1. Neon Genesis Evangelion: What can I say? I'm a fanboy. Great deep series, and though it does have mixed feelings, I think it definitely can't be beat in my head. I'm really into psychology, and I'm probably going to base my career off of it once I'm out of school. This show also has taught me a few things about life, and has helped shape the person I am now...believe it or not, I really think it has affected me.
2. Paranoia Agent: Another psychological anime, with great twists. This also made Satoshi Kon one of my favorite anime directors....very deep, and it always had me trying to think about what's really going on...what's really real, and what this has to do with that damn dog. I'm going to have to rewatch it again, because I didn't take it seriously until it started getting really messy. Has a great message to it...it also has affected me, at least a bit.
3. Gundam: The grand-daddy of anime for me. The first anime I watched that I liked on my own....not something I was just following, or just watching for the hell of it...I was late for some school activity when Endless Waltz came out, because I refused to get up from watching it. Not only did it have a deep meaning to it, which I sort of understood as a kid, it had the coolest thing to me: Huge robots, fucking each other up. This strongly influenced me as a child, and I was pretty much obsessed with it...when trying to look back at the series, I got into anime.
4. Cowboy Bebop: An action anime that doesn't bore me during the action. Those are pretty rare....I just recently watched all of it, so yeah it never had a chance to influence anything. I seriously loved this show...amazingly great characters, and always room for a laugh. It was very deep, but yet still light hearted...definitely something unique, and I've never seen anything like it before....though according to Gendo, Black Lagoon will be similar. I also loved how the music mixed in, and the theme song is opening new windows for different music...I only liked some certain genres, and thought all others were just decent...now I'm starting to get into Jazz.
5. Death Note: A great anime, that would be higher on my list if it didn't sort of die towards the end. This one really had me thinking, and had me going "ohhhh, so THAT'S how he did it!" or "That's what he had planned!" and had me thinking of different ways Light could have changed his plans to make it work perfectly....I was seriously going over his little mistakes. This one really had me thinking....also, Ryuk is one of my favorite characters in any anime....his voice, his antics, his everything...always have me laughing, and always have me "ohhh" 'ing. The live action movies were pretty good too.
6. Big O: Another mech anime, yeah....another anime where the action doesn't bore me, and one with an amazingly deep story, that you really can't see at first glance. This also influenced me when I was younger, and had me getting more into anime....it's one of the first shows that had me thinking, rather than just watching. It had much meaning behind it, and is fairly unique....it would be higher on my list if it was continued. Sadly, it only had its second season because Adult Swim payed for it...then they thought "Fuck it, people like it too much" and never payed for a third season. This was never popular in Japan because it was broadcasted on networks that not many people watch....well, at least that's what I heard. This also had its laughing moments mixed in, and I'm still hoping that something will happen and we'll get a third season. Also, has the best villain ever...Shwarzvald, or I think his name was Michael Seebach. Definitely a great character, that has a bit of meaning behind him other than "Muahahahaha, I want to transform cats into monsters!" or something stupid like that.
7. Perfect Blue: A great psychological thriller. Really amazing story, that always has you wondering what's real, and what's not. You think you know what's going on, then all of a sudden something happens, and you don't know what's happening....but you just can't stop watching the out of control train wreck, until it's finally crashed. Definitely had me on the edge of my seat, and when I figured out what was really going on, it felt as if I got slapped. Another work by the genious Satoshi Kon...it's not higher on the list because I don't like it as an anime...I like it as a movie overall.
8. Elfen Lied: I consider this series a horror movie, with a meaning behind it. I really liked it...the art was great, they weren't scared of going too far (Something I usually complain about in anime's is how they are too scared to go to far and get bad ratings) and it still had a message behind it. The dub wasn't really the best, but it's all good...it had some great characters, that I personally liked...and the action was pretty nice too, though it still wasn't the best. A lot of people say that this show is reliant on the fan service, and on the violence...I usually forget about the violence and fan service a few seconds after it was shown, and start thinking about the show again...and I still was able to keep interest. It's a great punch to the face type message, and I love it.
9. Rozen Maiden: A great original idea, with a dark story, that still mixes much comedy in with it. This actually had me feeling for the characters, and most shows can't do that to me. This is one of the few animes where I feel bad when a character dies, rather than thinking "ok, wonder how this is going to affect everything". The bad characters also had a bit of heart behind them, which isn't really too common. Also one where the action didn't bore me "most" of the time. Nice original fighting ideas, though sometimes I did kinda snore at the fights. The ending fights were great, and I was almost screaming at the screen for Shinku to bash in that bitch's face. A great mix of everything, and definitely a great watch.
10. Bleach: Well, it has its moments. I think it's a very original idea, and I still haven't seen anything that much like it. The characters are great, in my opinion....the fact that they give so much background to them isn't the best thing, but that doesn't change the characters at all. They could have just ended it after the Soul Society arc...instead of using the worst fucking plot device ever, the damn invulnerable transport thingy....most of the bount arc was very boring, until it was ending. Then it got slightly interesting...then the arrancar arc had its chances, but failed. Miserably. I know it's still ongoing, but I think the last episode kind of sealed its fate. About 3/4ths of the episode is of them talking about their last attack, or cheap plot device, and the last 1/4th is of a bit of fighting, then everyone escaping and making the show worthless. I still have yet to see the movie, and I hope it's entertaining. The ONLY reason that this is on my list, is because this is the anime I would always make sure to watch in my free time...I thought the 100 or so more episodes would last me quite a while, so I watched it non-stop. Then when I finally did hit the road block, I had to start looking for more anime's...this kind of boosted me towards better series.
These are probably a bit out of order...some are equal with each other, so really have no particular order, and remember, I'm still watching a lot of the more popular anime's....I still haven't seen a lot, and I'm still getting into it. I'm sure I can name a few that will replace some on the list...that is, if they stay how they are, and don't get any worse. I'm sure I put a wrong anime on there, or one in the wrong spot...but all of these have affected me in some way, or either that are extremely enjoyable to me. My opinions probably will be changed within the next two or three weeks, but this is just how it is now.
Sorry for the long post, you guys know how talkative I am XD.