Anime to Convert an Author to Anime

So, I'm just starting to date an author who writes fantasy novels. She's into sci-if, comedy, horror.. that kind of thing. But, she's smarter than the average bear and obviously knows how to tell a generic screenplay from an epic tale. If I get that far I'm wondering what anime I should introduce her to. It has to be epic. Something like Laputa or Akira methinks. What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

Kaiji. I knew a guy who wasn't really all that into anime and didn't respect the medium that much, but I recommended him that and it really moved him on multiple levels. He practically fell in love with the series after that. It's easily one of the best anime out there and deserves far more recognition than the other garbage people always seem to recommend.