I mentioned anime briefly as a lead-in to another topic in my SOP. It all really depends on how you incorporate it and what purpose you want it to serve. Do they care that you watched a bunch of anime as a kid and now want to visit Japan because of it? Maybe, but that's not particularly unique or convincing.

I noted as a sort of mini-theme for my SOP that anime, among other foreign media, jump-started my interest in various cultures. The focus for that point was the idea that media is influential, with anime being used as a relevant example that explains my interest in Japan, what I ended up studying, and what I learned about Japan along the way. I eventually tied that in to a desire to influence the kids of Japan in a similar fashion by sharing content and media that might spark new interests for them as well, thus giving them an idea of what I hoped to do once actually in Japan and an easy question to ask me in the interview. (It wasn't particularly realistic given the duties and lack of freedom ALTs are often given, but it sounded nice on paper.)

I got accepted so clearly they liked what they read and heard.