I've started on Dragonball Z of a german channel thanks to cable, wasn't able to understand anything except for NHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH yet still loved it.
Other notable series which I've seen that were entertaining or atleast not completly shitty:
- Full Metal Alchemist
- Death Note (till the "end of the first arc", the second one was utter shit, sorry no offence "M")
- Samurai Champloo (nice mix of japanese culture, history, inside jokes and story, not so mainstream)
- Berserk (the best anime IMO, only 20 or so episodes, but really worth it, if you have to watch only one, go with this)
I don't recommend you the usual mainstream "13-y boy stuff" like Naruto, Bleach and One Piece, they are insanely long and filled with fillers that make watching these series a real pain. Also they are all very derivative, once you've seen Dragon Ball, you've seen them all.
MY HYPE LIST: 1) Gran Turismo 5; 2) Civilization V; 3) Starcraft II; 4) The Last Guardian; 5) Metal Gear Solid: Rising