So Fruits Basket (2019) is the anime that really got me to realize that anime is "not just cartoons in Japanese"... it was hands down the gateway drug to anime for me. Just really beautiful, complex storytelling with fantastic characters... so so sooo good. 63 episodes... so it's a journey!
Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer are both awesome if you like action / supernatural stuff.
Komi Can't Communicate is a silly high school drama about a girl who has so much social anxiety she can't really communicate with her peers in a normal way, but she WANTS to and they want to, so each episode is all the hijinks that come about as her classmates try to get to know her and she tries to come out of her shell. Adorable!
Haikyuu is an absolutely epic sports anime about a volleyball team, but it's so much more than that. Adriaan and I watched this and raved about it for months, maybe even years to Emily before she finally broke down, stopped calling us annoying and watched it, and now it's one of her absolute faves and one we've rewatched together multiple times. Wholesome, amazing storytelling, heartbreak and disappointment and accomplishment and overcoming things as a team... just incredible. 85 episodes and two movies coming out this spring to finish the story, so there's time to catch up before then haha
Blue Period is about a kid who wants to be an artist and it is just beautiful.
Sound Euphonium is about orchestra in high school and again, it's wonderful storytelling, gorgeous music during their competitions... just awesome.
Your Lie is April is heartbreakingly beautiful and a major tear jerker.
I could go on and on... I honestly love the storytelling in anime a lot more than sitcom or drama shows.
Also, I only watch subtitled anime with the Japanese voice actors because while a LOT of shows are dubbed in english, I tend to find that the english voice actors tend to overact things and it feels harsher / sillier / more "cartoony" than the soft and subtle sounds of Japanese. It's makes a big difference to me.