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What do the Japanese think of people who watch anime in Japan?
EliteLamer
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Do they consider it a "norm", what society considers normal, or is it a nerdy thing that anti social people watch. I know that they have a word for people who are into anime and manga but does that word only apply to people who are the most extreme?
So for example, is watching anime like watching House in America or is watching anime like watching Star Trek in America.
Then I come to another point. Is it considered normal that a guy watches shows like Love Hina or plays dating Sims?
I am just trying to come to a conclusion on what society thinks of people who are into those things.
So for example, is watching anime like watching House in America or is watching anime like watching Star Trek in America.
Then I come to another point. Is it considered normal that a guy watches shows like Love Hina or plays dating Sims?
I am just trying to come to a conclusion on what society thinks of people who are into those things.
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Anime can be 'nerdy', and it can be normal, depending on the show.
Is it really like this in the states? The only people that are considered 'nerdy' for watching Anime in my experience are cosplayers and people who go to the conventions.
On the subject though, I know that Otaku is not a badge to be proud of in Japan, as Otaku are the people who hole up in their apartments and shun society in favor of some hobby like anime or games.
Nerdy is relative. None of us here would consider someone who digs Cowboy Bebop to be nerdy in a negative sense, but some frat boy might. If you were to poll the general population, I'm pretty sure a majority would label anime as a nerd-thing. They'd probably also see nothing wrong with liking Disney cartoons. The moral of the story is that people are silly.
That's changed a little bit. It's closer to the English 'nerd' nowadays, which some people adopt with pride or use to self-humorous describe their general interest (a car otaku for example), but is still sees plenty of us as a more derogatory term. The new buzzword for the 'shut-in' is hikikomori, which has nothing but negative connotations.
Yeah, I heard that 1/3 of all books in Japan is Manga.
Yes, anime is considered nerdy by the population in the US and just watching it and nothing more is odd.
Yeah, most people I know would think somebody a pretty serious nerd if they found out they watched anime.
I'd say large segments of the US population view anime as more "kiddy" than "nerdy," due in no small part to Pokemon. People might not have understood why their kids were so obsessed with it, but it was too widespread to be classified as "nerdy." Add to that most anime on TV is targeted at kids, rather than nerds, and anime becomes another part of the rapidly growing kid-driven media market - Harry Potter just became the highest-grossing film franchise ever and the High School Musical Soundtrack was the top-selling album of 2006.
Reading manga is still nerdy, much the way reading Spider-Man comics is nerdy but watching a Spider-Man movie isn't. Cosplaying, attending conventions, buying imports, and watching subtitled anime are all still nerdy.
That's exactly how I think of it. I never understand people who "like anime". That's like me saying "I like dramas". Fuck all, it could be Days of our Lives or it could be Weeds.
Are you saying that anything that isn't Miyazaki is for kids? or Miyazaki just sits on the border between kids and adults?
anything not Miyazaki is for kids or weird people. Everyone and their mother watch Ghibli films and they always top the charts when the movies are released.
I think is like the comic book guy, but even more shunned, otakus don't talk about their hobby in public.
The anime and kiddy part is about the same in Japan as the vast majority of anime is intended for junior high kids and in high school/college if you watch anime your considered more nerdy. Manga on the other hand is pretty much read by everyone.
Maybe my experience isn't the norm, but when I went over there for one year in college the general attitude was that anime was for junior high kids and it was out of the norm to watch it in college
Well, it's more like saying "I like British comedy." There are certain qualities shared by most anime, specifically a reflection of Japanese culture. If you like the aspect of Japanese culture that bleeds through most of the anime that makes it here, then it's not horribly unreasonable to say "I like anime."
Most anime isn't geared towards the adult population?
Anime isn't looked at as just like watching another popular movie in the US. Anime is not considered as standard media in the US. If it was you would see anime released in the movie theaters on a daily basis.
I don't think most try to blanket themselves in a Japanese identity or anything... Are you talking about things like those cuts between well drawn and inked parts and then suddenly they're stick figures on simplistic backgrounds with gigantic eyes going 'UHHHHH' for about 5 seconds?
King of Tennis in no way seems like Gundam to me.
I wouldn't say Cowboy Bebop is for kids. Young adults maybe. Paranoia agent and FLCL require at least a certain amount of maturity and intelligence to understand, though they could be mistaken for kids shows I guess. Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfather, these all have adult themes. I would say Miyazaki makes anime that is closer to being kid's fare than a fair bit of the stuff that is out there, but what sets him apart is the excellent presentation and the insertion of adult themes and complex messages.
It's possible that the Western and Japanese definition of "kids" is different.
I mean, just considering shows like Ranma 1/2, which is definately not for a mature audience, but is full of panty raiding and mid-teen nudity.
Boku wa gaikokujin desu.
Mostly it's because I love other cultures. I got all the Norse, Greek and Chinese out of my system years ago, though I still thumb through the Ro3K on occasion. Japan is something easily accessible and continuously changing. And the prenoted like for pretty pictures and such. Japanese society is pretty repellent though. Their entertainment industry... nah. The corruption, social pressures, work ethics, and social inequality though? Ew. Fuck no.
Why would that be? Traditional animated features in general are rare in US movie theatres these days - even if they're by US companies. The premier US animation studio is Pixar, not Don Bluth. Even Disney is CGI-based these days. Other than The Simpsons, what was the last major traditionally animated movie? It's just not a big genre right now, whether it's American or Japanese.
Back when traditional animation was in full swing (the late 90s), anime was right there with it. Pokemon: The First Movie opened at over $31 million box office, and grossed over $85 million domestic (US).
But YouTube took the videos down because of copyright violation.
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And it's mostly for younger people in America, too, so there's not much difference.
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It's just if you start defining yourself as an 'anime fan' then you're supposed to be a teenager or college kid.
To be honest, though, it's one of those things where some different groups think different things. Someone really conservative and pseudo-intellectual might think another adult childish for watching anime, but in general it's fine.
At any rate it's really different from the US.
There's a whole webcomic genre there that caters to the "I like Anime" mentality by just drawing in an Anime style. And it works - these comics, provided the art is of a sufficiently high quality, generally draw a lot of readers. Unfortunately I find it off-putting, as I find myself wondering why they haven't tried to develop their own style.
The "British Comedy" statement is interesting, though. I've done some advertising for my webcomic and the first campaign incorporated the "British Scifi-Comedy" (such as the one you may see in my banner). That campaign was immensely popular, because associate "British Scifi-comedy" with things like Hitchhikers Guide, Red Dwarf, arguably Doctor Who (which is not, strictly speaking, scifi-comedy, but most people remember Tom Baker's Doctor as a humorous sort to watch) and, to a lesser extent, Hyperdrive. Jump Leads has an attraction to fans of that sort of scifi, particularly as the first three shows I mentioned were huge influences on me as a writer.
it's the same with Anime-style webcomics drawn in America. They're popular in the US, although whether or not they're equally popular in Japan is another thing entirely. But merely being Anime in nature will draw readers in huge numbers if you advertise in the right places.
Wait, is there a sequel or something?
I'd have also pick a none shonen series for that little statement, because it is more or less a genre, and that's because they do frequently use a whole lot of the same plot devices and chracter archetypes.
Agreed. A lot of their culture is pure, undiluted coolness (ninja, samurai, just for starters) but it is highly repressive and, at times, self destructive.
Case in point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoshi
:shock:
Margaret Thatcher
in terms of coolness, if you want, sure.
In terms of being more... authentic(?) than western culture, I think I'd have to disagree. not that you said that, per se, but words have connotation. It's as commercialized and bastardized as anywhere else, and has been used for the worst sort of propaganda.