Forum - View topicDoes the West have a skewed perspective of Japan being liberal with entertainment? Esp anime?
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Samuknight
Posts: 35 |
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I know this involves more than just anime but since this site lacks a general discussion section, I feel I have no choice but to post it here.
Years ago I found a weblink that is now deleted. The gist of the topic is that it says in Japan most adults wouldn't be reading Naruto and other stuff popular in the West but stuff within their own demograph. For example adult men would be reading Gantz, aimed at young adults. BUsiness menw ould be reading manga aimed at older adults, women would be would manga aimed at housewife age, etc. That most adults would view say Cardcaptor Sakura in a manner similar to how we see Bronies in the West. Thats not to say all adults think Sailor Moon or such is always bad. Older women still enjoy watching the 90s anime with friends as nostalgia and if a series got so big mainstream such as DBZ and Fist of the North Star, even old adults approaching their 40s enjoy reading it. Its not bad per say enjoying Naruto because of nostalgia of growing up reading it in the 2000s. But the notion many Japanese fans consume Bleach as openly and casually as say our many Westerners are not afraid to admit being Titanic fans or Marvel fans is quite wrong (which most Western Otakus think Japan is opening about). Its not that Sailor Moon is wrong for a 20 year old woman to enjoy per say but they wouldn't do it in public. Nor would even say a 50 year old man who grew up with Ashita No Joe necessarily subscribe to Shonen magazine and obsessively follow the newest series like we in the West tend to. So the link was saying its taboo for a Japanese businessman to enjoy Sailor Moon (at least in public) and most people would stick to their demograph even if they watch Hana No Ko Lunlun every now and than to relive their childhood. So it makes me wonder....... Here in the West we seem to assume Japan is some entertainment media paradise for gaming, martial arts, action movies, manga, and anime. That in Japan adults go around bringing Sailor Mars dolls or wearing Cardcaptor Sakura T-Shirts or watching DBZ. That a businessman can bring his old gameboy color and play Pokemon at a table with other CEOs just before a business meeting starts. Or an old lady can participate in national tournaments without controversy at martial art sports traditionally only practised by men such as kendo. That the country is so open minded little kids can watch rated R Sony Chiba movies or an old man can be reading Cardcaptor Sakura on a train with a Magic Knight Rayeart T-shirt on. However the link made me wonder if we Westerners get a skewed perspective on the state of anime in Japan. Is watching say Sailor Moon only appropriate for women in their 30s in the country who remember the show back in the 90s? Or is it only appropriate for elders in their 60s to watch stuff so mainstream even daily news talk about it such as One Piece, Fist of the North STar, Dragon Ball Z stuff that penetrated beyond anime and into Japanese public consciousness? Would playing games with non-otaku friends only be acceptable if its bestsellers everyone grew up with such as Final Fantasy 7? Would a girl from a family descended from the old Samurai and Shinto priest castes only practise martial arts at home but not say take an extra class in school and other public practising of fighting hobbies? I mean Westerners think Japan is super liberal with violence, fanservice, enjoying stuff outside of your age demograph, and gaming that some of them literally want to move there because they want to be with an open minded populace where a 70 year old can bring his gameboy around to play Final Fantasy Tactics or they want to marry a wonder woman who can kick butt and carry heavy stuff, etc. Do Westerners have a screwed up image of Japan and her culture in regards to entertainment? |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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While we have no General section per se this area does work for topics with a wider umbrella. While anime is not the only point of focus with your post, it's enough of a factor that there is no real problem having it here. |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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OH HELL NOPE. 
The Japanese are SO conservative and discreet about their tastes that people offer paper book covers from bookstores so nobody can see what you are reading on the bullet train ride home. ....which...........surprised me, actually. And I did refuse. lol |
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RegSuzaku
Posts: 267 Location: Ikebukuro |
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Well, most people aren't into those specific shows because those specific shows are really old.
And no one wears t-shirts of anime because no one outside of America is so lacking in fashion sense to wear those kinds of print t-shirts in the first place (broadly speaking lol) There are "Akihabara otaku" types that intentionally try to look bad and garish to show off their obsession... But for a lot of series, there are more tasteful fashion items that will show that you're a fan. For example, I have two mascot keychains on my bag, with a scarf with a print that probably will just look like a normal floral print unless you know the series. A lot of adults will wear keychains of characters from things like Sailor Moon or Touken Ranbu, as well as items like pencil cases, pens, phone cases, makeup bags, thermoses, etc. with the characters' colors or symbols on them, even if not the characters themselves. A lot of adults will also wear Disneyland merchandise, which is often really stylish. High school students will do even more than this, though. But people don't wear tacky, American-style merchandise, not because they don't want to admit they like anime, but because it's tacky. Also like... A lot of people will like Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura or Touken Ranbu and not think of themselves as "an anime fan". Those are just sort of mainstream, the way a Disney movie would be in America, I guess. An adult using a pen with Sailor Moon on it, and an adult being openly hardcore into anime at work, are not the same thing in Japan. |
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FinalVentCard
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 493 |
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A few years ago on the now-defunct 1-up.com, Bob Mackey put up a column titled "This Month In Misogeny", which covered the controversy surrounding some titles. Basically, it was a laundry-list of really bad design that was most likely gross to people already not neck-deep in anime.
The thing is, one part of the column was dedicated to Bob explaining that Japan wasn't some kind of bizarro fetish paradise. Senran Kagura and the like aren't "accepted" in Japan any more than Katawa Shoujo is "accepted" in the United States. That stuff is niche, and it always has been. And that's basically anime in a nutshell: it's not exactly applauded if you're a grown adult and you're still reading Shonen Jump (I think the early issues of Gintama made a joke out of that at Gintoki's expense). So no, Japan is not more liberal with their media. Far from it. Japan is not your anime paradise. |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1773 Location: South America |
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I have the impression that Japan is more conservative in regards to their pop culture than the Western world is. For example, one of the higher ups of the WSJ had a warehouse full of Star Wars merchandise, I do not think that it would be socially acceptable in Japan for a high level executive of a large company to own a warehouse full of Naruto merchandise. Also, Japanese culture is such that people are very discrete about their hobbies, according to Schodt there is a bigger distance between what people do and what people think in Japan than in Western countries.
Another thing about Japan is that Japan has been historically a peripheric country which often tended to mimic the culture of more powerful civilizations (such as China in the past and Western culture in the present). Its own native culture tends to be driven underground and is often marginalized compared to the foreign culture which becomes the mainstream. That's why for instance that in the 80s and 90s that Western movies performed better in the box office while Anime was more popular in video: people consumed Anime ovas in the privacy of their home while they consumed "mainstream western" movies when they were going out. Although it's true that more recently Japanese 2D culture has become more visible as a natural consequence of the fact it's older fans are now over the age of 60. I think that manga is more socially acceptable than anime mainly because it started a couple of decades earlier so the medium consolidated earlier. Manga has also more diversity of genres than anime which still tends to be mainly aimed at teenagers and young adult males. Finally, one thing about anime/otaku aimed manga is that it is mainly a counter culture that is kinda similar to the western counter culture of drugs, rap and punk rock. Think about Yui from K-On!, she is the antithesis of the Japanese salaryman: she is lazy, irresponsible, selfish and immature. She is the negative mirror of the ideals that adult Japanese society claims to be aspiring for. It's not a coincidence that she plays quitar in a band as she is a rebel character like Western rock musicians. One reason why Japanese 2D pop culture is obsessed with immaturity is that it represents a rebellion against the ideals of moderation, consideration and discretion that are explicitly cultivated in Japanese society. |
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