Smeelia
Thousand Master
I may not be the best at giving recommendations since I tend to like anime with some degree of "cuteness" in it and I often enjoy shows that I'm far from the "intended audience" of.
That said, I do have broad tastes and I did like Summer Wars (haven't watched Paprika yet, it's on my pile). Sticking with films, you could give Only Yesterday a try. I'd say it has similar themes to Summer Wars but Only Yesterday lacks in the action department so if that's why you liked Summer Wars then it might not work so well. I think it's a good one to watch anyway and it is probably more aimed at people who are not quite officially "young" anymore.
Ghibli films in general are quite good, although most are at least "family friendly" so I'm not sure if that'd be to your taste but then they also tend to have some appeal for all ages. I liked From Up On Poppy Hill more than some people seem to, although my favourite is Whisper Of The Heart. I guess both are "coming of age" type stories so I don't know if that's what you're looking for. If you want something for cynical old guys then Porco Rosso might be worth a go. To be honest, it's not so easy to describe the appeal of these films (at least, I find it difficult) but I can at least say there are reasons that they're very popular.
Anything released by All The Anime/Anime Limited is worth a go, partly because they're a great UK company and partly because quite a lot of their catalogue is things that were popular from the late 90s into the 2000s. I assume you've at least seen Cowboy Bebop and if not then you should correct that as soon as possible.
I'd also suggest giving Trigun a go if you haven't seen it. It would probably fit in with the sort of things you used to like. There's a film for it too, although it's more of a tribute for the fans made many years after (I liked it but I don't think it'd be as good to watch before the series).
Things that are streaming: I suggest Polar Bear's Café. Okay, that's a weird one but it has some pretty good moments for people who aren't as young as they used to be and are at that point of having a good deal of nostalgia but also still having a future. Something like that.
I'd also suggest Space Brothers, it has great characters and great stories. It's pretty long and isn't technically finished (I really hope they do finish it some time) but I think it's interesting for being kind of a traditional drama TV show that also happens to be an anime. It's doing something that could be live-action and yet somehow I just don't think it'd work as well if it was. Worth a look, I'd say (also, the main character is about the same age as you so that might help too).
I haven't watched Time of Eve as episodes (and I think you need to have subscribed to Crunchyroll to watch it, though that's true of more things these days) but I enjoyed the film a lot so if you don't want to commit to getting the film then the episodes might be a worthwhile alternative (I don't know how different they are but, as I understand it, the film is basically the episodes stuck together and adjusted slightly for flow).
I'm tempted to suggest Shirobako because it's an anime about making anime and you might like the mixture of references to anime of the past combined with a look at what anime is like today. That said, it might also benefit from having watched more recent anime so you might not find it as interesting until you really feel that you're back "into" anime. Still, it does also work as a show about the issues of working life and it has some interesting characters so that could work for you.
Hmm, this has turned into another long post. Anyway, I think it's best if you try to keep an open mind and just give things a try. I started watching anime a little while ago with Fullmetal Alchemist and for a while I mostly watched the standard action stuff, then I decided to try a bit of everything and I'm really glad that I did. If you'd told me ten years ago that my favourite shows would involve cute girls doing cute things then I might have given you a funny look but I'm glad I was willing to try new things and I don't regret it at all.
That said, I do have broad tastes and I did like Summer Wars (haven't watched Paprika yet, it's on my pile). Sticking with films, you could give Only Yesterday a try. I'd say it has similar themes to Summer Wars but Only Yesterday lacks in the action department so if that's why you liked Summer Wars then it might not work so well. I think it's a good one to watch anyway and it is probably more aimed at people who are not quite officially "young" anymore.
Ghibli films in general are quite good, although most are at least "family friendly" so I'm not sure if that'd be to your taste but then they also tend to have some appeal for all ages. I liked From Up On Poppy Hill more than some people seem to, although my favourite is Whisper Of The Heart. I guess both are "coming of age" type stories so I don't know if that's what you're looking for. If you want something for cynical old guys then Porco Rosso might be worth a go. To be honest, it's not so easy to describe the appeal of these films (at least, I find it difficult) but I can at least say there are reasons that they're very popular.
Anything released by All The Anime/Anime Limited is worth a go, partly because they're a great UK company and partly because quite a lot of their catalogue is things that were popular from the late 90s into the 2000s. I assume you've at least seen Cowboy Bebop and if not then you should correct that as soon as possible.
I'd also suggest giving Trigun a go if you haven't seen it. It would probably fit in with the sort of things you used to like. There's a film for it too, although it's more of a tribute for the fans made many years after (I liked it but I don't think it'd be as good to watch before the series).
Things that are streaming: I suggest Polar Bear's Café. Okay, that's a weird one but it has some pretty good moments for people who aren't as young as they used to be and are at that point of having a good deal of nostalgia but also still having a future. Something like that.
I'd also suggest Space Brothers, it has great characters and great stories. It's pretty long and isn't technically finished (I really hope they do finish it some time) but I think it's interesting for being kind of a traditional drama TV show that also happens to be an anime. It's doing something that could be live-action and yet somehow I just don't think it'd work as well if it was. Worth a look, I'd say (also, the main character is about the same age as you so that might help too).
I haven't watched Time of Eve as episodes (and I think you need to have subscribed to Crunchyroll to watch it, though that's true of more things these days) but I enjoyed the film a lot so if you don't want to commit to getting the film then the episodes might be a worthwhile alternative (I don't know how different they are but, as I understand it, the film is basically the episodes stuck together and adjusted slightly for flow).
I'm tempted to suggest Shirobako because it's an anime about making anime and you might like the mixture of references to anime of the past combined with a look at what anime is like today. That said, it might also benefit from having watched more recent anime so you might not find it as interesting until you really feel that you're back "into" anime. Still, it does also work as a show about the issues of working life and it has some interesting characters so that could work for you.
Hmm, this has turned into another long post. Anyway, I think it's best if you try to keep an open mind and just give things a try. I started watching anime a little while ago with Fullmetal Alchemist and for a while I mostly watched the standard action stuff, then I decided to try a bit of everything and I'm really glad that I did. If you'd told me ten years ago that my favourite shows would involve cute girls doing cute things then I might have given you a funny look but I'm glad I was willing to try new things and I don't regret it at all.
