i guess you're not american but in the rap communities especially they've been weebs for a long time, obviously the wu-tang clan but everyone from love & hip hop like Cardi B or Megan Thee Stalion have been watching anime since they can remember, its blatantly normalized in their communities and while they might not be big in the online communities its probably because of how normal it is in their own communities. the same way being an eagles fan in philly means you don't have to be on an online forum to find someone to talk to vs being an eagles fan in fucking germany.
Also to support your point, in general the US was the last place where anime got big, mostly in the late 90s when dragon ball and pokemon meant every cable network was greenlighting dubs of shows for the kiddos from japan. but everywhere else was already showing japanimation in the 1980s, which is why you see plenty of european dudes in their late 40s that are into anime. people don't even believe me when i tell them one of the highest grossing live action anime adaptions is actually in french, and based on the dub the star grew up watching in paris.