Re:I used to hate anime... (Score 1)

The above was an interesting post, although I'd hesitate to call what was mentioned "stuff that mainstream anime fans have never heard of."

In terms of psychological or philosophical anime, why not give "Angel's Egg," or "Perfect Blue," or even "Vampire Princess Miyu" a try? "Angel's Egg" seems to me to be an ideal representation of what can be done in anime when one refuses to be bound by traditional ideas of plotline and meaning in film (to get pretentious a bit); "Perfect Blue" also has a very non-traditional narrative line (although it's much, much easier to understand than "Angel's Egg") and explores ideas of identity and society in a very interesting way; "Vampire Princess Miyu" is the most straightforward of these three (and there's also more of it: three hour-long OVAs and a new television series which maintains a lot of the _yuugen_ of the series!), but it still deals with very cool issues such as the question of eternal life, of the nature of beauty, etc.

"A Wind Named Amnesia" also just occured to me as a cool film of this type. There's not much mystery in it by the end, but it's still a fun ride.

Is _Utena_ really a shoujo anime? I've always wondered... it's hardly in the drawing style, and the plot is nothing anywhere near as severly shoujo as, say, "Brother Dear Brother."

I think that people who haven't extensively watched "Urusei Yatsura" shouldn't be walking around calling themselves "anime fans..." It's like calling yourself an adult when you've not yet been potty trained. Learn to walk before you run, young 'uns!!!! (A Joke)

For shoujo, why not try the afore-mentioned "Brother Dear Brother" or the like?

Please, for the love of all that is holy, don't start your anime "career" by watching "Dual." Sure, anime like that seems cool at first, because it's from a different culture, and so seems "different" and "original," but remember this: in Japan, they play "Full House" regularly on TV, maybe because people think it's "different" and "original."