Utena's worth getting to know. It's like you think you're watching a shiny fluffy sparkly Disney movie, but then it slowly and mystically segueways into the original Grimm Brothers legend it was based on, and the process is full of metaphor and veiling shadows and alternate tellings. And very thinly-masked kink. I think it's the best anime out there; it's certainly too good for me to dare to try writing for it.

And, of course, the story's six times funnier when you know all the characters. In fact, I might just go read it again...