Beyblade spinning tops were a huge part of my childhood. We'd fight with them all the time in elementary school. IIRC there was even this trend where you'd have to give your spinning top to the winner if you lose.
I still have a few dozens of these spinning tops today. If I had to collect anything, they'd be a strong contender. Back then, it was the era of Metal Fusion, the tops had stainless steel rings and they were quite heavy, which is not really the case nowadays.
As for the anime itself, it definitely appealed to my little self, and now it's part of my nostalgia vibes. If anything, Gingka's character design was a bit of an inspiration for my OC (this website's icon), back when I used to invent and draw tons of silly shonen manga dragon-ball-esque characters.
Dragon Ball
Mainly the 1986 one
Dragon Ball was the main manga I'd read as a child, reading the first volumes. The huge ones with hundreds of pages, containing the whole story including Dragon Ball Z afterwards.
But why did I put it on my Anime 3x3 then? That's because later on, around high school, when I started watching anime again, the first thing I did was to binge-watch the entirety of the 153 episodes of Dragon Ball.
Inazuma Eleven
What do you mean you don't like sports?
I didn't like sports, watching football or anything of the sort. But somehow I really liked Inazuma Eleven as a kid. Probably because I thought it was cool to shoot in a ball and suddenly it's on fire.
Definitely a chunibyo moment :v
Takagi-san
It's so sweet
Takagi-san simply was my introduction to romance anime. Every moment just makes my heart bubble up. uwu
Everything in this world's just chill, until you get chills from Nishikata returning some of Takagi's sweet energy back. =w=
Oh and the songs are just chef's kiss. I listen to them occasionally. I like to imagine Takagi as a future singer where all of these are her singles.
Toradora!
A masterpiece of character drama.
One day I decided to watch Toradora on a whim, because I was seeing the title fly by occasionally and it seemed like a popular-ish 2010 anime that I may enjoy.
As it turns out, it did way more than that. It put me to the edge of my seat like no anime before ever has. A very special tension the author managed to make me feel with an intensity so strong, that to this day it is the only anime I have decided to rewatch. I've done it twice already, and I'm gonna do it again every December as per the Toradora rewatch tradition.
If you want a recommendation and you like romance, this one is definitely THE anime I'm gonna point to. So if you haven't watched it or are considering watching it, go ahead. It is, to me, by far the best romance anime I have ever watched.
I'm sure not everybody will agree with me on that, though. Some people can't stand Toradora because they can't get past some details that ruin the show for them. And that's ok. But it'll stay in this special place in my heart for moving me to such a great extent.
Assassination Classroom
Oh god why am I crying
While it's not an anime I rewatched, at the moment, as I like to put it, it made me cry more than the first time someone ever broke my heart. (it was a childhood crush lol)
Reincarnated as a Sword
Fran best girl :D
I had to put at least one isekai in there... I've watched a lot of them, like Slime, Shield Hero, Re:Zero, Mushoku Tensei, etc. I enjoy them all, but I thought this one would fit better in my 3x3.
It's a title almost as silly as the one where you get reincarnated as a vending machine, but the story is actually kinda wholesome and you end up rooting for the main character. Fran is cute and I wanna pat her head and I also enjoy watching her getting stronger :3
Notably though, one thing I particularly loved from this anime is its ending: more<STRONGLY by Maon Kurosaki. It captures the atmosphere of this anime so well and it hooked me every time. I also listen to it occasionally.
I love music, and I enjoy this anime in the same manner. It has extremely relatable characters. A lot of people relate to Bocchi, the socially anxious introvert doing things a lot of us have done ourselves, as if it was a direct callout. She re-skyrocketed the "she's just like me fr" meme all by herself.
It's almost guaranteed that you relate to at least one of these characters. If it's not Bocchi, it's gonna be someone else, because they all have interesting social traits that feel very real. Ryo for instance is the character I relate to the most, for two traits in particular: being a loner introvert and flexing on your skills with confidence (see bass shop scene in episode 12). Picture me playing Arcaea on my phone in the metro and a few people seeing that and being impressed lol. (Very fun rhythm game btw, can totally recommend)
And of course the main aspect: the music is top notch. I regularly listen to it and sometimes play maps of these in osu!.
Talentless Nana
Among Us Hero Academia
This one is definitely something. Every single end in each episode leaves you with a cliffhanger bigger than the previous one.
It was so strong that it had to be the first anime I watch whenever it was its airing day, and when it finished, so strong that I had to go see the manga. I very, very rarely do that, as you can see from the mangas I've listed on my anilist.
I'm usually an anime-only enjoyer, because I want the effect of the amazing animation coupled with the discovery of the story plots. I also care so much about spoilers that to me, merely reading a synopsis is a spoiler. Sometimes I'd start watching an anime simply by looking at its cover image / thumbnail and thinking "huh, looks cool, maybe I'll enjoy it".
This one though, if I remember correctly, I started watching it because of a Gigguk "Anime [insert season] [insert year] in a nutshell" video describing it as "Among Us Hero Academia". That definitely got me curious lol.