I don't feel you're right? I'm pretty sure that Germany experienced the same 80s anime boom that was felt in other parts of Europe too, and DoKomi (German anime convention) pulls ~180,000 people, very close to overtaking Comic Con. I'm actively involved in the European anime-adjacent DJ scene so I know Germany is not some low spot within Europe at all.

I think perhaps you might be overestimating how popular anime is with Americans because of how popular it is on the Internet.