I didn't notice this thread before! Maybe you will allow me a little exception, and let me present you a manga (and not an anime).
I know that the manga I'm going to talk about is edited in the US so I strongly recommend you to read it because it is simply awesome. It is called
20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa
. It's a thriller which evolves in different eras (the 70's, the 90's and more).
Basically, the story is the one of a group of japanese kids, in the 60's, who imagine the story of a group of terrorists who will attack different cities in the world and finally destroy the planet on the 31st of December 2000. The kids then grow up, the band is dislocated, and everyone lives his life of adult in the '90's. But then they discover that a guy called "Friend", the leader of a cult, is using the drawing symbol (see above) they used as children, and that he is really fulfilling the nightmare scenarios they imagined as kids. So they reunite and decide to stop him.
I know the scenario sounds odd, I found it stupid at first but when you read it, it's just awesome, you can't stop reading. The series counts 24 volumes and has recently been adapted into movies (3 movies, but two have been made so far).
I've made a website on the manga, and I've been running it since 2005. Of course it's in french so you won't understand much, but you can still take a look (take care because there are spoilers) :
http://20th.centuryboys.free.frMonster is another manga from Naoki Urasawa, a great thriller too (published before 20th) but my preference goes to 20th.
