Multi-Verse

While this came off as similar to Space Opera (due to the content) I feel it can apply even to stories that take place on earth.  In Steins;Gate, Okabe and Daru create a cell-phone, microwave time machine.  At first no one believes him, and he doesn't believe it himself.  But then when he sees his phone has texts messages from the future, warning him of Kurisu's death...and he sees the death himself, he realizes that he time traveled.  The story continues, the experiments increase, and they get noticed by the government.  Time and time again he travels between different "world lines", searching for a universe where no one dies. 

The idea that there are other world lines is both interesting and terrifying to me.

Space Opera

While I did grow up watching Star Wars, I never watched Star Trek or any of those other movies though.  It wasn't because I didn't like the genre, because I actually really love outer-space.  It just wasn't what my parents were watching. 

Apparently though, I have watched a ton of space opera's because all of the space/mech animes I've watched contain the mono-myth narrative, a common pattern in space operas.  Neon Genesis Evangelion, Kakumeki Valvrave, and Susei no Gargantia are just a few animes that definitely fall under the space opera genre.  For Shinji, his journey is initiated when he is chosen to pilot mechs that combat these monsters called Angels (call to adventure).  For Haruto, he realizes that he loves the girl enough to sacrifice his life for her and continue fighting, even if she thinks he is a monster and hates him (death/abyss/atonement).  And for Red, it's when he realizes that he has made earth his new home, that he loves Emi, and doesn't want to leave (gift of the goddess/return).