Ask John: Does Understanding Japanese Make Anime Less Interesting?

Question:
I think a common aspiration among long time Japanese popular culture fans is to learn the language. I started thinking about that and came up with one concern; would learning Japanese diminish the interest? Not knowing the language allows it to still have some allure. But knowing the language may just make it seem like an everyday thing and it wouldn’t be interesting anymore, the fascination would be gone. Any thoughts?

Answer:
You may have a point which isn’t often considered. I do think that non-Japanese speaking anime viewers do sometimes have a tendency to presume that seemingly dramatic and dense anime have meaningful, intellectual dialogue. Our respect for anime and desire to appreciate it sometimes colors our perspective. Numerous times I’ve watched untranslated anime that seemed very complex and philosophical, only to learn later, when re-watching the same shows subtitled, that their dialogue was actually quite mundane or not deeply significant. Greater familiarity with Japanese language will unquestionably alter a viewer’s perception of anime, but greater familiarity with Japanese won’t necessarily make anime less interesting or appealing. With certain exceptions, the appeal of anime depends mostly on the viewer’s reception rather than the characteristics of the anime itself.

Non-Japanese speaking viewers should be aware that anime is frequently not as intellectual as we may assume it to be. After all, anime is primarily designed to be entertainment. Shows like Ghost in the Shell may contain obtuse, nearly incomprehensible technobabble and references to complex concepts and relationships, but shows like Ghost in the Shell are exceptions to the typical standards of anime. Anime is supposed to be something enjoyable that viewers can watch while relaxing. So avoiding developing unreasonable or unrealistic expectations of anime is one effective technique for enjoying anime without being disappointed. Viewers should also recognize that dialogue isn’t the only component of anime. Having inflated expectations for an anime may result in disappointment when those expectations are deflated, but shifting attention onto other aspects of an anime may sooth the disappointment. In fact, for example, the dialogue in Cowboy Bebop actually isn’t particularly exceptional, nor weighty with subtext, but the show is still exceptional. Current enjoyable programs like Kasimasi and Magikano are highly entertaining because of their combined dialogue and the delivery of the dialogue; the voice acting and the personalities of the characters add depth and meaning to the dialogue that’s not literally in the spoken words themselves.

I recently watched one of Geneon’s American DVD volumes of Melody of Oblivion. Even with my very limited knowledge of Japanese language, I recognized multiple puns and interesting uses of spoken Japanese language in the spoken dialogue which were not represented in the subtitles and not referenced by translation notes. In this case, being even lightly familiar with spoken Japanese language enabled me to appreciate the show more than I would have if I knew no Japanese language at all. So I’ve personally encountered instances when understanding the Japanese dialogue made anime seem less exotic and less fascinating, and instances when familiarity with the language made the anime more interesting and unique.

Learning even elementary Japanese language will alter a viewer’s reaction to anime. I hope that learning Japanese won’t ruin a foreign fan’s enjoyment of anime. Any serious anime fan should always be aware that anime is a combination of story, dialogue, character design, animation, music, and other innate and subjective characteristics. A perceptive anime fan should be conscious of all of these elements, and interested in all of them. I won’t say that it’s wrong to be interested in anime just because it’s exotic and foreign, but I do think that a viewer who loses interest in anime because it seems too familiar or mundane is possibly ignoring other characteristics of anime which make it unique and interesting. Anime is an “everyday thing” for millions of Japanese viewers, yet they still watch and enjoy it. That fact alone should establish that it’s very possible to clearly understand the native Japanese dialogue in anime and still thoroughly enjoy it.