Steeveeo:
- Gurren Lagann is a good one, been watching it on Sci-Fi for the past 10 weeks or so and its turned out really good.

- Eureka Seven was another one that I found really good. Despite having mechs, it is not truely considered Mecha because almost all of the story is presented in the characters themselves, not the fighting. Overall, the cheese level can be funny at times, but the emotional bonds that the characters create, with not only themselves, but with the viewer, is just astounding. The ending ties it up really nicely, while still leaving stuff open for further reflection in the viewer, ie, a lot of "Why did they..." thinking.

- Death Note was disturbing to me, and I couldnt really get into that whole psychopathic "protagonist" thing, but hey, maybe you will like it.

- Cowboy Bebop, of course, one of the greats. Interesting storyline, followable plot (unlike some confusing ones), and overall, a great time.

Just a side note, stay AWAY from anything an eccentric chick tries to offer you, I got roped into watching Popotan from that!

Oh boy... First time watching TTGL... Wish I was there to see your face when you watch the final episode. Look forward to it kido (no offense meant), I will not spoil it for you.

Am I the only one that was disappointed with how Death Note ended ?

Also I am trying really hard to get into Gurren Lagann but the whole mech thing is a major turn off for me.

*Edit* A few older series the new younger gen may not remember. *just found my old anime VHS collection*

Crying Freeman
Bubblegum Crisis
Angel Cop
Mad Bull 34
Devilman

RedMenace:

Ivoryagent:
No no no, stay away from Neon Genesis, it is just overrated and overblown crap.

There, I just saved you hours of worthless thinking.

I agree with him on the "overrated" part but its still worth watching, some of the sub-lines might not kick in until you go to college and take something like philosophy 101 of mythology 101 though, so be prepared to be slightly disappointed at first.

EDIT: I said it before and will say it again; Shinji (or w/e his name, main character) was made horribly.

Yeah the EoEva just blew my mind I.

KneeLord:
I have never been a huge anime fan, but I know there are some real gems in the 'genre'. Like so many things, the signal/noise ratio of good anime / dross is pretty poor.

To give you an indication of anime I responded well to:

- Akira
- Ghost in The Shell 1, 2 Standalone Complex 1 & 2
- Ninja Scroll
- Steam Boy

... and that's about it, which is why I was hoping based off that, those more knowledgable on the subject could provide some input.

Ghost in the shell, Solid state Society.
Eva may be in your tastes as well.

i would recommend death note, but i doubt you'll like it considering your tastes once again.

brabz:
I'm not a huge anime fan, but "Berserk" is excellent. You've got angry mercenaries and oversized crazy swords mixed with a solid, adult storyline. Check it out.

I agree, though a word of warning: There's not a lot of levity in the series. Even series that are dark have moments of lightheartness and comic relief. Berserk doesn't. It gets really dark at times, particularly towards the end where life just starts to really, really suck for everyone.

I recommend The Place Promised in our Early Days, the film by Makoto Shinkai. Incredible characters and a very creative storyline.

As for series, well, there's the obvious The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, but those interested in anime will like the "Big Three" of meta-anime: Genshiken, Lucky Star, and Comic Party.

Death Note: Clever, maybe a bit too much so. One of the most suspenseful shows I've seen in years.

Cowboy Bebop: Possibly the best anime ever. Very accessible and has episodes that vary from light hearted comedy to heart wrenching. Also manages to nicely develop all the characters over the course of the series. There's also a movie that doesn't really fit into the series as far as running plotlines are concerned, but still worth watching.

Evangelion: Starts off as a fairly cheesy looking "Teens in giant robots fight giant monsters" anime but about halfway through the series it takes a fairly dark turn where it becomes increasingly obvious all the characters have serious emotional issues, and the religious symbolism starts moving into the forefront of the show. There is a movie "End of Evangelion" which is supposed to replace the last two episodes of the series. How well it succeeds is fairly controversial.

Desert Punk: A dark comedy with a fair bit of sex humor. Follows the exploits of a short, highly skilled(and sometimes insane) mercenary with a weakness for huge breasts. Another show that becomes darker towards the end, though never really takes itself too seriously(to it's credit). Think Mad Max with a sense of humor and a pervert as the hero.

Ergo Proxy: A recent anime with beautiful animation. Rather philosophical and occasionally surreal, set in a dying world where humanity lives in domes. Driven by the central mystery of what exactly a Proxy is, and has some interesting, strange episodes.

The biggest question to answer before you start any series is

"What do I want out of this?"

This is the biggest problem I have found in viewing and enjoying anime. First of all, forget that fact that you are watching cartoons, and that they are from Japan. They are just TV shows (and movies), nothing more or less.

Type 1: If you want to watch a show with fun badass ninjas like Ninja scroll (and who doesn't?), that's really easy to do and find new series. Whatever sounds fun, start watching it. If you don't like it, move on.

Type 2: If you want to watch anime for it's own sake and to understand the anime gestalt, that's a whole other story. Its between these two focuses that fans get confused - often watching only anime classified under Type 1 and claiming that limited breadth to be Type 2.

Since I am more familiar with Type 2, here are some of the historically important, entertaining series representative of their genre:

Dragon Ball
Cutey Honey
Pokemon
Maison Ikkoku
Evangelion
Hana Yori Dango
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Gundam (SOME Gundam, but I couldn't tell you which)

These may very well be NOT the path you are looking to go, and if that's the case I can certainly suggest some fun sci-fi or ninja series for you, much of which has already been mentioned.

qbert4ever:
....Naruto?

*Ducks head and runs*

Shit, I tried to watch Naruto but i wiped when they got to that bridge.

avykins:
Am I the only one that was disappointed with how Death Note ended ?

[snip spoiler]

Also I am trying really hard to get into Gurren Lagann but the whole mech thing is a major turn off for me.

*Edit* A few older series the new younger gen may not remember. *just found my old anime VHS collection*

Crying Freeman
Bubblegum Crisis
Angel Cop
Mad Bull 34
Devilman

If anything, the end of the anime offered more closure than the manga.Though near the end (as in the last episode) in the anime, Kira was acting out of character, but in the manga, after

avykins:
Okay I wont repeat what has already been listen 50 times soo far but how come noone has said Higurashi no Naku Koro ni yet. Its one of the best series I have ever seen.

Because no-one has any taste. Also, obviously, only about the first half of the first series was ever officially translated.

Also, I am contractually obligated to mention Macross at this point. Especially the seminal first series and the mindblowing Macross Frontier.

GloatingSwine:
Because no-one has any taste. Also, obviously, only about the first half of the first series was ever officially translated.

Pfft dont talk to me about official translations. Fansubs are usually far better.
(animejunkies notwithstanding. mass naked child events ftw.

Probably been said before but the only one i can really recommend is Full Metal Alchemist.

Here are some others anyway.

- Hellsing or Hellsing Ultimate
- Blood+
- Death Note
- Full Metal Panic
- Gun Grave
- Ergo Proxy

Zero no Tsukaima is the funniest anime ever IMO. The first series is licensed though.

Samurai Champloo is a good one, even if the ending is slightly cop-outish. Chrno Crusade is a beautiful anime packed with tragedy and action (tragedaction?), but kinda throws you at the beginning with its very different tone in the beginning to its middle and end.
Noir is also a good one about a pair of female assassins. It's an acquired taste, and perhaps a little difficult to get into at first, but well worth the first couple of mediocre episodes.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is good, if you can stand the fact that every single character is off their head with crazy.
I personally didn't like the original Hellsing, as it was just a case of the following:

1. Anti-vampire agency sees bad shit's going down.
2. Alucard goes with police girl to fuck shit up.
3. Bad monsters shoot Alucard, who says "lolololol u cant hurt me bitch" and kills them.
4. Police girl refuses to drink blood even though she's a vampire, Alucard lols at her.
5. Everybody wonders whether the commander of the anti-vampire agency is a guy or a girl.
6. Anti-vampire agency sees bad shit's going down...

And so on.

i recomend
blood+
eureka 7
azumanga daioh
clannad
ouran high school host club
last exile
lucky star
the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya
burst angel
all of these are good so watch them if you want

Pfft dont talk to me about official translations. Fansubs are usually far better.

If by "usually far better" you mean "frequently unspeakably terrible", possibly.

Fansubs are written by ear, not with access to the original script, leading to some persistent mistranslations (Raging Heart/Raising Heart, f'rinstance), and they're written for speed, not accuracy.

If there's an official subtitled release of a series, it's translation will always be better (TTGL is a recent example, Simon's speech in episode 11, which is one of the crowning moments of the series, makes no sense in the fansub, but the bandai translation not only makes sense, it also ties in to Simon's character in the whole second half of the series).

Ivoryagent:

ffxfriek:
bleach

Shush.

Here's a list just for the occasion:

Azumanga Daioh - Slice of Life/Comedy
Aishta no Joe - Sports
Akagi - Drama/Thriller
Aria - Slice of Life
Baccano - Action/Comedy
Beck - Comedy/Slice of Life
Big O - Mecha/Science Fiction
Black Lagoon - Action
Boogiepop Phantom - Thriller/Science Fiction
Card Captor Sakura - Fantasy/Romance
Chevalier D'Eon - Fantasy/Historical
Cowboy Bebop - Action/Science Fiction
Crest/Banner of the Stars - Science Fiction
Cromartie High School - Comedy
Dennou Coil - Science Fiction/Slice of Life
Diebuster - Mecha/Science Fiction
Ergo Proxy - Science Fiction/Thriller
Evangelion - Mecha/Science Fiction
Eureka Seven - Mecha/Science Fiction
Escaflowne - Mecha/Romance
Fantastic Children - Science Fiction/Adventure
FLCL - Science Fiction/Slice of Life
Future Boy Conan - Science Fiction/Adventure
Gankutsuou - Science Fiction/Drama
Giant Robo - Science Fiction/Adventure
Great Teacher Onizuka - Comedy/Slice of Life
Golden Boy - Comedy
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (+ 2nd gig) - Science Fiction/Mystery
Gungrave - Drama/Science Fiction
Gunbuster - Mecha/Science Fiction
Haibane Renmei - Fantasy/Slice of Life
Hajime no Ippo - Sports
Honey and Clover - Romance/Slice of Life
Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Drama/Science Fiction
Kamichu! - Slice of Life/Fantasy
Kare Kano - Romance/Drama
Kaiji - Drama/Thriller
Kemonozume - Romance/Action
Kimagure Orange Road - Comedy/Romance
Manabi Straight - Slice of Life
Maison Ikkoku - Comedy/Romance
Macross Plus - Mecha/Science Fiction
Marimite - Drama/Slice of Life
Mononoke - SuperNatural
Monster - Thriller/Drama
Moyashimon - Comedy/Slice of Life
Mushishi - SuperNatural/Slice of Life
Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water - Science Fiction/Adventure
NieA Under 7 - Science Fiction/Slice of Life
Noein - Science Fiction/Slice of Life
Nodame Cantabile - Romance/Comedy
Now and Then, Here and There - Drama/Science Fiction
Ouran High School Host Club - Comedy/Romance
Outlaw Star - Science Fiction/Action
Paradise Kiss - Drama/Romance
Paranoia Agent - Thriller/Comedy
Patlabor - Science Fiction/Slice of Life
Planetes - Science Fiction/Slice of Life
Princess Tutu - Fantasy/Romance
RahXephon - Mecha/Science Fiction
Remi: Nobody's Boy - Drama/Drama
Revolutionary Girl Utena - Romance/Fantasy
Record of Lodoss War OVA - Fantasy/Action
Rose of Versailles - Drama/Historical
Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal - Drama/Action
Samurai Champloo - Action/Comedy
Serial Experiments Lain - Thriller/Science Fiction
Simoun - Science Fiction/Slice of Life
Shigurui - Action/Historical
Space Adventure Cobra - Comedy/Science Fiction
Someday's Dreamers - Slice of Life/Fantasy
Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann - Mecha/Science Fiction
The Twelve Kingdoms - Fantasy
The Hakkenden - Action/Historical
Texhnolyze - Drama/Science Fiction
Trigun - Science FIction/Action
Tweeny Witches - Fantasy
Turn A Gundam - Mecha/Science Fiction
Windy Tales - Slice of Life/Fantasy
Wolf's Rain - Science Fiction/Drama
Welcome to the NHK - Comedy/Drama
Yukikaze - Action

P.S. If this is too long, I will gladly edit it.

would you kindly add ragnarok to the list please?

I liked Sailor Moon, but I think I maybe one of the only males to do so.

RPJesus:
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

This.
Yes, it's cheesy and features highschool characters, but it's plain funny and adorable :>
Plus the original order of the episodes is just nuts and adds some more special flavour.

And Cowboy Bebop of course. Just awesome.

The_root_of_all_evil:
I liked Sailor Moon, but I think I maybe one of the only males to do so.

Don't be so sure. Sailor Moon might not be made to appeal to guys, but there's always going to be a periphery demographic.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, however, is a magical girl show written for a male audience (oddly, that doesn't mean notably increased fanservice, just more, longer, and better animated fights).

I'm going to be smarter than just pimping my favorite Series' and I will actually recommend based on your statements.

- Serial Experiments Lain
- Haibane Renmei
- Ergo Proxy
- Evangelion
- If you liked Steamboy check out Castle in The Sky and Porco Rosso
- Samurai Champloo
- Afro Samurai
- Samurai 7
- Patlabour 1 and 3 (avoid 2 at all costs, directed by the same gent as Ghost in the Shell)

Also I cannot recommend anything more highly than Full Metal Alchemist and if you liked Steamboy it may appeal to you.

Trigun
Tsubasa Chronicle.
FMA
Melancholy of Suzimiya Haruhi
xxxHolic

Best anime out there.

As someone else said, Ergo Proxy.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It's pretty much the epitome of awesome, which makes it the ultimate anime to watch.

Gundam! Well, at least 0079 movie trilogy, 0080 War in the Pocket, Gundam X, G Gundam, Turn A Gundam... Gundam 00 is pretty awesome too.

Lord Krunk:
If you don't mind me saying it, Avater: The Last Airbender was an awesome series. There was just so much about that show that I liked, and it's one of the only things that actually hold my attention.

I always figured that was just a kids show until one of my friends recommended it to me not so long ago and I must say there is something very compelling about it.

Also the same friend introduced me to Soul Eater which I think is OK.

Evangelion and FLCL are the only animes that I still like. I went through a anime phase and hate all of it besides those two... and DBZ.

The Miyazaki films, though not series, are wonderful.

PedroSteckecilo:
I'm going to be smarter than just pimping my favorite Series' and I will actually recommend based on your statements.

- Serial Experiments Lain
-

That was a good series, albeit really damn creepy! I have to wonder just what the writers were smoking, and why they aren't sharing. Seriously, all the weirdness with the shadows, and the guy with the umbrella, and the copout ending? Dude...
I'm not saying it was bad, it was a good series. Just don't expect much of it to make sense.

The top ones in my book are:
-Cowboy Bebop
-Samurai Champloo (I think it's from the same people who made Cowboy Bebop? Maybe?)
-Death Note

Right now I'm watching Claymore and it's really good, with plenty of dismemberment.

Kiba is really good