Like most of you, I grew up on Pokemon, DBZ, and Yu-Gi-Oh. I just never grew out of it, I suppose.
I would stay up late on Saturday nights watching Cartoon Network's Toonami. Spirited Away, Inu-Yasha, Cowboy Bebop and the like.
After my cousin introduced me to DeathNote, my love for anime exploded. He then showed me others such as FMA and stuff and yeah... Now I'm a regular anime watcher but I know where the line is.
I'm not going to watch anime instead of doing homework and I'm not going to keep talking about it to people who don't want to listen. Sometimes I'll attend anime conventions with some other of my anime loving friends and stuff but it's just a hobby.
It just irks me [S-HIGHLIGHT]when I overhear other people in my school talking about how anime is 'basically porn' and stuff.[/S-HIGHLIGHT] Not all anime's are like that and sometimes people think that I'm some perverted weirdo just because I like watching anime and reading manga. -_- But then again, some anime like 'Elfen Lied' need that gore and nudity because it just... It's hard to explain. The anime wouldn't have been as moving as it would of been without it.
That and some people don't want to be friends with me just because I watch anime and attend conventions. @_@
It's a fine hobby, it's good fun and brings people who like it together. And as my parents say, 'it's better than doing drugs out on the street'. XD
I think that some people don't have a love for it because they were exposed to different things when they were kids. I was exposed to alot of anime and videogames from my cousins when I was a kid so that's what I became interested in. My little sister and brother were not exposed to much anime and videogames when they were children so they just don't like it.