Yukito Kishiro (Battle Angel), Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell) stand on their own. I can't name some of the classic anime artists. The thing is that there is so much imitation that not much seems original to me. Satoshi Kon was trying to do Otomo to the point that if you told me that Otomo did Opus, I'd believe you.