Ask John: Why Are Anime Fans So Opinionated

Question:
Why is it that anime fans are so opinionated? It seems that every old and new series gets ripped to shreds by fans complaining about character develpoment, plot, animimation, action, gore, sexual themes (or the lack there of). Take shows such as Gantz and Wolf’s Rain; both fine shows but they get destroyed in forums and in reviews. What is it about the anime community that allows the members to be so vocal? Fans of sitcoms don’t complain so much. I can understand saying that an anime is bad because it has been changed greatly from its manga origins. But take into account Berserk, the anime is nothing like the manga and it is embraced as a great series. There doesn’t seem to be much reason behind most fans “hating” on a series. Does the saying that otaku will talk about anime just to talk and try to sound smart really hold true?

Answer:
Actually, I don’t think that anime itself, or being an anime fan encourages forthrightness. At least in Western fandom, I think that anime attracts people who are naturally outspoken and opinionated. I think that’s one of the primary differences between native Japanese and foreign anime fans. In Japan, anime fandom is primarily an individual hobby that appeals to consumers who are attracted to the escapist potential of anime. There are millions of Japanese anime fans, and they routinely communicate, but Japanese fandom seems to be characterized by individual, introverted fans converging on a common interest. On the other hand, Western anime fans are communicative and communal. And Western anime fans often seem to have an interest in philosophy, art and culture. It’s these interests that frequently attract Western fans to anime.

Since Japanese animation has always been imported into America, and anime is a genre of foreign film, American viewers have had to traditionally go out of their way to access anime. The underground, cult availability of anime in America, Europe, Australia and other western countries has excluded it from the consciousness of the average viewer. Fans of sitcoms or soap operas may be less discriminating and less critical than typical anime fans because they have personalities that coordinate well with commonly available, lowest common denominator literature. On the other hand, connoisseurs that are naturally discriminating, critical, and inclined to be independent and outspoken thinkers, are more likely to be attracted to less common, more intellectually challenging or unique forms of entertainment, such as foreign film.

The increasing exposure and distribution of Japanese animation in America has coincided with an increasing dilution of the exclusive, cultural and artistic characteristics of anime. Edited American television broadcasts and home video releases, English dubbing that removes the original Japanese language, and American produced anime merchandise that downplay the Japanese origin of the material have been a mixed blessing for anime. At the same time Japanese animation has become more successful in America, it has become less Japanese. As anime has been increasingly marketed to mainstream Western audiences, and a less exclusive and less discriminating strata of American consumers, the population of the American fan community has evolved from being a collection of hypercritical art collectors to a mixed pool of bourgeois and bucolic that often conflict. The dissent between different types of American anime fans has generated conflicts including the dub versus sub debate and the elitist versus newbie antagonism.

Unlike domestic forms of mainstream entertainment such as soap operas and sitcoms, which are intentionally constructed to not exhibit overt artistic elements, anime is graphic art. Furthermore, before it’s altered for mainstream American consumption it’s in a foreign language and includes characteristics of foreign culture, values and lifestyles. So anime naturally invites and encourages artistic appreciation and analytical evaluation. I don’t think there’s anything at all wrong with viewers choosing to watch and enjoy anime on only a superficial level. But especially for non-Japanese viewers, anime offers and encourages opinionated response, and attracts the attention of critics who are predisposed to voicing their opinions. I’m glad that American viewers enjoy Gantz and Wolf’s Rain and Berserk. At the same time I think that shows like Gantz and Wolf’s Rain get critically panned because they deserve the criticism. Likewise, many anime fans enjoy Berserk because it’s exciting while other anime fans praise it because its technical quality deserves praise. I can’t deny that some of the criticism of particular anime series is unjustified and comes from fans who are stating such negative opinions for personal reasons instead of honestly, objectively critiquing anime. But a lot of the time the shows that receive harsh criticism actually deserve the “hating” because they’re not good shows. There’s no reason why some fans shouldn’t like “bad” anime, but all anime fans should make an effort to acknowledge the difference between enjoying an anime, and an anime’s technical quality. For example, Wolf’s Rain, my common target, may be enjoyable, but that doesn’t mean that its technical, cinematic qualities were carried out effectively. The American anime fan community naturally collects critically outspoken people, and some people in the fan community just take objective criticisms too personally.