But at the same time, your declaration of anime loyalty could end with your conversational counterpart nervously laughing and saying, “Oh, I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing.”
Really identifying with the cast of the first requires viewers to think (or have thought) a huge amount of anime tropes are super-cool.
Yes, this was one of the most popular anime in its heyday, with a pretty broad fanbase.
Unless the two of you happened to meet at an anime screening, there’s a certain amount of risk when you first tell someone what Japanese animated franchise you’re a fan of.