Anime recommendations? Oooh. *Cracks Knuckles*
Love Love Love Host Club. Shuffle! I watched the first 8 episodes of a long time ago but never finished...maybe it picked up in later episodes but it couldn't seem to hold me. K-ON! saw about half of and it was pretty good (reminded me of Lucky Star a bit though not quite to the same extreme), also never finished it though. Durarara! was pretty good from the episodes I saw (I heard it gets intense later) but also didn't get through it.
Huh....you're probably starting to see a trend, right? yeah, I have many anime that I started but never finished. See, a few semesters ago, I had a disaster-waiting-to-happen situation where I was trying to follow around 20+ anime series at once on Anime Network on Demand (Video on Demand channel I had), plus the 5 anime series that my campus's anime society was watching every week, plus the around 8 series I was following myself on my laptop. Advice learned from experience: never ever try to follow 35-40 anime series at once, it WILL blow up in your face! Obviously I couldn't keep up with them all and just ended up dropping the whole thing.
With regard to anime recommendations though, what I'm fed up with is a bit different than what kokirion seems to be fed up with. See, what I largely can't stand now is cliche school-life stuff, but more than that I can't stand the cliche anime full of girls and fanservice without a plot. Keyword is plot, I love an anime with a good plot and good characters. This is generally the reason why I prefer shounen series to shoujo, because the shounen have a tendency to be more plot heavy, while the shoujo are much more likely to fall into the cliche school-story trap.
Now that I've explained that, I'm going to illustrate a bit by giving you examples. Let me start with the kind of series that.....I. can't. STAND. Ladies vs. Butlers! He is my Master, Tayutama ~kiss on my deity~, Queen's Blade, High Scool of the Dead, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue, Cat girl Nuku Nuku, Koikoi7, Magikano (possibly the worst most cliche anime I've ever seen...only reason I watched it was that it was so bad, it was funny -.-) urgh, I've forgotten the names of a lot of them, this list can be endless.
Do you know the animation company Shaft? I'm a big fan of their anime because they're very untraditional. Shaft's anime includes Maria + Holic, Bakemonogatari, Arakawa Under the Bridge (I love that series ;D) Madoka Magika...all series I like. Actually what you mentioned earlier about series that "build anticipation," I tend to love those series. There are some I really like that are very plot-heavy and build that deep level of mystery and anticipation, such as Noir and Madlax (girls with guns style) and along that line of heavy-plotted action, Darker than Black....Fate/Stay Night I also liked.
Anyway, I might like to try recommending you some anime, though you may or may not have seen them. Have you seen Sola? It's not by Key/Visual Arts, but it's still a series I'd put in line with Air or Kanon....it's that kind of slice of life drama that builds the "anticipation" a bit. Let's see...for most of my others, I think the manga is better than the anime. I'd recommend the manga for Full Moon wo Sagashite, Pita-Ten and Chobits (you've likely seen/read chobits though).
In terms of series with strong plots, I want to recommend two. (Oh as for Soul Eater, it's another series I started but never finished by the way....saw the first 12 episodes. ^^
One is Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna (The Bonds of Reasoning). It's a mystery series, but a fantastically woven one....it's a real masterpiece. It has both an anime and a manga, but the manga is better both in art, and in story. (The anime cuts off, the manga has the full story).
Two is Pandora Hearts, which is actually the current series I am completely in love with...it's just beyond fantastic. It has that building intrigue, the mystery, the deep plot, the great characters cast...again, the manga is far superior though. If I were to describe it, I'd say that Pandora Hearts is a mix of Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Kuroshitsuji, plus a series with good comedy. It also reminds me of King Arthur for some reason...huh. Anyway, I highly recommend it. =)
Also, sorry about the length of this >.>