>Seirei no Moribito
Agreed that this is a good anime but it's hardly pretentious pseudo-intellectual drivel (although I've only seen up to ep 9 -- just snagged it based on your recommendation). Seems to be another martial arts/action/historical fantasy anime with more believable characters, plot, and setting sans crap filler eps and obnoxious comedic relief characters. Maybe the pretentiousness comes into play later in the series?
N.B. the production quality is really fantastic.
>>83
Thirded, although I could only manage 3 eps.