The last anime I watched was Samurai 7. My friend has the DVD with the first 4 episodes of this show, and we were waiting for something, so he popped that in because I hadn't seen it yet. It's a cool mix of feudal-type Japan, with industrial-type technology. Kind of like FF6, or maybe FF4. Maybe FF9, too. There's even airships. I want to see more now.

My favorite character was this big robot samurai, who was the obnoxious comic relief. The main characters are looking for samurai to hire to protect their village, and they see this guy at one point. The little girl in their group decides he's the best one, and when she sees him again, she goes running out to him, and my favorite exchange follows:
Robot Guy: "What do you want?"
Girl: "Hi! "
Robot Guy: "...Hi. "

Wuv, Yer Mom