Azisien needs to find some enjoyable ANIMU but can't.

[Wigmund]

I do not see Soul Eater on your list Azisien or in any of the recommendations above and that is terrible.

[Regulus Tera]

Screw you guys, it's all about Star Driver.

I haven't seen such levels of fabulousity since Code Geass ended.

[Tev]

Oh, I got one for you: Samurai 7. It's of course an animated take on the Seven Samurai movie drawn out into about 24 episodes set in the future where an oppressive technocracy is basically draining the outlying peasants of resources after a horrible war. The main character girl takes some rice and hires up some samurai (one of which is a robot!) and heads to town to show those assholes in mech suits the what for!

[Fifthfiend]

S7 is kind of good but also incredibly dumb.

Like there is all this badass future technology but all of the badass future technology is easily, easily defeated by any moron with a sword or a bow and arrow or like a really sharp wooden stick.

If you can overlook that it's pretty okay.

Originally Posted by phil_

Watch Katanagatari. It's about killing swordsmen and writing fiction. It picks up half way through episode one, has neat sword fights and ninjas, is funny, and will have an ending in December.

Katanagatari is pretty great but hold off watching it for a few months when all the episodes come out, like it's on this fucking one-episode-a-month release schedule that is goddamn infuriating.

[Tev]

If you want to give street fighter/mortal kombat-esque shows a try, I'd say Grappler Baki and Air Master are decent. Also on the competition scene is Air Gear which was rather fast paced, being all about kids who race Fast and the Furious style with motorized roller blades. Only downside there was that it was made to be two seasons and season two never got made.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Azisien

There was an anime I did not list because I CANNOT for the life of me remember the name. It was about a kid who got a guardian angel that basically spent the entire 10 or so episodes murdering him and resurrecting him. Though a tough sell, it was also hilarious.

I believe it's Bokusatu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. I'm not sure on the translation of the first two words, but I believe Tenshi means angel.

I'm a fan of shows that take off with a BANG. Champloo, which I just finished recently, had me hooked because right from the first episode there's some bad-ass sword fighting. I appear to like swords, but not if robots are holding them. Samurai are cool. Trigun took 20 episodes to be even remotely decent, so fuck that kind of pacing.

I like heroes that struggle. In Bebop and Champloo, the protagonists were highly skilled but enemies were often a little under, or equal, or better in skill. Contrast to Trigun, where it's basically a Vash circle jerk of his greatness for almost the entire series. Hated that.

So in summary, shows should pick up relatively quickly, have some action and humor, and they have to END too. I hope that helps a little.

As one addition, although I haven't actually watched too much edgy stuff before, I don't mind dark, or adult, or whatever. Bring it on.

Black Lagoon. It's basically if Cowboy Bebop was about pirates in the south China seas. (I think that's where they are) Oh, and if it was INCREDIBLY dark. Another one of those shows that I've found is accessible to non-anime fans.

Baccano! might be to your liking. Lot of action, a lot of humor, and it's all set during the prohibition era of the US. It's a little confusing early on because it doesn't do things in chronological order, but as the show continues you start to get a feel for how everything comes together. If you like Baccano!, you might want to check out Durarara! which is by the same author.

Phil recommended Katanagatari, which is a pretty aces show in most every regard, but my only concern is that how talky it is will put you off it. Watch the first episode. If you like it, cool. If you don't, don't bother with the rest of the series.

Soul Eater is great, but it's pretty anime in its humor. It also suffers from some really weak episodes for the first three. Like, I love the show, but those episodes suck. Possibly try watching the first episode aware that the show is normally much better than this, and then skip to the fourth episode. Episode two is literally so bad I could only stomach five minutes of it. It's fifty-one episodes long, but it actually has an ending, and the ending kicks ass.

Elfen Lied is something I foresee people recommending, and I'm a little torn on it. On the one hand, it's something that really isn't all that great in retrospect, because it dials up the "awful shit happening" all the way to eleven, and then to twenty. You really have to be in the right mindset to enjoy it otherwise you won't be able to take it seriously just because of how over-the-top the depressing stuff is. The ending also sucks. On the other hand, it is something that non-anime fans seem to enjoy on some level, from time to time, so I might as well throw it out there.

Two directors I recommend checking out are Satoshi Kon and Miyazaki. For Satoshi Kon, I recommend Millenium Actress (a movie I am halfway through right now) and Tokyo Godfathers. Neither are action based, but they're movies, and therefore less of a commitment. Story, characters, and presentation in both is just aces, though. However, if you don't like one of those two films, I'm can't recommend checking his others out. I love how he directs, but I can see how it would put some people off. Paranoia Agent is by the same guy, but is a bit more out there than those two movies I've mentioned. Miyazaki I recommend because he's goddamn Miyazaki. Dude kicks ass. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are both easy recommends, though I haven't watched the latter in some time so my main source of confidence in it is that Miyazaki directed it.

I'll try and think of some others to throw out there.

[Tev]

Originally Posted by NonCon

Miyazaki I recommend because he's goddamn Miyazaki. Dude kicks ass. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are both easy recommends, though I haven't watched the latter in some time so my main source of confidence in it is that Miyazaki directed it.

Basic rule of thumb for people getting into anime. If Miyazaki made it, watch it.

He's like the Japanese Walt Disney but better in many (most)....(all?) respects.

EDIT: OH, and if you can suspend your disbelief in the science of sound in a vacuum then I suggest you look up Black Heaven.

Plot Summary: Oji Tanaka has a wife, a child and a mundane job as a salary man in Tokyo's modern society. But life wasn't dull for him to begin with; 15 years ago, he was known as "Gabriel", leader of a short-lived heavy metal band called Black Heaven. Oji's life gets a sudden change in direction when he is invited by a mysterious blonde woman named Layla to pick up his Gibson Flying V and once again display his "legendary" guitar skills, not knowing that his music generates power for a massive weapon in an intergalactic war.

It's about how you win a space war by rocking out harder than the other guy.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

Recommending the Gungrave anime, because it's really underrated and only very few people seem to have seen it. Just skip the first episode.
It's basically a mafia drama with lots of sci-fi. Though that may not be so apparent at first.

Also: Neon Genesis Evangelion. Horribly overrated, as it's a cult object. But it's still very good and one of my favorite shows.

Berserk has already been recommended, though. I'd suggest reading the Manga instead. Unless you're easily put off by grimdarkness, then the anime is better for you. It even turns a minor villain into more of a comic relief character. But the ending is a pain in the butt, because it pretty much ends at one of the most depressing moments, and there's no real conclusion, so you'll have to read the manga if you wanna know the rest of the story.

And I know it's hip and trendy to hate Death Note, but I liked Death Note, and you should probably at least try it. It's an interesting show with a villain-protagonist.

Elfen Lied is also one of those shows lots of people seem to hate. It's nothing too special, but it's worth a watch. Most of the gore people complain about is from the first few minutes of the first episode.

[Azisien]

Whoooa, this list is getting long as I expected. I'm going to cross-reference these recommendations with my roommate to see if he's seen any of them.

Thanks for all the recommends so far, I don't have time to thank everybody personally but...

Originally Posted by Fifthfiend

Stop watching animes, they're all terrible.

Bro like half of your Twitter updates are about Bleach, I take what you say about anime with a dump truck of salt.

[Tev]

Originally Posted by InsaneGenius

And I know it's hip and trendy to hate Death Note, but I liked Death Note, and you should probably at least try it. It's an interesting show with a villain-protagonist.

Just know that when the two boys who aren't L show up to play detective, it's time to turn off the show and watch something else. By then you will have seen the two biggest pay-offs of the show and the rest just seems like it was just tacked on for funsies.

Originally Posted by InsaneGenius

Elfen Lied is also one of those shows lots of people seem to hate. It's nothing too special, but it's worth a watch. Most of the gore people complain about is from the first few minutes of the first episode.

Yeah, starting a show off with a naked girl wandering the halls of a military installation reducing everyone in her path to blood splotches with her mind most certainly has that effect on most people.