Greetings from Ohio, USA! I am a 40 year old male.who has enjoyed Anime since childhood I guess. It's hard to know when to start the clock because some shows and movies I saw as a kid like Thunder Cats and Transformers were American, but also animated by Japanese firms. I did see Castle in the Sky long ago though and loved it.
Like many of you my age I got more exposure to Anime in high school when things like Cowboy Bebop and The Big O were showing up on Cartoon Network. I graduated in 1999 and Adult Swim was actually showing action Anime back then.
I have never been an expert by any means, but I do enjoy it. Now that my own kids are getting old enough to appreciate good shows I have been diving back in full force. I watch shows with them, but I usually show them things I'm familiar with. We are trying some new stuff as well. I cannot stress enough that I am NOT an expert. I don't know what all of the various terms mean (e.g. weeb, Otaku, etc.) unless I look it up. Even then I usually forget and have to look it up again. So I'm not anything special, just a middle aged guy with unusual taste and experience. I like some of the older 70s-90s stuff for sure. But I'm trying to expand my taste with newer things that are out now.
Other than that, I love to talk about the stuff. I will never be offended by your opinions on stuff even if we harshly disagree. My favorite anime (The Big O)is one that I think no one else lists as their favorite, so I'm used to being laughed out of the room, haha. Generally speaking, I like more shows than I dislike and I'm always down to give something a try. Feel free to pick apart my odd list, it will not bother me. I like talking about it, even if it is hearing how I did an awful job picking shows, haha. Space Battleship Yamato is sweet to me, so I'm going down with the ship! Haha. All in fun though. I guess I am saying don't feel like you need to walk on eggshells with me. I can take disagreement and I welcome it. I won't fire my own disagreement back in retaliation either. Thanks for letting me in!