I disagree with the parent comment for other reasons, but I would grant him that saying "I like anime" is seen (injustly, IMHO) as a turn-off.
I quickly looked in Google Scholar and found this paper titled "Pale and Geeky: Prevailing Stereotypes of Anime Fans", and I quote:
> The social distance items suggest that anime fans are indeed stigmatized. For
example, non-fans indicated a willingness to interact with anime fans at a distance (e.g., neighbor, coworker), but did not wish for an anime fan to hold political power (e.g., governor) or be allowed into one’s personal life (e.g., relationship partner, roommate).
I quickly looked in Google Scholar and found this paper titled "Pale and Geeky: Prevailing Stereotypes of Anime Fans", and I quote:
> The social distance items suggest that anime fans are indeed stigmatized. For example, non-fans indicated a willingness to interact with anime fans at a distance (e.g., neighbor, coworker), but did not wish for an anime fan to hold political power (e.g., governor) or be allowed into one’s personal life (e.g., relationship partner, roommate).
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Reysen/publicat...