Tscott

Where should I go from there? Almost 10 years ago (has it been that long?) I discovered Cowboy Bebop and Lain and still love them to this day. Every so often I decide to dip my toes back in the water to see if I can find other series of their caliber. Boogiepop Phantom and 'Now and Then, Here and There' are two that have come close. A couple others I've recently tried and mostly enjoyed are Ergo Proxy and Rin.

Currently thinking of Samurai Champloo, Baccano! or When They Cry. Thoughts and other suggestions? I'd really like something that shares the complex plotting/rewatchability factor as Lain and Boogiepop.

Sweet Baby James

The three that you are thinking about are all quite good. Based on your criteria, I would also highly recommend that you check out Texhnolyze, Death Note and Elfen Lied.

Ash Ketchum

If you're a fan of those series, then "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is a must-see. Plus the movie follow-ups.

"Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" is recommended as well.

And a definite yes on "Samurai Champloo."

RichC2

Let me know if you find anything, two of my favorite shows.

chrisc31

I wouldn't recommend "Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" for the shows he posted.

Texhnolyze is a must, its from the same creater I think as Lain. Look at amazon people that bought Lain got this.

I would recommend Noir, Gunslinger Girl, and Elfen Lied.

McHawkson

With your preference, I'll second this suggestion. Death Note is probably the best for complex plotting. Neon Genesis Evangelion isn't my cup of tea, but it seems to be the most popular choice for mind bloggy series.

Sweet Baby James

Another really good series that I failed to mention in my prior post would be Paranoia Agent.

dugan

Haibane Renmei if you like Lain's character art.

Tscott

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Some of these I've already seen:

Noir - really liked this one. Not quite on the same level as what I'm looking for but a solid series
Elfen Lied - It was... Interesting. I think the over the top violence/nudity threw me and I never quite recovered, but it ultimately won me over in the end.
Texhnolyze - I know I've seen this but I've forgotten almost everything about it (except that someone loses a few limbs), I may have to give this a rewatch.
Haibane Renmei - I enjoyed this one. It didn't quite give me the "Lain" awe that I wanted but on its own terms it was good.

I also checked out another one by the makers of Lain; NieA_7 - um, totally not what I was looking for...

I adding Gunslinger Girl, Paranoia Agent (looks OOP and expensive) and Death Note (I see a number of sets, how many seasons total?) into consideration with the three titles I mentioned above.

chrisc31

I forgot to mention Hell Girl there are two 26 episode seasons available the second season does not have an english dub, Paranoia Agent is one season 12 episodes, Gunslinger Girl is two 13 episode seasons and a 2 episode OVA, Death Note I think is one season 37 episodes.

Check back later I will see if their is more worth telling you about.

McHawkson

Death Note has 9 discs.

If you have Netflix membership, you can rent them if it's too expensive.

chrisc31

Death Note has 10 dvds but it is being sold at amazon as two half season sets, for about $50 each. Thats not bad at all, you should be able to buy it a lot cheaper at RightStuf during a VIZ sale that happens once in a while.

visitor Q

Add another strong recommendation for Gunslinger Girl. It shares a solemn, thoughtful approach as Lain and Boogiepop peppered with some action and interesting characters. Never mind the focus on character development. I didn't care for Il Teatrino however.

TScott - many great recommendations already based on your request. You should check out Oshii's Sky Crawlers even though it seems either be a love/hate type of film.

When They Cry I've had difficulty getting into. It starts off as being too cutesy for my tastes, but apparently the doors open up wide eventually to this mystery/horror and it gets fairly crazy. I need to revisit this again.

I saw RIN and enjoyed certain elements of it - probably not the same as you based on the comments regarding Elfen Lied. Although I have yet to complete Speed Grapher I've heard it is a well thought out and intriguing story with some extreme elements as are in RIN. You may want to check into it.

Tscott

I liked the story structure and the characters. Wasn't too thrilled with the torture element. I don't mind some fanservice or S&M themes but some parts here were pretty extreme.

Thanks for the other suggestions. I'll look into them as well.

McHawkson

9 discs was what I remember when I rented it from Netflix. Just checked at Rightstuf.com and U.S. Official Death Note website - it's 9 volumes, not 10.

WTK

Boxset 1 consists of Vol.1 to Vol.5 singles
Boxset 2 consiste of Vol.6 to Vol.9 singles plus a bonus DVD (Bonus Videos: Behind the Scenes with the Japanese Voice Actors, Original Japanese Death Note Interstitials, Interview with Animation Director and Character Designer, Conversations with the Japanese Cast and Crew / Characters Gallery: Main Cast, Shinigami, Kira Task Force, Yotsuka Group, Spk, Mafia, Supporting Cast)

ChristyS

I don't usually post, but I love LAIN, and I really wanted to share a couple recs with you.

One of the more recent series that I enjoyed for its similarly trippy, psychological feel was Ghost Hound. The two series share the same director (Ryutaro Nakamura) and screenwriter (Chiaki J. Konaka), so you might like it, as well.

Also, if you like Nakamura's directing style, one of my favorite series is another of his projects - Kino's Journey. It's an episodic show that I find kind of hard to classify, but I think you might like the more psychological aspects of it, too. I've always found it to be a really affecting watch regardless of how many times I see it.

Ash Ketchum

You don't usually post?! That's an understatement. This is your first post!!! How about, "I've never posted here before, but..."?

Ash Ketchum welcomes you to the forum.
(And you've gotten me curious about "Ghost Hound," a series I've never heard of before.)

WTK

Ghost Hound is a rather interesting series. [For those who cares] Keep in mind that Sentai Filmworks will be dubbing this series. They were originally released as subbed releases. It's unclear when the dubbed set(s) will be released, but I would assume that it would be later this year.

Tscott

Thanks. Two more series I'll keep an eye out for. According to wikipedia, the Ghost Hound dub will be this year, but I haven't seen any other confirmation of that.

I did wind up watching When They Cry which I mentioned in my first post. I enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Boogiepop Phantom with its storytelling style as more and more gets revealed as you go on. I didn't realize it was a PS2 game before the anime, which I imagine contributed to the unique storytelling structure of the series. As for the cuteness, I thought it was an interesting mix with the horror- knowing it was there in advance and having seen a couple other pure "cute" animes helped lessen the shock.

I also watched Murder Princess since I last posted in this thread. Not anything like Lain or Boogiepop, but very enjoyable brief action series for the $10 I spent on it.

GreenMonkey

I'm going to recommend Kino's Journey. It's a very philosophical show. Each individual episode tends to be a "what if" question about society, or about people. Why is this country only inhabited by machines? What if someone locked away all books deemed 'harmful'. What if you got rid of war for a contest of sorts, instead? Etc. Kino goes to each place and stays for 3 days. A personal favorite.