Hi, Wisp! I go to animecons, too, but I get bored way too easily so I rarely go now. I'm a fan of cosplayers but I don't cosplay, it costs a lot of time, effort and not to mention money.
I think we otakus really did come across Sailormoon, that anime being the hit anime series in the '90s together with its rival Dragonball Z. However, the first anime that really got me hooked was Yaiba, followed by Slam Dunk (which I've watched 7 times!). And then came Slayers which got me really addicted and which would become one of my fave animes of all time. And then came the Gundam series. I've caught a few episodes of Gundam X After War and I liked it immediately but the first one I've watched down to the last episode was Gundam Wing with Duo Maxwell as my crush (blush blush).
I'm not into CLAMP, though I must admit that they did a fine job with Code Geass. Oh, and I commend them for Magic Knight Rayearth, too.
Fushigi Yuugi has nice soundtracks. The concept of a modern girl transported to old China to serve as its priestess is good but I find the anime on the whole too cheesy.
I only have one word for ranma 1/2: CRAZY!
Record of Lodoss War reminds me of LOrd of the Rings...
I hate Love HIna.. Well, I hate harem anime!!!
I don't like Hitomi, either. (Escaflowne)
Rurouni Kenshin-nice but it's not something I'd watch over and over again.
LOL with you being pressured to watch Gravitation! I was tricked into it, too, bymy friends who are yaoi fans but fortunately, I wasn't able to watch the whole anime. It makes me want to barf.
Big fan of Streetfighter when I was a kid but lost the interest for it while growing up.