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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:33 pm Reply with quote
If you guys want to know where I've been the past few months,I've largely been hanging around Youtube. They have some interesting anime stuff there and I wanted to let you guys know what I found a couple of weeks ago. For Independence Day or the Fourth of July as it's more commonly known,both Anime America and WatchMojo.com came out with top ten lists that featured American anime characters. While I thought it was great that they did that,I felt that they were kind of flawed.
The Anime America one felt like kind of a rushed affair. They didn't really go in depth with the characters like they with previous top ten lists. It was basically just a quickie thing they got out which they could have gotten out earlier if they had taken some time to do it. While I'm pleased that they did it at all,the least they could have done is give us a little more depth. They could have released this any time. I would have been happier if they just slowed down and fleshed out their choices better,that's all.

The WatchMojo.com version of the same topic was a bit better. They certainly took their time and flesh out their choices better,but there was another flaw which kinda ruined it for me. They ended it with a real jerk of a character. There are far more positive American anime characters they could have ended with. I'm not going to reveal who this person was. You're going to have to watch the video to see for yourself. They ended with this guy because they thought he was a patriot. Now,that's bull. Being a patriotic American doesn't mean being a outright creep. It means being proud of this country without being obnoxious. I wish Japanese anime creators and writers as well as the people who did the WatchMojo.com would realize this.
Now,don't get me wrong. I think it's great that both Anime America and WatchMojo.com did this sort of list. They could have done this any time and I would have appreciated it. It's just that I thought the lists they came out with were a little flawed,that's all. The overall idea was a good one. I just thought they could have done it a little better,that's all. Smile
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Blood-
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:03 pm Reply with quote
@ Snomaster1 - I've been meaning to ask this for a long time now and just never got around to it. My question is: why are you so interested in any sort of American angle to anime? I mean, I'm sure you're a proud American, so on that level I get it. It's just that it's a bit odd in that a lot of non-Japanese anime fans like anime specifically because it is different from the entertainment forms they get from the West or their own cultures. So I find it interesting that you focus so heavily on American connections to anime. If you feel like it, can you explain this?
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Redbeard 101
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:43 pm Reply with quote
Initially I was going to lock this for being yet another one of your "American" posts where you always shove an American angle onto a topic. However, since Blood has asked a legitimate question I am going to give you a chance to respond and see where this goes.
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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:30 pm Reply with quote
Well,Blood- and Psycho 101. Since you guys asked me so nicely,I'll give you two an explanation. And,hopefully make you and everyone else here understand why I do what I do. Let me start off by saying I don't do this just annoy everyone or cause people problems. That's not my intent. My main reason for doing stuff like this is because I find the portrayals of America and Americans in anime so interesting. If there were similar portrayals in British,Canadian,Australian,or other foreign works that were coming in to this country en masse,it would certainly pique my interest as well.
A lot of times,we don't get a lot of foreign media in the U.S. A lot of times,they end up on PBS or on a satellite or specialized cable channels for such stuff like BBC America. Trust me. If I were British,Canadian,Australian,or Irish and I were seeing stuff like "Black Butler,""Read Or Die,""Wizard Barristers,""Free!" or "Freezing,"I'd have the same fascination because a foreign country had such interesting portrayals of my native country,I'd also want to try to find whatever forum I could to express my interest.

As an obvious example,when I first saw "Gunsmith Cats" on Encore Action many years ago,I was stunned. I'd rarely seen any outside view of my country and to see it done in an amazing way,was pretty special. But,what really set me on this sort of course was,of course,the first review of "Gunsmith Cats" when it said it had done this view of American culture in such a fascinating way,started me on this path.
I hope I've explained myself to your satisfaction. Smile I don't do these sort of posts to be bothersome or to cause trouble. I do them because I have such a strong interest in this topic. Besides,I've been thinking about doing a post on two Canadian cartoons I've seen in the Community section and I hope that you guys like and enjoy it when I finally get around to writing it. I'd also hope I don't get banned again for explaining this to everyone. But,I feel that it was something that needed to be said and I was happy to provide any explanation you two may have required. Thanks a lot for it.


Last edited by Snomaster1 on Sat Jul 22, 2017 10:34 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Blood-
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:39 pm Reply with quote
@ Snomaster1 - thank you very much for taking the time to explain your interest in American-related anime. I have a follow-up question, if you don't mind. Do you like any anime that doesn't have an American angle? Or do you only watch anime if it has some sort of American connection?

Oops, I have some more follow-up questions, too. You say you are interested in foreign depictions of Americans and America, but don't you find those depictions in anime to be unsatisfying? If I was an American, I think I would. Depictions of Americans in anime tend to be very superficial, concentrating on the fact that Americans, relative to Japanese, tend to be loud, act too familiarly too quickly, etc. As you know, the Japanese word yanqui which comes from Yankee, refers to a juvenile delinquent. Does that sort of thing bother you?
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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Sorry,Blood- for the late answer. I did have one but I made a mistake and deleted it. Now,I'm going to try again. My answer to your first question is not always. It's been my experience that portrayals of America and Americans in anime are a mixed bag. Not all of the portrayals are negative. For every Bandit Keith out there,there are also those like Arthur Hawkins and his granddaughter,Rebecca. Arthur was a close friend of Yugi's grandfather and a fairly decent person. His granddaughter may been kind of a brat in her first appearance but she turned into a better person,basically having this huge crush on Yugi,but to Tea/Anzu's chagrin.
Patty Martin in "Lucky Star" was a young American who was working at the workplace of one of the characters. Sure,she learned her Japanese from watching said anime,but she was also a nice,energetic character who liked being with her new friends. I don't see her as a negative character,but as a likable one. Roy Fokker was also American. He appeared in the "Macross" series,one that would be come part of the "Robotech" franchise. He seems like anime's answer to Han Solo but he was more than that. He was a mentor to the main character,a good pilot,and a decent guy.

Another example is an obvious one. Chibodee Crockett from "G-Gundam." He may have started off as kind of a loudmouth but he became one of the series' main heroes who was also a good guy. I also found out that they had an American character in "Sailor Moon's" final season. He was a doctor brought in to help with a life-saving operation for a young child. He was transformed into a monster by the bad guys but Sailor Moon saved him. I could go on and on but I think I've made my point. Not every American character in anime is a superficial jerk. There are positive American characters out there. You just have to look for them. They're not difficult to find. Unfortunately,there are very few Canadian characters in anime,so it's hard to get a grasp on how they're portrayed in that medium.
As for your second question,there are anime I like that have no American connections in them at all. I'll give you a few examples. I'll start off with "Inuyasha." It didn't have any American characters in it at all,although I wish it did. It would have been interesting to see how the people of Inuyasha's world would have reacted to seeing someone from a country that has yet to exist in that era. Although,that's not quite true. They had a North American game based on the series with an American character thrown into the mix. I've never played the game personally,but I have heard of it.

Another anime that doesn't have any Americans in there but I wish they had them is "Cardcaptor Sakura" aka "Cardcaptors." It would have been interesting to see how CLAMP would have portrayed Americans. I hope that comes about someday. I'd like to see it. Also,I like both "Naruto" and "Hunter x Hunter" and they also have no American characters in them. Granted,they take place on different worlds and that's to be expected.
A show I haven't seen a whole lot of is "Tokyo Ghoul." It also has no American characters in it and that's something I'm grateful for. Any Americans in that show would either be ghoul food in ten seconds or if the American was a ghoul,he or she would mostly be a culmination of the worst stereotypes that anime has done on Americans. Granted,this show really isn't my thing and from what little I have seen of it,I'm kinda glad I'm not into that sort of thing.

Your third question,Blood- is an interesting one. Am I upset that the Japanese word yankii,as I think it's spelled used to denote a kind of juvenile delinquent. If I'm honest,not really. From what I learned about them,these guys wear Hawaiian shirts and do dumb stuff. I'm not really going to get myself worked up over that. It's too silly and stupid for me to worry about so I'm not going to. Well,thanks for the questions,Blood-. I appreciate them but there's something I've gotta say. I hope that the next response would be about the two Youtube videos I discussed at the beginning of this post. I'd like to know what others thought of those videos and their opinions of them. I hope that happens. See you guys later.


Last edited by Snomaster1 on Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:57 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Blood-
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 2:37 pm Reply with quote
Yes, I hope somebody responds to your OP, too, Snomaster1. Again, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Happy viewing!
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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 10:49 pm Reply with quote
Thanks,Blood-. I appreciate the kind words. I'd forgot some American anime characters that I had in the earlier version of my post before it's accidental erasure. There were some American characters in both "Betterman" and another anime whose title I don't remember right now. They were good guys although the one in "Betterman" had a brief appearance. I wanted to let you know this because I forgot this in the post that I now have. I hope that's okay with you.
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Blood-
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 7:00 am Reply with quote
Have you seen BBK/BRNK and its sequel? There's an American team in that. The head of that team is portrayed as a complete meathead.
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12skippy21



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PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 1:47 pm Reply with quote
I do remember seeing the Watch Mojo video but aren't their lists based on votes on their site rather than specific research, I would imagine that #1 was picked more by non-anime fans or those that had not seen many shows (or voted as a joke answer). Every country has certain stereotypes represented in foreign media. From a British perspective I actually never considered how my country is represented in anime, I tend to remember the accents put in the American dubs more. Very Happy

I do remember a live action documentary though (cannot remember the name) but high school students were asked to represent Britain in a play, they started swearing and joking about how much drink and drugs they have taken. Their impression of some council estate kids I knew was uncanny.
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Snomaster1
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:20 am Reply with quote
I hope you guys forgive me again. I'm not here as much as I used to be so please don't be upset. First off,Blood-. No,I haven't seen "BBK/BRNK" yet,mostly because they haven't had an English dub done yet. When it does happen,I'll see it. But,I did look it up on Wikipedia and it's Wiki page. It'll be interesting to see how the American team is portrayed in that anime.
As for you,12skippy21,I have no idea how they do their videos or how they do their rankings. I just didn't like the number one American in that spot because he was such an out-and-out creep. I haven't seen the documentary you mentioned and if you remember the title,I hope you either come here and tell me about it or PM me. I'd like to see it for myself.

Although I wanted to keep this thing strictly on the two Youtube videos I saw,12skippy21,I wanted to tell you about a show I thought had one of the worst portrayals of America and Americans I've ever seen,and it wasn't a Japanese anime. It was a show from your country that was called "Spooks." In North America,it was called "MI-5." And from the episodes I saw,it felt like to me,the makers of this series went out of their way to bash Americans. There was rarely a positive American character in the entire series!
The portrayal of America and Americans in that show wouldn't have been out of place if it were from Iran or North Korea or even Saudi Arabia! As someone who's written more than his fair share of stories,I wouldn't have done this if I were making a similar series. I would've had both good and bad Brits on my show and I wouldn't have been bashing Brits like "MI-5/Spooks" did to my people. I first saw this show when it was on BBC America and later when it was on PBS. From what I did see of the show,it was a well-made,taut series. I just it would have been better if it didn't bash America or Americans. Well,I just wanted to vent about this series to someone from Britain and I hope you understand where I'm coming from. Thanks for listening and I hope there are more comments coming.
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