Anime is mass-produced mass entertainment, just like American television. And, like American television, a very small proportion of it is breathtaking, a little more is good, and the rest is unspeakable crap.

This is the way it's always been.

Until very recently, Americans never had a chance to see around 99% of the anime made, and were generalizing on the basis of the 1% or so that got dubbed or subbed and imported and/or shown on American television. That was a little like saying all British television is great on the basis of Masterpiece Theatre and Monty Python.

When anime is great, it's great. Most of it is not great and never was. When television is great, it's great. Most of it is not great and never was. When movies are great, they're great. Most of them are not great and never were. See what I'm saying here?