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Hey, Answerman! [2006-11-03]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying we should all act like the anime companies are these benevolent entities that only ever act in the interest of the fans - certainly that isn't true (nor is it realistic to expect), but I think the healthiest "relationship" you can reasonably have with a company like ADV is simply to remain neutral. Sure, complain if you don't like whatever DVD they just released, and let them know you have a problem with it. But ranting and raving about the "evil empire" is just annoying hyperbole. It isn't like they're grinding up kittens to make Pani Poni Dash DVDs.

At least, I don't think so. If they are, then you can call them evil, I suppose.

BUT! Like I said, we're practically BOMBARDED by your culture. Culture depicting your usual way of life. Television, for example. But that's not the only case.

And behind the fact that Republicans are extremely right-wing conservatives? Do I actually need to live there to know that?

I repeat, don't let your nationalism get over yourselves. You should try to analyse your own society at every opportunity you have, criticise it, and accept yourself as a part of it, even if your way of thinking is completely opposite. Sometimes reality is harsh, but you have to accept it, or you won't move on.

There's a lot of ways to know what goes on in your country without even having to visit it. Heck, I'm currently using one of them.

You seem to have missed my point. Which was I don't care how bad America is it doesn't excuse the Japanese. But to consider your point, just look at all the most popular shows on TV, Law and Order CSI Grey's anatomy Lost Heros. These shows do a pretty good job and that's what I mean by trying.
Two anime's that spring to mine that I have watched recently are full metal panic and tenjhe tenge. There was plenty in their you couldn't get away with in the US.

ArielTsuki wrote:

And racism is racism, no matter what form it takes in. Besides a lot of people would agree that subtle racism is more dangerous than blatant because it gives a sort of justification to exist when we can do something against blantant racism because we can see it. Both hurt the victim no more or no less than the other.

Subtle Racism is harder to defeat then blatent racism but it is also a sign of progress. The days when you could walk around on the street and say you wanted to join the KKK are over. Or that Black people are dumber are over. And that's progress.

That might be true for giant mega-corporations that manipulate the government, like, you know, Exxon-Mobil, but it isn't true at all of anime companies. ..."evil"...

I think there are some specific reasons for all the "evil" talk that people are reluctant to admit to...anime companies are "evil" because they license anime and make fansubbers stop...they're "evil" because they send C&D's to torrent sites to cut off the flow of free anime, and they try to charge a fair market price to make money from all the work they do. I used to think that DVDs were too expensive, but then I got smart and found the right sites online to buy from. Besides, for all the licensing costs, dubbing, translating, production, marketing, and overhead expenses that the companies have to deal with, R1 DVDs are pretty reasonable. They're not as cheap on average as a season of Simpsons or Friends, but somehow I still managed to get all 26 episodes of s-CRY-ed (legit DVDs) for $27.

Woot! Go Lefties! Yeah! I mean *ahem* I'm glad to see so may liberal anime fans.

Rebuttal to Wandering Knight.

There's so much wrong with what Wandering Knight is saying, it's almost comical.

Wandering Knight wrote:

BUT! Like I said, we're practically BOMBARDED by your culture. Culture depicting your usual way of life. Television, for example. But that's not the only case.

No, you are not bombarded by our culture. You are bombarded by our popular culture. Going to McDonalds and watching Lost on TV doesn't mean you know what the US is really about anymore than playing Final Fantasy and watching anime means you know what Japan is like.

Quote:

And behind the fact that Republicans are extremely right-wing conservatives? Do I actually need to live there to know that?

No, you don't need to live in the US to know that fact, because your so-called fact is horrendously false. Extremely right-wing conservatives are a tiny percentage of the Republican population. Most people are in the middle of the liberal/conservative spectrum. Most liberals have conservative views on certain subjects and most conservatives have liberal views on certain subjects.

Likewise, 50% of America is not racist right wingers. Being racist is actually very unpopular in America these days.

Quote:

I repeat, don't let your nationalism get over yourselves. You should try to analyse your own society at every opportunity you have, criticise it, and accept yourself as a part of it, even if your way of thinking is completely opposite. Sometimes reality is harsh, but you have to accept it, or you won't move on.

Americans are extremely critical of their own society (and by society, I think what you really mean is government). I'm sure you can find multiple shows criticizing the Bush administration on TV at any time of day.

Quote:

There's a lot of ways to know what goes on in your country without even having to visit it. Heck, I'm currently using one of them.

Yes, you can learn about things in other countries without going there, but arguing with people who have actually lived there that your second-hand information is correct and their first hand information is false is more than a little ridiculous. It's as silly as when one of the Taiwanese teachers tries to argue with me that a certain phrase is correct in English and refuses to back down even though any native speaker could tell them that what they're saying is wrong.

Your sources on America are just as biased as anyone else's. Living in Argentina, it's natural that the media in your country would be negative towards America due to perceived racism against Mexicans. However, Americans wouldn't consider it a racism issue, but an economic issue - most Americans don't want a huge influx of cheap labor coming into the country and so stricter immigration laws on Mexico are created.

Just to warn you, trying to discount me by saying that I'm encased in the American bubble really doesn't work since in the past 6 years, only about half of my time has been spent in America (the rest in Asia, Taiwan to be specific).

Oh and I really enjoyed this week's Answerman column.

You just did a great job describing 'lazy cynicism' and then you engage in it.

RDespair wrote:

There's so much wrong with what Wandering Knight is saying, it's almost comical. Wandering Knight wrote: BUT! Like I said, we're practically BOMBARDED by your culture. Culture depicting your usual way of life. Television, for example. But that's not the only case. No, you are not bombarded by our culture. You are bombarded by our popular culture. Going to McDonalds and watching Lost on TV doesn't mean you know what the US is really about anymore than playing Final Fantasy and watching anime means you know what Japan is like. Quote: And behind the fact that Republicans are extremely right-wing conservatives? Do I actually need to live there to know that? No, you don't need to live in the US to know that fact, because your so-called fact is horrendously false. Extremely right-wing conservatives are a tiny percentage of the Republican population. Most people are in the middle of the liberal/conservative spectrum. Most liberals have conservative views on certain subjects and most conservatives have liberal views on certain subjects. Likewise, 50% of America is not racist right wingers. Being racist is actually very unpopular in America these days. Quote: I repeat, don't let your nationalism get over yourselves. You should try to analyse your own society at every opportunity you have, criticise it, and accept yourself as a part of it, even if your way of thinking is completely opposite. Sometimes reality is harsh, but you have to accept it, or you won't move on. Americans are extremely critical of their own society (and by society, I think what you really mean is government). I'm sure you can find multiple shows criticizing the Bush administration on TV at any time of day. Quote: There's a lot of ways to know what goes on in your country without even having to visit it. Heck, I'm currently using one of them. Yes, you can learn about things in other countries without going there, but arguing with people who have actually lived there that your second-hand information is correct and their first hand information is false is more than a little ridiculous. It's as silly as when one of the Taiwanese teachers tries to argue with me that a certain phrase is correct in English and refuses to back down even though any native speaker could tell them that what they're saying is wrong. Your sources on America are just as biased as anyone else's. Living in Argentina, it's natural that the media in your country would be negative towards America due to perceived racism against Mexicans. However, Americans wouldn't consider it a racism issue, but an economic issue - most Americans don't want a huge influx of cheap labor coming into the country and so stricter immigration laws on Mexico are created. Just to warn you, trying to discount me by saying that I'm encased in the American bubble really doesn't work since in the past 6 years, only about half of my time has been spent in America (the rest in Asia, Taiwan to be specific). Oh and I really enjoyed this week's Answerman column.

Thank you! You put into written words what I wanted to say to Wandering Knight and wasn't able to.

Thanks.

The ending of the Inuyasha anime was bad. I am a fan of the series but that just seemed lazy. Now from what I understand the reason they decied to end it was because the animators were getting burned out and wanted to work on other projects. Also if I recall the show wasn't pulling in the ratings like it was. Don't get me wrong it was still popular when it ended. It was too bad they couldn't get their act together to make a proper ending.

but to drag people through 160+ episodes of the show and then flat-out not finish it is like giving the finger to a whole legion of loyal fans.

So 50% of the population of your country are closed-minded, racist right-wingers? Why don't the other 50% do something about it, then?

We have a saying here, in Argentina: "He who keeps silent, clears the way". Unfortunately, most of that 50% who is not a racist right-winger is keeping silent, clearing the way for the 50% that IS a racist right-winger. Should it have been otherwise, I repeat, Bush Jr would have lost his reelection.

PD: Oh, and what I stated above relates to the fact that a lot of people in your country doesn't vote because they don't want. I can't remember the exact percentage of non-voting americans in last elections, but it was relatively high.

And Bob of Tenjo Tenge was never displayed as an idiot. I always though of him as being the calm, more rational one of the Souichirou/Bob pair. Granted I only watch five epsiodes of the anime but Bob himself was not displayed as an idiot in the episodes I watched. Although Maya's comment of Blacks being the more flexible and athetic comment did raise my eyebrow. But that stereotype exist in America also. I mean look at basketball, baseball (although it's more Latinos than anything), football and Olympic track. The only thing that TenTen did is say it outright. The comments the characters may have said of him isn't the same as the character of Bob himself.

And I wish I can clearly remember the black guy in Full Metal Panic, but I would if they presented him as an idiot, which they didn't. He was the villian though. However, I think it's more he's in an American army than anything else.

Wandering Knight wrote:

PD: Oh, and what I stated above relates to the fact that a lot of people in your country doesn't vote because they don't want. I can't remember the exact percentage of non-voting americans in last elections, but it was relatively high.

Probably because a lot of people are simply sick of and fed up with BOTH of our political parties and they decided that rather than voting for the lesser evil, they just won't vote at all.

Just because I vote Republican doesn't mean I like everthing about them. Honestly, I'm not happy with them right now; the other choice is just worse (IMO).

The Republican party is quite diverse and there are a variety of opinions on any given issue.

Only a small portion of Republicans could be accurately described as racist. Being against illegal immigration =/= racist.

Also, someone mentioned the last episode of Mai HiME earlier as having something racist in it. I'm curious what this was, as I remember few details regarding the it.