>>228512>enjoyer since 2010 or so and it pains me to see how normified this title has become. It was 2003 for me since we had a bootleg satellite German TV back in the days. Gundam was nice too.
I know it's a cliche, but to me OP died after the time skip. I was already feeling it decline before that, but it really made it clear that it wasn't the show I loved as a kid.
Kinda like how I felt naruto (another rather mainstream one since it also aired on TV) peaked at the zabuza arc, but shitpudding mate it crystal clear.
As far as popularity goes, I feel like once something hits critical mass normies start to like it just to fit in with the crowd which results in a delusional fanbase that defends dogshit since "it can't be bad if so many like it" "I must like it to fit in" "I'll defend the dogshit too to signal I'm one of them".
Something like that.
Then again sorry for the off topic OP.
Really makes me wonder how latecomers enjoy the "hobby". What were some of the first memorable anime you watched and at around what age did you start? What got you into it?
I'm not even trying to pull the "not a real fan" "hurr too young zoomer" or whatever I'm sorry I know it might come off that way, hell you might be older than me.
I'm genuinely curious how people who got into hobbies I grew up with later in life formed a bond with it if that makes any sense.
For instance I can't imagine getting into anime if I started on later series with a different online community. Gaming is another thing I don't see myself getting into if it wasn't for oldschool MMOs and the like and I had to do some competitive fps shit.