This is easily the toughest question...and I have two answers because:
I DO WHAT I WANT!
Answer number one is of course: Sailor Moon.
The magical girl of all magical girls. While not the first magical girl in existence from anime or manga, it was the one where many of us learned of this type of anime. For western audiences this anime was one of the first girl-oriented anime's available in the US (well, that I recall).
I'm not going to go over the premise but, one the things I loved about the show was the outfits. They were so cute! You can judge me, but my dream cosplay is STILL to be a Sailor Scout! Also, since there are 10 different scouts, there's nearly a character for anyone to relate to! The 90's animation is not as polished and shiny as the new Crystal season, but, back then it was golden...and adorable af!
The second show is Cowboy Bebop
In addition to being one of my all time favorite anime, its also one of the best shows ever! Not only is the animation beautiful, but it boasts one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) soundtracks in Television history. Yoko Kanno the composer helped carry the series into the phenomena it became. From jazz, to blues, to rock to country and of course: bebop! She covered the whole gambit! Additionally she's composed other beautiful piece for anime's like Escaflowne!
From Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (
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Also: the animation is top notch! The fight scenes are some of my favorite (along side that hallway fight from Daredevil). And while each episode is practically a self contained story, it all flows into the finale of the series. The downside of this show? it's one season. But not like a "Firefly-one-season-that-NEEDED-more" it actually was supposed to end. In fact, one of the best parts of this is that you can recycle from episode 26 and go back to episode 1, and see more in the series.
