>>2622
I would agree with the idea of both good stories and good aesthetic + animation showing for a good "golden age".
2007 is a respectable cut-off date but I don't think I could cut it off that early since that would exclude things like Hunter x Hunter 2011, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Steins;Gate, later seasons of Ippo and Kaiji, Spice and Wolf, Kill la Kill, most of Hellsing Ultimate, Bakemonogatari, Clannad Afterstory, and various other big heavy hitters.
97 is a respectable cut-off date since it includes things like Initial D, Evangelion, and Berserk in it, I like it. Also the space western big 3 (though I didn't really care much for them personally, but I intend to go back to Trigun and give it another try sometime; Outlaw Star I'm probably gonna just save for a while later)
>Probably the best time to get into anime wouldve been the early 2000s since from a variety pov you had so much to choose from i cant imagine not finding something from this time you couldnt like or appeal to you, access to stuff you never wouldve otherwise thanks to fansubbing significantly improving with the internet as well
Indeed, the variety was impressive and there was a lot of heart and soul around the people who enjoyed it and recognized the medium as something special.
>and the community wasnt full of shitheads complaining about what offends them to influence future work.
The community was indeed better back then, but it was still full of shitheads of a different type. For whatever reason a lot of the anime community was desperate to shit on shounen and look "mature" to the film/TV crowd.
>>2630
Interesting choice, as above I like the cut-off dates at 2007 (Code Geass, Death Note, Gurren Lagann, Dennou Coil, Kaiji S1, Nodame Cantabile) since a lot of incredible anime came during that time period, and there were some years afterwards that included a lot; see my above post since that includes a lot.
But the 2000s was some pretty crazy shit too, like Hajime no Ippo, Monster, Great Teacher Onizuka, Yakitate!!, FMA 03, Elfen Lied, Gungrave, Azumanga Daioh, F/SN and a lot of the best of the Big 3's parts.