I might be paranoid here, but I almost get the feeling you are referring to me.
Spending money and time on anime and manga? Knowing the subcatagories and genres?! Chatting and discussing it on forums??!!!
Wow, you are right, that IS pretty sad.
Hell, almost as sad as spending money and time on videogames and consoles, knowing all the subgenres (from fps to rpg) and chatting/discussing about it on forums. ("Join my amazing gaming forums. We are fairly new and need members, but we have some interesting discussions and debates" triggers anything?)
But naturally, you couldn't compare anime to gaming. Nah, nevermind the fact that they are both hobbies. (For the retards under us, Hobby = An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.)
Cartoons ARE FOR KIDS! Can't compare them to videogames, as videogames are a lot more mature. Blood and violence automatically makes anything more adult... Wait, what? Mature plotlines?! Frag 'm.
(Nevermind the 18+ non-pornographic anime and manga, such as Elfen Lied, Battle Royale, Lament of the Lamb, ... You probably don't have a clue what I'm talking about)
You make a valid point though, watching and or buying anime is a lot more pathetic than reading some forums all day waiting till you can jack off again.