I love anime, but there is a certain tone that they have to have. I have no love for the young teen, giant eyes and sweat bead humor stuff. For example, I was told I would enjoy Trigun, as a fan of Spaghetti Western films, and post-apocalyptic stuff like Mad Max. The concept seemed great (if not a little played out thanks to the plethora of other fiction set in *GASP* WILD WEST IN SPACE?!)... but the execution was obviously not aimed at me. I just was not the target audience. A 14 year old anime lover was. No hate, just not for me... And since I have had similar experiences with so much anime, I am hesitant often to give new things a shot.
My favorite anime is now, always has been, and likely always will be Neon Genesis Evangelion. I just relate to the characters, in a deeply flawed, human, too human even... kind of way.
I also love Berserk, Mobile Suit Gundam (OG Gundam), Zeta Gundam, and some of the Gundam OVA series (08th MS Team, 0080, 0083 especially).
Oh, and Akira is what got me into anime. In highschool I dated a half Japanese girl who had much love for anime. I was a burgeoning film nerd/snob/collector/etc. and it took something with the sincerity, and innovation of Akira to convince me to give anime a shot. Glad she did.
Finally, no dubs, ever, in anything. Original s/t, with subs, in any film format, is my preference.