Thanks Orlok!
Forgive me friends, but I ended up opting for something completely different!
We took the kids to the bookstore yesterday, and I mentioned to my Hubby that I was interested in reading
The Color Earth, the first book in a manga series I stumbled across while perusing GoodReads.
As we were still searching the shelves, (it turned out not to be available at that location), Hubby pointed out
Chobits another anime/manga series. He saw a few episodes online and thought I might like it. The had the omnibus containing books 1 through 4.
I'm now 9 chapters in, and although I could not explain why, I am enjoying it! I already have the 2nd omnibus on order (as well as the Colors series). I also watched the first 2 or 3 episodes. The show and the books start at different points in the story, and the translations are quite different, for certain scenes, as well, but both cover the same points, eventually.
These will be my first forays into anime/manga.