[OG2DFan]

Series: All in original Japanese language. Dubs, of course, consistently ruin them.

Shin Seki Evangelion - Intense and dark psychological drama with dynamic action and overall quality and sophistication way ahead of its time for TV series. The first giant robot series that seemed almost plausible because it was so serious.

Tenkuu no Escaflowne - Sweeping, epic romance with lots of action and incredible soundtrack. Very polished and also ahead of its time for TV series. Animation is consistently of the highest quality. The soundtrack is, once again, amazing. A perfect example of why Yoko Kanno should be composing major film scores.

FLCL - Dynamic work of art. A groundbreaking stylistic achievement. The soundtrack is exceptional for an anime series.

Cowboy Bebop - Dynamic animation with incredible soundtrack (many staff from Escaflowne) but almost non existent major arc keeps it from top tier. Yoko Kanno does it again with an excellent soundtrack.

Samurai Shamploo - Dynamic animation with interesting art direction and ideas (also staff from Cowboy Bebop) but slipping further away from overall perfection of Escaflowne. Still artistically and episodically better than most.

Super Dimensional Fortress Macross- The grandaddy of modern animation with a strong story arc and characters that have emotion and depth that was hard to find at the time and still can be. Opened the door for the more sophisticated fare that can exist today IMHO. The animation was inconsistent, but when the A team did an episode, it was gorgeous. Off the top of my head, the episode where Hikaru/Rick and Minmei were trapped in a closed off section of the SDF-1 still looks better than most TV anime to this day and it was made more than 20 years ago. Find it in Japanese. It is worth it.

Toppu O Nerae 2 (Gunbuster 2) - Pure eye candy, but worth every bit. Not the best story but it is all about the incredible visuals and kinetic action that are some of the best you will see to this point. The visuals are incredibly polished and top notch throughout. The opening song is better than average.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Langann - The visual successor to Gunbuster 2 and FLCL, all Gainax productions I believe, Gurren Langann is so dynamic it almost explodes from your television. The action is so over the top it's hard not to get overwhelmed by the visuals. Gainax, more than any other studio breathes a visual life into their series that is hard to describe. More rough around the edges than Gunbuster 2, but art direction wins out over probable lower production budget here. Gainax TV/OVA series are the only ones that exist as an artistic expression of movement and composition regardless of content. They transend the format and traditional animation in general.

Feature: Also all Japanese language.

Akira - The most technically advanced and accomplished animated feature of its time, it still looks excellent to this day over 20 years later. The story is pretty good too.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky - All Miyazaki films have such an incredible sense of adventure and exploration. I think Laputa and the following two are his best examples of this. Two children have the adventure of a lifetime running from, and then with, sky pirates from an overbearing military and dark political figure searching for a mythical floating castle.

Porco Rosso - Maybe every boys dream... to live a life of pure adventure, as a pilot! Beautiful and romantic setting with lots of action and sympathetic characters.

Spirited Away - Visually beautiful and mystical in so many ways.

Please try to catch these if you haven't. There are many more, but these are some of the best. Make sure it's in Japanese though!!!!