Oohh Kino nice.
Here are my personal anime recs for the newcomer, hater, and in-too-deeps alike. ^^'
Princess Mononoke (for the mature Miyazaki's)
Welcome to the N.H.K. (for the self-loathers)
The Boy and the Beast (for the Disney's)
Planetes (for the primetimes)
Grave of the Fireflies (for the neo-realists)
Gankutsuou: Count of Monte Cristo (for the soapers and hybrid lovers)
Metropolis (for the aesthetes)
La Maison en Petits Cubes (for the sentimental-privy, and still-not-a-fan-so-maybe-something-tangential-that-only-somewhat-counts circle)
Shirobako (for medium-about-medium curiosos -- maybe out of place but too-hoo bad it's here!!)
For a lot of aged anime newcomers in particular you're looking for something that's really not indicative of mainstream anime at all, or is anchored to something more stylistically detached from the typifications most anime fall into. Luckily there's plenty of anime out there like that, too, just swimming in a blue, wide-eyed sea. But suffice it to say, not everyone will get into anime, and anime/manga can foster many flavors of audience. Guilty pleasure for many indeed...