If you can introduce somebody to anime what would you show him/her?

[astrangeone]

I would say:

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood - One of the more violent animes, but with a point. The violence was to show that the pursuit of power (the philosopher's stone) was pretty dehumanizing. I will probably show this to older kids, as the violence even makes me gag.

Old School Studio Ghibi - probably The Castle in the Sky, or Kiki's Delivery Service. Lighter fare, without being completely silly like Sailor Moon, Bleach or Naruto. I would probably show this to younger audiences or real anime novices, as the weirder stuff in anime gets...strange.

Grave of the Firefires: A historical anime rendering of actual events. (Yes, redundant words are redundant.) This was the biggest tear-jerker for me ever, and changed my mind about anime personally. (I thought that anime was good, mindless entertainment, sort of like action movies, and this made me think more highly of this art form.) I'd probably show this to adults who think that anime is for KIDS.

Spirited Away: Another film that's well done, and helps introduce stronger anime characters with a moral. I would probably still stick with the Japanese and English sub combination - as both the Cantonese dub and English one makes me cringe.

Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz: This was one of the more influential animes I've watched, but the main series was a hard to follow mess. This movie made it a simple capsule, and still encapsulated all that was great about the anime, without all the needed backstory. Very good, and the main villian (the little girl) was creepy. The middle ground anime - I'd show this to everyone, as it is pretty accessible to all.

 

[Click This]

Zipang: Closest to American action television shows such as 24. Awesome show all around about an Aegis-equipped destroyer sent back to WWII.

Fate/Zero: Epic shit. That is all.

 

[The Catboy]

I can only think of three anime I would should someone new to anime
Baka and Test - It's short, funny, and honestly a really easy to follow story, but still with some complexity that has a lot to offer to everyone.
FLCL - It's FLCL
Summer Wars - It's hard to describe why it's perfect, other than it's an anime, but still holds a Hollywood styled story. So it's a win win.

I bring up the story because I really don't think anyone new to anime would really be interested in something like Neo Genesis Evangelion. The story is great to people would love anime, but really it's a mess and jumps around everywhere and to someone who is new it would be a massive turnoff.

 

[gshock]

Depends on the person it's being introduced to and what they've already been exposed to.

I would pick something that doesn't require a long attention span because some people that are not used to subtitles get tired/frustrated reading them after a long time and complain about that afterwards.

Something not requiring a deep understanding of the culture. I'd suggest shows that are visually impressive, have a coherant plot and a conclusive ending.

Karas is a good start for young adults. Slightly dark but not over the top / grotesque. Amazing action scenes. Good artistic direction, good character designs, a plot. Great soundtrack. It's only 6 episodes for the OVA.

Escaflowne: if they're (A) into fantasy (B) have the sustained attention span for it. It's not that far from the genres you'd find outside of anime. Awesome soundtrack & animation. If their attention span is an issue, you can start with the movie instead of the series.

Seirei no Moribito for the same reasons as above but it's a full 26 eps(?) to finish. If you know for sure they can handle it, then go for it.

Ghibli films are good if they're not too impatient/young to sit through anything without big explosions or killing things to keep the audience's attention.

Code Geass is somewhat long ( 2 seasons plus ). It's a good show, but maybe not the best for getting someone into anime. FMA, same issue.

Things like Cat Soup and FLCL I'd have to vote against. Not that I'm overflowing with hatred for FLCL but I'd describe it as a little juvinile. I can't think of anyone that would probably enjoy it so much as find it a decent time killer.

I've had good results with other psychologically dementia / abstract shows though including Lain, Kino no Tabi, Evangelion.