I'll throw in some ideas, as always you are can think I'm a massive faggot that's wrong if you want. The best ideas come from struggle and disagreement.
btw I don't watch anime anymore but I used to post on 4chan /a/ a long time ago.
8chan is not at prime time yet, that will happen when the rewrite is completed. Right now the board software has some issues that will put people off.
4chan /a/ has a much higher opinion of itself than it deserves, the board is mostly shitposting but having a good morale about it is ok. The elitism is largely in their minds.
/a/ is one of the pillars of 4chan, if /a/, /v/, /b/ and /pol/ are shaken then the whole of 4chan is, unfortunately /a/ was one of the boards least shaken by recent events.
You need all the users you can get. 4chan got to where it was today due to lax rules, I'm not saying it should be a shitposting free for all but a balance.
90% of the problems are due to smaller userbase, 8chan needs more users. Even if the moderation was terrible more users would balance it out.
4chan has a massive advantage, the user base is mostly under control and they are free to spread negative memes about you while you can not refute them on their home ground due to heavy censorship.
that is all.