Dramas, soap operas, comedies, romances, science fiction, XXX - Anime runs the spectrum. In the US, comics are not a medium - they are a set of genres. By contrast, Manga is a medium easily equivalent in scope to the books of Western Literature. Anything that you might find a book on in English is probably found in Manga. During 1995 and 1996, anime has seriously taken off in the US as reported by CNN .
Original anime can be remarkable indeed and is very much worth spending time on.
A good source of information is the rec.arts.anime.misc newsgroup. Why yes - I do like romantic comedies. The Anime Turnpike is the heaviest duty source I know of for anime and information about anime on the Web. Try it - you'll like it. Close behind it though is Anime.