Hey, I still think anime was better in the olden days and
I've gotten some stats to prove it. Damn kids always getting on my lawn
If I look back I can now perfectly see why I managed to make the jump: I become interested in anime thanks to a regular anime block in a local tv network back in the early 00s. When I eventually went into college I was already a regular (yet casual) viewer but this was 2007 or so. These were the kinds of shows running back then:
2006:- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
- Death Note
- Code Geass
2007:- Macross F
- Darker Than Black
- Clannad
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
And then the industry crashed. Oops. But yeah, I was hooked. Those were some insane years so it's no wonder I kept finding more awesome stuff the more I reached down. It's been a while since we've had such a strong sequence of years actually, not since the Madoka Magica/Steins;Gate years I think. The industry seems playing safer and safer lately.
I have no idea when I crossed the threshold. I would like to think that it was when I found
Aria The Animation which is something that most casual fans would probably never stumble upon but I'm fairly bad at self assessment.
I would very much like to read what the rest of the folks have to say on the subject though