>>1554572>Was watching a high number of anime always popular?No.
Back in the day, like think Gaia Online "back in the day", the average anime enthusiast had probably only seen maybe a little over a dozen anime series not counting "entry level stuff" you could get on cable like Pokemon, Medabots, Digimon, Escaflowne, Gundam Wing, etc.. And then maybe 3 Ghibli Films.
A lot of what people had to watch was available only through a combination of cable television, VERY expensive dvd sets (think 40-60 American Dollars), burned/pirated CDs, and fan subbed content uploaded to fan sites or early Youtube. Watching seasonal anime was basically impossible; famously, the Namekian Saga for DBZ was rerun for fucking MONTHS in certain countries that couldn't get later seasons. Simulcasting, things releasing everywhere, all at once, is the height of modern luxury.
