First off, notice I said "maybe" and the like for some/a lot of those. I know they might not all be "intelligent anime," but most of the ones I suggested would be liked by people who like the series he liks(lol).
Like you said, he called it "intelligent" because he didn't know what else to call it.
Did I ever say I was suggesting intelligent anime? No, I pretty much said I was suggesting pretentious based off the ones he named. I suppose you could also call a lot of thme "pseudo-intellectual."
For a pseudo-intellectual Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, NHK, and Genshiken are all "social commentary" anime (in decreasing order).
Elfen Lied starts off with a latin church song set to images based off paintings by Gustav Klimt. Don't tell me its not trying to be pseudo-intellectual.
Saikano is "social commentary" and about war. I don't know if the anime is more watered down, but from the manga I read it's more on the serious side.
Honey and Clover wasn't even recommended by me, and I wouldn't say it fits the mold of the rest. But it was pretty interesting and tried to appeal to people older than 18 or so.
Samurai Champloo was another maybe. It's an anime pseudo-intellectuals might like eventhough it's not especially pretentious. It is artistic, filled with metahumor, and witty though, and that's something pseudo-intellectuals like.
Honey and Clover, Elfen Lied, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei are "artistic" as well, btw.
>They are disturbing, provocative and action filled.
A.K.A. perfect.
>My point is basically, no, there isn't much anime which will sate the intellectual appitite of a relatively mature human being. If you really want mental stimulation read books, play an instrument and if you have to watch your mental stimulation you'd be better off looking at live action films. They can be made far cheaper than anime and still be watchable, giving the directors more free reign. There is a longer established tradition of making 'intelligent' (or pretentious depending on your point of view) and a near endless supply of things hailed as masterpieces.
I agree that you might not find any truly intelligent.
But, it depends on what you're looking for in an anime to call it "intelligent." Seeing as it's anime we're talking about, most of the ones named could probably be considered so, since they're more thought provoking and whatnot than other anime.