Your essential anime suggestions

If this blog goes the way that I'd like it to, we're going to be talking about anime for years and years.  I think that sounds like a lot of fun, and I hope you like the sound of it as well!  Now, if we're going to be talking about anime for that long of a period, perhaps we should figure out the features that newcomers and fans alike absolutely need to see.

The feature on TIME's list of top 25 animated features of all-time really got me thinking about the best anime experiences I've had since I first started watching.  There really is a ton of amazing content out there, but I'm trying to think of the features that absolutely must be seen.  There are plenty of anime series' and features that I couldn't live without, but let's pick the titles that should be considered required viewing just to get into anime in general!

I'll start things off by mentioning the title that I briefly commented on earlier today.  For my, Ghost in the Shell is one of the most amazing anime features that I've ever seen.  If I come across people that are looking for something truly engaging, mind-bending and absolutely gorgeous, Ghost in the Shell is still a go-to anime feature for me.  Seeing it for the first time all those years ago really left an impression on me, and in the years that have since passed I've come to appreciate the feature more and more.  Hardly a viewing goes by where I don't learn something new or pick up on something different.

I'll definitely do a more in-depth feature on Ghost in the Shell in the future, but for now I'll leave my comment at that.  I want to hear what you guys pick as the cream of the crop...the stuff that your fellow anime fans absolutely must see.  I think we can put together one hell of an amazing list.