Forum - View topicChicks On Anime - Representation of Anime Fans
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_Earthwyrm_
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Honestly, the loud, brash behaviour being displayed would be totally unacceptable in any public area, long before the content of what they were saying gets called into question.
Was I supposed to think that they were all having a spontaneous, fun, and socially acceptable moment together? Because all I saw was a display of crippling social ineptitude. Could that behaviour really be seen as acceptable, even if the dialogue were substituted for something entirely inoffensive? |
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zanarkand princess
 Posts: 1484 |
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Other Kanon Wakeshima fans exist? I'm happy now. I found the commercial to be in really bad taste though. I also don't do half of those things and it doesn't help when you enforce the stereotype. I'm also not white and I always kind if resented the whole all anime/comic book/gamer/ sci fi fans are white thing. I'm also not a Japanophile and some fans are legitimately interested in other parts of Japanese culture such as myself. All the Japanese music I listen to isn't visual Kei or anime music and I would rather visit a historical shrine or explore Kyoto then go to Comiket. |
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corinthian
Posts: 264 |
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In after slight Vic bashing. In his defense, if his only interactions with anime fans are at conventions I'm surprised he came up with something this positive. Anime conventions are mostly big teenage party weekends full of drama, attention whores, screaming internet memes, and being inconsiderate of people behind you. Sure, the Japanophile view is misguided, but can you imagine a commercial advertising what actually goes on at conventions? Nobody would go!
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v1cious
 Posts: 6203 Location: Houston, TX |
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not one GIRUGAMESH comment? i'm shocked.
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MJP
Posts: 126 |
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In b4 GIRUGAM-
OH SHI- |
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kadian1364
 Posts: 60 Location: Indiana |
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Very much in agreement there. Japanophiling aside, I think members of any niche fandom would shudder at the thought that they're being depicted as uncouth juveniles prone to memetic outbursts of public expression, the kind that becomes increasingly awkward and graceless the more others jump in. For a moment I thought the sushi chef was about to start knifing everyone because they were so embarrassing. That would've been good satire! That aside, the commercial wasn't so terrible. Someone earlier described it as amateur, and I can't think of a better word. Like those student-made ads running on campus televisions everywhere: not purposefully offensive, but still remembered for all the wrong reasons. |
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GospelX
Posts: 185 Location: Ann Arbor, MI |
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I didn't have the sound on the first time I watched the YouTube clip of the commercial, but I could just imagine what was going on - people spouting random anime and Japanese references. So I wondered, how would comic book fans feel if this style of commercial were used for a comic con:
"I just love comic books!" "Superman!" "Spider-Man!" "Batman and Robin!" "Wolverine!" "The Justice League!" "I dress up like Wonder Woman!" "I look for limited edition foil covers!" "Get down to Comic Con and meet all of your fellow heroes!" While not horrible, it seems painfully shallow to reduce people's interests down to soundbites. But that's what making commercials is all about, really. I couldn't think of a better commercial other than showing footage of past events. While that would certainly be better, I don't know if showing actual cosplay is necessarily a good thing in the long run. I suppose this commercial really meant to appeal to high school fans, who would actually engage in yelling out things anyway. They're not going to be quite as offended, I'm sure. Have to comment on the column, though. It's a little bit ironic to discuss throwing in miscellaneous Japanese words in a conversation and refer to people like that as Nipponophiles. I found it funny. |
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The Ramblin' Wreck
 Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
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I, for one, am outrageously outraged at this outrage. Imagine the thought of white people eating in an Asian restaurant, run, by all things, by an Asian person. Furthering my outrage is the utter lack of realism in a 25 second commercial done by amateurs! I mean, the nerve of feigning excitement over quasi-popular live acts at your gathering.
I'm never going to an anime convention again, much less the state of Washington. [/sarc] |
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Six
Posts: 12 |
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Let's not be the pretentious otaku, please. While we're at that, let's not be the pretentious critic either. Satire is a literary genre, and that this commercial was not. It is a parody. You Chicks are rather amusing in trying to parse a 30 second commercial using literary critique, yet failing to even understand what the commercial is at its core.
Considering the sheer number of anime conventions Mr. Mignogna has attended, I would imagine he has a better handle on spoofing convention-going anime fans than any of you. In fact, each of you acknowledges that many anime fans act in the manners represented. Deal with it. I love them just the same. They are good people who like to have fun. We are not all uptight commentators. The commercial simply stated what was going to be provided at the convention, and then emphatically stated the fans, which was represented by a small cross-section, come. Read anymore into it than that, and one would have to wonder about your state of self-esteem concerning liking anime and/or anime conventions. Don't be ashamed. I'm not. I love anime and anime conventions, manga, Pocky, and sushi. I most especially love sharing that with other fans at conventions. Is the commercial offensive? Perhaps to those that are the one anime fan that was not truly represented in the commercial: The ones who sit behind computers typing out their opinions on all and sundry, whether they have a clue about it or not. Sour grapes? I don't know, but definitely over-reactive, and typical of those anime fans who view themselves as uber anime fans. Please don't take yourself too seriously, especially when it comes to a past-time or a hobby. |
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Rolando_jose
 Posts: 240 Location: Ahhhh it's vacation time again! |
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Same here, but I thought it was LAME. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23843 |
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Meh, as always with things like these, offense is in the eye of the beholder. The commercial didn't offend me at all. However, the "chicks" should learn the difference between "satire" and "parody." That commercial was never attempting to satirize anime fans. It was attempting to parody them. I found the attempt lame, but ultimately good-natured.
The movie "Network" satirized the banality and soul-lessness of broadcast news. The movie "Not Another Teen Movie" parodied teen movie conventions. The distinction is subtle but important. The purpose of satire is normally to attack something the writer finds objectionable. The purpose of parody is (normally) to affectionately take the piss out of something you actually like. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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I have to say I've never had the displeasure of being poorly represented in an advertisement, chiefly because I can't remember the last time I saw an advert depicting otaku. The small size of the fanbase where I live, although something which brings a great many drawbacks to the industry, doesn't create from itself any stereotypes or misconceptions to my knowledge.
Most folk, including several fellow fans with whom I am acquainted, will typically not associate any liking of Japanese animation with the regrettable attitudes shown in this ad. |
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Reinhard Von Lohengram
 Posts: 30 |
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I'm sorry, but reading this made me want to reactivate my account on here. You just described about..I guess I'd say at least 70% of the people at anime conventions. I've been going since Otakon 98, and I don't even really watch anime anymore. I pick up a few old shows, or some new stuff, like the new eva or macross, and my friends usually just get together in Baltimore to watch the live action films and its a good hub for all of us to meet up since moving away after graduation. The people in this commercial are fairly accurate representations of what you'll see at a convention. Is the commercial funny? No, not at all. Is it accurate, as to what you'll hear and see at an anime convention? Yeah, I'd say so. The loving of all things Japanese, to the point of ignorance, is a sad fact of most of fandom, or rather the younger and/or ignorant fandom. I'm a graduate student in Chinese History, and I can't describe how many times and how many different ways I've been told The Rape of Nanking never happened (if they even know what it is) or what Unit 731 was (again), because, there is nothing that Japan can do in the wrong. And the obnoxious and loud behavior? Yeah, I'd say thats fairly accurate of what you'll see at a convention, more so in more recent years though. When I first started going, it wasn't as ridiculous as it is now. Now, part of the fun in going is just to see people acting ridiculously childish and goofy. Not because of dressing in a certain costume, or liking a particular show, but just for how they conduct themselves in public, which is to say, very, very poorly. I'm sure people will take what I'm saying personally, and I don't intend it to be taken that way. Are all anime fans like that? No, of course not, obviously so by the people that have complained about this commercial. Many are well educated in the culture they have an interest in, and are not mindless drones to all things Japanese. But, it is ridiculous to say that these people don't represent a good majority of the people you'll see at a convention now, because they do. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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I think they REALLY over-analyzed that dumb commercial.
That's all I got from it: this is a dumb commercial. Kind of like those local car dealership ads. I would have been happy if that guy over the counter held up his knife trembling with annoyance as well before exclaiming at the end, yeah, THAT would have been hilarious. And I also think that even though it was an inaccurate portrayal of the fandom...I don't WANT to see an accurate portrayal/satire of the fandom. That commercial was inaccurate because it was WAY too kind. The herds I see at medium-sized cons are ten times more frightening than the watered-down version being obnoxious in that ad. In fact, I thought the bland parroting of tenets of fandom was so basic and far-removed from the terrifying behavior exhibited by real otaku that it wasn't meant to parody real fans at all. It looked like they were just saying "If you like all this stuff, you should go to the con," not "If you behave in this manner, you'll fit in with us." No one behaves in that manner. They were parroting lines. Still a stupid ad. Big whup. |
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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If you're talking the ramune the dude was holding, it's been in Tactics & Steel Angel Kurumi. They sell it here at Marukai. My daughter likes it, but I found it a bit sweet (I only drink diet soda, so sugar soda is too sweet, or maybe the term is too syrupy). I really didn't see the commercial as all that bad. It's not like people dressed like Klingons in 90 degree weather like I've seen at a local street fair And I really don't see Colbert as someone to make fun of when he's doing such an excellent job making fun of the right wing himself. He's better than Stewart at not breaking character, but he cracks & laughs every so often. To make fun of his "Word" segments one would have to be taking things far more seriously than he is. So this commercial is not to the Right Wing as Colbert is lampooning them, the commercial is serious? Are you wanting it to be a lampoon? The purpose of a commercial is to pitch something. Frankly Comic-con commercials tend to be fairly dull, but it doesn't need the press because it's already sold out by the time it opens. The commercials are more to let people know it's here again (& those of us who go have already bought our tickets by the time the commercials air). Commercials can either be somewhat factual/boring (largest fantasy convention in the US with XXXX, XXX, XXXX, XXXX attending this year) or funny like the stupid little gecko I hate that sells insurance. The one you're talking about is trying to be funny or it's just list the days of the con, where it's held & something about the guests. It seems the problem is it's embracing the geeky otaku & having fun with it in a friendly way, but that's sort of rubbing the geekyness of anime & manga fandom in your faces, making you all uncomfortable. You're trying to be "proper" as it were, but it doesn't matter. It's like anime is some vice one has to hide so the rest of the world won't know your shameful addiction to things Japanese. Who cares? As long as one can carry on a real live job & function in the real world to pay the bills, etc. one can bring ramune to work every day or eat with chopsticks, whatever. As long as you aren't hurting anyone else, who cares? Dress up like InuYasha. Use Japanese words. As long as you are able to return to the real world when you need to to function/interact with non-fans, who cares? I do my boring job surrounded by, I dare say, more posters & figures than most of the staff at ANN (wall-to-wall posters--25 at a quick count) probably have on their cubicle walls (if you have cubicles). I do my work, glance at a Saiyuki or Get Backers poster for a couple seconds, then dive back into my work. Comic con is 4 1/2 days of another world. One gets up before the sun to get a parking place & leaves the parking garage after dark, rinse, repeat all the days of the con. I've always assumed other cons are the same way. Honestly, it's like they could blow up the rest of the country & as long as San Diego wasn't part of it, no one attending the con would know. In that light, I'm assuming Sakura-Con is selling an environment where all these things the people in the commercial are mentioning are there & one can luxuriate in those things for the length of the con before returning to the real world/real life. It's like Disneyland for the days of the con--the real world doesn't have to exist. |
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