🎭 Anime finally getting mainstream respect here, what got you into it

Noticed anime coming up in genuinely normal, mainstream conversations lately in a way that honestly did not happen much at all just a few years back, colleagues casually referencing specific shows at lunch, a cousin's kid wearing actual merchandise from a popular series openly without any of the specific self consciousness that seemed to surround the whole genre more broadly here previously. Got into it myself fairly late actually, a friend recommended one specific well known series during a particularly slow period a couple of years ago, and I went in with genuinely low expectations given some preconceived notions I honestly had beforehand about the whole medium generally. Ended up completely hooked within just a handful of episodes, surprised at how genuinely sophisticated the storytelling and specific visual style actually turned out to be compared to what I had originally, and unfairly, assumed going in. What strikes me now is how differently the genre gets discussed compared to even just a few years back, it used to feel like a fairly niche interest that most people would only really discuss privately among a small, dedicated specific group, while now it comes up fairly openly in regular mixed conversations without much of the specific stigma that seemed to exist around it more broadly previously. Streaming platforms making a genuinely wider variety of specific titles easily available with proper subtitles or dubbing has probably helped considerably too, compared to years back when actually finding a particular specific title required considerably more effort and searching than most casual viewers would ever really bother with themselves. My own parents remain genuinely confused by my newfound interest, mostly associating the entire medium with children's content based purely on some very old, dated stereotypes, which makes explaining some of the specific, genuinely mature and complex themes several well known series actually explore feel like a fairly uphill battle each time it actually comes up in conversation between us. What specific show or moment actually got you personally into anime, and has the way people around you have reacted to that specific interest genuinely shifted noticeably over the past several years the way mine seems to have?

Spent years in school trying to track down subtitled versions through fairly sketchy sites, compared to now where a properly organised catalogue just sits there waiting one click away on almost any device someone happens to own at home. That accessibility shift alone probably explains a good chunk of why this went from niche interest to normal lunch conversation topic among people my own age.

Got into it through a coworker's screensaver of all things, kept asking what it was from until I finally sat down and watched the series myself one weekend out of pure curiosity. No regrets at all, though the older generational confusion around it existing as a serious art form still makes some sense to me too, oddly enough given my own reaction years earlier.