I often think of Surgeon's law, which was used to defend sci-fi, when I think of anime. Basically, it states that 90% of sci-fi is crap...but so is 90% of everything else. Even cresting the surface of what has been brought over to the west officially, anime is a medium of a medium with hundreds of shows of a variety of different genres. It's easy to find slop if you go looking for it, and yes not every anime is actually worth watching. But neither is every show. And even inside that 10% of relatively good content is a wide array of media. And even then, pretty subjective: is Dragon Ball worth watching, for example? That's really up to the person. It's not a life changing work, but it's known for having fun, hyperkinetic fights strung together with a plot kids can understand. And yet people emotionally identify with it, with a sense of comfort. Hence why I go back to Shonen a lot despite the formula: sometimes you just want a dumb show where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. It's the sweatpants of anime.
But it's really all a matter of perspective and experience really. I'm not here to convince anybody to "give anime a chance". I'm just more offering perspective. You could talk to me about Western media until you're blue in the face and I'll really only come out telling you that, from my perspective, western media has failed to entertain me for a long time, and betrayed me more than once for my investment. It's the same for some people and anime. But there's always a few works that even if not everyone else likes them, I'll like them, because they resonate with me in some way.
Not to pick on users here about what they like, but case in point, TMNT? Most of the stuff past the first season is borderline unwatchable as an adult for me. But I understand that in the context of nostalgia, quality is just one aspect, what emotions and feelings it evokes for you are another. I think that's something worth keeping in mind when someone gushes to you about their favorite show regardless of what it is. Some folks like to act aloof about loving media because of how bonkers some people can act about it, but in the end we're passionate about it for a reason. Like anything it's finding a balance, and people notice when there isn't one.
This might sound dumb because Jesus Christ its just Japanese cartoons or whatever, but this is shit I had to work through because of being alone in a crowd. It's only recently I've managed to buck a sense of self-hatred for even liking anime because of people in my life with unchecked aggression towards it that bled over into personal attacks, which is pretty unwarranted if there's no ill behavior involved (ie going full weeb).
