I've been watching Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex and it's great. Kusanagi is a compelling lead character, each story arc has something different about it and aren't resolved the same way at all. The animation quality is possibly second to none, really it's absolutely fantastic. And it shies away from the over-the-top facial expressions in a lot of anime which I don't like.
Overall the setting is near future where cyborgs/transhumans are about and there's a matrix like hub instead of the internet. Major Kusanagi is the leader of a crime fighting, specifically tech-crime, unit and the series follows her and shows the audience a cool semi-cyberpunk future.
Word of warning though - the tachikoma robots are annoying. If you can stand them, they're the worst part of the otherwise fantastic show.
