Regarding manga, the best one is still Rurouni Kenshin to me. While it's simplisticly drawn and sometimes with absurd storylines or events, it's one heck of a history lesson and a must-read for anyone interested in japanese culture and history. Plus, it's great fun. Other manga I enjoy, which I used to read until recently, was One Piece - way better than the anime. Very creative, inventinve, and with brilliant plot lines. Although it's mostly "go to a different island, battle a vilain", each story arc is just brilliant. CLAMP has released some nice manga, but mostly visually. They are known for fantasy cliched almost shounen-ai plots, filled with cuteness, something I dislike, although Sakura was readable - X probably is, too. On the other side of the equation we have "Bastard!!", which is this action-fantasy-rock story so confusing it's no point trying to figure it out, but perfectly drawn (the OVAs are good, though). Akira was a classic, unfortunally completely butchered for the western release. Osamu Tezuka's works are works of art, the root of all manga and anime today, but a little bit old fashioned for me, with a western feel into it. Other manga I enjoyed is Love Hina, which is so addictive it's infuriating!

For anime, GAINAX is the best. Neon Genesis Evangelion are three words that have re-defined how anime is done, some sort of a "Citizen Kane" of animation. Every single other work by Gainax, since the DAICON days, is a brilliant work of art, perfect to every detail - maybe Otaku no Video suffers a bit from a broken pace due to the live action segments and is a bit too obscure for people not familiar with anime, who will not get all the jokes, but still near perfect. Cowboy Bebop is also a wonderful masterpiece, down to every single episode, and the complex relations between characters and the futuristic world that surrounds them. Naruto was a good adition to the anime world for the past years, but has suffered a bit with the slow pace required for manga adaptations to the tv screen, and has gone from exciting and fun to dull and silly. Dragonball (and DBZ) has suffered from this too (aka "drag on" ball), but it was the anime responsiblt for the big break over the western market, although a bit too late - it was only really popular after it had ended in Japan and faded away. I still remember the first time I saw the final episode for the Cell saga (back in 1993, briefly after aired in Japan) and I was in awe, I became an anime fan ever since. Haibane Renmei is also an anime that I've enjoyed, beautifully animated, scored and written, and very mysterious. Also, I enjoy old anime, such as Yamato and Future Boy Conan, this last one a masterpiece of the 70s, sadly forgotten. As for anime films, my favorites are Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies), Barefoot Gen, Nadia of the Valley of the Winds (the JAPANESE version, not the butchered western one), and of course, Akira.