Sparked by the conversation in the Last Airbender section, I'm gonna list the anime I've watched that I've deemed to be of good quality, and invite all of you on the board to do the same. My comparison is to, in my opinion, the shit anime like Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha (although Miroku will always be an awesome character), Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, etc...Basically, anything involved with Shounen Jump magazine I hate with a passion. And please, don't make this thread a flame war over whether you deem something on someone's list of anime to be good or crap. Let people make their own decisions.
And of course, this is using the definition of anime we've come to know as meaning "animation from Japan," to clarify (seeing as 'anime' is actually just a shortening of the loanword animeshun, which encompasses all animation - meaning in Japan, Looney Tunes is anime...but whatever.)
I tend to prefer the more serious or more mature-oriented animes, so this list won't have many wacky-crazy harem comedies or high school dramas (most of which I can't stand either, although what I saw of Fruits Basket wasn't too bad, honestly.)
First off:
-Anything directed by Satoshi Kon (R.I.P.) - Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent, Paprika and (posthumously) his last film which just restarted production
-Pretty much anything by Hayao Miyazaki
Movies
-Grave of the Fireflies (in my opinion one of the best movies ever made, period)
-Barefoot Gen
-Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (the first Vampire Hunter D movie was actually pretty cool, too, but its story wasn't so hot - this sequel is just so much better in every way)
-Jin-Roh
-Ninja Scroll
-Akira
-Steamboy
-Mind Game
-The Venus Wars
-The Wings of Honneamise
Franchises
-Ghost in the Shell; Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex, Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex: 2nd Gig and Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex: Solid State Society (Ghost in the Shell II: Innocence, the official sequel to the original movie, is decent - the animation on Batou's dog is great - but not spectacular)
-Cowboy Bebop and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
-Blood: The Last Vampire & BLOOD+
-Fullmetal Alchemist & Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa; the more-accurate-to-the-manga Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (all are good)
-Read or Die & R.O.D. The TV
Series
-FLCL (Watch it subbed - the dub tries, but just can't reach the same level of insanity that's in the original language)
-Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
-Now and Then, Here and There (don't let the over-the-top-hyperactive-funny opening of the first episode fool you - it's just a mislead to make how dark this series gets feel even darker when it arrives.)
-Haibane Renmei
-Boogiepop Phantom
-Serial Experiments Lain
-Black Lagoon
-Planetes
-Big O
-Witchblade (yes, this actually was a good series, much to my surprise. Get the uncensored version, though.)
-Witch Hunter Robin
-Wolf's Rain
There's more, but I can't remember anything else off the top of my head - and as it's 2AM here, so if I remember anything else, I'll pit it in a new post, as I'd like to go to bed now.
Remember, these lists will be all one person's opinions. Please, let's not get into flame wars over people's opinions. Please.