this is a great idea. i did this for a friend of mine as well -- he was just starting to get into anime so i showed him some of my faves, just for him, and not only did it give him an amazing distraction (seriously, he was almost a totally different person when he got into watching stuff) but now that it's been a few years and he's in a better place, i can see it strengthened our friendship a lot by doing things like that.