What anime would you send to Dan Ryckert?

After the latest Bombcast email (2:33:10), was thinking what anime would be suitable for Dan Ryckert to see. Don't want to send him off the deep end with Evangelion or whacky shounen action series that go on for hundreds of episodes.

No, you can't say Cowboy Bepop or Samurai Champloo, too obvious hehe! (please do watch them, Dan, they're the easiest gateway shows)

Personally, I would recommend the more down-to-earth stuff. A bit of psychological thriller, slice-of-life, drama, human meaning shit. Most of these are are just under 27 episodes, so if you get into one episode, pretty easy to marathon. This is my list, but what would you send?

Paranoia Agent (13 episodes)

Still my favourite anime of all time. Psychological thriller all the way. Been stuck in my head for more than a decade. One of the greatest opening themes ever. Anything Satoshi Kon (RIP) ever did was some of the best Japanese animation had to offer, alongside Hayao Miyazaki.

The Flowers of Evil/Aku no Hana (13 episodes)

Hits you right in the gut. Very lifelike characters and struggles. Also, very stylish rotoscope style.

Ghost in the Shell (26 episodes each for two seasons)

If you're into anything sci-fi, cyberpunk, this is an obvious influential must.

Beck (26 episodes)

A slice-of-life drama about forming a band and all the hardship that entails along the way.

Welcome to The NHK (24 episodes)

Psychological conspiracy thriller or a depressing examination into the sedentary lifestyles of the modern age? Why not both? This might hit close to home.

Shigurui Death Frenzy (12 episodes)

This is straight up arthouse samurai drama, and it can be very divisive but it's short so you either fall in love with the slow pacing and nihilistic atmosphere, or you zone out forever.

Nichijou (26 episodes)

Surprisingly, there aren't many comedy animes, there's just this and Azumanga Daioh that are the best and well-known ones. It helps that both are sketch-based and so easily digestible, much like Robot Chicken. Both shows make the most mundane moments of life into the most entertaining shit ever. For example, the principal fights a deer for some reason.

Red Line. It's like Tokyo Drift, but in space with rocket cars and giant monsters.

@assinass: I like Shigurui, though I was unsatisfied by the ending. I didn't feel it really connected well enough to the "future" events in the first episode.

I would send him that pervert hamster anime.

Dan Ryckert likes Metal Gear. He's already an anime fan, whether he likes it or not.

Theres already a 7 page thread about this =/

Would anyone else agree that a movie instead of a series would be a better gateway-anime (so to speak) for Dan? I think getting him to commit to 13-26 episodes may be quite a struggle. Maybe 2 hours would be a better bet?

Maybe like @assinass is right with Ghost in the Shell, but the movie?

Fist of the North Star: The Movie

There's already a discussion about this here

The title may be different but the concept of the discussion is the same.

Yep, sorry, already a thread for this!