Forum - View topicAnswerman - Where Do We Go From Here?
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
katscradle
Posts: 469 |
|
|||||
|
Farewell Justin, largely been a pleasure to read Answerman under you.
A perfect choice for a last question and wonderfully written response too. I only wish I could summon up the perseverance in this Answerman. For me the difficulties again became harder to deal with last year (in part by a few at this website in fact) and just have snowballed from there. It’s increasingly harder to maintain, carve out or find even a small space of like-minded fans whose behaviour does not have serious negative consequences and that are trustworthy. I travel frequently, but aren’t usually able to work out my schedule for cons. I miss the smaller meetups and encounters at comic shops, bookstores or elsewhere. And if I’m online much at all anymore more of that time has been spent protecting myself or routinely witnessing people in my circle come under unwarranted fire along with a variety of abuse, harassment and threats including doxxing over various things. More so than simple fans it’s been discouraging and infuriating to see some in the industry in reaction behave poorly, treat like theatre, as if such things are a movie they can sit down in front of with popcorn. I cannot understand what goes on in one’s mind to find it entertaining when peers are receiving rape and death threats. Though it not like the abusive and threatening behaviour aimed at small and large figures alike only started this year, I have faced and can remember them related to Japanese pop culture before. And while none of the things that may have taken attention or worn people down this year are unheard of in just one community, it's pretty hard when it is one you are a part of. In ways there are differences now but, years ago I was at this place too. Faced with a question of where am I, what am I doing and do I stay but sit down and shut up or just go. And back then I went. I stopped having anything to do with Japanese pop culture because it no longer brought anything positive for me. Lasted several years. Eventually I came back step by step. Because I do love this stuff and have the good memories of meeting people of all kinds working and just geeking out on it. And I've had some great experiences in the years since too. Maybe when I make my way back again refreshed, I’ll see a substantive change. But right now, I am feeling done. So yeah giving up now doesn't have to mean forever and if you're still hanging on and finding ways to make it work more power to you. |
||||||
|
||||||
st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
|
|||||
|
So long and thanks for all the fish.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
DallasMiddaugh
Posts: 5 |
|
|||||
|
Thank you for a thoughtful, fascinating column. I'm a long-time member of the industry and I learned a lot from you.
Have you considered collecting the columns into a book? I think it would be worthwhile. Let me know if I can help you with that. Dallas |
||||||
|
||||||
|
SilverTalon01
Posts: 2404 |
|
|||||
|
Thanks for doing this for six years. This has been my favorite column on ANN. I can't even believe I've been reading it that long, but I remember when the authors changed so I guess I have.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1748 |
|
|||||
My advice would be to just find an aspect that you enjoy and to focus on that. If you like the artwork portion of anime/manga, focus on groups, conventions and fans that embrace that. If you love a particular manga or a particular artist, focus on that. There will always be toxic people in whatever area of fandom you venture. It is not a new thing. In my particular case, when I first started collecting production cels in mid 2000s, there were a couple women who would weekly claim that the cels on certain Yahoo Japan auctions were their wishlist cels and that if anyone else went after them, they would specifically target you in future auctions. Having a solid chunk of disposable income then, I took them on, won their wishlist cels and had no remorse doing so because I wanted artwork from the same scene too. Fortunately, these women and their toxicity moved on to other things. I find that having friends who share your same hobbies really helps. I can't tell you how many conventions have been saved thanks to friends. The convention scene has really changed since I first starting attending, and more and more it's an excuse to meet up with friends instead of enjoying what the old conventions were all about. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
TravellinMatt77
Posts: 85 Location: Durham, NC |
|
|||||
|
I'll join everyone here in thanking Justin here for his column. I'd also like to thank him for answering some of my questions via e-mail, since it further demonstrated his commitment to informing anime fans of the inner workings of the industry.
I very much appreciate how Justin suggested how to deal with toxic fandom, but am a bit disappointed that he didn't get around to tackling some of the other changes in the industry. Beyond words of gratitude and support, as well as financial contributions, there's not much we American fans can do to address the Kyoto Animation tragedy. That's really a job for the company itself, the larger industry in Japan, and the Japanese government. However, I do think that we can mitigate any fears of large American corporations (such as Sony and Netflix) negatively impacting the industry in our country. First, we can try to reach out to executives through social media, and tell them what we like about how translation companies and distributors have translated, subtitled, dubbed, packaged, and marketed anime in the United States. Second, we can tell them what we think anime is and should be, as opposed to how they might view the various shows. And if all else fails, we can vote with our dollars, buying the content we're happy about and ignoring the content that displeases us. We fans consumed and championed anime long before they did, and will probably continue to long after they've abandoned it (although let's hope that doesn't happen). Our voices matter, and they should hear them. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
zrdb
|
|
|||||
|
Twas' an excellent column, I almost always learned something from reading it every week. It was one of the few things that I regularly kept track of here.
|
||||||
Vitah-108
 Posts: 37 |
|
|||||
|
Thank you for all your hard work. Your column has always been my most favorite and what I look forward to the most every day. Best of luck on whatever you want to do next..
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
grizzledwatcher
Posts: 1 |
|
|||||
|
Thank you for your time and efforts in answering the questions I had, but, others actually posed to questions to you about the wide world of Anime. I came to Anime as a senior citizen, and by reading your answers to questions posed by others gave me an excellent view of the Anime World. Succinct, Helpful, Enlightening, and always thought provoking answers help build a foundation I can use to watch, enjoying and see a peek of the incredibly diverse background scenes of Anime.
Good Luck in the future. |
||||||
|
||||||
Crispy45
 Posts: 363 |
|
|||||
Ironically, Justin defended Vic and all the rumors against him in a previous Answerman on a topic about Cancel Culture and how pointless and dangerous it is. He also ended up accurately predicting the lawsuit following ousting people from the industry who felt they've been wronged back then too. So I guess nobody can say nobody could have seen this coming. We willingly marched into this madness ourselves. |
||||||
|
||||||
kgw
 Posts: 1075 Location: Spain, EU |
|
|||||
Thank you for your hard work. It has been a pleasure following this column all this time and good luck with your new project in life. Also, like you, I am a nerd, no matter my age (which is closer to 50 than to 20). We cannot change what we are. (And also, outside the US -and KyoAni attacks- the anime scene has been more or less ok, btw). |
||||||
|
||||||
|
OjaruFan2
Posts: 661 |
|
|||||
|
Thanks for your 6 years of the role of Answerman, Justin!
No, the column will still be ongoing. Justin clearly said that at the beginning of the article:
That would be a great idea! |
||||||
|
||||||
Kiskaloo
 Subscriber Posts: 79 Location: Seattle |
|
|||||
|
Thank you for all the great columns over the years.
I also dipped my toes back into anime convention fandom for the first time since 2005 by attending Otakon 2019 and found it to be a fantastic experience. The convention center was massive so there was plenty of room to get around and the panels - which were great - always had room and the lines for food and other facilities were usually non-existent. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
TheArsonAut
Posts: 29 |
|
|||||
|
"But it's essential that we become the right kind of nerd. There are the ones looking for a fight, who take out their self-loathing on other people. And then there are the ones that help. That share the resources they have, and build new ones. The anime scene might be very different today than it was 20 years ago, but socially, there are a lot of aspects that haven't changed at all. It's just gotten a lot more crowded in here."
I'm confused, what is all this in reference to? Did something happen? Is anime daddy mad at us for some reason? From what I gather in the comments, was author doxxed for Vic Mignona comments or something or...how exactly is the fandom 'bad' or 'toxic' these days? It's better than it's ever been but I just poked my head into this, haven't been following this column for a long while. 
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Galap
Moderator
 Posts: 2354 |
|
|||||
|
Thanks for a great column, Justin. Answerman was always interesting and fun. Everything from my questions about the technology of master tapes, to other stuff about the differences between Japan and the west, it was always very diverse and interesting.
|
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group