Jin-Roh and Ghost in the Shell are a little hard to swallow for most first timers, a lot of underlining themes and techno-babble that most people might find unattractive. Trigun is a good one to start with if you have time to do the whole series, Akira is also good since it's probably the best quality animated film even after what, 20 years? It thing Gurren Lagann is also a good first show since it almost transcends the image of a good anime into just a plain epic story. I think almost any type of person can sit down and appreciate Gurren Lagann...