With all the debate on whether one should be proud or ashamed on whether he/she watches anime/reads manga/buys figurines/is an otaku, I felt strongly to give my opinion on this issue.
I feel that it isn’t wrong to say that you love anime. It would be like masking your true self from the people around you. If you are love anime,say so. No point denying the fact,as doing so would not make you a non-otaku. It isn’t wrong to express your true self and what you really are. However,you must do it in the right way,or it’ll be totally wrong.
You can say,”Yeah,I’m an avid anime fan”, or “Yeah, I love anime”, and only continue your otaku conversation if the person is of the same breed,an otaku. Other than that,your expressing of your love for anime ends right there and then. You have already made your point,letting others know what you truely are inside,and not being a hypocrite towards them,lying that you are a person who likes sports when in fact you haven’t even been exercising for the past few months.
There’s no need for one to go beyond that boundary to be a retard and declare how great anime is and how other forms of entertainment are inferior to it. That’s just your personal opinion and if the person whom you are conversing with doesn’t ask for it,then just keep it to yourself. Even worse,declaring such things on the Internet is one of the dumbest things to do.
Why?
You are making yourself look like an idiotic joke. What’s worse,you are making yourself look like an idiotic joke,ONLINE. Chances are,if you are a loser online,you probably are one in reality.I would definitely not want to be one.Not that I really care,but at least have some respect for yourself. Good job on screwing yourself.
Also,you have just screwed up the public opinion of the anime community. There was no good opinion to start with,and now it would plunged even further down. At this rate,with idiots who decide to tarnish the little reputation the anime community has left, anime fans would soon be social outcasts.
Every hobby community has its own bunch of retards and losers who think that they are glorifying their hobby by trying to force it onto others. In this case,it’s just unfortunate that the anime community has more of such idiots.
Seriously,anime lovers are not smart and cool,they only think they are smart and cool. Hell,watching japanese cartoons isn’t cool,especially if your an adult.
Don’t get me wrong when I say this,I am also an anime fan. My friends all know that I love anime,but I do not go beyond the boundaries of ranting and raving about why anime is the best form of entertainment.I only advise those who watch Bleach and Naruto to stop decreasing their intelligence at an alarming rate. I do not go around declaring that anime is a superior form of entertainment,despite it being a great form of entertainment to me. Well,maybe that’s because I have other forms of entertainment such as Jdoramas, music,movies etc.
Also,writing this post has made me reflect on the time I started anime(about a year ago) till now. I feel that I have overspent my time and money watching anime and buying figurines. Imagine what I could have done with the amount of money I spent.Also,if I had not watched anime, I would probably be a much more hardworking student and scored better grades.
But then I ask myself,”Do I regret loving anime?”. The answer is an absoulute no. I have never regretted watching anime,and have never blamed it for me being quite a loser right now. If I had not started on anime, I would be wasting my time on World of Warcraft,or other MMORPGs. That would still make me a loser. In fact,I find loving anime would be better than getting addicted to MMORPGs.
Thanks to anime,my passion to learn Japanese was relighted once again,and I plan to keep it burning for a very long time. At least I was encouraged to take Japanese lessons rather than being stuck at the computer almost 24/7. Sure,anime had some negative effects on me. But I don’t blame it.
However,it’s kind of sad how some people live their lives around anime.I am guilty of such an act to a certain extent. Sure,when an anime fans sees a room full of otaku products the first thing that comes to his/her mind is “Sugoii”. But,have you ever thought about how pathetic a life he is living. Imagine a life with a tiny social circle,and all those in it are otakus. I wouldn’t want to live such a life,no matter how much I love anime.
Ok,it seems like I have sidetracked a little too much. So to wrap this post up, I would like to say that there is nothing wrong with loving anime,and there is nothing wrong with letting others know what your really like,and being your true self. If you have friends who reject you for being an anime lover,which is your true self, then I see no point in hanging out with such “friends”.
I started anime about 8 years ago before BT is even born and I admit I love it if people asked me..nothing wrong about it IMO. Obviously there is much to talk if the other person also likes anime but if he doesn’t conversation can go other ways
In fact I’ve influenced many normal humans into otaku
As with all things, its good to take things in moderation. Sure, loving anime can be compared with being an avid sports fan. Although anime isn’t as mainstream, we can see with apparent ease in which sports fans collect mountains of paraphanelia that they will probably hang on their walls for extended periods of time. This of course is a comparison to…lets say an anime fan that collects figures or has shelves of manga.
Now for me, watching anime is like watching a favorite television show on TV. And of course, that is how it should be. The public opinion on anime is skewed in that they basically believe: cartoons = huh? Anime plots are often more in depth and interesting than the multitude of reality TV shows that seem to plague our modern day TV sets.
Now back to the main question haha. Of course its okay to love anime. Not being open with yourself would be, as you put it, characteristic of a hypocrite. Also as you have mentioned, you might not want to shout that you love anime to the heavens, but you cant trap yourself in denial either.
Well i lost my train of thought so i cant really write the rest of what i wanted to say.
on a side note, how was claymore i heard it was really good…i think ill start it soon. =D
@shadyone : I rarely include anime as a topic,especially if its the first few times I’m meeting a person. And I tell them I love anime,only when they ask.
@avalon57:Claymore is ownage. Definitely a must watch.
okok i get teh point, u think I’m a loser IRL. But the fact is I got grades ok enough to get into a proper course in uni. I completed full combat BMT and other combat courses without chao kenging and waiting to ORD in 6 months. I’ll probably study hard enough to get at least a 2nd upper.
Most anime > most movies and dramas. Its the godawful truth. The truth hurts. People don’t want the truth. They siam when I offer them links to blogs and stuff. They don’t wanna get hurt. Suit yourself I say. You can’t take pain like a man, you’ll never be a man. You guys are the real losers sadly lolz.
I don’t like to refer to myself as an Otaku but rather an appreciator of the Japanese Unicultural Modern Visual Arts. It isn’t shameful at all, and requires adequate intelligence and capacity to learn to fully appreciate.
oh yea about the part abt friends, I do have true friends that go out with me frequently even though they HATE ANIME lolz!!! I truly only have one friend that is something like half-Otaku, and when we open up anime and stuff the rest ask us to fuck off. So uh, we keep it down. And actually that’s good enough for me because one important thing in life is true friends. Not everyone can be your TRUE FRIEND and want to be with you for no good reason.
And IMO the only time u can make true friends is in secondary school. JC is too hectic, army is full of backstabbing. Primary school is when you’re not mature enough and dun really understand the concept of a friend.
That makes my life pretty much complete but I’m not satisfied, so I go out converting people who are not my true friends lolz. Its fun to feed them anime and see their reactions. Damn fun.
Feeding provocative statements work too.
@dKiWi : No hard feelings and all,but I think that one should not be such an elitist who flames everything he/she sees as inferior. Even if you think that anime is better than other forms of entertainment, then I feel that its only proper and polite to keep it to yourself,and not splash you thoughts all over the forums etc. And no,I do not think you are a loser. I just think that you are a little too much of an elitist,thats all.
@ everyone: Anime is just another form of entertainment like a normal tv show or a sports game. There shouldn’t be any taking of elitism because simply put anime should be just another favorite TV show you watch every Friday. People shouldn’t make such a big deal about loving or watching anime. Its just…another hobby or action in your life. If anime has influenced your life in some way because you love it so much…great. I want to learn japanese because of anime, but this applies to normal tv shows too. At one point i could have said that i wanted to be a doctor because i love the TV show scrubs. By the way everyone…watch scrubs =). And i will end with how scrubs is amazing. It may not be the best but it is definitely worth checking out if you love comedy.
I’m an otaku but i have no lack of social circle
but yah -__-” i do spend quite a bit sometimes on otaku stuff
seriously for me being an otaku is really just a passion and hobby and also an extension of my passion for the japanese culture. i always leave out the otaku talk when i’m around normal people.
“That would still make me a loser. In fact,I find loving anime would be better than getting addicted to MMORPGs.”
Yeah, you’re right about that. Since I watch anime, collect figurines and mangas, I got motivated to do my own hobby site which was coded and designed in Dreamweaver. My younger bro isn’t an otaku but he’s really into online games.
A classmate of mine stopped schooling because of online games. Hence, he’s retarded and he’s still full of himself just because he’s “talented” with games online and offline. Well, at least yer good at something, but that’s not a thing to be proud of… I’m not proud being an otaku cuz you don’t get anywhere with this hobby but at least it should motivate me to work.
Being an otaku is nothing to be “proud” of.
Otaku is an insulting term in the Japanese language, but of course, anime fanboys made it a “kind” term other here in the West.
Does the Otaku Killer come to anyone’s mind?
I enjoy anime, but it’d be nice if people wouldn’t use words they don’t really know.
omfg!!finnaly!!
T__T tears of much joy are being shed.
I feel the same way,but I,unfortunately,have some friend otakus who dont get the point your trying to make.
thankfully,my friends who arnt otaku dont mind my love of anime but when I bring both groups of friends together its CHAOS and akwardness.
X[[[
I hope anime fans get to read your blog and get some great insight.
oh and,THANK YOU!
“Otaku” was originally a term used amongst Otaku to denote one another. But it became a insult. And now they’re trying to take it back. I think that is a very noble pursuit, won’t you?