Eelcire (Level 14)

I recently ran into this with School Rumble 14/15/16 being sold as one book. Preferably, I would like individual volumes so that my collection is consistent, but at least the School Rumble maintained the visual look, so it wasn't so bad.
 

@Killroycantkill

said:

This might be just me since I am actually thinking of re-buying Yotsuba&! 1 - 5 just so I can have all the spines match up since Yen Press took it over.

I'm the same way with my collection. My OCD also curses when logos/thematic changes happen at a publisher for long standing series, such as Excel Saga where the Viz logo design changed.
 
And since we're posting pictures of our collections :)

@Geki: K-on! is really hot right now, which is a slice-of-life anime following 4 (5) high school girls and their light music club. If you were a fan of Slayers, Slayers Revolution is now out on DVD which is the fourth season of the series. If you like a horror setting with plenty of fan-service, Rosario+Vampire is decent enough (though the manga is much better). If you haven't already be sure to watch the first season of Haruhi Suzumiya.
 
I've been reading more manga than watching anime recently, so my list is a little short.

@TriforceF: Cardcaptor Sakura (and Magic Knight Rayearth as mentioned by Kuma_From_Argentina) are both from CLAMP, an all-girl manga group that has put out quite a few great series. What's great about this series is that the main characters are all within the same age group as your sister, and you get to see them grow up as individuals and as friends. The set I got are these:
Cardcaptor Sakura box set Collection 1 (vol 1-3)

Cardcaptor Sakura box set Collection 2 (vol 4-6)
 
After those then there are six more volumes in Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow. Though for now I'd just stick with getting maybe the first collection to see if your sister will like it. As far as the anime is concerned, there are major differences between Cardcaptor Sakura (original release, subbed only) and Cardcaptors (US bastardized release, dubbed only). The original release stays true to the manga, whereas the US release was altered to fit within a different demographic.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a really good read; should that prove to be popular the entire series was made into an anime for her to watch (if she is interested be sure to have her watch Cardcaptor Sakura, and not Cardcaptors). Not really shoujo, but the slice-of-life genre might be worth looking into, such as Yotsuba&!.

My problem was when Excel Saga in the US finally caught up in releases with the Japanese manga. So instead of the timely releases I was used to, it turned into waiting for a few months. I then picked up another series to read while waiting for the next Excel Saga, but ran into the same problem with that series as well. Picked up another series to read while I waited on the other two, and I think you see where that was leading...
 
With my current reading now I am able to fully absorb the story/characters/locations without lengthy pauses between volumes. Recently got the last Rosario+Vampire for the first season (that the right term for manga?), so I'll read through that next. Should it prove to be good throughout then I'll start buying the second season of books.

Generally speaking, I'll browse through different titles at the store and find one that seems interesting. I'll buy and read volume 1 of that title, and if I like it I will continue to buy, but not read, the entire series until it has finished. When I have the set complete, then I go back and read the entire series from volume 1.
 
I started buying/reading my manga this way as I had started to get too many different series going at once and would forget characters, places, plots and such. By waiting until the manga is finished before reading I can enjoy the entire story without needing to wait and not lose track of things. The downside to this would be the amount of money invested into a series that may start out great, but turn out bad. Even worse would be a series that gets discontinued or put on hold. Of course, some bigger series I wonder if I'll ever get back into such as Excel Saga. Funnily enough, that is the manga that got me to thinking about my reading habits and think about waiting until the series was done before picking it up again.
 
So what are the reading habits of others around here?

@John_Martone: Ah, got covering the basics #4, thanks! Go me go!  I was thinking of older franchises I grew up with, but this one predates me :D
Romantic series will stump me a bit as it's not a genre I watch very much; at most I usually watch romantic comedies. 
 
Came to me on the drive home from work for romantic #1. I kept thinking it'd be one series but it never worked; then I realized I should try what that series was actually based off of and that's when it came. One more to go!

Put up some more hints for what I've been able to find. No hints for me?

As the first post regarding quests, this shall be the new home for hints as well! Just keep hints in spoiler tags :) I will help as well as I can, but first I could use some help:
 
The Master's Muses:  need the second one
Covering the Basics: need the fourth one
Closet Romantic: need the first and second one
 
Been racking my brain on these, and some answers that I think are correct, aren't. 
 
Ok, here's a start for hints: 
Another set of hints:

Were those two volumes printed with a low run? I see that you happen to me missing those very volumes; could you not find them at release or are you just now working on the collection? Just a guess though, sorry if it's not of help.

I'd like to see more alignment options; just Good, Evil, and Neutral aren't enough. I'd like to be Chaotic Good (purple), and conversely there'd be a Chaotic Evil (yellow).

So I watched the fan-sub of this series as it came out a few years back and really enjoyed it. Any word/chance of the series getting picked up for release outside of Japan? I had looked to maybe importing when the series was first released to DVD, but it would have been very expensive.

Also, has there been any news on the series continuing again? Maybe picking up another story arc and bringing in other scouts?

Saturn!

Probably not exactly what you were wanting, but:
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya DVD Complete Collection @ Rightstuf
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Complete Collection @ Amazon

The whole collection is now out in one set (and at the same cost that just volume 1 special edition had cost me).

I just finished reading the first light novel from Yen Press and greatly enjoyed it. I'm hoping it does well here so that the rest of the series is translated and brought over (I even bought both the paperback and hardback versions). A while back I had downloaded the fan-translated versions of the Haruhi novels; do they differ from the Yen Press translation by much? Would it be worth reading as well?

I've also been getting into the manga as well, what a great series :)

My type of room! Also see Hatsune Miku on her shelf and quite the collection of games under her bed.

Since anime encompasses all genres, I'd try to find something that falls inline to the tastes of that person. As mentioned above, slice of life anime or parodies would be something to steer clear of for the time being, as the jokes and culture of the show may be offputting.

Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Cat Returns: Hayao Miyazaki makes many good films that are fun to watch with a good stories and characters. Also some of the better dubs available for those who don't wish to read subtitles.
Cowboy Bebop: Sci-fi settings, great stories without man fluff episodes and a good cast of characters. Has plenty of action and humor, as well as some drama.
Samurai Champloo: Similar to Cowboy Bebop in style, except set in historical Japan.
Ghost in the Shell: This one really requires some thinking (and a second watching).
Cardcaptor Sakura: A longer series, and should really only be watched subbed. Easy introduction into the magical girl genre with cute character designs and an interesting story.
Mermaid Saga: Covers the journey of someone who becomes immortal, only to spend his time looking for a means to become mortal again. Nice introduction to anime as a smaller series (and also a nice entry into manga as well).
Vampire Hunter D: One of the first anime movies I had seen; was shown on late night cable. Intense action and fairly graphic,  with interesting characters and plot developements.
School Rumble: School life is easy enough to relate to, and the comedy isn't too over the top and doesn't require much knowledge in Japanese culture to understand.

A month late, but still what I think is worthwhile and approachable anime.