What's moe, T&A?

And recommendations, would those be Akira, Spirited Away and any other from Studio Ghibli?

You're in for a cybernetic treat. Just make sure you watch it in Japanese with subtitles. I can't stand dubs, some random voice actor always ruins it with a cheesy performance(that goes for all anime but that's my own personal bias I understand some people can't stand reading subs). Another one you might want to try is "Cowboy Bebop". It seems to do as well with western audiences as Ghost in the Shell.






Moe

Fan Service(T&A = tits and ass)


I'm not a big fan of Akira like some people are. I find it kind of plodding plot-wise, but I do recognize the impact it had here in the states when it hit back in the 80s. And the Ghibli stuff, while amazing(really beautifully done), aren't sci-fi so not exactly among my favorite titles of all time.


A couple of my personal favorites that I can recommend to a hard core sci-fi fan would be:

Votoms- Part Blade Runner, part Mad Max, part Star Wars and totally awesome! Might be hard for someone who doesn't pirate to get it all because many of the releases in the series have only had fansub releases(no commercial release).

Macross- Sci-fi with heart. The only release in the series I don't care for is Macross 7. The first release (Super Dimension Fortress Macross) is a classic and a must-watch imo.

Gundam- The franchise that gave birth to the "real robot" genre. I rarely recommend the original series for newbies because it's got kind of a "monster-of-the-week" format which some people don't like, but it is the classic. If you want to dip your toes into the Gundam waters try an OVA or two. My personal favorite OVA is "O8th MS Team". My all time favorite Gundam show is "Gundam X", but I seem to be in the minority on that opinion.


If you prefer something a little more recent yet not quite sci-fi in the traditional sense(still have mechs but the theme is hardly sci-fi):

Samurai 7- Anime interpretation of Seven Samurai. Amazing show.

Code Geass- Probably the best anime to be released in the last decade. Twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

I must have caught the reruns of Starblazers in 80-81ish in Darwin Oz. Best show on the box as a kid and yes the whole concept of the show was awesome as described above...



Starblazers was easily the best cartoon i watched when i was young. Luckily this never happened..from wiki..



Panzer, Ghost in the shell is excellent

I did a double feature of the two Ghost in the Shell movies last night because it's been a while since I've seen them. You know the first one is good when the second has about quadruple the animation budget.

I suppose in ghost in the shell there is no fan service...

Well, there are nude cyborgs with female bodies but it's not fanservice in the traditional sense, just like there is a difference between nudity and gratuitous nudity in live-action films. If you want to get an idea of what fanservice looks like watch an episode of Strike Witches...and there's not even any nudity in that title...just lots and lots of pantsu...

English subtitles confirmed for May 25th Japanese Blu-ray release of Space Battleship Yamato 2199. A pretty rare occurrence actually.

Link

Interesting blonde on the cover of the bluray box. I didn't know there were that many blonde Japanese women.

She's not Japanese. She's an alien.