I definitely second watching Hibike Euphonium. It means so much to me. The way the characters act and interact is what makes the show. Don’t forget Liz and the Blue Bird!

Despite Frieren being in your “havent watched cuz unappealing/overrated” list, I’d still recommend it. It’s very unlike the others in that list.

The big hero story is done, the big evil is no longer an existential threat. This anime takes place after your typical hero-demon king story from the perspective of a very long lived elf. The journey you go on with Frieren as she undertakes a nearly the same journey from 80 something years ago, while discovering what that meant/means to her and the world, is quite special. Seeing how an elf perceives things compared to short lived races like humans is a perspective I’ve never quite seen like this. It’s quite introspective, while mostly staying really relaxing. The world it builds is the most expansive fantasy world I’ve seen in anime in a long time.

Aside from that, the music by Evan Call (same composer as Violet Evergarden) and the animation are just incredible.

Some other recommendations:

• Wotakoi: such a joyful slice of life romcom with otaku office workers.
• Cyberpunk Edgerunners
• Black Lagoon for some good old action that seems to become something more towards the end
• K-On: Bocchi The Rock is compared a lot to this, but I think that despite the surface-level similarities, they couldn’t be more different.
• Fate franchise