Ask John: Why Are DBZ Fans Called Newbies?

Question:
I don’t get it! I love DB and DBZ but people call me a “newbie” when ever I say that I like them. I think that I have made my way far out of the newbie rank! I’ve watch Evangelion, Akira, Robotech, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Tenchi, Roujin Z, Lain, and just about every Gundam saga (gotta love Gundam!) and more than that! But if I bring up anything about DBZ, I’m a newbie all of a sudden! I just want to know why that is because I think I am anything but a newbie!

Answer:
There’s nothing wrong with being a “new” anime fan or someone who’s recently developed a love of Japanese animation. Even the most die-hard of anime fans was a “newbie” at one time. The stigma associated with “new” anime fans has nothing to do with seniority- it has to do with attitude. Of course there will be some anime fans that consider devotion to anime itself a status symbol and will be derisive to “newbie” anime fans the way a high school upperclassman will pick on freshmen- simply because he/she can; but a degree of the derision associated with “newbie” anime fans is their own failure to recognize their inexperience. Because anime is still relatively cultish and underground in America, it’s easy to loose perspective on the scope of the anime industry. Having seen all of the well known anime series that fans often talk about may make one seem thoroughly qualified as an experienced, die-hard anime fan, but relative to the total number of anime series and shows available, a half dozen or dozen major titles is a virtually insignificant number. Considering that over 200 different anime titles were available in Japan in 2001 alone, a dozen different titles constitutes less than 10% of all the anime released in only 1 year. Relative to 40 years of anime history, familiarity with a dozen different anime titles is analogous to reading Romeo & Juliet and claiming familiarity with all Renaissance drama.

Not only is familiarity with the titles most popular in America not a good signifier of a genuinely wide knowledge of anime itself, familiarity with mainly only the “big” names in America tells of a very limited scope of stylistic reference. Titles like Dragonball, Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, Tenchi Muyo and Ranma, among other “big” American favorites, represent only anime intended for teen male viewers. Familiarity with shows like this doesn’t provide any insight into the massively populated fields of shoujo anime, adult anime, and family and children’s anime. Veteran anime fans that have been watching anime for years rarely refer to themselves as authoritative or exceptionally knowledgeable because these veteran fans are aware that it’s impossible to have seen everything. No matter how much anime you watch, there’s always something you haven’t seen. These veteran fans often find “newbies” aggravating because so many of these “newbie” anime fans have little to no awareness of the true scale and scope of their chosen hobby and often try to make broad, seemingly objective statements on the nature of anime based on their actually very limited knowledge.

Dragonball fans especially are often criticized, not because Dragonball is a bad show (because it’s not) but because the people doing the criticism fail to recognize the difference between the show and its fans, and because its fans themselves invite legitimate criticism. Because Dragonball Z is such a massive force in America, it is the “gateway” show for a tremendous number of new American anime fans. That association itself typically engenders a stereotypical connection between Dragonball fans and “newbies.” What bothers many veteran anime fans, though, is the single-minded obsession so many fans devote to Dragonball. Many “new” anime fans seem to be introduced to anime by series like Dragonball and Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star and Sailormoon, and simply never develop a wider interest in other shows or styles of anime. There’s nothing wrong with being fanatically devoted to Dragonball, however most experienced anime fans would prefer to see fanatic Dragonball fans broaden their horizons with other series and other types of anime. Even simply moving from Dragonball to Evangelion to Cowboy Bebop to Outlaw Star simply signifies a progression from one series to another similar action oriented, contemporary anime series targeted at teen male viewers.

Being a “newbie” is not a matter of time spent watching anime nor does it have any relation to the amount of anime watched. A “newbie” is someone with a limited frame of reference, thus watching 500 episodes of Dragonball doesn’t make one a “hardcore” anime fan, it makes one a hardcore Dragonball fan. Even being familiar with all the most popular anime series in America but nothing else simply reveals a “keeping up with the Jones'” focus on convention. Of course, all anime fans should watch these shows. They’re well known and popular because they represent some of the best examples of their genre. However, to escape the stigma of “newbie” it’s necessary to broaden one’s horizons “outside the box” and compliment, deepen and contextualize appreciation of Dragonball with samplings of other shows and styles and genres.

Allow me to use this analogy. Anime is like an entire world. The “newbies” are those that sit on their front porch or never travel beyond the end of their block while making broad statements about the condition of the rest of the world. The “newbie” lives in a house called “Dragonball.” The block expands with houses named “Cowboy Bebop” and “Outlaw Star” and “Akira.” The “newbie” may visit these other houses, however he still never leaves this familiar little neighborhood and therefore never matures into anything more than the same “newbie” he started out as. The world is vast and wide, and no one ever becomes a truly experienced “hardcore” anime fan without venturing into that wide world to discover what’s out there.