SilentWarlock

I started watching anime in late '97, beginning with Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z (big surprise there, I'm sure), and around the same time started watching the SciFi channel's Saturday Anime block, which was mainly movies.  I of course went through the phase where I'd watch just about anything, but have long since gotten past that.  These days I'm pretty picky.  I'm not too concerned about new, clean animation (it helps, but it's not really a factor in what I watch), and for the most part I don't have any preference for genre--I'll watch almost any.  What I'm interested in are well-told stories and well-developed characters, as well as originality, presentation and atmosphere.  If it's well done, I'll even watch things based in settings I have no interest in (Princess Tutu would be a good example).  But I'll also drop a show despite being original and having a well-thought-out story and characters if the presentation and atmosphere aren't good.  I watch shows that I enjoy, I don't watch them as a way to pass time.  If a show is just "ok", I drop it.

I don't really fall into the "otaku" category, I don't think.  I watch anime a few times a week (usually one DVD at a time), and I keep up-to-date on the major anime news; that's pretty much it.  Most of what I watch is rented, I haven't watched any anime on TV in quite a few years and only occasionally watch things online.  I watch almost all my anime subtitled, but that's just my personal preference, nothing wrong with people who prefer dubs.  I believe at last count my anime DVD collection was sitting at 78 series and 42 movies.  There's a handful of series on my to-buy list, but not many.  I don't collect merchandise, only buy the shows I really like (main thing being would I want to watch it again), don't discuss shows, don't frequent forums, don't cosplay, don't go to cons, and I don't create or look for fanart or fanfic.  I'm really not involved in the anime community at all.  A-P and ANN are the only anime sites I go to anymore.  

Here's how I measure my ratings on things:

• 5 Stars: Masterpiece, this is one of my absolute favorites
• 4.5 Stars: Amazing, one of my favorites
• 4 Stars: I really liked this
• 3.5 Stars: Good
• 3 Stars: Worth watching once through
• 2.5 Stars: Meh.  Not the worst thing ever, but not worth my time
• 2 Stars: Ugh.  Can I have my time back?
• 1.5 Stars: Wow, this is amazingly bad...
• 1 Star: Who makes this junk?
• .5 Star: Someone actually got paid to make this trash?!

I started reading manga probably around 2002 or so.  I enjoy manga, but I'm even pickier about it than I am about anime.  My current manga collection is somewhere over 140 volumes, spread over 20 different things.

My other hobbies include reading (normal books), programming/scripting (work and hobby), firearms (target shooting, plinking and realoading), and listening to music (especially foreign, and not just Japanese).  I'm also currently learning Japanese as a second language.

I'm always looking for good new stuff to watch/read.  If you think you know of a good series/movie/manga that you think I might like, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what it is.