Yes, Yoko Kanno is awesome.
I really liked her "part-time" band "The Seatbelts" that was created just for CB. Hmmm, as for the list: I've seen a lot of anime and listen to quite a few of Jap music and some games so let's see...
JAPANESE ANIME: (FANSUBBED ONLY)
Fruits Basket- Man, I think this anime is great. It's not so shoujo that it makes you sick, but it's got that slight romantic thing, but it's mainly pretty sad and emotional. Ah, but it's licensed so maybe you guys will get a chance to see it in the US, unlike me who had to go through numerous fansubs just to see it...
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne- This anime is good too. A bit like magical transformer chicks/shoujo, but the main character is smart and this story is pretty sad too...
Rurouni Kenshin Seisou-hen- Omigod....Rurouni Kenshin is my fav. series and this is the continuation of the first OVAs. The style is the same as the OVAs: dark, life-like, and very dramatic. You won't be getting any smiles here...
Gensomaden Saiyuki- Ha...I hope this series never gets licensed. This series is just too cool to be awfully dubbed. Anyway, on this anime, you have to be familiar with the Chinese story, "The Monkey King" in order to fully understand this series. Otherwise you'll just be going, "This is stupid..." (Which it's not)
Hellsing- Heh....no, I haven't seen this yet, but I will soon! It's about vampires, so if you're a vampire fan, this might be a good one for you. I heard the animation was smooth and I believe the director is the same as Evangelion, so....
JAPANESE MUSIC:
Glay- Ha, what can I say? This is my fav. band of all time. You either hate them or love them. It's up to you to decide...they play a J-Rock/J-Pop so it really depends on the listener...
Judy and Mary- Ah, I love this band. Their music is so British-Punk, it's great.
But, they broke up last year so...
Snail Ramp-
Oddly enough...reminds me of Blink182. If you like their music, then Snail Ramp is good.
m-flo- Nice, nice band. Very techno and club dance. This band consists of a Caucasian-Japanese singer who knows how to speak a little English, a Korean rapper who raps in half English and slightly half Jap, an I think another Japanese member. Cool, if you're into that sorta thing.
JAPANESE VIDEO GAMES:
Pepsi-Man- Whoa....bogus game here. I have no idea what it's about, but I think you play as this metallic "Pepsi-Man" and you have to go through various levels and drink Pepsi for your health.
Angelique- A cute simulation game, which various characters from the manga and the anime. Have no idea what's it about either, but I own the damn game anyway just because of the cover.
Guitar-Freaks- AWESOME GAME HERE! From the same company that brought you Dance Dance Revolution, you use a mini guitar and you have to play the riffs that come on the screen. Depending on the song, the levels of difficulty are varied. Never played it either, but it's cool.
Rurouni Kenshin RPG- I'm not sure what the game title is called in Japanese, but it's the Rurouni Kenshin RPG! Very cute and it has the original characters and two new ones which you must help on their quest. I own this game, and have played it a bit, but I don't understand or read Jap, so I was so confused.
Ahh....I think that's all I can think of for now. I'll post more when I come to it....