Let's see... Anime I really liked...
Well, a lot of 'em are honestly prolly too girly for you.
But to make suggestions outside of what has already been posted:
.hack//SIGN
(Its pronounced Dot hack sign; I was a bit confused at first) This is the epitome of "love it or hate it." I loved it. The show takes place almost exclusively in an mmorpg, but somehow manages to almost completely circumvent the feel of such a game in favor of just viewing social interactions in the situation. Really, its almost entirely character development that sometimes makes contact with the main plot- a mysterious entity that's messing with the head of one very confused person.
I'll fully admit that its objectively very boring, but its one of the first anime I actively sought (staying up to midnight to catch it on its first airing) the only anime I could have been otaku over.
Tenchi Muyo
This is a harem anime. Rather, the harem anime. Its (relatively) an earlier example of the "multiple girls hanging around the dorky main character" premise, but somehow manages to be fun and full of character, rather than a soft-core porn. Of course, this is likely because only two of the girls are actively seeking the main character, but still. It has a plot, but the best part about it is that each person seems genuinely unique- this anime even manages to have two "perky optimist" type characters, and they never interfere or make the other feel obsolete. Later down the road, especially some spin-off they made fairly recently, it does get more shallow, and I never really cared for Tenchi in Tokyo...
But if you've ever been kinda curious about this genre, you can watch this without feeling like a creeper. But I suggest watching the series in relative order- each season is a sort of reboot of the premise that nevertheless winds up refrencing the previous versions.
And it has a kitty/bunny rabbit hybrid thing that turns into a giant spaceship.
Galaxy Express 999
(Pronounced three-nine)
This is a very old anime, from like the 70's or something. This fact is made very clear by watching it. Still, its considered an anime classic, and with good reason. Galaxy Express 999 is about trains that fly through space, and the journey of a young boy who wants to be a cyborg- which in that universe, is the separating factor between the immortal, beautiful patricians and the poor, normal people. Despite it being a science fiction, it really feels more like a fairy tale- the trains are modeled after trains from the early 20th century, guns -while shooting lasers- are semi-automatic at best, and when a planet does have technology to make things easier, they downright alter gravity rather than having a Jetson's moving sidewalk.
Like .hack//SIGN, this really should be boring, but it has a unique appeal that anime made in the last 20 years or so hasn't ever come close to.
