Gundam is its own brand of weird, and while each series falls prey to toy commercial necessities (nary a protag old enough to drink), there is plenty of substan

Gundam is its own brand of weird, and while each series falls prey to toy commercial necessities (nary a protag old enough to drink), there is plenty of substance and a whole lot of flash to be found, and the focus on (critiquing) militarism means that most series is grounded in a way many series aren't. 8th MS Team, 0080: War in the Pocket, and Iron-Blooded Orphans are good to start with (even if you don't understand everything right off the bat, just flow with it). The first, because it is THE most grounded of all the series; the second, because it's by far the most moving, and the last because it's probably the most self-assured execution of the franchise's "child soldier" trope (with a fully-formed conception of just what kind of world produces that horror). Mob Psycho 100 may seem out of left field and extremely Japanese at first, but it's such an effortlessly insightful, and universal, exploration of purpose, motivation, and the lies we tell ourselves about each, make it an easy recommendation, especially for someone who presumably might need some healing from Eva. The Great Pretender will remind you a lot of Cowboy Bebop. Edit: Oh, duh, Kon. Anything by Satoshi Kon.