Josh’s Anime Blog

Ok, I can sort of see the logic that THAT Animeblog is coming from in this post, but my thoughts are that the post is self-contradictory in several ways.

First off, how do statements like these:

The great stigma attached to anime can be easily summed up in 2 assumptions:

• Anime are cartoons, which are for children;
• Anime for adults are adult cartoons a.k.a. animated porn.

Do these assumptions have any basis in truth? There can be no smoke without fire, and these assumptions are based on certain characteristics of anime.

It panders to people’s sexual desires.

…

It is neither intelligent nor deep.

and…

If you were in a book store or news agent, and you just happen to flip through Megami, hoping to find out more about what anime is all about, and you see posters, lots and lots of posters, of half-naked cartoon girls fall out, what is your first thought? If you answered “Awesome, I’m so buying this”, then you’re already not part of normal society.

and…

And that, is the crux of my argument. You might be proud of your hobby, but everyone else sees anime as something that only sick, immature and gay social recluses who escape reality by watching cartoon porn targeted at kids watch; and if you tell me that you’re proud of that, I suggest you go see a psychiatrist.

and…

However I do have something against people who think that “”I watch anime thus I’m awesome, I’m proud of it”, because, for the reason I stated above, anime isn’t as awesome as you’d like to think it is and there are reasons why you ought to be ashamed of it

and how that meshes with the statement that he likes anime as much as the next guy.

And if one thinks that anime and manga is spurned by society and legitimately so, why are you watching it, much less blogging about it?

I agree with the fact that being like “Ha! I’m the greatest and better than everyone else because I watch anime!” is dumb, but that’s true for anything, and the point can get across without basically smearing the entire anime and manga industry and it’s fans, including the poster himself, apparently.

One, presumably, watches anime because you think it is better than, or at least reasonably equal to, the alternative in regards to whatever you are looking for. If you’re proud of yourself that you were able to stumble upon this thing that isn’t necessarily in the mainstream which you enjoy, then fine, as long as one doesn’t get a superiority complex over it for the simple reason that everyone has different tastes to begin with.

The one other problem I have with this is seemingly the idea that we should be motivated, in whole or in part, by what others think.  You shouldn’t be proud! If anything you should be ashamed! That thinking is derived entirely from the thought that what others think actually matter.

Also, why an anime fan should be ashamed by aspects certain anime titles or aspects of the anime community they don’t like any more than someone who likes serious dramas on TV should be ashamed of Big Brother, or why someone who goes to a video store should feel ashamed of buying Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, just because one can buy School Girls Lust VI the next aisle over is beyond me.

Sure, random-person-you-meet-on-the-street 8 may not know the difference between this show and that show, but why does that necessarily matter.  Also, I’m not even sure the poster gives the average Joe enough credit either.  The fact that reality shows like Survivor or Big Brother and other shows that are filled with sex and violence on TV that are apparently popular clearly show that the average Joe isn’t as apparently high and mighty about what they may or may not watch as is indicated.

If someone watches Survivor and Big Brother and The Victoria’s Secret fashion show, and then turns around and picks on someone watching anime because it isn’t a Serious Enough Show for them, then that’s their problem for being a hypocrite, not yours for liking anime.

Would I like it if anime was more accepted by society?  Sure, if for no other reason than it may make it even more available than it even is today.  But then again, I’d also like this or that series to be even more popular within the anime community itself, or for my college alma mater to be more respected (at least in sports), or the New York Jets to be better liked, or for people to realize that Gettysburg is the Greatest Movie Ever.

Of course, those things not happening doesn’t mean that I should feel ashamed or shy away from liking those things.  It doesn’t even necessarily mean that I need to or even should try to persuade others that my feelings about those topics are justified.

If someone gets the wrong idea about anime, and brushes the entire medium based on a couple misguided examples, then sure, let’s try to fix that misinterpretation.  But I’m not going to go out of my way to try to convince people that I’m somehow right, nor am I going to care if Random Guy 3, whom I don’t know nor have never met, thinks I’m weird because I sat down and watched His and Her Circumstances last week.

Ok, I think I’m done ranting now.