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I’m going to cram this entry in real quick because I just realized that I forgot to make a “personal” post last week.
I probably should have timed this better because all this fatigue is making me have a huge brain fart.
Anyway, bear with me, as this is the kind of entry that I would very much like a personal response to, as I’m sure some if not all of you have considered it at some point or other since you first started watching Anime.
Also, I find this whole business with updating blogrolls to be a bother. If someone regularly comments, I feel that it’s only polite to add their link to the list. Am I right? If anything, I’m just glad that WordPress arranges them numerically/alphabetically, as it places priority on the only Anime blog worth reading.
Y’know, people are usually subtle with their brown-nosing tactics. But I’m so fucking jittery right now after downing two cans of Red Bull, so I just don’t give a shit! On with the post!
So do you have any close friends or family members who are active fans of Anime?
Do you have any close friends or family members who are active fans of Anime as much as you are?
I’ve quietly accepted the fact that openly claiming Anime as a hobby will invariably throw some menacing glances in your direction.
In that regard, I find it puzzling how there’s a whole de facto caste system for determining where you fit in as a so-called hardcore fan of Anime.
At the top are the elitists, and I mean that in every sense of the word. These are the people who keep up with current seasons, know all the otaku jargon, and provide commentary on some of the finer points in a show’s mechanics. They’re able to break a show down to its bare essentials and understand what it is that they like and don’t like about it, allowing them to be self-assured in their beliefs. But through it all, they understand that it’s something that other people in the normal, industrialized world have yet to come to terms with, so there’s a sense of shame that comes with it.
At the bottom of the caste are the more open fans, the people you see wearing Naruto headbands and t-shirts in public who rant about how Japanese animation is the end-all, be-all of the animated medium in between chomps of pocky. These people are plastered as the face of Anime fandom. Not to say that there isn’t a subculture out there that doesn’t have an exaggerated caricature that’s brought to mind, but frankly, they should have some sense to know that there’s a time and place for everything.
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But throwing away the caste system idea, you can see that the line of demarcation is so clear-cut that it leaves no room for an “in-between” group of hardcore otakus. You’re either in group A or group B. It’s almost like a power struggle between the two groups, with the first group using a subtle approach to show that not all Anime fans are complete dorks, that they’re capable of some restraint and can even be intelligent. But then the second group comes in to undo everything by being uppity and obnoxious, which in turn only digs a deeper hole for the first group. It’s a vicious cycle.
From the tone of this entry, you can deduce that I’m of the first group. We often talk about how we have to “suppress our power level” in public because of this social stigma. As I was writing this entry, I had trouble thinking of a better word for the first group and eventually settled on “elitist.” I’m certainly not claiming that you have terrible taste in Anime if you watch Naruto, but there’s a fine line between awareness and delusion, and you know you’ve crossed it when you think you’re making a fashion statement by wearing an Itachi cloak to school.
Being opinionated is always attributed as a vice. I like opinionated people, even if their opinions run contrary to mine. I want to be able to agree or argue with others in a way that lets me know that we’ve connected in some intangible way and shared a common thought process for a transient moment in time. Anime can be a good proxy for just that.
Oh, wow. I derailed. Anyway, my point is that it’s hard to find other people who share your interests outside of the Internet. So I guess I’m lucky enough to have a few close friends I’ve known since childhood who have an active interest in Anime. They don’t keep up with current season shows, and they find things like conventions to be a bit over-the-top, but they’re certainly not condescending to others in any way. I mentioned in an earlier post about my best friend, the unlikely gay guy, who just so happens to be a casual fan of Anime. Now, the term “casual” would usually denote that he watches some of the more mainstream shows, but the guy actually has pretty refined taste. He’s the one who turned me to Mushishi and Haibane Renmei, and he even laughed at me when I told him that I teared at certain points of both shows. He tried to watch yaoi but was turned off by the sickly and emaciated character designs and the girly mannerisms. (Real gay guys don’t like yaoi. Funny how that works.) And then there’s my other best friend, a girl I’ve known since the 4th grade who lived down the street. She’s pretty sociable and outgoing, but lately, I think my 2D complex is rubbing off onto her – she recently developed a massive crush on Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara.
The thing is, they don’t bother to really dig deep into the shows they’ve watched in the way that I do, so at best I’ll have a superficial discussion about whether a show was enjoyable or not. You know those picturesque moments where you’re sitting on a park bench on a balmy day with a good friend, just musing about the latest episode of so-and-so and exchanging witty banter about how much we loved or hated a character. I want that moment, as pathetic as it may sound.
So what about you guys? Do you “suppress your power level”?
With that over and done with, I will now go jog 5 miles without rest. I started this entry as a way to just talk about my Anime-watching friends, but ended up sloppily rambling about otakus in general.
Don’t consume energy drinks while blogging, kids.
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