some stuff I've watched over the last 6-8 months:
Black Lagoon - 9.5/10: There isn't much more you can ask for in an action show. Villains dwelling, guns blazing and everyone's just trying to get by. The MC (Rock) is an incredibly relatable character and you can always admire his conduct, whether if he's on top of the game, trying to weasel his way out of a funk or simply rationalizing his existence among criminals. I had to take off .5, though, due to the godawful English bits. While I wouldn't except accents to be genuinely recreated, when they have a tough ass Russian mafiosa talk like a Japanese tourist in Washington it de-rails the experience for anyone who speaks a shred of English. Must watch for any anime fan, unless you have motion sickness or chauvinistic to the point that you can't stand having women do most of the dirty work.
Fairy Tail - 7.5/10: Guildies kicking ass together, epic fights, immersive setting, stupid but funny gags, endearing characters - it has a bit of everything. What you would expect from a shonen, basically. I'm not sure what the deal is with the show's refusal to display any sort of blood, though, as it does take away from not only the visuals but also tames the fight scenes. I'd speculate that perhaps the distributors are trying to target the PG demographic, but then it wouldn't explain having characters who are essentially eponymous with alcoholism (Cana, Bacchus) and having nearly all female characters a ripe fodder for rookie wankers. Either way, seasons 1 through 3 and a half are worth the watch (fillers inclusive). Unfortunately, the second half of season 3 is taken up by a really poorly-conceived arc. Season 4 (latest) starts strong but unfortunately tails off due to excessive stuffing, DBZ style. In general, the show suffers from "nakama power syndrome" - which isn't really a problem through most episodes (though it gets pretty cheesy in the latest episodes), but beware. All in all I think Fairy Tail sins enough for me to consider it a "guilty pleasure" of the sorts but it could be yours, too.
Haganai (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai) - 6.5/10: Not my kind of show but decided to give it a shot given how much some folks loved this anime. I often wondered why I trucked through the first few episodes because it seemed like your average "male gets a harem at a high school" sort of thing, but it did have enough comedic bits to at least get through the first season. The second season (NEXT) delivers on a much higher level with good character development and light-hearted comedy. I don't think it does enough to absolve it from being too formulaic, though. In particular, the characters act as if they were in any other anime-characterized high school, even though they're supposed to be studying in a Catholic institution. That fact could've been used to build a more unique experience, but it serves little more than as a device to introduce cute-looking nuns in the cast. I'd recommend this to folks who like to have a laugh and feel a thing or two and don't mind the high school setting, but it's completely understandable if they drop this like a hot potato 10 minutes in.