I ran across a subtitled version of the first two episodes of Giant Robo , which I enjoyed immensely. I've sprung for the first six volumes of the Tenchi Muyo OVA series to have for my very own. There are very few series indeed which bear repeated watching as well as this one. That's only my opinion, of course. I was quite taken by Rurouni Kenshin , despite the hopeless simplicity of the story.
Bad guys make trouble, possibly introducing some new character.
Kenshin beats bad guys black and blue with his blunt-edged sword, but doesn't kill them. Kenshin is utterly competent in facing and defeating his enemies, but is almost entirely hapless in the face of conflicts among his friends. And finally, The Vision of Escaflowne . I imagine that this is not quite the crossover breakthrough that some people might have hoped for, but it's still a remarkable departure from most of the other stuff I've seen, and an amazing leap into the unknown for Sunrise. High school track and fielder Hitomi Kanzaki finds herself on Gaea, a fantastic world with the Earth and Moon hanging in the sky.