other anime's with brilliant animation?

Akira is considered the yardstick for anime, and it's aged incredibly well.

Paranoia Agent (series)

Ghost in the Shell (series). The movies' have a rather static look about them, but there a few memorable scenes.

Vampire Hunter D, especially if you liked the Blade trilogy.

These are just a few recommendable anime out there.

When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...

My favorite, which is very realistic, in a fashion, is "Fist of the North Star". It's like mad max, star wars and bruce lee rolled into one.

Akira's great.

Ninja Scrolls was cool but is not as realistic as you might like.

Note: there are a LOT of animes out there.

everyone else said ghost in the shell but don't forget about flcl its longer than blood:the last vampire and leaves you with more questions then you ever knew you could ask. ;)

parental advisory: the world isn't really pg-13

Ninja Scroll is the *beep* It's one of the craziest films I've ever seen. If you like anime you'll like ninja scroll.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned 'Appleseed'. The storyline is a bit poor, but the animation is fascinating. I had to watch it a least twice because the first time I was just watching the animation and not listening to the film.
Akira is also good, Metropolis, The ghost in the shell movies, Gantz is well drawn although VERY adult.

Akira is without a doubt the pinnacle of animation. Even the mouths were animated in exact detailed when the characters spoke in their native Japanese tounge. I am a huge anime fan and I have yet to see anything on par with Akira besides some of Satoshi Kon's, Mamoru Oshii's, Shinichiro Watanabe's, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri's work. Still, nothing has reached the quality that Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira has.

Akira is without a doubt the pinnacle of animation. Even the mouths were animated in exact detailed when the characters spoke in their native Japanese tounge. I am a huge anime fan and I have yet to see anything on par with Akira besides some of Satoshi Kon's, Hayao Miyazaki's, Hideaki Anno's, Mamoru Oshii's, Shinichiro Watanabe's, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri's work. Still, nothing has reached the quality that Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira has.

Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal (otherwise known as Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal) is probably the most precise animation I've ever seen. Kenshin Reflection is also extremely beautiful.