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There is a divide between the old and the new. There is no doubt about it. If you took an anime fan from the 90s and sat them down with someone who only watches current material, things would be rather messy. Common ground (titles they know, titles they like, industry people they like) would be hard to find.
It's no surprise, really. Things change rather quickly in this industry. A long time friend of mine have been observing people when they started anime, a few years in then seasoned or departed, as well as trends within the industry.
1. We saw a general trend (not definitinive, but general), that newer fans face a considerable barrier to anime that isn't current and that anything older than 2 years before they started. Getting used to the current state of things seems a necessary step before venturing back in time.
2. There seems to be a five=year (roughly speaking) ripple effect in terms of when a major title's effects make a significant mark on what the industry makes and when a once popular title could not be made in the present state. For example, I don't think Madoka would have been anywhere near as successful if it was made in 2006 but its effects on the industry are slowly coming to pass and one could see it being made in 2016 at this rate. It was really around 2006-2007 that the effects Azumanga Daioh's success led to titles of a similar style becoming more prevalent, but on the flipside, there's no way in hell it could have been made in 1997. Timing is a big factor for a lot of successful shows.
3. Art styles are a real sticking point for a good number of modern fans. A lot of them will outright reject material from the 90s or earlier purely for how characters and the like were done. On the flipside, old-school fans aren't that impressed with modern anime's minimalist, pastel color style.
4. The necessity in a good number of modern titles for moe girls as characters is something a lot of older fans are utterly bemused by, but to modern fans, it makes sense. Which factors into what they want to see - what those fanbases at those points in time wanted were quite different. Which affects style and the types of shows that are being made. Which comes to another big difference in the industry today. Anime used to be more director-studio dictated and still somewhat is, but with financial pressures and anime's low strike rate for success with a show, fans now dictate more of what happens because success only comes if they fork out for the show and related merchandise. Fans suddenly becoming more empowered is a double-edged sword - having an effect on what gets made and licensed is good, but at the expense of variety-creativity and what is accepted to be animated isn't always a good thing.
5. Access to anime - and this is a big one as far as my friend and I are concerned. Until about 10 or so years ago, it was hard to get hold of anime, as well as expensive. Even if it wasn't that good, people back than felt somewhat priviliged they were able to get hold of anything and were grateful that they could. There was also a comradery and a forced face-to-face fandom with the limitations of technology and licenses. Whereas today, within hours of a title airing an episode, you can get hold of it, watch it, scrutinise it and discuss it with people all over the globe. Licensing companies now react quickly with licenses and releases comapred to what they did back then. This has been one of the biggest changes within anime fandom. While it did open up access to so much, I feel it really killed the social aspect of anime fandom. People who once gathered in big numbers to get to see anime and to chat with other anime fans now can in solitude in their own home with anonymity. Sometimes I feel people don't realise how good they have it that they can now access almost any show or movie and as of a couple of years ago, can now obtain the titles from decades ago that you simply couldn't before.
These days, I'm merely of the opinion 'each to their own, but respect the right of others to like what they like. They're not stupid or freaks if they don't agree with you whole-heartedly.' If another anime fan can do that and be somewhat open-minded in discussion, I can get along with them. But that can be difficult to find even at the best of times.
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