Macross One of my first, this is what drew me into anime, and 25+ years later, I'm still watching (yes, I'm old).
Record of Lodoss War Another oldie, but one of the best out there, unfortunately, most people into anime have never seen this or it looks to old for them to watch.
Code Geass Obvious reasons, characters were amazing, the setting was great, the story was beautiful to the very end.
Kill la Kill Unique-ish art style and fairly good story, it was an amazing series to watch while it was airing and discussing it with others, most people won't ever know the thrill of the cliffhanger in this series now that you can binge watch it.
Spice & Wolf Some of the best characters in any anime in my opinion, watching their relationship evolve over the course of the series was great and the economics in the story was unique and a breathe of fresh air. This series was enough to make me pick up the light novel volumes to read to find out what happened since we are never getting a season 3.
I really don't have a top 5, but these are just the ones that came to mind, I've seen a lot of anime in the past 25 years and there are a lot of great ones out there, I could probably do a top 100 and still not satisfy myself that the list was really a top 100.
I havent watched a massive amount of anime so I will shorten my list to top 3 for the sake of fairness, otherwise #4 and #5 wouldnt really be my top tier.
3- Stein's Gate
A great cast of characters which mix up comedy, mystery, and tension in each episode.
2- Deathnote
An overly mentioned one, I realise, but undeniably a great concept and, in my opinion, execution. I just loved the battle of geniuses, which had me constantly shifting sides and debating who the good/bad guy was.
1- Ano Hana
A short series, but very heartwarming. Not sure what else to say, other than it being the single most memorable anime story for me.
Also OP, I looked into Code Geass following your recommendation and I will most certainly watch it :)
Macross One of my first, this is what drew me into anime, and 25+ years later, I'm still watching (yes, I'm old).
Record of Lodoss War Another oldie, but one of the best out there, unfortunately, most people into anime have never seen this or it looks to old for them to watch.
Code Geass Obvious reasons, characters were amazing, the setting was great, the story was beautiful to the very end.
Kill la Kill Unique-ish art style and fairly good story, it was an amazing series to watch while it was airing and discussing it with others, most people won't ever know the thrill of the cliffhanger in this series now that you can binge watch it.
Spice & Wolf Some of the best characters in any anime in my opinion, watching their relationship evolve over the course of the series was great and the economics in the story was unique and a breathe of fresh air. This series was enough to make me pick up the light novel volumes to read to find out what happened since we are never getting a season 3.
I really don't have a top 5, but these are just the ones that came to mind, I've seen a lot of anime in the past 25 years and there are a lot of great ones out there, I could probably do a top 100 and still not satisfy myself that the list was really a top 100.
I havent watched a massive amount of anime so I will shorten my list to top 3 for the sake of fairness, otherwise #4 and #5 wouldnt really be my top tier.
3- Stein's Gate A great cast of characters which mix up comedy, mystery, and tension in each episode.
2- Deathnote An overly mentioned one, I realise, but undeniably a great concept and, in my opinion, execution. I just loved the battle of geniuses, which had me constantly shifting sides and debating who the good/bad guy was.
1- Ano Hana A short series, but very heartwarming. Not sure what else to say, other than it being the single most memorable anime story for me.
Also OP, I looked into Code Geass following your recommendation and I will most certainly watch it :)