@korimutsu u have good taste. Escaflowne and Bebop are perfect shows. even tho the came out 10 yrs ago they havent aged, be it in animation and music. and they still stand above so much shit that gets pumped out today.

With regards to the points raised by Nekonron and kuromitsu (on her slippery soapbox!) I think I agree that all anime <b>is</b> entertainment, it certainly isn’t torture! With that said, I was thinking about anime is terms of “light” entertainment and the kind of show that feels like it’s reaching out and touching your soul. I don’t think “entertainment” is an adequate word to describe such a feeling. That’s why I used the the Wolf’s Rain image, it’s a show that for me transcends that barrier and effects my thinking in a very profound way (thanks for noticing kauldron26).

“Deep” is, and I admit it’s a vague term, subjective. That was a problem I had with writing this article. As much as I may love Gankutsuou, others dismiss it out of hand due its artsy aesthetic, on the other hand, I can’t stand something like Kanon, but it seems like others feel it’s this amazing emotional drama. That’s really why in the end, all I can say is that “one mans dull rock is another’s shining diamond”, because depth, especially in this visual genre, is a personal conclusion. Basically, there is no way to outright claim something ISN’T deep because we’re all different.

It’s interesting that kuromitsu would pick out Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne, anime that while fairly linear in terms of plot, illicit a strong emotional response from the viewer (myself included, I love both of those shows). Just because something is “simple”, does that mean it’s can’t be “deep”? In my own terms, I’d definitely class both of them as “deep” and emotionally moving anime. Depth, at least for me, has nothing to do with plot complexity, it’s what you are able to read into the characters, whether or not you can understand their reactions or disagree with them. Depth equates to resonance with the human “soul”.