Anime that are a ''must watch''

I'm curious to know what i have left. Anime shows that you consider the epitome of greatness.

Hmm Must watch? Thats rather broad still. Even the best anime wont work for everyone.

Do you mean something like Must watch in the sense of appreciation of the medium, in respect to the culture?

Cause I would say different shows for those different terms. Like I would put DBZ and the original gundam in there for culture, but its not a shining moment of the medium, where I would put things like Akira or GitS, or Monster

I would put ghibli on both lists

If you were me the top 20 worst ecchi anime from 2003 onward would be must watches.

Pretty much everything on this list, even though it is missing anime from the past 5 years.
Haven't seen an updated version.

If I were to recommend the anime I think someone MUST watch, it'd be these:

Death Note
Deadman Wonderland
Angel Beats
Clannad
Attack on Titan
Elfen Lied


I just think those are the best I've ever seen (so far) and all have their own unique strengths :)

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. It's like a triumphant display of just about every little thing that makes anime fun.

like someone point out before. anime is about your specific taste.
for example I know a guy that FUCKING JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE is he's all time fav.
that's why you can use this site to find something you didn't watch and enjoy.
for example I LOVED hikaru no go . then I searched in the recommended anime list of similar themes and I come across AKAGI which I find very enjoyable .

another example is FMA that is considered a fan fav and I drop it.

"Tetsuwan Atom," "Jungle Taitei," "Mazinger Z," "Gundam 79/Zeta/Victory/UC/Origin," "Macross: Do You Remember Love?," "Mahou Tsukai Sally," "Ashita no Joe," "Twin Spica," "Brigadoon," "Fantastic Children," "Evangelion," "Devilman," "Uta~Kata," "Ace wo Nerae!," "Narutaru," "Touch," "Hime-chan no Ribbon," "Metropolis," "Kakumei Shoujo Utena," "Figure 17," "Alps no Shoujo Heidi," & "Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu," are just a few.

When a friend dragged me to the world of anime and told me to see these titles.
1.Elfen Lied
2.Claymore
3.Bakemonogatari
4.Great Teacher Onizuka
5.Hellsing
6.Death Note
7.Clannad
8.Soul Eater
That's why I'm here and still watch anime.
And that's why I can recommend it. And I'm proud of it !
From myself I would add a few more titles:
Belzebub; Code Geass; Guilty Crown; Attack on Titan; Fate/stay night; Kuroshitsuji; Angel Beats;

I'm sure a lot of people like these titles. Although I think there are many others that i have not seen and they are worth seeing.

So my 5 stars then?:

Aquarian Age
Aquatic Language
Armitage the 3rd OVA
Armor Hunter Mellowlink
Baccano
Beck
Beyond the Boundary/movie 2
Blue Gender
Coicent
Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars I-III
Death Billiards/Death Parade
Ergo Proxy
Escaflowne
Freedom
From Up on Poppy Hill
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
The Garden of Sinners movies
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex/2nd Gig/Solid State Society
Haibane Renmei
Heroic Age
Infinite Ryvius
Interlude
I's Pure
K/Missing Kings/Return of Kings
Kanon (2006)
Kemonozume
Koi Kaze
Kurenai
Kurokami
Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Library War/movie
Macross: Do You Remember Love
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (Requires previous knowledge of the previous UC timeline titles)
Monster
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Myself, Yourself
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
One Punch Man
Pale Cocoon
Paprika
Perfect Blue
Planetes
The Portrait of Petite Cossette
Princess Mononoke
Psychic School Wars
Read of Die/Read or Die TV
Real Drive
REC
Redline
Rideback
Rumbling Hearts
Space Battleship Yamato 2199
Steins; Gate/movie
Sword of the Stranger
They Were 11
Time of Eve
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
When Thry Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koroni)/Higurashi no Naku Koroni Kai
Whisper of the Heart
Welcome to the NHK

These might not be on everyone's "Must Watch" list, but I keep tabs on all the anime I've seen that I find thought-provoking or just interesting.

I would have to say Death Note or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Holy necro Batman

I think it's too hard to answer such a question. Everyone has different genre preferences. One person likes romance, another sports, and someone else enjoys horror. So, recommending could result in a huge list, but it might turn out that none of it interests you specifically. :)