[General] What anime has changed you the most?

This is a question I've been meaning to put on here for a while: is there an anime that you have watched that has really changed the way you are? The way you act, the way you think, the way you feel? What anime was it, how did it change you, WHY do you think it changed you? I know this probably is reminiscent of a school essay prompt, but I really do want to know how others have had their lives changed by these "cartoons", or whatever else closed-minded people want to call it.
For me, while it is difficult to pick one out of the many that I've seen, I'm going to have to go with Parasyte, of all things. It really changed the entire way I viewed humanity, altruism, and nature. The way the anime explored human nature and the contradictions that humanity creates with its own ideals really got me interested in the entire field of Psychology. I am currently pursuing Psychology in college, and Parasyte really sparked my interest in the entire field. I think the reason that this anime really hit me was that it actually gave an example. I've heard SO many times that humans are still animals, blah blah blah. But to actually see a world where that really plays out and is fully realized... I finally saw the true implications of the message.
What about you? If you had to choose one, which one? I very much want to see.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

That anime plus the subsequent movies have probably had a very profound impact on how I think about emotions and art. Things like self-loathing, self-acceptance, depression, loneliness, and the importance of connecting with others became much clearer to me after having seen it. As well as the idea of art as a form expression and communication.

It made me an anime fan, and it continues to resonate with me. No other anime has had this effect on me.

First off, YAY someone actually replied!

Secondly, that is a great one! Neon Genesis was actually second on my self-change list, mostly for the same reasons you presented. The mindfuck was real.

Bakemonogatari, but to be clear, it hasn't changed me, just how I view anime. And that's something I can appreciate a lot.

Bake showed how two people talking for 10 minutes straight can be interesting. Also dat cinematography.

Bakemonogatari? Haven't heard of it: I'll add it to my list of things to watch.

If I may ask, how many anime have you seen and how big is your backlog?

Because I so far number over 124 and I still have a huge backlog.

Hopefully you will notice the genius of it. The author used some clever narration tricks and Shaft included a smart use of color and messed with the cinematography.

One of my all time favorites.

Check out Satoshi Kon's work. He used editing in some creative ways.

Well, I got a rather late start on anime, So i'd guess only around.... 30 is my hesitant guess? I only started watching about a year ago, and I'm only just now coming off my Dota 2 is life thing that I've had going on, so now I've suddenly been able to watch more. However, I am happy to say that I didn't waste more than 2 of those on the Shonen mainstream portion of anime (ex Bleach), but got to the good bits, like Clannad, Evangelion, the deep stuff. So yeah, I've got quite the catching up to do :-)

I look at anime as more of an experience that can make impressions rather then change you. You may have a different or new outlook on things or take home some life lessons, but I don't think I could give anime the credit of changing me completely as a person, but that's just me.

For me anime shows that left some form of an impression would be

Emotional impact
Voices from a Distant Star, Your Lie in April, Grave of the Fireflies, Chrono Crusade, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Horror Element
Pet Shop of Horrors, Akira, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, Elfen Lied, Corpse Party

All around just amazing work
Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Rurouni Kenshin, FMA, Steins;Gate, Memories, Akira, Kino no Tabi, Darker then Black, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Black Lagoon

Childhood nostalgia
The Cat Returns, Howl's Moving Castle, King of Thorn, Kiki's Delivery Service, Pokemon first movie, Kaliedo Star

No anime has 'changed' me, but many provided inspiration for thinking a bit harder about heavier-than-usual stuff.

While I credit Neon Genesis Evangelion as the one that made me learn to interpret myself, to the point of guessing some of my psychological issues right, in recent times one of the most influential has been Psycho-Pass.

Not gonna lie, Gurren Lagann was a confidence booster for me.

Anime never has changed me. It has given me something to enjoy in my bored times or gave me something to laugh to when I was depressed. I have never watched an anime and thought "omg what if the Devil King is really out there? DO i help or stop him?....."

Maybe FLCL.

I saw FLCL in my late formative years and while I may not have fully understood the underlying message of it, the wackiness and off-and-on perversion stuck in my brain and is probably what helped get me into anime (and keep me being an immature, perverted kid).

I can't single it down to one single anime, but any anime that screams beauty such as Clannad or any Miyazaki film really has made me think differently about animation as a whole and what art can really look like.

If I had to pick, I'd probably pick the first one I ever watched, My Neighbor Totoro. The show basically formed many of my interests and in turn contributed a great deal to who I am today.

For me it has to be Welcome to the N.H.K.
It helped me get out of my depression back when I was in middle school.

hmm maybe, Soul Eater? specifically Asura, I kinda liked his vision of fear only being a state of mind you can block out. obviously I don't believe anyone can actually block out fear from there minds completely, but you can certainly weaken its grip on you if you believe you can. that thinking got me through a lot of fears I had! but this is all just my opinion, im sure others might disagree ^w^

Something similar happened to me as well. I was already quite depressed and I started watching NHK thinking it was a basket anime (also like my second or third anime series I had watched to that point). I got more depressed but pulled through at the end.

The Anime that Changes me was Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki. It was my first Anime and changes my lifestyle, cuz it brought me to the world of Anime!

FLCL. I was really able to relate to it and alot of its themes and ideas. Like how it portrayed life as being kinda not that great but how no one was just an outright terrible human being. Just made me feel good knowing there was something out there that kinda reflected my own life at the time.


Also Gurren Lagann. just cause it was a really fun anime and I hadnt seen one of those in a while.