I believe I've seen quite a bit more than the average person, but I might be lacking when compared to more dedicated fans. For me, I have watched anime over the years, as if it's any other medium.
If the show is good, I will watch it.
There are years when I've invested more time into anime than others, just depends what's available or if I come across older series.
Once you get beyond the more generic stuff, there is a wealth of anime that can appeal to all age groups. There are some very profound and incredible anime out there, there is also a lot of garbage.
I think the longer a person spends time alone and desperate for distractions, the further they dig for other methods of escapism, they open their horizons in that respect. Anime is just an extension of watching any other movie or tv show, but I know there's some people who just can't get into it.
Still, I'm not surprised so many here are fans. It's also gotten a lot more popular recently, there seems to be a lot of people reacting to anime on YT, etc, usually starting with a gateway anime that isn't too alienating.
You certainly have to get used to certain tropes and quirks that are found in most of them. And you need to be open to subtitles for the ones that don't have an acceptable dub. But I'm already used to watching foreign films, so that wasn't a problem for me getting started.
I think more people should give anime a shot, it's just important what show they start out with, sometimes a poor first viewing can leave a bad taste in someone's mouth. (Although, I am pretty sure most people-of a certain generation-have at least a little exposure to things like Pokemon or Sailor Moon, as a child).
Don't laugh, but I have tried to get my mother (only person I really interact with) to watch an anime or two that was more mature with more complicated themes, but she can't get past some mental barrier about it, even though she has definitely enjoyed a lot of other more esoteric films/series and foreign stuff I've shared with her (so I try not to push the anime thing too hard).
Again, I do think more people should give it a shot though, certain series were all I had at some points over the years, when in such despair, they were able to give me some temporary escape, similar to other works of fiction or entertainment.
As for manga, I've not read nearly as many, especially versus how many anime series I've seen or even compared to books in general.
