1. For a variety of reasons touched on by many persons before me, but no factors moreso than misinformation, old prejudices, and flat out cultural differences.
However, the biggest factor for everything as to why it is bad is due to averaging. I'm not going to be the last to say that there is a truckload of shitty anime out there, but the same is true for everything else in that if you actually just piled everything together then it would be a mountainous pile of shit encasing several good things (everything: FPS', sports, TV shows, music, books, documentaries, blankets, guns, swords, etc.). The only reason something can survive is because it still holds some kind of use or some kind of sustainability; otherwise it would be eradicated in short time.
2. The best anime I've seen is a toss-up anymore between Aria and Sketchbook ~full color'S~.
Something I've noticed (I'm not at all surprised by it, though) is that practically every anime I've seen listed on people's "best anime" answer is some kind of action series or occasionally Death Note or Haruhi (the former would probably be grouped with action series if people started to generalize more and more, while Haruhi would still probably be left on it's own island until you got up to the broadest of categories). Personally I try to avoid picking up new action anime/manga anymore because I've had my fill of Naruto and Bleach and am following them mostly on a dried up series-dedication quest and for the occasional interesting bit of absurd over the top action (of which both Psyren and Nurarihyon no Mago (newer series in Shonen Jump) are infinitely better at).
3. The most badass anime character to me is another toss-up between Teresa from Claymore and Kamijo Touma from To Aru Majutsu no Index.
Teresa is just all-around awesomzors with excellent development showing that humans can't be truly removed from their humanity even through constant societal shunning and relentless violence (plus she shows how badass she is by cutting to ribbons and giblets someone who should be at least nearly as powerful as the series biggest baddies in a split second (after ripping off their giant mutated arm with a twist of her hand)).
Touma for out evil laughing an evil laughing villan and turning his reality warping powers against him. Also memorable for being your average street rat (no I'm not Jafar in disguise) with an anti-magic hand and going up against everything from fire-golems to human power plants capable of making a railgun in her hands to a person who can control vectors with enough accuracy and exactness to realign someone's memories and turn wind into plasma (oh, and insta-kill anyone by touching them).
[small]Edited to remove some redundancy and add something I missed.[/small]