As in, what's something you loved as a kid, found cringe as you get older, then gained a new appreciation for as an adult? Here are some of mine:
- Pokemon. I expect this will be a common one. It's got cute creature designs and fun tactical battling, and since I've outgrown my shame at liking cute things, I'll happily keep coming back to it.
- Yu-Gi-Oh. I still don't much care for the CCG (I'm opposed on principle to any game where your ability to win largely depends on how much money you're willing to sink into it), but the anime bursts with dorky charm and the video games are fun. A setting where reincarnated ancient sorcerers and billionaires are stone-dead serious about a children's card game is also a nice break from the modern plague of "well that just happened" Marvel soy banter.
I've heard the comic is fun, but I've never read it! I definitely watched the show back in the day.
For me:
Gundam: I was super obsessed as a kid, then Gundam SEED came out and I found it super cringe. Started getting back into it when I had a young child and needed to sleep in shifts, and now I've watched way too much mecha anime (and almost all of Gundam lol)
I'm 32 and got into gundam maybe a year ago. I haven't gotten past Char's Counterattack yet but damn it's good.
All of the Tomino Gundam is a delight, especially Turn A Gundam! CCA is great - hope you enjoy it when you get around to it.
I've probably recommended them before, but if you like "book club" style podcasts for shows, The Great Gundam Project and Mobile Suit Breakdown are both pretty great.
apparently the yugioh manga is really dark and violent compared to the show lol
And the whole "king of games" thing starts with them playing different games every chapter or whatever. Then they realized their fake Magic: the Gathering could be a real CCG and make a shit ton of money lol