Jekyll - Made by the same dudes who did Sherlock. It's really good, though it's on the short side since it's only one season of six 1 hour long episodes. It's a modern take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, just like Sherlock is a modern take on Sherlock Holmes.

Boardwalk Empire/Homeland/The Newsroom - Any of these could have maybe made one of the bottom slots of my top ten, but I'm a season behind in each of them and I felt like it'd be weird to put them in my top ten when I'm so far behind and have procrastinated for so long about catching up.

The Walking Dead - It's good and I like it, but it's not good enough to beat any of the above stuff.

Dexter - Used to be a sure pick for my top 10, and at one point in time I considered it my favorite show of all time, but is started going downhill for me in season 5 and then that last season just blew major ass and kind of ruined everything. Probably the most disappointing TV show ending I've ever witnessed. This is half an honorable mention, half a dishonorable one. I guess it's just a mention.

10. Death Note - Death Note has become one of those sort of entry level anime where any time someone asks for recommendations, it's on the list people give of "if you haven't seen all these things, go watch them now," and that's because it's good. It would be higher on my list if it had ended at a certain point where a major thing happens around the middle of the story, because what follows isn't as good as the first ~half, but it's still good enough overall to be a solid pick for my top 10 anime.

9. Mirai Nikki - This is one of those anime that is most certainly not for everyone. The premise is that a bunch of people have their diaries on their phones (because who the fuck keeps a pen and paper diary nowadays?) start to show the future as if they had written it (the show title means Future Diary, btw), and they're pit against each other in a last man standing battle to the death. If you can't handle over the top ridiculousness, Mirai Nikki just won't work for you. I love over the top ridiculousness though, so it entertained the shit out of me. It's got huge hype moments in nearly every episode, and even the dumb characters are still amusing. The one major flaw with the show is that the original ending they gave was shit, but they fixed it by releasing an extra episode thing that gives the full ending from the manga.

8. Bakemonogatari - This one is about a guy who's part vampire (because he was turned into one and then sorta turned back human, it's hard to explain) and helps other people with their own supernatural creature problems. It's a strange anime that plays with various anime tropes (particularly those of harem type anime) by sometimes playing them straight and other times satirizing them and leaning on the fourth wall. The main reasons I like it are because of the clever dialogue and the cast of interesting characters who develop in rather natural feeling ways, but the general plot stuff and the art are pretty great too.

7. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - This is the anime on my list that I very rarely recommend to people because it's just not worth the headache of explaining to people what it really is. On the surface it looks like a magical girl anime directed at young girls, but that's not at all what it is. It's more like a psychological drama/thriller with horror elements. Some really dark shit goes down, man, and it fucks with the characters just as much as the viewers. I love it.

6. Kill la Kill - Kill la Kill is another ridiculous over the top shit anime, similar to Mirai Nikki. However, it does it way better than Mirai Nikki and has a far more compelling protagonist, plus it doesn't take itself super seriously and has a lot of humor thrown in. It's the second best anime I've watched for getting the viewer hyped up about all the insane shit going down (the best one being my #3 pick, and KLK was made by a lot of people who made that one, so it makes sense), and it does so largely through it's fucking amazing soundtrack, which is probably my favorite anime soundtrack of all time.

5. Hunter x Hunter - This was one of the hardest shows for me to place. It's the one on the list that I finished watching (or, well, got caught up with, since it's still going) most recently, and weighing fresh hype again old favorites is weird. Anyway, it's about a kid who wants to become a Hunter (special dudes who are skilled at magic-ish skills and/or fighting) so he can find his father, who was never really around because he was too busy being a Hunter himself. The main reasons why I like this show so much is because it's got some of the best character development I've ever seen in an anime, and it strikes a great balance of over the top shenanigans and serious shit going down.

4. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - This is another one of those entry level anime that is recommended far and wide because of how good it is. It's actually rather similar to Hunter x Hunter in my mind because the highlights are character development and a great mix of shenanigans and seriousness, but I give it the leg up because the actual plot is superior imo, and the fight scenes are generally more entertaining.

3. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Usually called Gurren Lagann for short. It's a mecha anime set in a world that's... not quite post-apocalyptic, maybe best described as a dismal shithole future setting. This is the anime I referenced in the Kill la Kill entry, the one that's the best I've ever seen at getting you hyped up about all the insane shit that happens, again in large part due to the soundtrack being top tier. One thing it has that KLK kinda lacks is real and meaningful character development, and as you might have noticed from my list so far I really like good character development in my anime.

2. Code Geass - Code Geass is another mecha anime, sorta. Unlike most mecha anime where they're the huge focus and they have the whole "ermagerd muh fighting spirit can make me overcome technological limitations" thing, Code Geass just uses them as tools of war in reasonable way. The real focus is on the characters and the shenanigans that go down. The protagonist is a chessmaster type dude who wants to overthrow the evil empire, but it's not really as simple as a struggle between the good guy rebel and the evil oppressors. I can't really say more because spoilers, but it had all sorts of ridiculous plot twists going down and the main character is hammy as fuck when he's pulling off his crazy plans and there's some great character development for all the major players throughout, and overall it's just wonderful.

1. Monster - This is the only anime I would have felt comfortable comparing to the non-anime shows list (and it would have ranked in at #2 there, for perspective), because it really doesn't feel like watching an anime. It's a serious drama with none of the over the top craziness you find in the other entries in this list. It's about a surgeon who goes against the orders of his superiors to save the life of a child who goes on to do horrible things such that he views the guy as a monster (thus the title), and he struggles with the dilemma of feeling like he's responsible for the monster being let loose on the world. It deals with a lot of moral questions, has some amazing character development for all of the important characters, and the ending (for those who have watched it, I mean the ending of the penultimate episode, since I see the final episode as being more of an epilogue than anything else) is a strong contender for best ending ever across all entertainment media for me.

There has been talk about an American live action adaptation getting made some time in the future, and I really hope it happens and is done well so people can get in on this great story even if they've got an aversion to anime. I'd really suggest it for anyone, even if they hate all other anime they've tried, but some people refuse to give it a chance just because it's anime so a live action adaptation would be nice so I can get more people to watch it.

Fairy Tail - Like a few items on my honorable mentions for non-anime, this one wasn't included above because I'm not actually caught up to current on it. I figure once I actually get there, assuming it retains the same level of quality throughout, it'll knock TTGL off the third place spot; if it gets even better as it goes on I would not be surprised to see it kick Code Geass down a peg too, but I dunno if it'll have what it takes to dethrone Monster.

Fullmetal Alchemist - Not as good as the Brotherhood version, imo, but still good and worth watching.

Attack on Titan - Overhyped as fuck, but good enough for a mention at least.

Yu Yu Hakusho - It's basically just a fight-centric anime like Dragonball Z and Bleach and such, but I like it significantly better than the others of its ilk. Used to be an easy pick for my anime top 10, but in the past few years I've watched a lot of great anime that whoop its ass.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? - My favorite comedy anime, and the only one I've seen that's worth mentioning.