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(Warning to anime fans. This could be moderately to severely offensive based on your oppinions of anime, and otaku culture. I am sorry, if any of the following text brings shame upon you. However, if you KNOW you will be upset. Just turn back now and avoid causing further damage. Thanks :D )
As my interest in Japan, and the language, have increased. My appreciation (not much to begin with) has slowly worn itself out.
I would like to use this forum now, as a conduit to my oppinions on the matter.
I used to watch anime, and don’t get me wrong, as a kid, it was both exiting as well as a bit of an adventure. However, as my appreciation of the Japanese language has expanded, I have begun do almost despise it. Not only because of it in itself, rather, how and what the masses of followers are becoming.
I can understand people liking anime. I really can, but grown men doing the sailor moon cosplays(See Tofugu article on Japanese Girlfriends) and kids who think they know everything about the Japanese language, based solely upon the fact that they watch anime with subs? Wrong.
I have come to a conclusion, well, at least within my own mind. “If this keeps up, Japan is going to get dragged through the muddy water that is ‘Otaku’ culture. (Which, in my own belief, shouldn’t even be related to Japanese culture, in one bit). It saddens me that every time I hear about Japan, it has to do with either one of the following. 1.Anime 2.Manga 3.Ramen Noodles 4.Uptight business men. I mean, really? Come on. There are things about Japan, that are beyond belief, as far as interest wise.
This being said, I do not know everything about Japan. Nor, do I think that I ever will.
Now, I’m not going to say “Anime is a terrible source of learning the Japanese language; and you shouldn’t associate yourself, with either, it, nor the culture that (like a plague) soon follow.” Or, that “Anime doesn’t work when learning.” Because, that may not be true. I have met a few(RARE) that have furthered themselves as Japanese speakers, and very effectively via anime/manga/whatever other form of childish Japanese media. They,are better people because of it? I don’t know. But what I do know is this. They do not run around, saying desu desu desu kawaii desu desu. They also, do not talk about anime, visit cons, cosplay, or pretend to know things to which they do not. If anime works for you, FANTASTIC! I’m very proud of you!
Anyhow, I’ve been wanting to get that off my chest for some time now. Once again, I’m sorry if I offend. Keep up your studies, remain diligent and keep up the ‘froodylence’ as it were.
SinisterT.
And when I say “Hearing about it” I don’t mean from my fellow Japanese students, I mean from the masses, of people who know next to nothing about Japan to begin with. I would only hope, that my fellow students know what they are talking about.
And,
I know I may have come off a little abrasive, however, I was just expressing myself on the issuse, and was trying to be as polite as I could about it.
Soz.SinisterT.
Anything can be taken to an extreme. Anime is a part of Japanese Culture. For the people that think it is the be all and end all of Japanese, they can live in there own little world. That does not bother me. :)
Your comment, is much appreciated and agreed with, good sir.
Yeah, so long as they don’t try to “correct” my Japanese, then I am fine. Bwuh.
:PI agree. It’s heartbreaking (in a way) when I think of all the people who watch anime and just think like they know it all! That’s what I think distinguishes me from the other anime lovers (holding off on manga, because I want to be able to read that in Japanese).
Oh and as long as someone from Textfugu is reading this they won’t be offended, since they are already different from those “masses” since they already took the initiative of learning Japanese (and hopefully will stick with it ’till the end!), it should offend the “masses”, though (unless they are to ignorant).
One more thing, I think you hate ignorant people ;P
@Armando
Well,
I try not to hate anything, but I do strongly dislike ignorance. As far as your desire to learn to read Japanese in manga(etc.) It is extremely rewarding when you do get to that point of your learning experience. So keep up the good work, and it will pay off soon!Yeah, I know that the members of Textfugu ‘Should not’ be offended, but this has been known to be a rather sore subject amongst certain crowds.
SinisterT
One word and one word only came to my mind whilst reading this: weaboos.
I personally love anime, but simply as a form of entertainment. That’s it. Nothing more.
That is what anime was made for but unfortunately some people take it way too seriously these days – a bit like football (or soccer if you’re American).-
This reply was modified 13 years, 5 months ago by
Kaona.
@Winter
!!!
BINGO!
You are right on the money!Personally, I just can’t stand it as a form of entertainment. However, that is just my preference.
And another form of entertainment, the older samurai flicks. I love them, but they seem to use the most polite forms of Japanese, and I cannot wrap my tiny little brain around that just yet. Bwahahahaha.
Yet.
>:D
Kawaiiiiii desuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu (putting emphasis on the “u” here :P)!
Hey, look everyone! I can count to 10 in Japanese! You cannot! You are a silly baka gaijin who will never understand the hardships of growing up in suburbia while pining for the life you could have had if your BAKA parents had been Japanese! Kanji? Kana? Actually learning the writing system of the country I love so dearly? Ew, no.
Pokky, green tea, ramen, Hello Kitty, cell phones with big jingley-jangly bits affixed to them, drawing anime eyes all over my books, peace signs in photos, cosplay, Lolita fashion (kawaiiiii desuuuu :3), song lyrics in romanji*, watashi, boku, arigato, BAKA, SUGOI, KAKKOI, DESUU, KAWAIIII, GAIJIN, SAKURA, UDON, AKB48, IDOLS, HATSUNE MIKU, SAMURAI, NINJAS, JAPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN–*KABLAMMO! HEAD EXPLODES!*
*ahem*
Yeah…
*Why do people call it romanji? It’s fecking RO-U-MA-JI 「ローマ字」! XD
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/208/1259829153228.jpg/
Personally, I don’t really watch anime alot. In fact, I barely watch anime (I had my fair share a few years ago) but sometimes I’m in the mood to watch something. The latest thing that I watched was Tentai Senshi Sunred and I watched seasons 1 and 2 raw. Oh well, even the roughest way of speaking Japanese can be converted to something super polite if you know what you’re doing. It’s a good learning tool and you can fun while doing it too.
Armando: Oh and as long as someone from Textfugu is reading this they won’t be offended, since they are already different from those “masses” since they already took the initiative of learning Japanese
That’s true.
@Missing: Damn, I forgot to add that image to my post XD
I really like anime, but I wasn’t offended at all.
As you pointed in your post, it’s not really that you don’t like anime, it’s more about the otaku sub-culture. I can agree with you on most of the points (all those teens thinking they know all about Japan because they watch Naruto can be really annoying).
In fact, the only thing that irked me a bit in the post is the “anime/manga/whatever other form of childish Japanese media” generalization. Anime and manga can be childish (and often is). They can also be very mature and thought-provoking (in some cases, much more than tons of movies I’ve seen).
Oh, and I agree that using ONLY anime to learn Japanese is a path to failure. However, in my case, I’ve been enjoying anime more and more since I’ve been on Textfugu, because it is a fine way to train the ear (yeah, I could use pretty much any subtitled Japanese media, but since I like anime…). Anyway, I’m spotting more and more words I know, sentences I understand, grammar points I’ve learned, etc. making the experience more interesting.
This thread reminds me of http://weaboostories.tumblr.com/
I’m not a big fan of anime. Sure, I watched it when I was younger… but it just doesn’t hold my attention anymore.
I went through an otaku phase during junior high and high school. My nickname was Yoko, and I wanted to catch all of the pretty bishonen more than Ash wanted to catch pokemon!
Looking back, I just have to laugh at myself, but without that obsession, I don’t think I would have taken Japanese in high school, studied abroad in Japan, or ended up teaching here. My language skills might have a long way to go, but my appreciation of the complexity of Japanese culture started at a young age.
I have faith that good things can come from little otaku kids!
@Kelovar, That’s right some anime does have a mature sense to it that makes you think about a certain aspect of life (judgement, trust, friendship and what not).
I agree with winter, and i also thought of commenting it: Weeaboos.
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This reply was modified 13 years, 5 months ago by
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