Well, next week I'm starting Japanese courses. Yes, I'm fully aware that it could take me years to get enough at Japanese to watch anime without much difficulty, but I'm coming here to ask for suggestions now so that I can possibly acquire them if I see them. You can recommend shows or films. The only ones that I have really watched are Fullmetal Alchemist and Yu-Gi-Oh! (okay, I've watched some hentai too). As for genres, I typically prefer action, horror and cyberpunk.

Sword Art Online. But watch the first 13 episodes of season 1, then skip straight to season 2. Episodes 14-26 in season 1 aren't much good. I mean, I can't stop you from watching them, but don't say I didn't warn you...

Outlaw Star and TriGun are always my top pics.

EDIT - Tenchi Muyo series too

I'll just post the absolute bests:

Movies (Order doesn't represent quality):

1. Ghost in the Shell
2. Millennium Actress
3. Ninja Scroll
4. Akira
5. Sword of the Stranger
6. Mononoke Hime

Series:

1. Elfen Lied
2. Basilisk
3. Paranoia Agent
4. Samurai Champloo
5. Hellsing

Longstanding big shounen: (> 100 episodes)

One Piece- Journey with special powers, pirate like guns but swords often more effective
Bleach-  Sword based weapons, good action
Naruto- Ninjas
Rurouni Kenshin- Samurai in the Meiji period (95 episodes actually)
Inuyasha- Samurai and Demons in the Feudal period

Shorter Intense Series: (<53 episodes)

Code Geass- Hard to explain but my favorite
Death Note- Smalltime horror elements along with an interesting main character.
Darker Than Black- More special powers but darker
Stein's Gate- Sci fi time travel
Trigun- Set on a more desolate planet then Earth
Baccano!-  Hilarious and interesting
Gurren Lagann- Plot driven


Here are some ideas. Almost all of them are action.

For a beginner? I dont know what would fit that, but I'll give you some simple good ones.

One Punch Man
ToraDora
Digimon
Steins Gate (but this one has time travel and all sorts of science topics, so you probably wont understand without subs)

Don't watch Monster because nothing will be as good afterwards.

- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (I'm assuming you've only seen the 2003 anime).
- InuYasha
- Steins;Gate
- Hunter x Hunter 2011
- Gintama (Comedy-heavy, but it has a ton of action too)

I am familiar with the game. I was planning on getting it for the PS3, but the price is still a bit high.

avoid any anime that are a manga adaptation. Most of them sucks, especially the ones that have a 100 or more episode.

Now I'm not watching anime anymore.

But, Cowboy Bebop is the best ever made. Period. End of discussion.

Wolf's Rain, Rah Xephon, Escaflowne, the first season of Chronicles of Lodoss. All awesome.

For movies: All the ghibli movies, Jin Roh, Metropolis, the Cowboy Bebop Movie.

I need to watch more animes, I'm sure they still make good ones, but the 90's and early eighties were the golden age of animes. Now there is so much crap.