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...I'd like to suggest some older shows that have apparently been forgotten under the current blitz of Lain, Slayers, Evangelion, Gundam Wing, etc.

Otaku no Video (Fanboy's Video), available in English from AnimEigo:
This mockumentary is requisite viewing for every fan. Think your anime addiction is just a harmless hobby? Watch as these otakus (fanboys) redefine obsession as they spread the joy of anime and quite literally take over the world. The first time you watch it, it's hilarious. The second time through, it's humiliating; you can't help but see yourself in the none-too-flattering mirror they hold up.

Kimagure Orange Road (Whimsical Orange Road), available in English from AnimEigo:
A charming high school comedy/drama about Kyosuke Kasuga, a teenager stuck in a love triangle between the irrepressably cute Hikaru and the quietly enchanting Madoka. The story takes its time to develop over 48 TV episodes, 8 OAVs, and a full-length series-ending movie, with everything coming together to paint a memorable, almost nostalgic view of growing up in a more innocent time.

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, available in English from ADV Films:
From the people who brought you Neon Genesis Evangelion, a romping-good comedy/adventure loosely based on the works of Jules Verne -- or as some would say, set in a Verne-esque world. It is the story of circus acrobat Nadia, her pet lion cub King, her friend Jean the boy-genius, and the band of misfits they gather as they try to escape from a mysterious organization.

Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, available in English from Anime Village:
Almost universally considered by hardcore fans to be the best Gundam series ever; today's Gundam Wing is just a mediocre, angst-saturated rehash in comparison. Four years after the One Year War (UC 0079), the forces of Zeon have regrouped for one last attack on the Earth Federation. This time, however, they have their own prototype heavy weapons Gundam -- complete with an outlawed nuclear warhead...

Koko wa Greenwood (Here is Greenwood), available in English from Software Sculptors:
Kazuya Hasukawa starts the semester late because of ulcers he developed when his own brother stole away his first love. When he finally gets to Greenwood Dormitory, he discovers his roommate looks like a girl, his classmates are sadistic freaks, and the brother he left home to get away from is the school doctor! Aaaauugghhh! Often underrated by fans hyped up on more frenetic shows, this is yet another wacky, charming OAV series about high school life in Japan.

Video Girl Ai, available in English from Viz Communications:
Youta is heartbroken: the girl he secretly loves has confided in him that she has a crush on another boy. Hurt and confused, Youta wanders into a mysterious video store and rents a Video Girl video to help him forget his pain. At first blush it seems like just another "dream-girl come true" contemporary fantasy like Oh! My Goddess, but it quickly descends into a surreal nightmare as the truth behind the video store and its magical Video Girls is revealed.

Giant Robo, available in English from Manga Video:
It's "Johnny Sako and His Giant Robot" retooled for the 90's! It's Big Fire versus the Experts of Justice! It's campy super-spy action kicked up several notches and crammed to the gills with gut-wrenching cliffhangers and positively THUNDEROUS music!

Wings of Honneamise, available in English from Manga Video:
A favorite of mine, this film is nominally about the early days of the space program on an alternate earth. However, it gradually delves into the meanings of and frequent conflicts between war, religion, politics, history, love, celebrity, and heroism. Admittedly not for everyone.

Grave of the Fireflies, available in English from Central Park Media:
No list is complete without this profoundly human film about a brother and sister struggling to survive during the last days of World War II. Words fail me, so I'll just defer to Roger Ebert who has named it one of the Great Movies of all time. Warning: you WILL cry -- it is impossible to not -- so if you insist on remaining a manly-man, you'd better steer clear.

Bubblegum Crisis - This is the series that really got me into anime. What's not to like about a series featuring cool technology, babes in battlesuits, and bad-ass villains. Though it looks a bit dated now (it was produced in the early '80's), it still ranks as a classic. There is an updated series that is partially out on video which is also worth seeing, but I think the original is still a bit better. Original released by Animeigo; not sure who is releasing the new series.

Oh! My Goddess - If Bubblegum Crisis got me into anime, Oh! My Goddess got me hooked. Cute and funny story about a boy and the three Norse goddesses who live with him. Belldandy is my favorite character of any series anywhere. Released by Animeigo.

The Vision of Escaflowne - I thought Evangeleon kicked serious ass, but I have always preferred Escaflowne, as it's got the frighteningly deep story I like without the air of depression that courses through Eva. Escaflowne is a fantasy story set on a planet near earth, but invisible from Earth, where among other things, dragons are real, rocks float, and other than a couple of races, technology is still middle-ages at best. The art is beautiful, although the character design is a bit, well, odd. Give this one a shot! It is available from Anime Village.

Slayers - Lighthearted fantasy/D&D spoof. Lina Inverse is a "saucy, flat-chested, but highly skillful sourceress" out to rob from the criminals and give to herself. Oh, and save the world from eternal darkness along the way. Released by Software Sculptors.

Sabre Marionette J - I'm not sure if this has been released over here yet. Story about a human colony on another planet where there are no women (all reproduction is through cloning). The only females are "marionettes" (androids), which are used as servants, etc. Marionettes don't have emotions. Well, most of them don't...

Tenchi Muyo! - A long series, but worth it. Aliens, extremely powerful enemies, and ancient royal family converge on some poor guy named Tenchi. A fun series, but with a definite serious side. The movie, Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love is outstanding; you don't have to have seen the series first to enjoy the movie, but it couldn't hurt. Released by Pioneer Entertainment (yes, the stereo people).

Hope this (somehow) helps.

Mark

If you're patient, it is essential that you see "The Vision of Escaflowne", in its entirety (avoid the "Best" collection, which is an unforgivable edit job) and subtitled. animevillage.com has a good distribution, and DVDs are coming out shortly. Great characters, story, visuals, and my god, much of the music is simply incredible. I would call "Escaflowne" the best television series I have ever seen, animated or otherwise.

Also, I'd like to point you to (the sometimes flaky) nausicaa.net for an introduction to the films of Studio Ghibli. You're going to want to see as many of them as you can -- they're the cream of the crop. Princess Mononoke was good, but much better were My Neighbor Totoro (the Fox dubbed version is okay, but avoid the upcoming Disney dub which will surely suck), Kiki's Delivery Service (subtitles are IMPERATIVE, the Disney dub is AWFUL), Grave of the Fireflies (there's a good DVD release in the US for this one already), Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and several more very very good films.

I would start with Totoro; if you don't fall in love with that movie, you have no more spirit... the marvelous Joe Hisaishi put a lot of very fine music into these films as well.

pretty good selection so far... but i needs some more =P first off, the Dragon Ball Z that you cant catch on cartoon network is far far superior. for whatever reason, CN continues to play the first 2 1/2 seasons over and over again... thats about when he animation really starts to get good too. after the garlic jr mini-saga, the series really takes off too. get a clue cartoon network : ) another entertaining series of mention is Outlaw Star ... A man with a damned good shot, his little brother, and a space-pirate/military jointly developed space-craft. silly and entertaining =P kinda like trigun. go to anime village for some more info, and check out MicroSoft er uh MobileSuit Gundam, and Vision of Escaflowne while your there all of the Gundam series are different... i think most of the animation is cell based (like transformers) but the stories are great, and the tapes are widely available. Vision of Escaflowne is pretty good too. Our heroin Hitomi is mysteriously transported to a medieval world where knights duel in giant armor (giant mobile suits if you will) and a war against choice is being waged. check it out. also of note are the fantastic shows from gainax incl. Neon Genesis: Evangelion and His & Her communication. completely opposite of each other but both fantastic. Eva is about three adolecents battling extraterestrial angels in giant living armor. jaw dropping, not quite up to lain standards, but pretty good... LONG. His & Her is done by the same guy as Eva, but is completely different... deals mostly on the subject of young love... deep, funny, enjoyable. hard as hell to find tho. that oughta do it... gotta go watch some pokemon soon =P

I'm glad someone here brought this up. ^_^

If you are looking for some Anime resources on line, here is a short list off the top of my head:

- EX
This is a review site that reviews a ton of Anime, Anime Music, Manga(comics where a lot of Anime comes from), and other stuff(games, books, etc that are Anime related). One of the oldest and longest running online Anime e-zines.

- Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database
Hitoshi's exploits as a Seiyuu(a voice actor/actress) are legendary and his database shows it. If there was a piece of animation made in Japan and there was a speaking role in it, it has been cataloged here. Great for crossref-ing your favorite actress!

Conventions(there are a bunch...to list them all would kill me ^_^)
- Anime Expo
Southern California con. Quite possibly, the "high profile Anime con" where a lot of the domestics and some of the Japanese companies make announcements.

- Anime Central
Chicago area con. Great con for those of us who live in the center of the country. ^_^;

Business...
- A.D. Films
Domestic distributor of stuff shows like Evangelion.
- Anime Village
Domestic distributor of stuff shows like Cowboy Bebop.
- Pioneer Anime
Domestic distributor of shows like Tenchi.

Finally....
- Anipike
An ambitious attempt to catalog all of the Anime content out there on the web. Has an interesting "Last Exit" column that showcases the best(and the worse) of Anime Online. This site is great to find anything and everything Anime.

If I was an anime addict and the movie wasn't released in the USA, I would by it off the internet from a sight in Japan.

Actually, this example is somewhat backwards. The studios wouldn't mind at all for you to import their $60 dvd's. I don't think Gainax's dvd release of Neon Genesis Evangelion is even region locked; you can order it directly from them for around $52/disc. I just hope you can understand japanese and don't expect any extras. In fact, they usually come in standard jewel cases.

The studios are much more worried about japanese consumers importing american dvd's. No worries about them understanding english either. Traditionally, american dvd releases of anime contain the video stream, english language and the original japanese language audio streams, as well as english subtitles and often even spanish subtitles. There are usually other extras as well, all in a handy keepsake case for a MSRP of $29.95 which usually drops to below $20 when ordering online from, for example, DVD Express. Not to mention the awesome deals on box sets. Look up Tenchi Muyo! and Fushigi Yugi at DVD Express for examples.

This is the reason Bandai (AnimeVillage.com) has a policy to wait at least six months after a japanese anime DVD release to produce the american one. I suppose if a title is never going to be released here in america you may want to import it from japan, but that problem is disappearing as anime becomes more popular over here.

Anyone interested in anime on dvd can check out Anime on DVD.

All geeks like anime, at least the Sci-Fi stuff. If you are a geek and don't like Sci-Fi there is something wrong with you.

Some great movies/videos are:

Battle Angel Alita
Ghost in a Shell
Bubblegum Crisis (Orig & 2040) (I recommend 2040)
Cowboy Bebop
Evangelion
Spriggen (not released in english yet)
Serial Experiments Lain (turns on all geeks, who can not like a chick who upgrades a computer until there is no room left in her room? bahwahahaha. This is a mind trip series.. all about existing on an alternate universe... the Wired (the Internet), cool eh?)

Some Mangas(comic books 17-18+) are: (please don't buy these for your young geek friends/family members)

Appleseed (very cool!)
Ghost in a Shell (cool also)
Alita (9 volumes!)

Anything by Shiro Masamune is highly recomended, not sure if girl geeks will like it, some are graphic.
Places to buy:
www.dvdexpress.com
www.reel.com
www.advfilms.com
www.animevillage.com

for more info on a series and anime go to Anipike

-Ben