Forum - View topicWhat is it about anime that draw only certain individuals?
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Watashi wa Ryuzaki
 Posts: 184 Location: Florida, USA |
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IMO, Anime is only reaching out to a certain few that tend to be classified on the low end of the popularity spectrum. Though I'm not trying to be harsh, it's very true. We don't see many athletes reading Naruto before a game. The thing is, anime draws a certain group of people towards it, leaving others in the dust. Maybe it's just a common stereotype.
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cool3865
 Posts: 770 Location: Austin, TX |
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i would agree with you maybe 10 years ago, but lately almost everyone is watching anime casually. people that i know that would never watch anime are watching Bleach on adult swim, they wont dress up or goto conventions but they just watch it casually
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Watashi wa Ryuzaki
Posts: 184 Location: Florida, USA |
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Thats definitely not the case in my area. Anime is largely considered for nerds. But I can see changes correlating, so maybe in a few more years it will be like how it is in Japan. |
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DuelLadyS
 Posts: 1705 Location: WA state |
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I think it's a matter of personality types... a competitive person going out for sports or socially outgoing sort heading off to the nightclubs proably isn't going to enjoy a solitary activity like reading a comic- plus, social stereotypes mark animation and comics as 'kids stuff', so an older person looking that the same material is proably someone unaware or unconcerned with said social perceptions. In other words- not the sort of person who cares about knowing enough people to reach what people consider 'popular'. (Yet another social stereotype, but that's a tangent.)
Honestly, there's other lil' connections between anime fans I find much stranger than the fact that they aren't typically 'popular' sorts- for example, why do all the anime fans I know drink Dr. Pepper? Aparrently it's widespread enough to get mentioned in paraody (This is Otakudom, specifically.) It's not a Japanese drink, so what gives? |
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Sheleigha
 Posts: 1675 |
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Often, anime is lumped into the interest of all that 'fantasy' (I say this also because often all anime genre are stuck in the fantasy section of a movie store, if they do not have their own). But here's the thing: how is it that anime is concidered 'nerdly', but I have known many popular and athletic people who LOVE movies like LotR and play games like Warcraft. And really, you can't say that many people still view it as a kiddie cartoon (well, some to a point... Naruto etc is directed towards boys), because many of these 'popular' people enjoy mature cartoons such as Family Guy etc.
The world of 'fantasy' is a tricky one... I'm rather stumped^^ |
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Im in highschool, I deny that I like anime and I dont talk about it. Its the nerds who make anime their "whole" lives anime, join the anime club, have the anime backpacks, talk about anime, listen to anime songs.... its like a cult. For me, its just a hobby that I do whenever Im bored.
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Sheleigha
Posts: 1675 |
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Would... participating in forums count as talking? *ah-hem* 240 posts show that you enjoy spending your time on these forums^^ And trust me, being a fan of something and buying merchandise from it or whatever does NOT make it a 'cult'. For me, I happen to like some anime songs. They sound good. Many songs I've found and enjoyed from shows I haven't even SEEN. If a series is cute, yeah occasionally I have bought an adorable Di Gi Charat cell phone charm. I still think Pokemon are cute, wouldn't run around saying that no. And no, I would not start a conversation when I meet someone by saying 'so I like anime'. Once people get to know me, yeah they know. But you know what? They do NOT care. Acceptance should not be based on what a person is into^^ And people must be pretty shallow to turn away from someone just because they enjoy anime :/ I dunno, I think you just degraded a fanbase by saying that :p For me, yeah sometimes I'll keep it quiet, sometimes I'll tell people I like it, whatever. Just because you have certain tastes, people don't have to shun you for it. Perhaps, if you're running around trying to ACT like a character and try HARD to talk Japanese because of it all, THEN it can go off the deep end. Then again, maybe children form cults every day. A fad comes up like Tamagotchi and zomg! They buy the item... play with them... talk to friends about it... AND buy the merchandise! Someone has to stop them! ...would you like to add more? You just sound embarassed^^ Ah high school... home of social status being so important in life^^ |
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Bluebeard
 Posts: 267 Location: Massachusetts |
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Not that I really care that much, or that it makes a difference... He(?) joined in April 2005. So that's 240 posts spread out over the course of over 3 years  His posting record is in accordance with his statement, in my opinion.
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Alestal
Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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No, this is not talking. Talking is more personal, this is a completely anonymous conversation.
Have you ever been to Highschool? Its all about judging, shunning, and image. Its sad, but it is the truth.
I do consider social status to be of some importance, but all my true friends know that Im into anime... and a few of them like it themselves. But, we just keep it to ourselves. One obsessed anime fan can give the rest a bad name, if you see one chick walking around school in a maid outfit and cat ears... well you would think they were weird too. And they are weird, they seem to have no self-respect. So basicly, I only tell people I trust that I watch anime. I don't advertize it and read pornographic manga in artclass... while singing anime songs when the rest of the room is completely quiet. |
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Sheleigha
Posts: 1675 |
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Mmm tis true.
I suppose it depends what 'class' you are in. I personaly didn't really care what the 'popular' ones thought of me. I had my friends, and even MET some through Japanese class because we found out we enjoyed things like animes a common interest at first. Although self-respect wise, I'm alot different than what I used to be. As for your example... is that an actual example? Because I have never seen anything like that, from any fan I knew, ever >_> It's just that, I hate overgeneralizing because one fan is odd, the others are too. Star Wars has a HUGE fanbase. Some go off the deep end, others don't. And yet, it's one of the more 'cool' franchises of the 'nerd world', so even popular people like it. In that case, not all Star Wars fan are clumped together like a 'Trekkie' or an 'Otaku'. A little back more on topic, it seems as though it depends what anime it is. I know many people who are not anime fans, yet enjoy Miyazaki works. But maybe it appeals to the 'nerd world' so much because it has a bit of everything: sci-fi, fantasy to a VERY wide range, and so on... either than that I cannot explain >_> |
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Alestal
Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Yes, that is an actual example. This club at my school has anime "dress-up" day. The example of that girl in my art class is also true. Im not saying all fans are this way, but a lot of the teenage fans at my school are. Maybe they are just weird kids who happen to like anime? |
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zanarkand princess
 Posts: 1484 |
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Ok I did do the cat ear thing but it was Halloween and everybody was doing crazy stuff like that. Bunny ears, tiaras made up like a ganguro etc. Nobody would have figured it out if that loser didn't feel the need to scream out neko-chan..... Anyway I have begun to beleive that people who are the "popular" stereotype don't really want to go outside of the world of what MTV thinks is cool that summer because they don't want to be seen as uncool or something. Anime fans on the other hand usually get into anime because they are considered so uncool anyway that it doesn't matter what they do.
I personally have friends that are popular and they know I like anime but it's not really a big deal. It's not some big secret but I don't gp screaming it out. I also am in high school sure it's cruel sometimes but I don't think that you should actively hide your hobbies. I also agree that if you like family guy and shin chan or excel saga came on right after you could laugh at both without being an anime fan. |
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G-mofactor
 Posts: 797 Location: Atlantis to Interzone |
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Individuality is what makes it really work in the anime world. There are many classifications, themes, and mythos in anime that individuals such as yourself get stuck in liking a few animes that may appeal to you. In such, anime can generate a whole widespread of people in different age groups, profession, or characteristics. So, you get people who are in sciences that really like Full Metal Alchemist or graphic designers who like Range Murata; but only a few fit those kind of characteristics.
Weird is too general and overlooked, a manner of perspective, which can be viewed as off the norm. If you think only people who likes anime are weird, then how about the people who have said 'I am just a normal kid who likes anime'? Moreover, there is also no such thing as normal, unless such classification is necessary to compare the people within the environment. i.e. It is pretty normal to find cosplayers in an anime convention, but its pretty weird to find cosplayers in a major art gallery. If you are talking about social status, then it still depends in what kind of environment you are in, most places expect people practice a societal protocol (decorum) where people share the same attitudes and behavior suited in that environment. Moreover, individuality also plays a part in social status by expressing one's personality. One of the things that anime does is to gather people with similar interests, that is why we get different conventions. i.e. Lolicon or Anime North, which are quite different.
Think about it, it is your choice to pick those certain friends, and how did you get to meet some of them that also likes anime? Perhaps, the anime club right. That is because the environment is well suited for the same interests you have. However, you are contradicting yourself because you find a "chick" walking around in school in a maid outfit and cat ears to be weird, even though she is anime fan. If she is an anime fan who expresses in her own little way (because of individuality), then you, as an anime fan as well, have no self-respect either. Although, you may think that "chick" is weird because of the kind of anime fan she is, you are also expressing your own kind of individuality. Why? because not all anime fans are the same. Therefore, "One obsessed anime fan..." CANNOT "... give the rest a bad name." |
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zanarkand princess
Posts: 1484 |
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ShellBullet
 Posts: 1051 Location: I hit things, with my fist. |
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There's an obvious difference between someone who likes a single fantasy movie (or trilogy) and a fantasy geek. Just as not everyone who occasionally plays a game of touch football qualifies as a jock. |
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