Nausicaa (a Ghibli movie, by the way)

Compared to cartoons, I loved the pacing and realism. And, of course, the much more interesting story. (To be fair, the cartoons I am most familiar with are Tom and Jerry and Road Runner, so draw your own conclusions.)

JoJo, naturally. Ghibli movies and Violet Evergarden will probably be the peak of anime, both in terms of animation quality and storytelling. But there are plenty of novel shows, from The Heike Story to Black Lagoon and Tatami Galaxy to Kino’s Journey.

Cowboy Bebop has a large following, but I found it too loud and flashy, and didn’t really like any of the characters.

WOW! How blessed a person are you, having Nausicaä to be the FIRST anime you watch! :D I can’t quite recall the… wait. WAIT. La la la lala la’ la’ laa. I do remember the iconic child’s song! :D Didn’t it give you existential crisis? I made me have such dark and negative feeling toward humanity as a whole - a lot of Ghibli movies did…

Tom and Jerry LOL I do feel that western animation can be more shallow - being only or mostly about the visuals - while anime, unless it’s hentai, more often seems to have a deeper meaning.

That song is beautiful but also very haunting.

negative feeling toward humanity

I don’t see it that way. Miyazaki hates what Japan (and his own family) did during WW2, and what Japan did to its environment after the war, but his movies are about creating a better world.

I’m not criticising Tom and Jerry lol. It’s very funny when you’re a child, and quite well-animated for the time.