Recommend anime.

[pyramid head grape]

I've seen several good recommendation among these posts but I'll throw in my 2¢.

Baccano!: Best anime ever, watch it or remain a ignorant of what 'great' means.

Basilisk: Think tasteful Japanese analog of Romeo and Juliet but with Ninja. Forbidden love, action, gore, secret plots/politics; this series has everything. It's an easy yet satisfying watch, give it a try.

The Tatami Galaxy: Easily ranks among the best anime of this past decade. Quite possibly one of the best attempts at addressing time loops in any medium. Unfortunately it's not the easiest anime to watch as there is a massive amount of quickly spoken dialog; combine this with important signs and you've got quite a bit of reading to do.

Kemonozume: Probably a bit more gore intensive than you'd like but if you can get past the unique art style there's a solid narrative waiting.

FLCL: The closest anime has come to being poetry. Words can't describe it... seriously it's simply not something that can be done.

Cowboy Bebop: Another obvious suggestion, watch it.

Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex: See Cowboy Bebop, somewhat hard to watch if you have a short attention span.

Full Metal Panic!: An impressive franchise that has enjoyed moderate popularity in every medium in which it's been tested. The series is basically carried by its lead character Sousuke Sagara and your enjoyment will almost completely depend on your reaction to him. That said I dare you to hate him, not an easy feat.
art comes in.

I agree with some things on this list

Baccano! - cool
Cowboy Bebop - sweet
The Tatami Galaxy - very quickly spoken dialog XD
FLCL - ... well ... meh don't really care about it
Full metal panic never watched it so I will right now ... Ok now I have (not joking) Ya its interesting XD

Now deal with it in 3D!

 

[Noyes33]

If you want a fantastic anime that is like nothing you have seen watch Mushi-shi. It is not filled with action, and each episode has a different story.

 

[Jonluw]

FLCL
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo (well, sort of I guess)
Death note (nah, I don't think there's much balance, but most people would have a hard time not enjoying it either way)
Welcome to the NHK
Higurashi no naku koro ni
Angel beats
Code geass
School days (trolololol)
Kiss x sis (in a way...)

 

[MintyNinja]

Going to say what others have been saying:

Baccano!

Easily my favorite. And there is a sense of gender equality, especially considering the time period.

 

[Reallink]

Evangelion needs to be finished, though I personally recommend the dub, as I think its excellent, but thats a personal preference.

More recently, I would definitely, DEFINITELY recommend Angel Beats. Its one of the funniest and most moving series I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

And also both seasons of Code Geass are superb. And try watching the first episode of Gurren Lagann. If any show is worth trying, Gurren Lagann is certainly it!

 

[kyogen]

Claymore is good dark fantasy. Most of the characters are female, but at least they're grown women, not pre-pubescent girls. It's similar in some ways to The Witcher, if you're familiar with that game and the books on which it's based.

Otherwise:
Soul Eater
Ghost in the Shell
Cowboy Bebop

 

[NiPah]

Great Teacher Onizuka - Ex motorcycle gang member decides to become the best teacher of all time. .

Don't forget, he does it so he can look at high school girls all day. Gender equality? No.

Woot! 1000th post!

A little late but...
the topic was never about gender equality, it was about anime where the both male and female leads were shown equal screen time (or something, it was a little vague). Given his enjoyment of Excel Saga I felt the series was a good choice.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

Haibane Renmei: Can't really describe it. Fantasy?

It'll break your freaking heart, that's how you describe it.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

~snip~

Whew, that's a big list, and it's got a lot of stuff I'm simply not interested in, for various reasons. Let's go through, shall we?

4: I already said I'm biased against her, and I don't think you guys can help me overcome that.
9: NO. If the title wasn't a dead giveaway, I already know what it's about, and I'm not interested.
13: See 9: I know enough to know it's imbalanced and not my cup of tea anyway, if the title wasn't obvious enough.
*21: Actually, I've seen one episode of that, so I might try a few more...
30: See 9 and 13, minus the dead-giveaway title.
*43: I saw some early episodes, but only Kanto and early Johto. I do like Pokemon as a whole, though, so I might try and get back into it.
44: See 9, 13, 30: I've said it before and I'll say it again. Barring Touhou*, I am not into magical girls.
49: See 44, but replace 'magical' with 'space' and remove the shout-out.
71: See 49, but replace 'space' with 'high school'.
76: See 71.
78: See 71, but replace 'high school' with whatever Gakuen Alice happens to be about.
79: ...You know what? Just forget it.
89: A bunch of men each with more testosterone than a Saiyan beat one another up. Can't you read?
90: I've read two chapters of the manga and they turned me right off.
94: Why did you put another shoujo anime on your list, when I said right at the start I don't want any? Why?

All the rest is stuff I've never heard of and don't sound particularly captivating.
~~~~
*Two reasons I'm fine with Touhou:
-The 'game' parts are well done enough that it's not help up by the girls.
-It's a video game series in the first place.

 

[Naheal]

13: See 9: I know enough to know it's imbalanced and not my cup of tea anyway, if the title wasn't obvious enough.

While it does tend to lean heavily toward a female cast, I would highly recommend not discounting Nanoha very quickly. No, really. Watch it. That series and Madoka pretty much shatter what the Magical Girl genre is.

 

[Hader]

snip

I recommend Ghost in the Shell. 'Equal' in gender roles in the way you describe, with a fairly believable plot line as well. Overall a very interesting story, whether or not it is as an anime doesn't take away anything from the story.

 

[Vandy]

Just watch Beck already

 

[Pearwood]

I'll second Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni and Ghost in the Shell and also suggest Slayers and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha as examples of the Magical Girl genre that aren't shit. Hellsing too if you've not seen it.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I'll second Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni and Ghost in the Shell and also suggest Slayers and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha as examples of the Magical Girl genre that aren't shit. Hellsing too if you've not seen it.

Alright, I know where you're coming from, but what is wrong with your eyes?! I don't care if they're relatively good! I AM NOT INTERESTED IN MAGICAL GIRL ANIME OF ANY SORT! NOT DOLLS! NOT 10-YEAR OLDS! NOT TEENAGERS WITH EXCESSIVE BREASTS! NOTHING!!!!

Are we absolutely clear on this point?

 

[Pearwood]

Alright, I know where you're coming from, but what is wrong with your eyes?! I don't care if they're relatively good! I AM NOT INTERESTED IN MAGICAL GIRL ANIME OF ANY SORT! NOT DOLLS! NOT 10-YEAR OLDS! NOT TEENAGERS WITH EXCESSIVE BREASTS! NOTHING!!!!

Are we absolutely clear on this point?

I strongly suspect you haven't so much as glanced at the two I recommended so you don't really have much of a point for me to be clear on. Especially Slayers, think more D&D and less Sailor Moon. Lyrical Nanoha is the same kind of story frame but written for a completely different audience.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Yeah, no.

I strongly suspect you haven't so much as glanced at the two I recommended so you don't really have much of a point for me to be clear on. Especially Slayers, think more D&D and less Sailor Moon. Lyrical Nanoha is the same kind of story frame but written for a completely different audience.

I've also read some of the Slayers manga. In particular, the first 100 or so pages of that 'special' one. I'm really not convinced enough by it, though. As for Nanoha, name one character that gets into a fight against Ri-Ri-Ka-Ru and actually holds his or her own.

 

[Pearwood]

I've also read some of the Slayers manga. In particular, the first 100 or so pages of that 'special' one. I'm really not convinced enough by it, though. As for Nanoha, name one character that gets into a fight against Ri-Ri-Ka-Ru and actually holds his or her own.

Ok, valid point. I can't really comment on the Slayers manga though because I've not read it. I'd really recommend more or less everything Squenix have done besides that, they haven't all been as good as Fullmetal Alchemist but they're usually good to just watch and have fun with.

Except their game adaptations. Do not like them but that might just be because the transition from game to anime tends not to work.

 

[nukethetuna]

Hm. I admittedly have not watched any anime in a long time. (I stick to manga now because I can blow through most series in a day, whereas anime is a lot of filler).

That being said... from a purely "gender neutral" standpoint...
I dunno, Fairy Tail is typical shounen fair, but I think it probably has the most consistently useful females of any of the shounen series I've read. Of course the main character (a guy) still gets all the "boss" fights.

I'm gonna jump out on a limb and say Claymore? Although every single fighter is female (all but two?), the series is done in such a way that they're not sexualized (or really attractive at all, honestly), and come off as more gender neutral than anything. If the "sexploitation" is why you're trying to avoid a "female focused" story, anyway.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I'm gonna jump out on a limb and say Claymore? Although every single fighter is female (all but two?), the series is done in such a way that they're not sexualized (or really attractive at all, honestly), and come off as more gender neutral than anything. If the "sexploitation" is why you're trying to avoid a "female focused" story, anyway.

Sorry, but, I'm not avoiding female focused anime for the sexploitation. I'm avoiding it for the female focus. So, not Claymore, then.

 

[StormShaun]

you guys do talk alot.

Im gonna say this...again *sigh* clannad...

...Ok thanks bye.