Should I be more open?

I think you should passively show that your into anime. For example, I brought a Game of Thrones coffee mug into work one day and people went crazy talking to me about Game of Thrones when they passed by. I never would have known otherwise! What it comes down to is that you can't be ashamed of who you are. I bet if you display little things that people can recognize that you like anime, you will be able to meet more people with the same interests, or even get curious people into watching.

dont be shy about it, i always ask people if they have seen death note, but thats just me because I FUCKING LOVE DEATH NOTE!!!!

pfft i tell everyone. whats the worst they are going to do.. say haha he likes anime... they would either be intrigued about it or just not care. i had some co workers start liking anime because i showed them some ... so you might make some friends telling people at work or if you have a desk and allowed figures put them on your desk. another way to get like minded people together =P

Actually I have a pretty accurate Sayin for this case "Being a fan of something is like having a penis. It's normal to have one and it's nice to be proud of it. But for the love of god, don't pull it out in public and don't wave it in other's faces." What I want to say. Try to balance things. Dont annoy people with your special hobby but you can let them know you have it. If somebody is interested he will probably talk to you. Or like you, he will let you know so you could talk to him if he's shy. I was talking about a "he" but it works for both genders i believe

Why worry about what they think of your interest? Heck I missed work to see women in scale mail and when I talked to my boss about it afterwards I showed him the pics and asked him. "Would you rather be here or there?" My absence was excused lol.

Lots of great responses. thanks all. TBH I fall into that shy category and am torn between not showing any sign of interest at all or showing little ( like wearing trinkets on my phone and such). But as someone mentioned; I'm afraid of the "LoL, you still watch cartoons?" response. And yes, the thought of putting my favorite anime in the same category of a cartoon annoys the hell out of me too =p.

You shouldn't ever flaunt anything and be all up in people's faces, but it's not healthy (or smart) to hide anything about you either. The best way to make friends is to be accessible and transparent. Complicated people are often interesting once you get to know them, but the thing about "mysterious" people is that you have no idea whether they're worth the effort. The more you know, the better <3 p.s. If you ever get the "You still watch cartoons?" comment you should just reply with "Yeah, don't you..?". You might be surprised at the answer, but even if you aren't; why should you care what they think (it's not like you wanted to their friend anyways)?

A small step: So what I did was put many of the anime that I watched on my facebook profile. And I made a resolution to bring anime up when anybody ever asks me about my interests and stuff. Take it slow I guess. There's not really anything beneficial in hiding who I am? Right?