If so, more likely to me a cultural thing as it's most certainly not limited to animation/comics. Among the popular things there's also at least video games, mu

If so, more likely to me a cultural thing as it's most certainly not limited to animation/comics. Among the popular things there's also at least video games, music and, to some extent, cinematography ("live action" movies) and literature. Some may also start to get interested through history, mythology or games (Go, Shogi, Mahjong, Hanafuda, etc.). Or martial arts. Source: initially I got hooked on Japanese music (then anime and the rest followed)