thing is that it offers no real escape at the end. So it's clearly not an anime for everyone.
#6 Dorohedoro
It's difficult to summarize Dorohedoro as the anime sets no limits. In this post-apocalyptic world populated by humans and mages, one thing dominates: violence. Dorohedoro goes very far in this with an unparalleled darkness. This could have made it a stifling work, but this extreme brutality paradoxically becomes enjoyable, and the well-measured touches of dark humor provide a certain balance that helps keep your head above water.
#7 Paranoia Agent
Satoshi Kon is a legend of Japanese animation, but he only directed one series, and what a series! With this mysterious boy with a baseball bat as a common thread, the director paints a portrait of a sick Japanese society. All the characters are tormented and face their traumas. Paranoia Agent hits where it hurts, but it does it so well that you can't help but forgive it.
#8 Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan
Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan is not a seinen, but a josei (its female counterpart), but it amounts to the same thing. It's a humorous anime with a disillusioned tone. It follows Uramichi, a thirty-something host of a children's show, forced to put on a brave face while facing the disillusionments of adult life. It's therefore a series that can only truly be appreciated once you reach a similar age, even if no one wants to get there.
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