I am born 82 and grew up with Western Cartoons like Gummy Bears, Smurfs, Turtles.
Occasionally there was some purely asian stuff mixed in like Sailor Moon or "Mila Superstar" (some hadball series, I am not bothering too look up the international title) and I already hated it when they showed up using the precious slots of other cartoons.
Then later on, the Whole Dragonball and Pokemon Madness showed up. I was already about "out of the age" of watching cartoons and and saw that all the young kids were watching that, which further increased by distaste (unlike Harry Potter for example, which I felt like "Ok, at least some are reading something decent", though I never read it myself).
Anyways, I watched a couple of Anime which I liked, Ghost in the Shell and Jin Roh, to name two. Though I think there aren't more than 5 or so total which I like so far.
To me the sillyness is what puts me off and the Series "Death Note" is the perfect example for those who saw it. I liked the series as long as it was somewhat "realistic" and grim. But as soon as the girlfriend with her n_n -eyes showed up, giggling and doing idiotic stuff, they lost me.
And now, my most recent encounter is when I joined a facebook group of geeks and gamers 30+.
And I am encountering so much anime stuff on the one hand, and hype of mainstream games on the other, that I considered quitting it now and then.
It's weird that I am feeling like an alien in this kind of group. But apparently the meaning of "geek" is also somewhat different now than it was some years ago.
Then again, maybe I was living in a bubble where everybody I know disliked anime.