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When I was young, the big name anime on TV were Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, and Sailor Moon. None of my friends or classmates were seriously into anime and no one was a Japanophile. Though while young, I did register that anime were different from American cartoons in a way. While watching American TV, I would always see the good guy prevail and win, but then I remember seeing Ash Ketchum loosing his first major tournament. It made me think about how anime could focus on valuing other things besides always winning... things like growth, development, maturity, discipline, philosophy, nature, love, etc.
I got into watching anime a lot during my military days from 2005 - 2009. It was a big time for anime, with many famous titles being published. Having some downtime at sea, we all would trade CDs and flash drives with whole series on them. I created my first MAL account during this time, when the website was active and hopping, but deleted it years later in a social media purge.
Because of grad school and career, I fell out of watching anime having no time and no brainpower left at the end of the day. Now that I have abandoned a high-paying gig with many hours of overwork for a more simpler life, I remade a new MAL account and am getting back into enjoying things in life that are fun. I'm slowly rebuilding my list trying to remember all that I watched. My friend recently called her MAL account "a relic of the past." The site may not be as hopping as it once was, but it is still an invaluable resource of news and updates, as well as a library/catalog of anime, actors, studios, etc. I am so bored and unamused with the offerings on Netflix, Hulu, Paramount, et. al. I just want to watch anime and go back to Japan.
I took some Japanese classes in college and been there a few times. I actively study Japanese but it is seemingly taking a lifetime to get to the point where I could watch anime without subtitles.
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