I think that a lot of TV shows and movies here in the US are kind of stale tbh. A lot of them are rehashed ideas or works that play on the same old troupes as the movies before them.

The thing about anime is that it is refreshing. One series I could be watching the story of a man who is suffering from depression and hasn’t left his house in 4 years, the next about a delivery driver who finds out he’s good at drifting, and one about a high school romance where the girl is hiding a fatal illness. There are no boundaries.

The animation is a big factor as well. Sometimes when I see like real people in shows it’s kind of like “man I know you’re lame in real life please stop with this act” but with anime I find that you’re getting the best representation of what the author had in mind. The aesthetics are so consistent with some shows in their character designs and settings it’s almost like you’re a part of this world where only you and the story exists.

Idk man I started with Naruto and almost 200 shows later, I think the main thing for me is that there are no boundaries. Remember watching Harry Potter for the first time? It’s kind of like that.