I’m not one to make a big deal out of being an anime fan in real life. Still, it’s not something I hide. I’ll speak freely of the subject if asked. And, of course, I publish this very blog under my real name. Any potential employer, ex-girlfriend, or long lost classmate could discover my not-so-secret dark secret with minimal effort. There’s no reason to be ashamed, of course. I might as well apologize for being a birdwatcher.
That said, it’s hard to fault people for thinking anime is nothing but Pokemon and porn. After all, Pokemon and porn have been anime’s public face outside of Japan for quite some time now. Those of us who are dedicated anime fans know better, of course. Still, anime is very much a niche pursuit, important to only a select few, so why blame those who don’t know for, well… not knowing?
I often wonder, however, how my anime fandom is percieved by friends who, not knowing much of anime themselves, know me well enough to realize I have little affinity for things like Pokemon and graphic tentacle porn. Are they perplexed by my choice of hobbies?
I doubt there are really that much clueless people and you probably wouldn’t want them as friends anyway. Most people I’ve talked to about anime either knew it (and liked some), hadn’t heard of it at all or thought it’s for kids but were easily convinced that it’s just a special “media” for all kinds of stories or content. I would say those that know of tentacle porn etc. know very well that there’s “normal” anime even though they may not any recent shows. I’d also say such extreme stuff isn’t an issue anyway. What might be more of a problem is that anime often focuses on very young girls and in many parts of the world, people are not used to school uniforms albeit even those short skirts are authentic for Japan. At least personally I’m more worried about these subtle things rather than the bold ones because it confused/annoyed me as well when I discovered “modern” anime. Well, if people ever come across some of the rather extreme doujinshi out there you cannot really blame them for getting a bit shocked. We also know that some policitians and fanatics love to pick up extreme examples to manipulate the masses for there own interests. For example, “manga” seems to be a tough issue for the Canadian border personal.
I find that most lay people I talk to about anime and manga are more than willing to try it or to at least understand what it is all about. I usually go for the sneaky approach of finding what that person’s interests are and then talking about an anime that is related to his/her interest. It shouldn’t really be hard since there are anime shows about everything you can think of.
The biggest problem I have while talking about anime is giving a demonstration. Most of the time you don’t have anime DVDs or a laptop handy while talking with a friend and so the image your friend will have about anime will just be a vague one based on your description. Even if you were very good at using words to explain things, there is nothing like seeing the real McCoy. It always pisses me off when I see someone interested in anime after I talked about it and I don’t have any materials handy to show him/her.
Yes, some people might think of anime fans as weirdos but the more anime fans become open about it, the more the people around them will start accepting anime as another facet of the cultural/media scene. It also helps that we have the foreign minister of Japan on our side (^_^)
I know one thing, I suddenly feel like watching Gekiganger 3 again…
I face a different problem( due to my locality). My taste in anime differs wildly from the people close to me. To give an example, my two elder sisters, whom I shall now refer to as Elder A and Elder B.
Elder A prefers to read Manga, and her current mainstay is InuYasha. Her experience with anime is pretty limited, since she is more of a comic book fan( Batman, Superman, X-Men, Sandman, etc…).
Elder B… prefers shounen titles. She watches Bleach( and reads the Manga), Trigun, Spriggan, Akira, Appleseed 2004, etc… She is also a recent convert, being more of a comic book fan( anything by Neil Gaiman, what Elder A reads as well). She is more of an action-loving girl. Her choice of PC-games is FPS.
So this puts me in a quandary. I watch more anime than the two of them combined, but our preferred genres are different. So whenever we try to discuss anime together, we all seem to operate on different wavelengths. :(
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Cheers.
what i have gathered from my encounters with “normal” people is that anime is strange and i’m kinda weird for liking it. no one has ever disliked me for it, but i think they are perplexed by it. i’m cool with that. my co-workers know of my hobbies and that’s that. i don’t discuss it with them, nor do i force it on them…ever. i get annoyed by fans that try and convert other people. if someone expresses an interest i’ll be happy to share my vast knowledge on the subject. there are many “otaku” out there who can fit in perfectly well with the rest of society, it’s the ones who can’t that make the rest of us look crazy. i have always been open about the fact that i am a fangirl and i have never done anything to try and hide it. it’s just not necessarily the first thing i say to people when i meet them.
Hey, you finally found a use for that picture!
My classmates that have found my blog are amused by it and read it regularly. But then again, all of them have their own uber-specific niches (and thus don’t think anything of mine), so I guess that they’re not a really good representation of what it’s like when a random person finds out about one’s obsession with those Japanese porno cartoons.
Ahh… the perplexing question….
In real life, I don’t have any friends who are on the same level of otakudom as me. Granted, anime is still quite famous here, no thanks to Naruto, Bleach, Pokemon and etc.. but I’m hard pressed to find anyone who can discuss with me about Noto Mamiko, Ayako Kawasumi, the moé trends and types and (%latest_anime_titles%) with me.
Sometimes, it does feel very sad and lonely….
Anime appreciation is common among my collegues at least. Not all of them are serious fans, but many know basics enough to ask if I watch sub or dub at a receiption. Anime is a second tier topic after kids and their education, houses, cars, 401K and so on; anime holds its own with pastimes such as fishing, raving, mountain climbing, competitive shooting, or martial arts. About 15 years ago it was impossible, but times change.
So totally think this subject varies. I don’t come from a mecca of anime lovers, but those who don’t know much or think they dislike it spend a little time with me and I am able to show them that almost anyone could find an anime they like, because they are all so different. I had a friend just this week who specifically said all she thought of anime was Pokemon and she hated it, but happened to come over while watching “Whisper of the Heart” by Miyazaki and she fell in love hard and quick. Though that movie is soft and different than bleach, tsubasa and haruhi, etc… it is anime none the less.
At college, if I mention that I like anime to someone who doesn’t watch it, then that’s most likely the first thing that people will remember me for, regardless of anything else I’ve said before/after. I guess it annoys me that I’m defined as “the guy who likes anime”, since it means that anime still hasn’t reached the mainstream yet. Or it could mean that I’m too sensitive about things like that/paranoid of what they might think about anime, and how that ties in to what kind of person I possibly could be… ¬.¬
I’m not afraid to bring up the topic though, and when given the chance to talk about anime in a non-fan setting, I can be passionate indeed. Though I do get looks that I interpret to mean, “glad to see he has something that he really, really likes”, and I’m kind of uncertain in terms of how to handle that. I do attempt to instill an interest in anime to someone who hasn’t really tried it. I always like saying that there has been enough anime created to the point that you’ll find something suiting your interests, whatever they may be. And if they decide to take me on that offer, fun times are had.
It does help being a member of an anime club that have people with varying tastes. And it also helps that I’m considered one of the more “normal” members of the club.
But that’s beside the point. I don’t think that there’s much of a stigma on anime at my college, and I’d like to think that I’m not seen as an oddball, or even as someone that is an alright guy except for liking something out of the ordinary. :3
Personally anime is a great way to add depth to your personality and it is a very relevant, up-and-coming part of pop modern culture. Especially with manga gaining so much momentum and gaining mindshare in the public’s eye…
But unfortunately it doesn’t really go beyond, in my own experience, as small talk at a party or an interview (!) or as something to share when hanging out, to mutually kill time.
not-so-secret dark secrets are the best! i agree though. awesome site btw!
I dun really care much for real life things so that’s y i love anime more than anything.
This isn’t as common in real life as it is in anime, but just go to Yoyogi Park on a Sunday, and you’ll see some hair styles.