Much to my surprise, Netflix is turning out to be a pretty great curator and creator for anime.
But there's plenty of art that has no match in any other field. A list of my favorites if you want to test them out, that don't include "fan-service" (most of what you mention).
Wolf's Rain
Fullmetal Alchemist
Evangelion (includes some pandering, but the content is way too original to care)
Berserk (recommend manga over anime)
Vagabond (manga)
Death Note
Attack on Titan
Utena (old, but a very strong story about grooming and abuse)
And these are the popular ones. If you start going deeper and branching out you can find jewels, specially in manga.
Unfortunately pretty much most of what you listed _are_ old.
* Demon Slayer
* Vinland Saga
* Dr. Stone (I'm sure HN would love this)
* Ascendance of a Bookworm
Very recently, SPY X FAMILY finished its first cour and its second will start this autumn.
Like most things in life, it pays to do a little looking.
Did we watch a different series? Sure, it's a very original take on Super Robot but it's chock full of fanservice.
I don't appreciate that the "pandering" is sexualisation of 14 year old girls.
Vi and Jinx are defined by childhood trauma and little else. Jayce is a charming inventor. Viktor is trying to cure himself. Caitlyn is rich. Etc.
Their origin as video game cardboard cutouts is plain to see. The more interesting ones are originals created for the show (Silco, the cops, a couple others), but they're quickly killed off.
Worst is that all the dramatic moments in the story are triggered by miscommunication between these shallow characters. It's lazy.
The show needs better writing.
Half of the shit they watched seems like it was written by some timid teenage boy with a romance fantasy. If that's what you like, it's not really my concern, but I found them too cringey and repetitive in a way that could challenge Hollywood. There were some ok ones, I didn't mind a lot of mainstream stuff or things that had a particularly interesting or unique premise, but for most the plots were just too easily predictable (an issue that some shows seems to have in general regardless of genre).
I agree. But luckily last quarter's "Spy x Family" was the exception, I recommend it (nice animation, light and funny, story ok).
Try these Steins' Gate, One Outs, Dr. Stone, Made in Abyss, one punch man, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Goblin Slayer, Hajime No Ippo, Parasyte
Agree about Netflix. Thermae Roma was a lot of fun.
Now some animes are more akin to peanuts or Garfield which is more socially acceptable.
For adults,most people work alot of hours and many businesses have forced socialization. So when you do get some free time, you might watch an episode of something but not in way Americans obsess over it . There's so much anime,manga being produced, and alot of it never makes it to the West.