During the summer, I have shared my thoughts about the Anime Fandumb. Of course, I forgot to write about the very thing that also fuels the whole moe debate and the old versus the new, the Nostalgia Filter.
People have the tendency to look back at some stuff they experienced during their childhood such as video games, music, animation, movies, comic books, etc. Because of this, this usually influences his/her tastes, which changes over time. Of course, nothing ever stays the same as new trends and art styles will take shape. This is where Nostalgia Filter comes into play in which a person views majority of new material as mediocre or bad quality and over time, be mostly forgotten except for the best, thus leading to an inaccurate impression of quality.
A well-known example of Nostalgia Filter in the fandom is the Genwunner (corruption of Generation One), which is a vocal group of Pokémon fans that only like the original Pokémon games for various reasons and will never be satisfied by any of the changes. This consists of disliking all the new Pokémon because they are based on objects (such as the Ice Cream Cone Pokémon) and animals or complaining about certain gameplay mechanics like the move “Stealth Rock,” which kept Charizard in the never used tier since Generation IV. Of course, this ruins it for everyone else because these fans will drag others an emotional debate of which generation or Pokémon designs are better. Sadly, people doesn’t realize that the newer generations are a big improvement over the original games and that the first generation had a good number of game breaking glitches and even ugly sprites.
While most Anime fans tend to have an open mind when it comes to watching, there is a small vocal group of people who always complain that Anime is dying because of x or y reason and only like the old shows. One of the recent examples of this is the whole debate over Free for the fact that it was catering to a female audience as seen below:
But if a girl ‘trespasses’ into a male space, what happens? (Even when it isn’t ‘trespassing’, in the case of Free!, in which a space was actually made for us ) We can expect such timeless classics as: degradation, ‘you’re not even a REAL fan!’ ‘I bet you don’t even know ______’, all kinds of threats, and, of course, the posts you see on this blog.
It seems that people are mad about Free because it catered to a female audience and saying it’s the death of anime is very close-minded and elitist. These remarks pretty much tells me “I don’t like it because it’s not the action/mecha/etc. shows that we have back in the old days or you are not a true fan because you don’t like x show.” Of course, this author points out the unfairness of males watching shows made for females, but not vice versa. However, the same remark has been used with moe being the thing that is killing Anime from the same people. They keep moving the goal post, which also shows that nothing satisfies them.
On the other hand, I think Lauren from Otaku Journalist sums up the negatives effects of nostalgia filter on the fandom in her post rather perfectly. She argues that these fans are to blame for their inability to acknowledge any new anime and include any groups into the fanbase. I think she is right because there are always going to be new shows that have the potential to be good. Anime covers a wide variety of demographics and genres, so what is wrong with pandering a certain audience since studios have been doing it for ages? I think people need to view things with an open mind. If one doesn’t enjoy what he/she sees, drop it and move on.
At the end of the day, I think Nostalgia Filter is a big issue in the fandom that will always exist just like the Anime Fandumb. Eventually, new Anime will become old as animation quality keeps improving with technology. Not only that, old Anime has it’s share of bad shows just like new ones. Even so, perhaps some fans feel this way because Anime got popular. I think it’s the same feeling seen with music from the 80s being better than today’s music as it stood the test of time. I think some fans are quick to judge new Anime and I think both old and new needs to be viewed equally.
With that, what are your feelings about the Nostalgia Filter in the Anime fandom? Do you think it’s a bad thing?
Edit: I realize that I some of my remarks were accusing fans of liking old Anime, which I didn’t have in in mind. I apologize for that. To clarify, I was focusing on the small group of people who of course not only crying the death of Anime for X reason, but also those who accuse other fans for not being true Anime fans because they like x show. Of course, the definition of a true Anime fan is another topic of its own.
I think the feeling of nostalgia is a good one, if one can accept that it is in fact in the past. Life goes on, things change, people change, and so does anime. It’s quite natural. Sometimes it feels great to remember some good old times of playing pokemon and watching Dragonball or whatever, but these had their flaws even then. Our generation is just too blind to see them, since they were the things we loved when growing up. However I don’t see this whole Nostalgia filter as a major problem in the society, there are still plenty of decent fans left who live for the newer anime. I don’t think “anime is dying”, I think it’s on its way into a golden age, and a few dick fans won’t get in the way of that.
While nostalgia can be viewed as a good thing since we have memories of watching something a person used to enjoy. While I haven’t watched that many Anime back in the early days since all I didn’t have cable. Back in the day, I watched Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Cardcaptor Sakura, etc. While I enjoyed them while they were on television.
I think it’s a good thing to respect old anime as they are the the foundation that bring us shows today. However, the Nostalgia Filter is something where a person is blinded by nostalgia that anything new is viewed as crap. While I probably haven’t explain it clearly enough, but it’s apparent in the countless moe/anime is dying debates. Of course, they are the minority since older fans tend to have a balance and view both old and new shows equally. Still, I agree that Anime is far from dead as it’s more accessible and that there is more studios making shows compared to the past.
Well, yeah, like Black Ragdoll said, there’s nothing inherently wrong with nostalgia or having an appreciation for the classics. Accusing people who simply prefer older anime of getting in the way of a newer fan’s fun is a strawman argument in itself. Dismissing the old entirely in favour of the new is what leads to a lot of media being seen as disposable. Ideally, we should appreciate old and present anime equally.
While I didn’t intend to accuse people of preferring older anime, and I apologize for that, I was focusing more on the small group of people who accuse fans as not being true ones because a person likes new Anime.. I agree that there needs to be a balance instead of judging it because trends changes. I think we see this with people complaining about new music and saying that it’s crap because of some trend without acknowledging the fact that there are still some new singers that are talented and produce new music. Like music, it evolved just like Anime as it improved over time and technology makes it possible to produce stories. Of course, new fans are quick to judge old shows because the animation quality just like old fans judging new shows. But I think everyone agree that at the end of the say, the stories and characters matter the most and that we should appreciate how it evolved.
I have a longish essay in the works (I’ll post a link later when it’s live) about how many of the titles that were foundational in creating anime fandom in the West don’t have the same impact anymore, in big part because there are just that many more ways to become a fan now than there were in, say, 1992.
It’s not a bad thing, though — it’s great that we have that many more choices overall. But it also means older fans often feel like they don’t have as many opportunities to bring people directly into the fold. (Whether that’s a reflection of their need to be the gatekeeper to a fandom or just their enthusiam at work is another essay…)
In a sense, you are right about the fact that older fans may have resentment for the fact that Anime is now open to the masses and it’s alot easier to watch new and even old titles, which can explain why a few try to act like gatekeepers to the fandom. I feel that while it’s not a widespread problem, it’s somewhat a serious one as new fans might become alienated because of it.
As soon as a I stumble upon a person who constantly argues about (Pretend I’m saying this quote using and old man voice) “Nyeeeeh, anime were better during my time. Why, back then, anime told better plots, had more oomph behind them and there was none of this cuteness nonsense that is crowding anime today. Where’s my Cowboy Bebop sequel? I need an aspirin.”, I walk away and leave the coot to wallow in his own flesh pit. Seriously, instead of complaining about what’s different today, open your mind to new things. After all, there are still great shows out there that cater the so called serious anime fanbase but they don’t look hard enough. Instead they waste their time bashing what’s “in” currently.
It’s okay to cherish shows of old but cutting down on the nerd rage against the recent anime would be nice.
Also, why am I not surprised someone actually had the nerve to bash Free because it’s a “anime catered only to girls”. The hypocrisy is outstanding. It’s like bashing Dragon’s Crown all because of the Amazoness and Sorceress while completely ignoring the Archer and the Dwarf.
Like I have said in the previous reply, I think this is mostly has to do with Anime being more accessible as more studios are creating various shows. I agree that it’s ridiculous to complain about what is different since there are still shows that they can look at. As I stated in my review, I think they are blinded by nostalgia filter and only think that old is better while ignoring the new. I think they need to take the filter off and possibly, they will find something that they enjoy.
I agree that its ridiculous that some people bashed Free. I guess it’s because its something different, but it just makes them look bad in the end.
I am sorry this comment is coming so late but I just discovered your blog!
“Sadly, people doesn’t realize that the newer generations are a big improvement over the original games and that the first generation had a good number of game breaking glitches and even ugly sprites.”
As someone who has played Pokemon since 1998 this is so true. This is especially evident in the Red fanboys as I stated in Mikoto’s blog
“If you take a look at Blue/Leaf (who is downright shunned), Hibiki/Kris/Kotone, Yuuki/Haruka, Koki/Hikari, Touya/Touko, Kyouhei/Mei,and Calem/Serena not only have they done the exact same things that Red has done (since the games pretty much follow the same exact formula) but have actually eclipsed him in terms of accomplishments. For example until Gen VI, Kyouhei/Mei had defeated the strongest dragon Pokemon in existence whose power was only rivaled by Arceus almighty (In other words, a Dragon whose Power surpasses the Gods of Time, Space, and Antimatter). And they defeated Kyurem without the help of any legendary Pokemon but did they get any credit for what they did?
No, they didn’t get any credit and Red is still praised as the Paragon of Pokemon trainers. If you really want to see the bastion of stupidity in the Pokemon fandom go onto any Gamefaqs Pokemon forum and you’ll see what I mean. Fair warning though is that this forum will give you brain cancer if you try to use reason and common sense with these people.
I apologize if you’re a Red fan yourself because it is not my intent to make Red look bad. What he did accomplish for his time was amazing and I thought it was really awesome to fight him on top of Mt. Silver, but saying he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread is stupid and not giving any credit to those that came after and surpassed him in terms of achievements is blatant ignorance.”
As for anime/games outside of Pokemon, fans from the 80’s and 90’s overlook a lot of the bad anime and manga. For every Cowboy Bebop there was Garzey’s Wing and for every bad anime today there is a Madoka Magica or a Manwaru Peguindrum or a Attack on Titan to make up for it. The only difference I’ve seen is that fans have become more globalized and are exposed to a lot more of the good and bad that anime has to offer. So yes the nostalgia filter is very annoying.
I agree that Red get too much credit especially for the fact that other protagonists pretty much do the same in addition to catching lengendaries as the part of the story line (this is evident in the Generation 3 games and later as you are thrown into a a battle with them) besides shutting down the criminal organization. I think people tend to favor Red is for the fact that its one of the characters he/she grew up with, hence nostalgia. To me, I don’t find him that special aside from that since the new protagonists have better character designs and in the latest games, allow you to customize their appearance.
Aside from that, as mentioned earlier, people will tend to have bias towards old stuff since it’s something that he/she grew up during their childhood, but I agree that there needs to be a balance and people have to realize that good and bad anime exists no matter what year they are made in.