Ask John: Do Americans Have Poor Taste in Anime?

Question:
I know of some friends who think that today’s American anime fans have poor taste in anime, choosing quantity over quality, show over substance. This explains why anime of superior quality do not sell well. What do you think of this view that American anime fans have “poor taste”?

Answer:
This is a particularly loaded question because it entices a highly subjective, egotistical answer. I’ll try to avoid that pitfall by respecting both subjective and objective perspectives on anime fandom. However, I don’t want to descend into the psuedo-intellectual semantic argument of exactly what constitutes “good” anime. With that introduction out of the way, I think it’s appropriate to emphasize that anime is a personal, subjective hobby. Anime is fundamentally different from similar American hobbies like comic book or card collecting because anime isn’t a speculative, material hobby. Unlike American comics, which are collected, preserved, and traded as valuable commodities, anime and manga are designed to be temporary diversions – just entertainment. Therefore, the ultimate value of any anime or manga is dependant upon the consumer rather than on the product, even though certain anime and manga are technically superior and others inferior or amateurish.

My personal opinion is that anime is Japanese created animation. Genre, content, style, and age are distinguishing characteristics, but they don’t define anime. In other words, style makes one anime different from another, but style doesn’t make one animation “anime” and another “not anime.” I consider myself an anime fan, meaning that I have a great appreciation for all Japanese animation regardless of age, genre, style, and content. To provide a good example, within the past few weeks I’ve watched brand new anime including episodes of current Japanese series like Magikano and Binchotan, as well as the entire 26 episode black & white Dororo television series from 1969. I make a conscious effort to watch the biggest variety of anime I can because I’m interested in all anime. I want to experience, first hand, as many different anime as I can in order to discover what I do and don’t like, and educate myself about Japanese animation. I have a great deal of respect for anime titles like Kamichu and Mushishi that exhibit literary and artistic excellence. But I also enjoy titles like Papillon Rose and Tactical Roar which aren’t really outstanding. But I’m not exactly a typical American anime fan.

Arguing that the average American anime fan, or that the majority of America’s anime fans have poor taste in anime or have little critical appreciation of anime sounds highly pretentious. I don’t want to stand on a pedestal and claim that my appreciation for anime is more refined than that of average fans. Neither do I want to argue that Americans have poor taste in anime. Rationally I believe that all anime fans should watch whatever appeals to them. While I’d like to see every anime fan develop a critical appreciation for all anime, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with individuals choosing to limit their interest to only certain titles or genres. Ultimately I have no right to critique someone else’s taste in anime. But that doesn’t prevent me from developing an observation on American anime fandom.

Since I’m both an avid anime fan and an employee at a major international anime retailer, I have an ability to observe exactly what American anime fans most often watch and buy. To my dismay, the majority of America’s anime viewers and consumers do seem to view anime through a narrow field of vision. Commonly American consumers and even many serious, devoted anime fans refuse to sample anime that they haven’t heard of before. Shows with a large fan following tend to attract attention and perpetuate their popularity. In my experience, obscure shows, or shows that don’t fall into the genres that are popular with the majority of America’s anime viewers, are usually doomed to remain obscure. In my experience, trends in America’s fan community are influenced much more by popularity and exposure than by intrinsic quality. In the mainstream, retail market, such movements may be a result of necessity. With anime being expensive, most consumers may not want to invest in buying DVDs that they’ve never heard of. But the core fan community is different. American anime fans who have instant access to online fansubs can watch anything at no cost, yet artistic, unusual, exceptional anime, and anime that doesn’t fall within the popular genres in America, is still frequently overlooked. Unique and exceptional shows like Akagi, Mushishi, and Gallery Fake; seemingly family and children’s anime including Animal Yokocho and Onegai My Melody; and shoujo anime including Pretty Cure, Sugar Sugar Rune, and Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime seem to be largely overlooked even among the majority of America’s hardcore anime fans. And that’s not to mention most vintage anime. Interest in most classic anime among American viewers seems to be minimal. For countless different reasons, the majority of America’s hardcore anime fan community seems averse to watching and discussing divergent anime.

I don’t want to blame or condemn America’s anime fans by accusing them of having poor taste in anime or being too narrow-minded or too easily swayed by peer pressure. But I do see the majority of America’s anime viewers gravitate toward trendy and high profile titles, regardless of their quality. Countless times I’ve also seen American consumers dismiss or refuse excellent titles only because they haven’t heard of the title before. Objectively I can’t complain about Americans gravitating toward particular titles and genres. Watching and supporting any anime is preferable to not watching and supporting anime. And fans should watch what they’re interested in. But subjectively I am disappointed when outstanding and original shows go ignored. And I’m disappointed when professed anime fans refuse to acknowledge or respect older anime titles, just because they’re older titles. In fact, it’s exactly because I personally have such a great deal of admiration for all types of anime that I compose articles like this in hopes of encouraging other American fans to broaden their exposure to anime.