In my mind, there’s In This Corner of the World and The Wind Rises if I want something like a documentary.
For a narrative, it’s Attack on Titan Final Season and 86
I’ll argue the first Gundam
Yeah, just depends on which part of war you’re trying to depict. Gundam kills it from the “how it feels to constantly have your life in danger” perspective!
I’ve heard good things about Vineland Saga not shying away from its depiction of generational war. Somebody told me it’s one of those where everyone kind of sucks but it will give you context to why the violence is happening. Been on my watchlist but I haven’t gotten to it yet (I’m dragging my feet because I’ve come to hate vikings in media)
A Witch in Mongolia
War is barely in this movie directly, but it does a great job with what it’s got.
Flag. It’s a real robot mecha set in modern times, the mecha is basically a tank. And its told as a documentary.
Does Grave of the Fireflies count? It isn’t necessarily a war anime, but it does very much depict war and the reality of what it is like to the main characters despite not being in the war themselves.
And just like real war, it is absolutely fucked up.
Izetta and GOSICK come to mind
I think “In This Corner of the World” does a pretty good job.
Now and Then, Here and There
It’s pretty unflinching but not nihilistic.
The Cockpit might be of interest (if you can find it—I’m not sure there’s any current streaming license). Zipang, too. There are probably others I’m forgetting about.
Really depends on the era.
