Forum - View topicPerception of Japanese otaku.
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Shai-Lang
Posts: 18 |
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Alright, first off I just want to say that I hope I don't come off as elitist or snobbish in this thread. That's not my intention, I just really want to get this off my chest since its what I believe.
You may think its elitist, snobbish and purist but it's what I believe and ultimately you can't change that. With that said. This topic is about how I perceive the Japanese Otaku and the negative connontation that goes along with that title. Some people might say I have a very unique view... but whatever, here it goes. It is my belief that the stereotypical Japanese Otaku, while being known as the "hardest of hardcore anime/manga/video game fans" are really not. In fact, I believe them to be quite fake, and not real anime fans. For I've noticed that they only like the eroge and hentai aspects of anime, so really Otaku are just porn fans that are hiding under the cleaner term "anime fan." True anime fans don't just watch anime for the cute girls and the porn, but for the deep storylines and characters. For me I watch anime/read manga and play JRPGs to escape into a fantasy realm and get lost in a fairytale story. Akin to getting sucked into a good book. I love anime, manga and JRPGS because I feel they have the capacity to tell grand, epic stories. Much more creative stories as well compared to the Western entertainment mediums, or even novels. However these Japanese otaku just give us true anime fans a bad name by painting us all as porn fans, when really a lot of us couldn't care less about the porn and hate porn in general. In this respect, I agree with Hayao Miyazaki's supposedly snobbish attitude towards the Japanese otaku community. As he is right and is just telling it like it is. They're not fans of anime, like the creative and enchanting worlds that he creates in his anime, they're just fans of porn. In fact I could also see why the mainstream Japanese perception of Otaku is so negative. Because the Japanese public probably sees these people as just plain porn fans, nothing less nothing more, and that's why they get such a bad rep from people. So yeah.... I know its a weird view but I feel Otakus aren't anime fans at all, more like they're just fake anime fans, while the true anime fans don't get noticed a lot in Japan like here in America sadly. (Note: I am specifically reffering only to the Japanese Otaku, as "Otaku" here in America takes on quite a different meaning and is usually meant to describe a real anime fan.) |
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TitanXL
 Posts: 4036 |
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You're either a girl or terribly delusional.
Miyazaki is snobbish to everything that isn't him. He berates the fact people like to read manga on trains and how the widespread manga boom has become a "plague". If you called Miyazaki an anime fan, he would probably take that as an insult, so don't expect him to have your back or anything. Also your definition of what Japanese otaku are and how they are perceived are pretty misinformed. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Given that many, many females have admitted to watching porn, I have to suspect the latter. Porn is not just a male thing you know. ---------- I hate Otaku too, insofar as they generally have really awful tastes. So I do agree with a lot of what this guy has said, just not the way he said it. |
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Shai-Lang
Posts: 18 |
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I'm a girl actually. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Otaku (and fujoshi) are the only reason that late-night TV anime are still made.
If you want to curb anime to only that of primetime slots (so only major manga series/franchises), OVAs, and movies then all you have to do is take otaku out of the equation. But considering late-night TV anime makes up a large portion of Japan's animated output, that wouldn't leave all that much for anime fans to watch. I don't think you're elitist. I just think you're ignorant/naive of the general backbone of the anime industry. |
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wcsinn
 Posts: 186 |
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It appears the OP, like many on these forums, tends to use the term 'otaku' to describe whatever he feels is wrong with anime in general. To the OP, are you aware that the negative connotations towards the Japanese use of the term stem from Tsutomu Miyazaki, who became known as "The Otaku Murderer" in 1989. His bizarre murders fueled a moral panic against otaku.
There is very little negative connotation, outside these forums, associated with ecchi and related content. The Japanese tend to have a rather baudy sense of humor, and despite the wailing on these forums, ecchi content and fan service have a long and popular history. Anime is not intended (and seldom produced) with western fans in mind. It is an indigenous industry who's main audience is the Japanese, not us. They produce what the local market wants to see, and that includes moe, ecchi, fan service and a host of other idioms that some posters here seem to think are the bane of the industry, and some how do not represent anime fans in Japan (or else where). I love how they tend to give 'otaku', who they always claim to be a small, hard-core minority, the power to basically control an entire industry. Frankly, I don't know where all these 'negative connotations' come from, I rarely if ever see anime mentioned in the mainstream press other than to cover conventions. I have never seen articles proclaiming anime to be depraved, pornographic, loli-centered or any of the other supposed ills outside of these and other anime forums, and those are posted by fans who claim these things are the reasons 'people look down on anime and anime fans". I have never heard anyone tell me they thought anime (or its fans) to be associated with any of these issues. Do people look down on anime fans? I think that depends on how you define the term. If you tend to mention the words anime and lifestyle in the same sentence, talk about nothing else and tend to obsess about anime to anyone around you, then you will probably be treated as a weirdo, with good reason. If by fan, you mean someone who enjoys watching anime, maybe even collecting varying merchandise - well, like I said - I have never seen this type of reaction. Frankly, I don't know anyone (out of their teens) who judge people in general, let alone their friends, based on their entertainment preferences. Last edited by wcsinn on Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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anime racket
Posts: 314 |
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Um, you know if it were true that most japanese otaku were only in
it for the porn then series like K-ON, Madoka Magica, Evangelion, Gundam, and any of the countless other successful series. |
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Kirkdawg
 Subscriber Posts: 742 Location: California, USA |
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I think you're making a pretty big mistake lumping a group of people known as "Japanese Otaku" into such a negative stereotype.
Saying that most anime fans aren't into porn is pretty damn ignorant. You must be young or sheltered. My problem with this particular group of people is that their insane spending habits hurts the rest of us. I don't particularly care how outsiders perceive anime and the anime community, that's their own business. If they want to have a discussion with me about it, I'm more then happy to do so. And seriously, what's with the disdain against sexuality? Isn't it about time that we dump this purist Christian mentality into the garbage and grow up a little bit? Last I checked, sex was a normal aspect of a human life and everyone's interested in it. So why's everyone still so damned embarrassed about it? |
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EricDent
 Posts: 997 Location: Georgetown, TX |
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Cause quite a few people have been taught that sex is a "naughty" thing.
As for the topic at hand, I truely can't say I agree or disagree. They do spend a lot of $, and apparently drive what is made in Japan as far as anime shows go. |
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Ggultra2764
 Posts: 4051 Location: New York state. |
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While I do hate the majority of titles coming out in recent years taking to more conventional storylines and character archetypes to pander to the otaku fanbase, one fact that isn't gonna change is that sex sells. Love it or hate it, there are a number of anime titles that have quality storytelling while at the same time tossing in fan service/ sexual content/ ecchi to pander to the otaku masses. How else do you think titles like FLCL and Tenchi Muyo could appeal to fans while having the occasional T&A, even with their quality storytelling?
As long as I don't come across any anime that insults my intelligence and uses graphic content and/or a slick presentation as a crutch to cover up crappy storytelling and characterization, then I have no problem seeing it through to see how things progress with it, no matter if its simple or complex. Assuming that all anime fans would detest anything simple is quite ignorant. |
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TitanXL
Posts: 4036 |
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I think one thing people should keep in mind is is one of the worst things one can do is judge another culture's views and morals based on your own (even worse is when you assert that your own is right and the other is wrong) So the whole 'ecchi pandering' thing is a bit misinformed. Nudity's not as big of a deal other there.. you can find it in quite a lot of kids and family anime over there, since it's more open and accepted over there as opposed to here. Just look at Doraemon, hands down one of, if no the most popular family/kids anime in Japan that airs every week and pulls in huge family ratings. One of the recurring jokes on it was how Shizuka always gets interrupted/walked in on when she was taking a bath by her male friends. It's such an icon gag it made it's way into the video games.It's about as much of a recurring joke as a Looney Tunes character being smashed by a falling anvil, though I doubt something like that would fly here in the US. So I'd just be careful before instantly labeling some nudity/fan service/sex comedy as 'obscene' or 'pandering', it's an entirely different culture, so stuff like that isn't a big deal just like saying a cartoon duck being crushed by an anvil might be seen as 'violent' or 'sadistic' or 'sick and twisted'.
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Konopan
Posts: 406 |
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Of course "stereotypical" otaku are moe/H fiends. That's the goddamn stereotype. How is lampooning a caricature going to make your opinion seem legitimate or even slightly informed?
Do you have any actual Japanese otaku friends or acquaintances? Can you compare them to any of these so-called "real" anime fans you know so much about? On an unrelated note, do you not watch and enjoy shows that pander to female otaku or fujoshi, either? I sort of doubt that. |
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anime racket
Posts: 314 |
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I just happen to be Christian and I believe that the sexuality in anime is wrong. Doesn't stop me from watching the shows, but still. |
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wcsinn
Posts: 186 |
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It is one thing to have personal beliefs, I don't happen to agree but I can respect your opinion. It is another thing when you try to push those beliefs onto others (which is exactly what the OP is trying to do), and still another thing when you try to impose those beliefs on a completely foreign culture. Only 1% of Japanese are Christians, and as has been mentioned previously their outlook pertaining sex and nudity tends to be much more liberal than much of the west. So its not the otaku (whoever they actually are), it is simply that the entire culture views thing differently and has different sensibilities. |
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Kirkdawg
Subscriber Posts: 742 Location: California, USA |
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I just don't understand what's wrong with it. I don't want to divulge this too far off topic, but it seems relevant to OP. What's so wrong about sex? As long as it's clearly labelled that a piece of fiction is intended for adults, where's the harm? Because some old guys wrote in some books thousands of years ago that God thinks its wrong or something?
I am utterly baffled. 
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