Hmmm... I've actually moved away from anime lately, but now and again, one will come up and prove itself different enough from the usual to capture my interest. That's always a delight. 

So what are your favorite? Tekkonkinkreet and Paprika are both surprisingly fun. But definite favorites are Summer Wars, The Cat Returns, Wonderful Days, Haibane Renmei, and ANYTHING directed and written (has to be both) by Makoto Shinkai (5 Centimeters Per Second, Voices of a Distant Star, She and her Cat, Children Who Chase Lost Voices) simply because the little things make an anime just fabulous. 

What do you like about Anime? The artwork is my first. Second is the slow burn you get in a well told story - things just take a while to set into place and its that final culmination of all of the information from the story I really love. 

Who are your favorite characters? Dio from Last Exile. Wolfwood from Trigun, Onizuka (nuff said), Tennar from Tales from Earthsea

If you had to recommend one anime to the world, which would it be? FLCL!!!!! 
Oh - wait - you meant for reals? Heh. Summer Wars: good starter for someone entering anime and solid for those of us who have been in the realm for a long time.