Looking for recommendations. I was big into it from 2002-13, but then life intervened. Any type with a good story line. Mecha, Slice-of-Life, whatever. Last series in the wild was Hyouka. After that, it was re-watching stuff in my collection, from Miyazaki, and Shinkai on down.
Hyouka was great. Let's see, after that:
Shin Sekai Yori: SF Dystopia: man evolves psychic powers. Starts out with the main characters as children (and as horror/mystery) and ends with the characters in their midtwenties (full-blown epic). This is a must-see. Maybe you won't like it, but if you do you can't afford to miss this one.
Uchouten Kazoku: Magical Kyouto. Tanuki roam the earth, tengu rule the sky. And humans have built a big city. When a group of humans, the Friday Fellows, cook the tanuki Nisemon in a hotpot, it sets the city in turmoil. Who will take the illustrous position? The family grieves for the father. The eldest tries to follow in father's footsteps and get himself elected the Nisemon. The second son lives as a frog in a well, and has forgotten how to transform. The third son lives a happy-go-lucky life in the city; after all what is fun is good. He's also the one to take care of Akadama sensei, the tengu who due to an accident can no longer fly. And he's also the one who still has contact to the tengu's daughter, a human woman who Akadama sensei abducted. She's currently occupying the seat of Benten in the Friday Fellows and took part in the eating of his father. Life is strange and relationships aren't straightforward. But the fool's blood runs through the tanuki's veins, and what is fun is good. (This might be my favourite anime of all time; my entire attitude to life is contained there-in.
Kyousougiga: A girl with a magical hammer bursts through the borders into a magical Kyouto contained within a wall-scroll, searching for a rabbit. Mirror Kyouto is ruled by a trio of siblings - a youkai, a priest, and a monk - who each mourn the departure of their parents in their own ways. Could they be searching for the same thing. There's an older series of OVAs, which has bits and pieces of the story, but is completely incoherent. I loved it to bits, and when in 2013 they made it into a TV series I was excited. The TV version loses a little (but not much) of the OVAs anarchy, but more than makes up for it with a coherent and touching story. The TV series catches up fairly quickly with the OVAs and brings the story to a very satisfying conclusion.
Ping Pong the Animation: Two friends are playing ping pong. One extremely motivated and competitive, the other extemely talented but not caring much for competition. A very intricate and subtle sports show about what it means to play, and what it means to win.
Natsuyuki Rendesvouz: A young man falls in love the widow of a florist, who's shop she still runs. He decides to confess, but there's a problem: the florists shop is still haunted by the husband's ghosts, who only the young man can see, and the ghost is torn between making his wife take over and staying with her forever. The oddest love-triangle you're likely to see.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju: An ex-convict seeks out a famous Rakugoka (on-stage storytelling/comedy) who once performed in prison to become his apprentice. Surprisingly, and for the first time in his life, the rakugo master takes him in. Why? He reminds him of his dead friend. Season 1 is mostly about the past, while season 2 is about the present. This is the other must-see on this list. If you don't like it, you've lost a little time. But if you don't check it out, you lose out on one of the decade's master pieces.
White Album 2: A straightforward love triangle, but to my mind it sets the benchmark.
I'm sure I forgot some, and there are plenty of great shows a tier below, but these should be best story-driven shows 2012/13+.