10 Anime you need to watch more than once to understand

Avant-garde is one of the most underrated genres and is home to anime that fans need to watch more than once to understand. While having this genre doesn't confirm the complexity of a series, it does add depth to its story in general.

Avant-garde, in simple terms, means advanced storytelling where most questions regarding the story are not answered by the author/scriptwriter. As questions keep piling up, the meaning behind the series also starts to cloud, meaning that fans have to watch the series more than once to understand it. The most common combinations with this genre are "horror," and "psychological."

Sadly, this genre has more-or-less died in the modern era so fans can only consume from the already available series. In this article, 10 such anime will be compiled that need to be watched more than once to understand the true meaning behind them. Although all of these are not strictly "avant-garde," understanding their meaning in one go would be an achievement.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.

Sonny Boy, Tatami Galaxy, and 8 other anime you need to watch more than once to understand

1) Serial Experiments Lain

Lain as seen in Serial Experiments Lain (Image via Triangle Staff)

The series where the protagonist discards her true identity for a "virtual" image, Serial Experiments Lain follows the story of Lain, whose life takes a sharp turn after she learns to use the internet and dwells deep within it until she is about to lose her personality.

With the plot of the series being that of a simple girl getting addicted to the internet, there is more to the anime than its looks, making it one of the anime fans need to watch more than once to understand.

2) Wonder Egg Priority

Ai as seen in Wonder Egg Priority (Image via CloverWorks)

Wonder Egg Priority is centered around Ai, who after losing her best friend, Koito, saves others through a Wonder Egg in hopes of getting to see Koito. But as the plot and the narratives of all four protagonists unfold, things start to get complicated.

Not only this, the series reaches another level of complexity after the origins of the Wonder Egg are revealed, making this one of the anime fans should watch more than once to understand.

3) Tatami Galaxy

Akashi as seen in Tatami Galaxy (Image via Madhouse)

Based on a novel series of the same name, Tatami Galaxy tells the tale of Watashi, a young man, trying to enjoy the good things in life while continuously being confused about what step to take next.

The dialogue speed in the series is really fast, which is one of the reasons why it is so confusing. The thing about this anime is to consume it in one go so that it would make some sense. Otherwise, fans have to watch it twice or thrice to understand what lesson it is trying to teach.

4) Monogatari series

Yotsugi as seen in the Monogatari series (Image via Shaft)

The masterpiece of NISHIO ISHIN adapted into an anime by animation studio Shaft, the Monogatari series is a set of different anime series centered around the protagonist, Araragi, as he helps others facing problems with their supernatural powers.

This series is also the most popular confusing series due to its confusing order and its jokes that are intended for those who know how to read Japanese. This is also because the subtitles for this anime are really detailed, explaining every Kanji in the way the writer intended, thus making it one of the anime viewers need to watch more than once to understand.

5) Ergo Proxy

Mayer as seen in Ergo Proxy (Image via Manglobe)

The series that mostly relies on metaphors and puns to explain its storyline, Ergo Proxy follows the tale of Mayer, a detective, whose peaceful life gets interrupted when humanity coexists with robots.

With the synopsis of the series looking nothing different than the usual, the best word to explain the feeling while experiencing it is "confusing," mostly due to its way of explanation. The answers do start to unveil but it takes more than one watch, making Ergo Proxy one of the anime one should watch more than once to understand.

6) Re: ZERO - Starting Life in Another World

Echidna as seen in Re: ZERO (Image via White Fox)

The story of Natsuki Subaru as he tries to deny a bad ending after continuously dying and restarting from a particular point, Re: Zero is one of the most confusing isekai anime series.

The first season could be considered a one-watch but the amount of information the second season reveals makes it too hard to understand in one watch. With the third season also nearing, the series has more lore to explore than it has already revealed in the first two seasons.

7) Sonny Boy

Mizuho as seen in Sonny Boy (Image via Madhouse)

Sonny Boy tells the tale of a class that gets transported into another dimension where everyone gets a superpower. But the plot starts to get confusing afterward as the episodes keep passing.

The dimensions keep changing, the rules start getting more confusing, and people start changing so quickly that it gets hard to grasp any situation in the first watch. The situation could remain the same for the next three or four times until fans finally get a grasp of this anime.

8) Paranoia Agent

Shounen Bat as seen in Paranoia Agent (Image via Madhouse)

The story is about a strange epidemic that has spread across Tokyo and is centered around a mysterious boy with a bat who hits people with some issues. The vibe of this anime is more "disturbing" than "dark," and the former feeling does overpower the story when it dwells into its second half.

Combining violent scenery with confusing and mysterious visuals, Paranoia Agent is something fans need to watch more than once to understand.

9) Steins; Gate

Rintarou as seen in Steins; Gate (Image via White Fox)

One of the most popular time-travel series, Steins; Gate follows the tale of Rintaro and his friend, who discover a way to send messages to the past and avoid calamities, but avoiding one problem creates more.

The series starts with putting a banana inside a microwave to discuss the real-life physics of time travel, which could be why fans need to watch it more than once to understand its true essence.

10) Neon Genesis Evangelion

Shinji standing before Asuka (Image via Tatsunoko Production & Gainax)

Neon Genesis Evangelion tells the tale of Shinji who is trying to win over his father by driving a robot unit only he can drive for experimental purposes. However, as the plot progresses, Shinji's father's true motives come to light, which are much darker than expected.

The source of this series was its scriptwriter, Hideaki Anno's depression, the state during which the scriptwriter wrote the majority of the series, which could also be why he has no answer to most of the dark mysteries and themes surrounding his magnum opus. But after rewatching, the viewer gets new answers to already available answers, making it one of the anime fans should watch more than once to understand.

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Edited by Meenakshi Ajith