You know how you like a new show, like you can't wait for it to come on next week? That's how I've been feeling about shows like Trigun, Gundam SEED, Cowboy Beebop, and Gungrave, except for one thing.
They're all shows that were animated in Japan and are actually completed. That means there are jems out there in the sci-fi, drama, mystery, horror, and family genres that you haven't seen and they've been there for years.
I first started with Cowboy Beebop. Being a more adult themed western sci-fi type of show (Firefly anyone?) I really liked it. I later tried on Full Metal Alchemist. This took about 2 years. Recently though with the slump good shows on, I decided to try a few more Anime shows.
I started easy with the Ghibli movies. These are essentially geared more towards kids, but they involve magical fantasy type themes, and some of them have sci-fi elements as well. They share similarities with the American made counterparts, like adult humor splashed in with the kiddie stuff.
I watched Porco Rosso, the story of a fighter pilot turned into a pig that helps people but has his own strange agenda as well. Moved on to Howl's Moving Castle, a fantasy themed story about a girl who gets changed into a old woman. Then Kiki's delivery service, which was more geared towards kids as it was about a little girl that happened to be a witch that spends a year away from her family. Nausicaa: of the Valley of the Wind was also a cool Sci-Fi type of film that featured (in the English version) Patrick Stuart, Uma Thurman, Edwards James Olmos, Mark Hamill amongst others. Others I watched were Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Whisper of the Heart, all of which are probably better known than the others. From there I got into the series that I spole about above.
This post is getting a little long but I'm enjoying watching these and not really missing English spoken TV right now. The subtitles are especially wonderful when the kids want to play loudly and you don't really have to hear anything.