I'm sure I've already chimed in on this topic, but I thought I'd revisit it since I have many and varied tastes when it comes to anime, so I thought I'd list my favorites from each of the numerous genres I have in my collection.
Magical Girls: Even though it's been chided, derided, lambasted, flamed, laughed at, made fun of, despised, you name it,
Sailor Moon remains the best of the magical girl genre and is arguably one of the most beloved anime series of all time.
Giant Robots: This may come as a surprise to most, but I like
Gundam Wing over
Neon Genesis Evangelion. The geopolitical drama, mecha battles and the shifting allegiances made Wing intriguing. Plus, unlike Evangelion, Wing had a satisfying ending.
Sci-Fi: I agree completely with Mycernius,
Ghost in the Shell, in all its incarnations (the movies, Stand Alone Complex, 2nd Gig) represents perhaps the best pure sci-fi ever seen in anime. Great stories, great characters, GITS is cyber-fantastic.
Humor: For laugh-until-it-hurts insanity, you can't beat
Excel Saga. Every sacred cow in anime was butchered by characters who were flat out crazy, and where else can you have a freaking dog warble the closing theme? Most excellent!
Horror: Even though the movie only ran about 50 minutes,
Blood: The Last Vampire was excellent. It was dark, grim, moody, and, most of all, deliciously gory and violent. I can't wait for the follow-up series,
Blood+ to make its way here.
Fantasy: For my money,
Fushigi Yugi is the finest fantasy series ever. Yu Watase's timeless story of love, friendship, honor, adventure and sacrifice is perfect in every sense of the word. I've watched the series four times and it's never gotten old.
Shoujo: This may not be a traditional slice of life anime, but
Video Girl Ai certainly fits the bill, despite the fantasy plot of a girl who pops out of a TV to help a boy's miserable love life, only to fall in love with the guy herself. A delightful story.
Yep, like I said, my tastes in anime are legion!