Must see fighting anime. Defines the genre. About a down on his luck man, taking up boxing. It's not upbeat, it's sad, it's real.
Future Boy Conan
A boy; Conan, is born in a world filled with oceans. He meets a girl who gets kidnapped, and begins his unforgettable journey to save her.
The Rose of Versailles
About a girl who is raised as a man to become her father's successor. One of my favorites.
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
"The breakthrough mecha show that combined giant robots that transformed into jet planes with a pop music soundtrack to create a compelling, wildly popular series."
Barefoot Gen
Depicts the struggle of the Japanese during the "last hour" during WWII through the eyes of the young boy, Gen.
Fist of the North Star
"Muscle-bound men who talk too much, tons of fighting, massive muscle-bound men the size of houses, and of course Ken's famous "atatata" attack that makes even E. Honda's One Hundred Handslap cry with jealousy."
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
WHOOP WHOOP NATURE
Angel's Egg
Just watch this. Just do it. You won't regret it.
Bubblegum Crisis
It's kind of like cyberpunk Sailor Moon. Kind of.
Akira
My favorite anime movie of all time. I don't give a fuck if you think the ending doesn't make sense. This is the kind of thing anime movies need to take more inspiration from. Cyberpunk at it's best. (at least for anime)
Legend of Galactic Heroes
SPACE SPACE SPACE politics SPACE SPACE SPACE
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
delicious ganguro (im sorry im kidding not really)
but really, great story filled with fantasy and intrigue.
Brother Dear Brother
Mean Girls the anime.
Here is Greenwood
A girl at an all boys school! Dressed up as a boy! What more do you want?
Only Yesterday
Memories flood back to a mature business woman as she goes on her summer break. Beautiful.
Detective Conan
I'm only posting this here because it's long as fuck, so if you want to waste a year watching an anime, this is it. It's not bad either.
I'll add in anything as it comes up, for now, here it is.
I tend to avoid the epics since pretty much everyone knows them if they watch any anime.
I agree with Akira since...well you don't really go wrong with a cult classic & landmark film. It's my favorite as well. If anyone disagrees with this, you should be castrated, tarred and feathered, then hung upside down by your toes in the town square to be stoned by the peasants.
However the thing with Detective Conan is well...don't try to watch all of the episodes. Don't get me wrong, I like the show. I have always been a huge fan of detective/mystery but lets be honest... The series has 704 episodes at this point in time, approximately 680 of them are fillers. Go through a bit of it if you want, but after the 100th or so, just check out the Detective Conan Wikipedia and just follow the episodes list for Black Organization & Kaito Kid. Everything else is..well just more of the same or has no significance when concerning the plot of the series.
Nausicaa is a good choice but then again, pretty much anything produced by Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli is gold. Spirited Away, Grave of the fireflies, Princess Monokoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Arrietty, From Up on Poppy Hill, Porco Rosso, etc..
He is a bit of an ass but the guy knows how to make a good film.
Yo. So I started watching anime back a year ago from pure boredom and here's some stuff I really enjoyed.
Ping Pong The Animation
God tier. Not about shitty romance/harem junk that uses episodes for filler with dem generic beach bikini episodes. This show has nothing to do with ping pong and more to do with the development of a vast array of stellar characters. If you're a fan of watching characters grow with you without a huge over-arching story, this is for you. The art style is goofy but it will grow on you.
Katanagatari
Great action anime with a bit of a plot. There is a bit of romance in it but not much at all. The two MCs are great and it has a great storyline but the ending was ok. I loved the art style and the action. The main character's "power" was cool.
D-Frag!
Cute romance/comedy/harem. The MC is fucking hilarious because of the absurd situations he gets in. Not nearly as pervy as other dumb animes.
Classics that are good, not gonna go indepth with them. They're all actiony. If you like a good storyline/characters, Trigun. If you like characters and action, Cowboy Bebop. If you like the inbetwen, Big O (which has a very odd ending with a lot of ~SYMBOLISM~). Samurai Champloo is a guilty pleasure action anime.