oh god, i haven't watched a new anime in a really long time so most of what i like are "older" anime in no particular order. i absolutely had to chime in because no one has mentioned my favorite anime yet! my favorite genres include horror, post apocalypse, psychological, drama, action and suspense. i go for shorter anime because i have ADHD that means keeping up with something too much longer is a challenge most of the time. putting together this list, I decided to try to choose mostly ones i hadn't seen mentioned yet.
general tws for all of them: violence often senseless or forced/coerced, often involving guns, blood, some to a bit of gore, some of them involve animals getting injured, some of them involve children (or perceived children) murdering people/one another. state violence, oppression, sometimes genocide
EDIT: more specific tw's below, contain spoilers AND are not necessarily comprehensive but i did my best without rewatching them first. DM me if you have a specific thing but want to watch one.
- Wolf's Rain (2003), 26 episodes -- my all time favorite anime with a character who i've had a massive gay crush on for like 15 years, and another who gives me gender feels. what do you have to lose? please watch it.
SOME FLASHING
tw: alcohol abuse, animal abuse & death, bugs, eye mutilation, child death, car accident, guns, genocide, state sponsored violence, animal....testing(?)/torture - Death Parade (2015), 12 episodes -- second favorite anime, it means the world to me. talks about death, morality, the nature of humanity and reincarnation and what people "deserve".
tw: creepy marionette dolls, LOTS of blood/gore/violence, death, domestic violence, on screen sexual assault, stalking, alcohol, eye mutilation - Gunslinger Girl (2003), 13 episodes -- little girls given cybernetic enhancements become trained assassins, tragic as shit.
tw: guns, coerced violence, state sponsored violence, child abuse, discussion of child sexuality but not in a pedophilic way iirc, amnesia, implied death of children - Another (2012), 12 episodes -- high school students start dying in tragic ways on screen and have to figure out why and which one of them is to blame
tw: child violence, death of children and adults, paranoia, animal death, bugs, death and mutilation in basically every way dm me if you need a specific question answered this one is rough, murder, gore, sexualization of minors - Hellsing (2001-2002), 13 episodes -- vampires, vampire hunting and the things that entails. also the main character is a trip.
FLASHING.
tw: cop main characters, implied SA, gore, violence, mutilation, suicide, FLASHING, guns, sexualization - Darker than Black (2007), 25 episodes -- post war sci-fi fantasy world where people get interesting super powers, USAmerica has lost global power, follows an assassin around tokyo.
SOME FLASHING
tw: war, plane crash, suicide, magic and gun violence - No. 6 (2011), 11 episodes -- gays and a guy who can talk to rats
tw: capitalism, caste system, war, state sponsored violence, - Supernatural (2011), 22 episodes OVA -- exactly what you think it is. anime adaptation of the infamous show
tw: guns, supernatural violence, death, gore, alcohol, sexualization iirc, dead animals - Cowboy Bebop (1998-1999), 26 episodes -- you know her, you love her, she's a classic i've revisited a few times.
SOME FLASHING. TRANSMISOGYNY & SW OBJECTIFICATION. LGBT DEATH.
tw: guns, violence, gore, drug and alcohol use/abuse, bounty hunters, someone puts a cockroach in a drink at one point, sexual assault, violence, eye and other mutilation, a couple children die, clowns, suicide, ptsd, nudity