Well I might amend this if I wake up tomorrow to realise I've forgotten something massive but here goes.
1) Escaflowne (Series)
2) Cowboy Bebop
3) Last Exile
4) Akira
5) Gundam 8th MS team
6) Outlaw Star
7) Ergo Proxy
8) Full Metal Panic
9) Ghost in the Shell SAC
10) Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
And now to explain myself.
1- Well, come on, do I really need to explain this one? Giant Mechas that look like medeival armor and are powered by fosilised dragon hearts! But beyond that, this was the anime that reminded me why I'd liked the stuff I'd seen as a kid. I have never yet seen another 26 episode show that manages to start at episode 1, end at episode 26 satisfactorilly, have each connecting episode be, well, episodic to an extent while simultaneously contributing to the overal plot and never lose my attention. It's the best piece of anime story telling of a sort of saga length thing I've ever seen and has never been matched, plus the characters are engaging, the art work is visually captivating and I might have mentioned the giant mecha? Ah, I did, good.
The show isn't perfect but what wins it my top spot by quite a sizable margin is that it just about perfectly exemplifies the kind of thing I look for in an anime and does it very well. I want a good story well told, but I also really enjoy a good over reaching arc in an anime. I like the little episodic moments too but when you're dealing with 22 minutes of show per sitting, there's not really a lot that you can do in that time before you start to repeat yourself both in theme and execution. The anime I like doesn't have that problem because it takes 20-30 episodes to tell a great big story with the odd diversion along the way. This is primarilly what I look for in anime cause you hardly get that kind of thing anywhere else and no series does it better than Escaflowne.
2- Another one I shouldn't have to explain. Film noir in space has never been more awesome, like blade runner meets the good and the bad and the ugly meets Dizzy Gillespie with a kick ass sound track. So that's why it's awesome, but the reason that it doesn't top my list is actually because it is something of an aberation. It's not a brilliant anime because it does all the things right that a good anime should, but because it does things NO OTHER anime does AT ALL. If the question was 'What are your top 10 animated things of all time' then it would be up there with Fantasia, Aladdin and the Simpsons, where Escaflowne wouldn't even rank, if that makes any sense at all.
3- While Last Exile will always be a sentimental favorite of mine for various reasons, the steam punk, my parody videos based on it and as such my dorkish amount of knowledge on the subject, I can freely admit that it has a bunch of weaknesses that the first two in my list do not have. The characters are not as strong as Excaflowne's and while the pacing is good and the overal story engaging, it feels back to front the first time you watch it. I love that it doesn't get bogged down in exposition, but it could use a few hints in the early episodes. It's confusing as a result until you've seen the whole thing and even then it doesn't make sense till you go back and rewatch it again. Visually stunning and with a fantastic soundtrack again though (Sort of a common theme with me it seems)
4- Akira was my DBZ, in that it was my first introduction to anime. The only reason it doesn't top my list is because it's just not as volumous as a full 26 episode series, being only about an hour an a half, about 4 episodes worth of material so I couldn't very well rank it higher than my 3 favorite series, but it will forever remain a nostalgic favorite. And oh yes, I've ALWAYS been a fan of the more graphic elements of a good anime.
5- 8th MS team is basically my defenition of taking everything that's great about the gundam franchise and then compressing it into basically a vietnam or korean war drama. M.A.S.H. with Gundams, basically. Just so long as you pretend that the final episode doesn't exsist. It enRAB at episode 12 and that's final.
6- Outlaw Star might have ranked higher if I'd seen it before Bebop because I love it for the same reasons. I love Gene's pirate mentality (Despite the fact that he fights pirates all the time, he's a true star buckaneer at heart). Also, the opening theme is 12 kinRAB of addictively catchy.
7- Ergo Proxy I like for it's paridoxicality. The setting is dark and depressing to the extreem and the two main characters are just walking angst generators but the incidental characters of the series are the ones that make the show work. The characters are subjected to all manner of trials and tribulations from some pretty twisted characters and settings... And then they'll throw in an episode of who wants to be a millionaire just for kicks. It's great!
8- Full Metal Panic I like because it's basically like Gonzo decided to make a gundam abridged series and market it as it's own material. It's absolutely full of cultural refrences, overly exagerated characters and many a lampshade is hung around the place, then suddenly they'll throw in 3 episodes that are so serious and jarring it just smacks you upside the head and you temporarilly forget you're watching a silly show about giant robots.
9- Ghost in the Shell makes my list mostly for it's second season. The setting of the first is neat, but it goes no where fast and while the general concept of the show is captivating and there are some brilliant moments in the first season, there's an awful lot of the characters just talking to each other's heaRAB and not doing much. This got fixed in the second season which is just wicked.
10- Yeah, been watching Brotherhood recently and... Holy crap the original was pretty good but this one just blows it out of the water in ever single respect. The pacing is much smoother, the story is absolutely rock solid now where it had holes you could drive a mac truck through and every single character in the show has taken several levels in badass. I love the new characters that were never in the first series and just generally... Wow... This is the show I always wanted the original FMA to be and I can't wait to buy it in dub when I see it (Been watching it on YT from FUNI's channel but it's not dubbed yet). Honestly this probably deserves to be higher on the list, I just haven't got to the end of the series yet. If I do before this whole thing is done and it keeps going the way it has been, this will be a lot closer to #4.
