Neko-tan dropped me a note last week recommending Shigofumi out of the last batch of anime shows, of which I replied back in email with some thoughts of my own on some of the ones I recently finished. I didn't go into too much detail in the reply, but since I already took the time to start it, I thought I'd follow-up with a proper(ly summarized) post on the topic.

もやしもん (Moyashimon)
This one is quite interesting in terms of concept. Having the ability to see and interact with microbes in such a unique way is an attractive idea for me. There's lots of germs involved, but they're packaged so cutely that you just can't resist the lopsided grin when you see them floating around and hear them speak. The cast is on the heavy side considering the nature and the length of the series, and the omake microbe theatre at the end of every episode is pretty informative. I also have an affinity to agricultural universities due to my childhood dream of becoming a vet, and such setting is rather fresh for an anime. The bit about Kei dressing as a girl was weird, though.

Moyashimon didn't inspire me to actively learn more about microbes, but it's entertaining and fun to watch. BTW, I failed microbiology, one of the required courses for pre-vet, in university before switching to earth science. I don't dislike it, though. Just didn't study enough and joined the failing 50% of the class population.

Recommended unless you must have your fix of fighting and abnormal cast. XD

破天荒遊戯 (Hatenkou Yugi)
This is a very typical girl-goes-on-journey-with-friends-she-meets-on-the-road story. The only highlight for me is the male cast, as I'm not familiar with the seiyuu for the lead female. I don't really have much to say about this show since it didn't leave much of an impression on me. It may be just me, but I feel Kino no Tabi is a better 'travel adventure' show, even if the overall mood is more melancholy.
Not recommended unless you dig Sakurai Takahiro or Miki Shinichiro.

魔人探偵脳噛ネウロ (Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro)
OK, I admit that the seiyuu cast was what convinced me at first, but the interaction between strongly portrayed characters helped keep me to the end. The 'regular' cases are typical enough and even fun sometime for a show in the suspense genre, but the 'X' cases can get pretty graphic and bloody. More so than a lot of the other war and fighting themed shows I've seen, actually. My brother got a glimpse of the second last episode (the nastiest episode in the series) and saw the screen filled with broken bodies scattered about in blood in a dark and ominous place, and he immediately cried murder and questioned my taste...

Recommended if you're into this sort of thing. You have been warned.

Rental Magica
This I really watched purely for the seiyuu cast. I'm fine with magic and supernatural power, but focusing mainly on said power is not. I was never into this kind of stuff to begin with... Without the cast that it has, I wouldn't had touched it. The OP song isn't bad, and the slow version is even better.
Not recommended unless you're into seiyuu like me.

狼と香辛料 (Wolf and Spice)
I know this is not Code Geass, but having Fukuyama Jun and Koshimizu Ami as the protagonists feeds to my delusion of Lelouch x Kallen... Ahem. This is an interesting show in that merchant business, something I usually stay away from, plays a big role. Frankly, I get lost easily whenever someone gets into some theory about the way of business (which is the majority of the series), but it's fun pretending to know what they're talking about.

Anyway, I was intrigued at first because of the 'wolf' in the name (wolf is my favourite animal) but I was left a bit disappointed in the lack of decent wolf design. On a side note, the first thing that caught my eye right after I rolled the video, was a shot of Holo slowly uncurling herself in the beginning of the OP sequence. That looks just like a flipped image of the Firefox logo (minus the globe... but she's embracing the field)! XD

It's hard for me to do the recommendation line for this one since I don't really have any feelings for it, but the original light novel seems well received... Recommended only if you like the main seiyuu or the original work?

NOIR
When I saw the 1st episode many years ago, I was completely blown away by the unique style of the OP sequence, the beautiful choreography (Kirika's awesome whenever she moves in for the kill!), the amazing and realistic scenery, and mood swaying music (this is where I first heard of Kajiura Yuki). Of course, having my favourite seiyuu as one of the leads helped as well, although she never get to speak much. Neko-tan warned me of the distorted character art in later episodes and the weak ending, but I was so impressed by the 1st episode that I decided to give it a try. And after all those years, I finally managed to finish the series.

Neko-tan's warnings were fair and well deserved, as there were more than a handful of episodes with very notable character art distortion, and the ending was indeed on the weak side. I've seen worse, however, so it was bearable. The plot is really the biggest flaw, which is fatal for any series. For this reason, I've come to view NOIR as an artistic piece composed of art, style, and music, with some kind of story in the background. Yeah.

Recommended unless you're the type of person who can't stand going to art museums or similar musical venues and must have a strong story. In which case, do at least watch the first episode.