Forum - View topic

Hey, Answerman! [2006-04-21]

TV anime is all over the board in terms of quality, but it depends on the studio, the skill of the artists working on the project and the show's budget that determines how good the animation's going to be.

Ceru wrote:

Wrong. Yes, there were anti-socials and jerks in the past, and yes they exist today as well. But there seem to be a LOT more of the anti-socials thanks to technology.

I would be willing to bet people were complaining about this when the telephone was invented, too.

It completely goes without saying that due to today’s technology, people don’t need to interact as much as they did before it existed. However, I fail to see how anime factors into all of this. I think you kind of missed my point…Jason’s rant came across (to me at least) like he was blaming anime itself for its anti-social fans, or trying to say that they were somehow anti-social because of their interest in anime. I don’t understand that reasoning. Not only does he not offer or have any proof, but he seems so be almost completely guessing that the old “anti-social anime fan” stereotype is real.

To me, it really seems like almost the opposite. People seem to forget that face-to-face meetings are not the only kind of social behavior to be had. I really believe that if anything, anime at least gives people something in common to talk about. People that have nothing in common other than their love for anime have something to talk about, whether it be in a school cafeteria, at an anime con, or online. You and I, for instance, would probably have never spoken if it were not for our common interest in anime. Anime, like other hobbies and interests, promotes social behavior, even if this is sometimes not face-to-face, and I think that can be nothing but a good thing.

Anyway, if someone chooses to use technology instead of face-to-face contact, it is their own fault. We all have free will. Blame the people, not the machines.

I’ll give you this: ugly otaku certainly exist. Those that do take anime too seriously and have allowed it to consume them. But you know, I bet there are ugly coin collectors, and ugly dog-show competitors, and ugly vintage Pepsi bottle collectors, too. Any hobby is going to produce that sort of person, but they are in the very small minority. I don't believe it's due to the times we live in, I think it just has to do with the tendency some people have to obsess over things.

All this aside, you actually misunderstood my meaning. When I said “the way kids are,” I didn’t mean if they were active or not, I meant how they act as far as behavior and manners and whatnot. Someone was saying the way certain anime characters act negatively influences people, etc…and that’s what my post was an answer to. It’s akin to the arguments that have been popping us about violence in movies and video games causing people to be violent, which I do not believe to be the case. That was the point I was trying to make there.

The question becomes, what causes this behavior in the first place? What is it about anime that it draws out these personality types?

As passive aggressive as one can be, the response to the “Rant” has been heavily against my notion of an “Ugly Otaku.” Some cry for proof, or feel I am being a stickler to a minority, others find it’s no big deal, some feel that if I feel this way I should, in some odd way help change this quandary facing the “New Generation.” All in all it is very open ended counters as was my rant which has lead to a very healthy debate on the topic, even if no new ground is really being covered. So as I ponder a response I find there is really none to give, I can’t placate to the request and questions of all, unless I was loaned a couple thousand and given the time to write a book on the subject. I will address however what I find are general responses, with just as open ended yet clear response to not defend my views but to simply expand.

I begin with the burden of proof, which is simply in the eye of the beholder. I can’t simply pull some statistics out of my pocket, or show a spreadsheet to compare and contrast to. My statements come from observing the community and my dealings with them as it relates with my work and work prior. I can say that if one would ask any shrink conscious Store manager to a Walden Books, or other chain Bookstore you can find in your local mall, they will usually give you the same response on what might keep them from their bounce yet be a big seller, Manga. From my end, as a law enforcement officer, these books are simply too good to be true for those of us less inclined to have morals. Small, many times thin, sensor tags can’t be easily hidden, prefect for a quick concealment, especially in winter or those of the baggy cloths trend usually dark in color.

The fact that even with the Anime more readily available then ever before, Pirates go out of their way to continue their “fan” subbing (I use this word lightly for if they where fans they wouldn’t steal to begin with.) Subbing anime has become a art form it self, where one can push out a pirated copy of an new Anime series faster then the Chinese can Pirate the latest Movie from Hollywood. I live in a glass house, I have not downloaded or gone out of my way to get a pirated Anime, but I have watched them in my youthful past. It is plain and simple, I was wrong to indulge to this form of Anime, and it is wrong for others in the community to do so as well. No argument in the world can defend the unlawful theft and mass distribution of a product that is not their’s to give. The fact that so many not only defend, but encourage this shows the moral deviancy the modern Otaku faces.

A spade is a spade. As simple as that sounds that’s all I call attention too, I agree with many who post that the socially and morally disenfranchised Otaku is the minority; however it is the growing minority. I believe in addressing a problem rather then waiting until it is too late. This occult group of Otaku who have in the eyes of the modern world, act as the Anime fans mascot is something I wish changed. Many can simply ignore the problem and chop it up with the rest of the unexplained icons mainstream society has stapled on to the heads of many of ideas and groups. However we should look to one of the Anime worlds closest allies on how to deal with this.

The Video Game industry although far larger is the big cousin of the Anime industry. When the rabid soccer mom’s waged all out war against video games upon the tales of Grand Theft Auto, they didn’t stand idol, nor did they rollover. With great intelligence and stead fast vigilance the industry fought back and quickly turned a debate that even reached the house of congress into a dinner table conversation, for now.

The Otaku of the day should not look in shock and stand wondering what is going on when Anime becomes the target of attack. Like the Video Game industry that had its small battles over games like Doom, we in the Anime community must address our flaws to further our future not as outcasts. Staying as such will further fuel the moral decline. In the beginning companies like Nintendo had to deal with piracy and it did quickly and swiftly and with out mercy.

The Anime industry has done what it can to sway from the piracy the leader in what makes the Ugly Otaku, however the battle is difficult and it requires an audience willing to help weed them out and not encourage it. Sadly, we the audience still can't get past the expectance that it is wrong, this is where the “self-absorption and a demand for instant gratification” come into play. So no matter how small this crowd I speak of is, one can’t deny the harm it has done and the harm it continues to do if it grows as it is does. We can’t end it forever, but we must not let it become the image for all of us.

May I digress from the very real problem of piracy which was the focal point of my last section to move on to an ending? I do what I can as any fan should to support the industry in a positive light. Also as a Police Officer, I try to help my community even the Otaku within it, by teaching moderation. Anime isn’t a life, to proudly say that I only watch anime is wrong, one should not let anything become a focal point in there life where it simply becomes “UGLY” that’s why in the very beginning I called it the UGLY Otaku.

As a community we should not encourage behavior that leads us away from civility. Anime is a beautiful world of art and magic, stories for everyone and everything, but in moderation, the obsessed Otaku seems to always follow the same path, and this isn’t the path I wouldn’t want to take or the future generation to take. I am of age where bringing children into this world is in the near future. I as a future parent would never or could ever discourage my children from the world of Anime. But to allow them to fall into the social outcast that wonder the halls of conventions offering everything from hugs to lap dances for a stick of Pocky isn’t the world I want them to see.

Like all communities we will have our deviants, however we should never look away from them, and never encourage their further decline. We as a community are responsible for not encouraging the ugly Otaku; however it is the parent that is ultimately responsible for the education to avoid it. Families indoctrinated into the world of Anime is upon us, I am happy to see in the form that there are people who encourage there children to respect this form of entertainment. The need for parents to not let one fall down the road of becoming an Ugly Otaku will make a difference as we begin to usher in a third generation.

Since when is rude people a new thing, an ugly otaku a product of the newer generation, and the good old days ever existed anywhere?

Samurai-with-glasses wrote:

Since when is rude people a new thing, an ugly otaku a product of the newer generation, and the good old days ever existed anywhere?

Since
just before you were born? Your nonchalant indifference and carefree acceptance to such behaviour is all the proof I need that it has become the norm for your generation. What future are we to behold then?

I'm only 24 myself. I'm acknowledging that up front. But there are other ways to gain knowledge of what the past was really like. Talk to your parents. Ask them if they locked their doors 30 years ago, 40 years ago. Ask them if *their* parents had as much to worry about over their kids as your parents do. Ask them why they think there's been a change.