Knights of Sidonia: A
Netflix has been killing it with its programming lately. I'm currently in the middle of watching the Netflix Original anime "Knights of Sidonia" and am loving it!
Based on a manga (comic book) series that started in 2009, KoS tells the sci-fi story of "Sidonia", a refugee "seed ship" that fled a destroyed Earth hundreds of years ago. Besides the inherent problems of long-term survival in space, the Sidonia often crosses paths with the same monstrous yet mindless space creatures that were responsible for the destruction of Earth. The Sidonia then scrambles spaceborne mechs to defeat or deter the creatures.
KoS subscribes to the classic "serious sci-fi" school of thought which is most welcome. It has a grim setting and the show is quite gritty and often brutal, but those darker elements are balanced by a "heroic core" of hope, courage, and love. Over all it feels like a cross between Macross, Bubblegum Crisis 2040 (another amazing anime available on Netflix), and Battlestar Galactica (2003).
As I mentioned I haven't finished the season yet; I hope it will stay as good as it's been. Check it out!
Update - August 22, 2014
I just finished Season 1 and it is amazing all the way through. Just perfect!