This is one of my all time favorite movies, hands down. I'm not the biggest fan of anime either.
First thing I would like to say is it's not an action, fast paced, giant robots fighting everywhere movie. A majority of the movie is the characters trying to discover the mystery and the intention behind a terrorist bombing of the Yokohama Bay Bridge.
The only action scenes is one briefly at the beginning and the end.
The animation is among the best I've ever seen, and the English voice acting is stellar compared to most dubs. The voice acting isn't exaggerated as with many anime, for example, the girl characters don't have forced high pitched voices many anime dubs seem to have. They talk more like normal actors or everyday people would. I actually prefer to watch it in English.
If your into movies about politics and terrorism this would be your movie. If your into movies that aren't full of action this would also be your movie.
The whole movie is a piece of art in it's own way, anyone can enjoy it.

This has come to be one of my favorite books, I mean, it's not the best book ever, and it feels rather unloved. But I really enjoyed his writing style (even if it's not the best), and how he wrote the action scenes. The plot isn't the most original plot, but I like it. It's a mix of Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, Deus Ex, and a darker Mirror's Edge without the hopping around buildings. The characters have a lot of personality, and the twists kept me hooked.
I just bought the 2nd book, "The Digital Plague", and I look forward to reading it.
If you haven't read this, I would recommend it to fans of Science Fiction.

I have nothing against the books, and I've honestly never read them. This movie was just drab and boring. The characters were boring, uninteresting, and the plot moved no where. I think a B horror movie has more character development, and that's just sad. I hear it was even disappointing to the fans of the books. So it didn't really live up to it's expectations at all.
I hear the 2nd one was much more improved, and was directed by someone else, but I haven't been excited to see it after the let down the first movie was.
It might seem good in the eyes of just a pre-teen, but not mine.