Ask John: Why do Anime Fans have such Strong Opinions?

Question:
Why are all anime fans so opinionated when it comes to anime? “I absolutely HATE this movie and you’re wrong to like it!” or vise versa. And is it just me or do anime fans dislike American movies based on principal rather then rational thought? These are two topics that I find just littered through various anime chat rooms around the net.

Answer:
There’s a lot of different facets to this question, so I’m not sure where to begin or exactly how to phrase an answer. It may be that many anime fans are very opinionated and hold very strong opinions in part because they are anime fans. Die-hard anime fans, like Trekkies/Trekkers and Star Wars fans, are a very devoted and obsessive lot. We spend lots of money on our hobby and cosplay as our favorite characters (well, I spend lots of money but don’t cosplay). It’s natural for this sort of devotion to express itself in voicerifous approval or denouncement of particular shows and translations and presentations of shows.

In theory, the traditional long-time anime fan is a very open-minded, receptive individual. After all, it takes quite an open mind and a willingness to explore a new culture and watch “cartoons” in a foreign language. Essentially by definition, serious anime fans, especially those that watch a lot of subtitled and untranslated anime, tend not to express strong opinions because these fans are naturally open to differing interpretations and opinions. Now this is where I begin to walk in the delicate part of the flower garden. I want to say before I continue that I am not trying to sound elitist or trying to argue stereotypes. I am presenting a theory which is not infallible and does have exceptions. That being said, anime fandom in America has changed dramatically since the time of the “long-time” veteran anime fan. As the adage goes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I’ve been watching import, untranslated anime for over ten years, and I do not purport to be any sort of expert, yet in my daily social life, and through e-mail here to AnimeNation, I commonly encounter people that have seen a relative handful of anime series and assume that they are experts in the field. I personally believe that part of this is caused by the “Americanization” of anime. Many fans that have come to the hobby more recently have seen all of the Gundam Wing and Tenchi Muyo episodes broadcast on American television; they’ve bought a lot of domestic anime tapes, and they’ve found that they’ve seen more anime that anyone else they know. The problem here is that, in having watched largely only domestic dubbed releases, many anime fans have either lost sight of the Japanese origin of the shows they watch, or have never been exposed to the foreign culture behind anime in the first place. Without a full frame of reference, many anime fans loose sight of the “bigger picture.” When the entire realm of “anime” consists of a dozen shows, including Gundam Wing, Sailormoon, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Cardcaptors, Akira, Evangelion and such, it’s very easy to form strong opinions of what the “best show ever” is, and with a relatively small sphere of reference, it’s easy to become totally devoted to a single show and become defensively protective of it. Once again, I don’t want to sound “stuck-up” or try to insult anyone, but I think that serious anime fans sort of grow out of this attitude as they discover more anime. I can look back on my own history and cite examples of me saying things like, “That show is for kids” or “That show sucks,” or “That’s ancient anime,” before I watched the shows in question or developed enough appreciation for anime to be able to watch shows before criticizing them or watch shows and appreciate their good points and overlook the limitations of their age. Even now, I don’t claim to be an expert on anime because every day I learn more about anime and about shows that I wasn’t previously familiar with and new shows coming out in Japan.

Regarding anime fans hating American movies, I honestly have too little experience with this topic to be able to generate an adequate response. I watch a lot of American movies and love my fair share of them. I don’t know how anyone could be a serious anime fan and not have been enthralled with the sheer visual style of The Cell or amused by the wild action and silliness of Charlie’s Angels (and believe me, there is a lot of anime that is very, very silly). I have encountered the argument that anime fans are universally biased against American animation, to which I say that while there are certainly some exceptional American animated productions, on average, show me an American animated production that manages to tell a mature story, with decent animation quality, that doesn’t dumb-down, feature singing animals or go for pure, visceral exploitation. Speaking only for myself, when an American animation studio manages to create an animated series or movie that compares to the Utena or Escaflowne movies (elegant, dramatic and action-filled), Lain or Cowboy Bebop (dark, stylized and mature), Whisper of the Heart or To Heart (slice of life, realism), Char’s Counterattack or the Nadesico movie (space/sci-fi/giant robots), I’ll be impressed with American animation. As long as we’re stuck with politically correct singing animals (Disney), poorly written and executed, uneven space adventure (Titan A.E.) and poorly drawn and animated, underwhelming exploitation (Heavy Metal 2000), I’ll stick to anime.