This is my reply to someone's rant on an anime newsgroup. I felt like reposting it here. I may post some work rants later, but right now I'm off to bed. Suffice to say the work has continued to suck...and I've been working on keeping track of my "Counter of Stupid" at work.
> I Hate Anime Fans
> (aka The Rant That Will Have Anime Fans Calling For My Bloody Public
> Execution)
I'm an anime fan I have to agree with you on many of these points. Guess my carcass will be nailed to a wall near yours...
> I hate anime fans because they are conceited, anal-retentive, silly,
> thickheaded, ignorant, inane and elitist. It is true that every human being
> displays these traits at some point in their lives, but most anime fans seem
> to have gotten an extra helping of them. Most of the time, I find them
> simply naive, grating, and irritating when they begin to discuss their
> preferred medium of entertainment.
Yes...in general, these are the people that keep dragging us down. They are our worst enemy in the area of having anime (and some cartoons) being seen as something that is meant for a wider audience than just children.
> Hmm, a good example of the sort of thing I'm talking about would be... try
> going up to the average anime fan and casually referring to sa's favorite
> show as a "cartoon." Nine times out of ten, you'll get to see the wheels in
> their head creak a little bit before the veins in their forehead start to
> twitch and steam starts coming out of their ears moments before they treat
> you to an extensive, violent rant on how anime is NOT cartoons, you stupid
> ugly American, it is a high form of art, unlike the half-hour toy
> commercials produced on this side of the Pacific, and to refer to it as a
> mere cartoon is to spit upon, pillage and violate all of the elite aesthetic
> glory that is anime.
I usually use anime to refer to something aimed at an older audience, probably about 12 and older, where I as I still think of cartoons being something like "Tom and Jerry" or "Looney Tunes." The whole idea of animated television shows for adults isn't all that new, nor is it entirely Japanese. Ever see "The Flintstones?" That was made with adults in mind, and if my history serves me right (I'm old enough to be an eye witness) it aired at night, after most kids had been sent to bed. Most of the "cartoons" we see aimed at kids carry messages and jokes that only an adult would be likely to understand...especially now when they are more of a historical reference than a current social commentary. Try watching some cartoons from the '50s. You might be surprised by what you find there.
> Discounting the fact that the marketing blitz accompanying popular shows in
> Japan often surpasses what we get in the West (we never saw Sailor Moon
> sausages over here, did we?), 'anime' is actually-- surprise-- just the
> Japanese word for 'animation'! Thus, Pokemon, Akira, Legend of the
> Overfiend, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mickey Mouse, and Fritz the Cat all
> technically fall under the enormous banner of 'anime'. And last I checked,
> it was perfectly acceptable to speak of British or European cartoons; there
> exists no particular provision stipulating that 'cartoon' must refer only to
> American-produced work. Anime=animation=cartoons. End of story. (On a
> similar note, it should be noted that "seiyuu" is merely the Japanese word
> for "voice actor," and calling someone a "seiyuu" does not mean that they
> are on an artistically higher level than a mere voice actor.)
Some of those European cartoons were pretty good. Anyone remember "Sebastian and the Seven Cities of Gold?" I do...it ran on Nickelodeon back in the late 80s and early 90s. That was produced by a French company. Granted, it was a joint venture with a Japanese company, but still... (On a personal note, it was probably tho only good thing to come from France)
> Somewhat along those same lines, there also seems to exist a rule in the
> Unwritten Code of Otakudom that denouncing everything Western and
> championing everything Japanese is an essential part of being an anime fan.
> Now, I will freely admit that there are many aspects of Japanese culture I
> do like. I like their tendancy to emphasize effort as more important than
> innate ability, their social politeness, and the fact that enough people
> there take video games seriously enough to orchestrate their music (among
> other things). It is also an irrefutable fact that Pocky kicks ass. However,
> I know enough of their history and culture (unlike many anime fans, who
> think they can glean an accurate picture of Japanese society solely from
> watching subtitled videos) to know that Japanese culture also has its fair
> share of aspects that aren't admirable. It's still very much a
> male-dominated society, despite what anime might suggest, and can be
> downright repressive at times, not to mention there still remains an
> omnipresent attitude throughout most of Japan that foreigners, no matter how
> nice and decent, can never truly be accepted as "one of us." And don't get
> me started on the fact that the Japanese government has never apologized for
> wartime atrocities committed during WWII... but this isn't a political rant,
> so what it all comes down to is that you just can't take something as
> complex as an entire culture and slap it with a quick judgment like that.
I'll admit it. I really like the Japanese culture. I've studied the language and the history. Yes, this helps me understand some of the context and connotations in anime, but that's not the only reason. I do use this knowledge an awful lot. As a writer and GM (Game Master for those of you who don't role-play), I find having a whole new set of mythology and cultural norms to be somewhat invaluable. I won't say that Japan is better than the US or that the US sucks. It doesn't. You really can't make such broad, sweeping judgements. We did that once before...anyone remember what we did because we thought Africans weren't as "good" was we were? Yeah...that's right...we hunted them down, "civilized" them, and made them slaves. We even forced our religion down their throats. Granted, this isn't a nice thing to think about, but it does show how bed we, and everyone else, can be.
> The "America bad, Japan good" attitude, though, has ultimately spawned
> something even more utterly annoying than mere cultural chauvinism, and this
> is the irritating plague of fans who try to prove their Otaku Eliteness by
> speaking in weird bastardizations of Japanese and English, attaching
> honorifics to their names, and transcribing character names according to
> their original katakana spellings. Now, the first one doesn't always bug me
> that much unless it reaches a point where English speakers can't actually
> understand what the hell you're saying. The second one does annoy me,
> because honorifics are something that depend on your status relative to the
> person you're speaking to, so giving yourself an honorific makes no sense.
> The third one makes me want to froth at the mouth and rake my fingernails
> down the wall before going out to messily destroy adorable woodland
> creatures.
*innocent whistling* You caught me...I do speak a bastardized mix of Japanese and English. Most of us in my anime club do. We also tend to throw in a smattering of German, French, and Spanish as well. Every now and then, Tolkien Elvish (both Sindar and Quenya) show up too. As for the honorifics...well, we use them too. Most of the club, since its almost all newish members now, call me Oni-sempai, occasionally Oni-sama. We actually use them properly...or try to... As for the spellings...I hate that too. BAKA GAIJIN!!!
> A word about the Japanese writing system might be useful here. As most anime
> fans know, the Japanese have a phonetic alphabet-- katakana-- which is used
> primarily to write words of foreign origin. (The other phonetic alphabet is
> hiragana, which is used to write Japanese words.) Now, the deal with
> katakana is that it only contains sounds which occur naturally in the
> Japanese language-- thus, there is no "l" sound, no "th" sound, and so on.
> Thus, it is used to write foreign words according to how the Japanese would
> pronounce them. Katakana words are NOT to be taken as actual spellings when
> transcribed literally. Many fans, ironically often those who toss off
> Japanese phrases at the drop of a hat, don't even realize this and think it
> is Cool or 1337 to romanize character names as they look in katakana. This
> is just STUPID.
One thing I have noticed on this topic...sorta at least...is the use of katakana for all names in various anime. Evangelion did this with Ikari Shinji's name. I can't figure it out...anyone else got any ideas?
> The ultimate blow to my last shreds of confidence in society, though, was
> dealt when I saw a page referring to the series whose name is usually
> rendered into English as "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon" (Bishoujo Senshi
> Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, or Bishoujosenshisailormoon, or
> whatever the hell the Elite Hard-Core Otaku way of writing it is) written as
> "Bishoujo Senshi Seeraamuun." Is "Seeraa Muun" the way it is written in
> katakana? Yes. Did Naoko Takeuchi actually intend the name of her manga to
> be "Seeraa Muun?" I highly doubt it, especially taking into account that
> katakana is used mainly to write words of foreign origin, and since the
> words are written in katakana, the most obvious conclusion is that they're
> intended to be-- GASP-- foreign words! No, misspelling character and show
> names does not make you elite. It just makes you look like an idiot. Anyhow,
> if you've ever even seen any officially licensed Japanese SM merchandise, it
> usually has S-A-I-L-O-R-M-O-O-N written on it in very unmistakable romaji.
> Then again, I've fairly well given up on expecting anime fans to display
> anything in the way of rational thought. These are people who engage in
> flamewars over whether "Sailor Moon" is one word or two, for God's sake.
Again...BAKA GAIJIN!!!
> Now, I've become increasingly aware that there are more than a few other
> people who share my view on the vast majority of fandom, but quite frankly,
> from what I've gathered, most of them are afraid to speak out. And who can
> blame them? If there's one general characteristic of anime fans which irks
> me more than any other, it's that they take themselves and their
> entertainment too damn seriously. Sure, Japanese animation seems to put more
> of an emphasis on telling a serious story with well-developed characters
> than most of the animation we get in the West, but it's hardly an inviolable
> constant. I've seen some extremely crappy anime and some really damned good
> non-Japanese animation.
Then again...if you've ever seen "Otaku no Video" you'll know that some anime fans don't take this very seriously at all.
> Not every anime series is an irreproachable masterpiece of cinematography
> and character. That said, a bad dub is not the end of the world either.
> Sure, DiC did a hack job on the English version of SM, but to be frank, it's
> not as if what existed in the first place was classic cinema either. SM is
> entertaining fluff, with no deeper meaning to it beyond the usual shoujo
> series "the power of friendship and love" message. If you're one of the
> sorts of people who expounds at length on webpages and bulletin boards about
> the "incredible beauty and power" of SM, why the last episode is the
> greatest masterpiece of cinema since "Citizen Kane", and how Usagi is a
> metaphor for Jesus, please do the rest of us a favor and garrote yourself
> with piano wire. (And yes, before you ask, I have seen the Original Real
> Japanese Version. I don't want to get started on this. I'm not saying that
> it's a bad show-- only that most fans take it entirely too seriously.)
Usagi a metaphor for Jesus? Now that's a theory I'd like to have explained to me. Perhaps I'll start my own "Church of Bunny" Makes as much sense and worshipping some guy who got himself nailed to a big "T." Before any of you flaming Jesus-fans get angry at me, I was raised Christian and I've studied a lot of the history of the church, and in doing so, I've become rather disillusioned with your religion. Look around and read more than just your bible about such issues. Maybe I'm wrong in my views, maybe I'm not. Either way, they are mine and I am entitled to them.
> In sum, I suppose the gist of my advice to anime fans would be:
>
> 1. 'Anime' and 'cartoon' mean the same thing.
>
> 2. Watching anime does not make you a qualified expert on the Japanese
> culture.
>
> 3. Sailor Moon (Sailormoon, whatever) is not the be-all and end-all of
> animated entertainment.
>
> 4. Stop taking yourselves so damned seriously. Being an anime fan (or a fan
> of a certain series, or a fan of subs as opposed to dubs) does not make you
> superior to the average person.
