I prefer to watch in Japanese with English subtitles. I have picked up a little Japanese doing this.
I find it fasinating how much English has infiltrated Japanese. Here are a selection of some of the best stuff I have seen so far.
Movies
Akira – The classic anime movie. Extremely powerful futuristic fantasy with shades of Blade Runner, Mad Max, and Brave New World.
Steamboy – made by the same director as Akira with some similar characters. Anime Wild Wild West meets Victorian England/Jules Verne with a dash of Greek tragedy.
Whisper of the Heart – Sweet Studio Ghibli teen romance/feel-good movie. Wonderful portrayal of family life in urban, mid 20th century Japan mixed with fantasy.
Paprika - Futuristic fantasy thriller. Awake, she’s a prim and proper therapist but, when she’s snoozing, she transforms into Paprika, a spicy, secret psychological superheroine battling monsters from the id.
Tokyo Godfathers – A Japanese Christmas story featuring a stolen infant, a tough, runaway teen girl, and an odd homeless couple composed of a hopeless alcoholic with a secret, sad past and his best friend, a transgendered, cross-dresser, who dreams of being a mother.
- Beautiful, atmospheric future fantasy with witches. Has an X-files vibe plus Gothic Lolita cool clothes.
Tokyo GodFathers was great, even my Dad like it, haha. Cowboy Bebop is great as well. ;D