As it happens, a gator type got angry with me on twitter over this post, and attempted to insult me with this image.
It is, I admit, an uncannily accurate depiction of me writing glib blog posts. Not even looking at the screen. Just slapping away at the keys, smirking.
I was explaining to me kid just this week that I donāt even consider these little postage stamps to be avatars. In the 1990s, an avatar was an actual three-dimensional model which one could directly communicate through. It could track your movements, or repeat patterns of its own. People saw it in an environment. Basically like video game player models are now. But somehow, the internet conception of an avatar has regressed to only a little placeholder picture which people assume ārepresentsā you in some abstract way.
Memories, Short Peace, Redline, Mindgame, Steamboy, Metropolisā¦
Here, watch this
Oh and watch Ghost in the Shell, but only so you can then watch Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.
If you end up liking Perfect Blue (which Black Swan is supposed to be a ripoff of) you should definitely watch the Millenium Actress, same producers but a more friendly story.
One of the best Anime films in my and many otherās opinions is Ghost In The Shell, but please watch the original one and not the remastered version.
Oh, I did see Steamboy. Liked it to start with but too long.
Yep, I saw that one too.
I shall keep an eye out for Millennium Actress, maybe. I hated Black Swan, so weāll seeā¦ 
*blinks
Thereās a remastered one?
One of those movies Iāve watched multiple times and never āgot.ā The well-done steampunk element and the lush visuals felt wasted on the minuscule plot. Metropolis, on the other hand, is pretty great.
If you like short stories, Memories and Short Peace are collections of shorter stuff. Redline is haywire, as is Dead Leaves.
The Ghost in the Shell series, 1st and 2nd GIG, are both goodā¦ The new stuff is a bit tame in comparison.
Itās not Manga (well, itās not animated) but I highly recommend Mushishi by Otomo (The Akira guy).
Itās terrible. All the green interfaces are replaced by modernized orange and thereās more CGI.
I bet you were deliberately wearing the same kind of baseball cap when you wrote this one!
They seem to have ruined the sound as wellā¦ yeeechh.
I feel stereotyping is wrong, but I have it under good authority that a Star Wars avatar means you are charming and good looking and adequately endowed.
Do we want to get into series, now? Thereās way too many to recommendā¦
A lot of my fave anime is series, so Iāll throw a few ones in here, even if you asked for moviesā¦
Cowboy Bebop
Dominion Tank Police
FLCL
None of them all that long, either!
Roujin Z is quite under-rated, IMO. Itās a much smaller story than the other anime based on Otomoās work, but I think itās more cohesive.
Can I use a fresh one?
All right, series and OVAs it is:
Megazone 23 (only three OVA parts)
Bubble Gum Crisis (8 episodes)
AD Police Files (3 episodes, sequel to Bubble Gum Crisis)
Battle Angel Alita (2 OVA parts)
Elfen Lied (13 episodes)
Texhnolyze (22 episodes)
Ī ĪĪĪĪĪ¤ĪĪ£ (26 episodes)
Time of Eve (6 epsiodes)
Martian Successor Nadesico (26 episodes)
and The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (26 episodes and a couple OVAs)
Cowboy Bebop is definitely one of the best series though, you should probably start with that one.
EDIT: one of the more interesting parts of may Anime series is how serious some of the superficially silly ones get (Nadesico) and vice versa (Elfen Lied). The science-fiction in Anime is also almost always superior to that in most live-action movies and on par with the some of best novels.
The most recent Anime I watched in a fell series was Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.
OMG - it is pretty crude, but also hilarious.
As @miasm said, āMemoriesā definitely.
The Animatrix
Steinās Gate
Cat Soup
Iād just like to point out that my Esteban avatar is from a French/Japanese co-production and does not count as an anime character.
Many thanks
xxx
