Ohhh, here's a thread I can cofidently post in!! ^_^ I couldn't decide between Samurai X and Ghost in the Shell so I have a top six. This is pared down from the dozen or so that I LOVE, these are just my hands down faves...
6. Samurai X: Reflection -- I saw this shortly after I found out about Rurouni Kenshin and fell in love with the cuteness of the show... This movie made me look at Kenshin, Kaoru and the others in a totally different light. It also became a personal testament to the depth and devotion of love. <3
5. Ghost in the Shell -- I actually got to see this in a theater. We have a historic "Playhouse" theater here in Tampa that plays avant-garde movies, and they have had anime from time to time... So seeing Shirow's masterpiece on the big screen was such an amazing experience! Seeing Innocence all these years later was pretty awesome, too.
4. Macross II: Lovers Again -- Again, I saw this one at the Tampa Theatre... Watching Ishtar sing her beautiful song in full stereo sound on a movie screen was a moment I'll never forget... It still gives me chills... And I began to make connections between Macross and Robotech.
3. Macross: Do You Remember Love (dubbed as Macross in Clash of the Bionoids) -- I actually saw a horribly done dub of the original Macross movie fifteen years ago and it thrilled me because I had grown up with Robotech and loved the characters. I had a VHS copy that my mom had found in a thrift store and I watched it constantly. Once I grew up (and with the glorious invention of eBay) I bought a bootleg DVD of the original Japanese film. Though it was all the dub could never be, that old-school, badly-dubbed movie holds a place in my heart.
2. Vampire Hunter D. -- Love it. LOVE it. LOVE. IT!! I can't say it enough. I loved the flick so much that I plan on walking down the aisle in my wedding to the "Theme of D: Parting", that song at the end where the credits start rolling... The beauty, the cyberpunk/steampunk imagery... *D*... awesomeness personified. From Lamika to Doris to Magnus Lee and of course, D... just yes.
1. Akira -- It's not an exaggeration to say that this movie changed my life. I first saw it when I was maybe ten or so? Yeah. Try watching this movie at ten years old. I was fascinated and disturbed and completely mind blown all at once. I watched it three times the first day I had the tape (We're talking 1989 here, people... no DVD's back then...). I am pretty sure that this was the first anime movie I watched, although I had seen anime all my life in the form of Voltron, Robotech, Starblazers and the like... This put everything I had EVER seen up to that point to SHAME. Still ranks right at the top of my list of favorite anythings... Sheer genius.