Favorite Animes

Almost all my favorite anime are "retro" stuff, thus revealing my old age...I'm a Gen Xer, I'm a 90's kid, I remember when anime wasn't just some variation of Naruto or Haruhi..."well written" was the term we used for that style of anime, back in the day before the oceans drank New Orleans and the rise of the Sons of South Park.

Short list:
8 Man After
Robot Carnival
Cybernetics Guardian
M.D. Geist 1 and 2
Vampire Hunter D
Genocyber
Dominion Tank Police
Curse of the Undead Yoma
Sol Bianca
Roujin Z
Akira
Appleseed
Galaxy Express 999 and Adieu Galaxy Express 999
Casshan Robot Hunter
Armitage 3
Battle Angel
Demon City Shinjuju
Wicked City
E.Y.E.S. of Mars
Venus Wars
Fatal Fury: the Motion Picture
Gall Force Eternal Story
Project A-Ko (the whole damn series!)
Green Legend Ran
Iria: Zeiram the Animation
The Guyver
Ghost in the Shell
Lilly C.A.T.
Robotech (Christ I wanted Minmei so bad...)
Mighty Space Miners
Odin: Photon Sailor Starlight
Tenchi Muyo in Love
The New Adventures of Gigantor
Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer
Black Magic M-66
Star Blazers
Arcadia of my Youth
Queen Emeraldas
Blue Submarine No. 6
Mobile Suit Gundam: 8th MS Team
Dangaioh
Gunbuster
Plastic Little
Dragon Knight
Hades Project Zeorymer

And the only one in the last decade as good as Gunbuster, Gurren Lagann...oh wait it was made by Gainax too? Hmmm, coincidence?

I don't know if Avatar counts, but Avatar hands down. Best show of all time, and best anime too. Even if it's western produced.

Avatar isn’t an anime, but I can see where you got that from. The show has a very anime feel to it and it is a fantastic show, but I would pick legend of korra myself.