In the past, I have shared my thoughts on why people get bullied or fans get labeled as an otaku or a nerd just because he/she enjoys Anime. However, I have never gone through the reasons why some people are against Anime despite its popularity in the west ranging from the stigma surrounding 2D animation, different cultural/political views and being introduced to the wrong shows that give one a bad initial impression.
First off, we need to understand that Anime (or Japanese animation) is mainstream in Japan and that people of all ages enjoy them. Although there are shows that are made specifically for children like Pokémon, there are others that are being made for a vast audience (females, males and older audiences). This is probably the reason why Anime covers a diverse amount of genres compared to western animation, which focuses on mostly educational, children and adult comedies.
To me, perhaps one of the obvious reasons why people would be against Anime in general is for the fact that there are cultural differences and a stigma that cartoons and 2D animation in general are for children. I feel that this stigma exists for the fact that most cartoons in the west are made for a young audience. In a sense, it’s just like saying that playing video games are childish when there are adults that play mature rated games.
On the other hand, I feel that this argument can easily be countered since there are shows that either have adult themes, a lot of violence or other things that are not appropriate for children. Sure, most anime being made nowadays has a lot of cute girls, which tends to make a show feel childish, but there may be things that a child might not understand or inappropriate for a certain age group. The same applies to video games since there may be content that are not suitable for them. For instance, a parent will most likely not let their child watch a show like Fate/stay night because there is a lot of violence. If they allow them to, their child might end up learning things that can affect their judgment before they fully develop.
In addition, I feel that cultural differences is another reason people might be against Anime. Most notably, Japan tends to have different views when it comes to nudity and tend to find it more acceptable in some cases. While you won’t see full-on nudity as it usually gets censored, there might be fanservice that show partial nudity. Moreover, Japanese pop culture tends to place a lot of emphasis on cuteness for the fact that Japan largely demilitarized after World War II and society as a whole places more emphasis on peace opposed to violence. While dark, violent and/or action packed Anime are still being made, most of them are mostly light-hearted, especially for shows that are geared for Otakus.
I feel that the reason why some people in the west might be against Anime is for the fact that most shows do not necessarily appeal to a certain audience. Generally, shows with violence and dark themes tend to appeal to a western audience. Since Anime is mostly tailored to a Japanese audience, some viewers in the west might feel some resentment. This can be avoided by having an open mind when you experience any type of media.
Still, the portrayal of certain characters in a show, especially in regards to gender might offend some people. While differences in views of nudity has a factor in this, people have to realize that all types of media have this problem to a certain extent and most importantly, the characters are fictional. Since they are not real, you can’t really harm them since they do not exist in real life. I think this applies to all types of media as most people have clear judgment of what is fiction and what is reality. This is perhaps the reason why there is no evidence that video games causes violent behavior.
While people are free to voice their own beliefs on the issues surrounding any type of media, what I do not agree with is having content banned or censored just because someone or a certain group does not find the content acceptable. The creator should have the freedom to create what they want. However, this does not shield them from any potential criticism, bad or good. I think education and not letting children or teenagers play/watch age-inappropriate games or shows will go a long way in preventing such behavior rather than censoring.
The last and obvious reason people might be against Anime is for the fact that they were introduced to the wrong Anime. This is an easy mistake to make since there are some who would just recommend any show that might not fit someone’s taste or give a wrong impression about the medium. It’s just like recommending someone a romance harem comedy like Ore no Imouto to someone who has no experience with Anime and then expect him or her to gain interest in it. To me, it’s better to start small by recommending shows that won’t have objectionable content like any of the Miyazaki’s films before moving on to other shows that he/she might also be interested in.
As a whole, it’s understandable why people might be against Anime for the fact that Japanese animation in general has a diverse genre of stories that they might not familiar with along with cultural differences. In the end, I think it is a matter of recommending them the right shows, which allows them to gain an interest in the medium while shredding the prejudice towards it. While there are other reasons why older people might be against it, especially in regards to political views, most of these reasons can be resolved by introducing people to “gateway shows” that meant to build one’s interest in and watching it an open mind.
With that, have you met people who are against Anime? Also, did you try to get others interested in it? Feel free to share your experiences.
I am very happy to say in my actual life I have not had a moment where anime was seen as something negative. So I guess that is good. Though I think it hurts me to know if this should have to be a problem for others. I would hate for that to happen to a fellow anime fan.
As for the big one on why I believe others would frown down on anime could be somehow I get the feeling that anime with many has never escaped the stigma of being for children. I mean I could be wrong but that is my impression. Though once you go down the rabbit hole for those brave enough you discover shows like Qwaser of Stigmata that seriously are not anime for children. It really is all about going out there and becoming aware of all this media just waiting to be explored. And if you do be prepared to suspend disbelief. A lot.
It think it really depends on people’s experiences since some people in parts of the country might be more open minded than others, especially if the demographics of the student bodies are diverse. When I went to school, of course I was bullied because I like Pokemon… but during high school, while I kept my interest to myself (while I watched Anime on TV, I didn’t really get into it until college), my sister knew a few people that had in interest in it. As for me, not really as they were into other things, although some played video games.
But generally, I feel that there is always some kind of prejudice towards foreign media as people aren’t familiar as mentioned earlier. Like you said, once you show someone an anime not made for children, it’s when they will finally realize that it’s not made entirely for children. Of course, they could always think the other way and can give them impression that all Anime is crazy stuff.
there are people who are against anime because they dislike anime fans. Anime do attract asperger/autistic/maladjusted/solitary people for certain reason (there are argument that for people who had difficulty reading microexpression, anime obvious show of character emotion is attractive).
I understand. Hmm. Seems kind of cruel in that case then. Though I will be honest I am one of those solitary type of people.
I prefer peach and quiet and reading all manners of books. And socializing is not something I particularly enjoy. Though I do realize its importance for others obviously.
Believe it or not, there has is a discussion on AnimeSuki that just revived on the subject on why anime attracts people with autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. While I don’t necessarily know why since I haven’t interacted with someone with autism, maybe it has to do with the art direction of Anime in general, the storytelling or that there are characters that the viewer can relate to. Still, it will be an interesting topic for someone to look into.
I have a little brother who has severe autism, so it’s harder for me to say with experience when it comes to autistic people with more mild cases, but here’s my two cents: It’s easy to come up with reasons with why someone with autism would be attracted to anime, but it’s a stretch to say those reasons apply to everyone that has autism. Again, it’s certainly easy to point out the various qualities in anime that would attract fans that have autism or Asperger’s Syndrome, but you could build a similar case with any person or any subject, to be honest.
Though, on the off chance that that’s the reason why people have a negative view towards anime, I agree with Cassandra that that’s… rather cruel. 🙁
I do think it’s easy for people to generalize the reasons why someone will like a particular piece of media or even a hobby, even to autism. I do agree that it’s easy to come up with reasons on why they are attracted to Anime, but I also feel that not everyone even if they have autism or Aspergers might be attracted to it the same time.
Aside from that, using that reason to be against Anime is kind of cruel for the fact that there are some people that are suffering from this syndrome and people are still finding ways to mitigate the effects of it.
I think you’re pretty much spot on. Basically, it’s because of 1) A misconception that both cartoons and anime are tailored for kids, 2) Fanservices/nudity-not something to show the kids, which relates back to 1), 3) Different perspectives on the cuteness aspect of media, 4) They are introduced to the wrong anime.
As for the last point, I actually never had the chance to introduce anime to someone who had never watched one, since most of my friends had already started watching anime by the time I started, though they mostly just watch the mainstream ones.
“For instance, a parent will most likely not let their child watch a show like Fate/stay night because there is a lot of violence. If they allow them to, their child might end up learning things that can affect their judgment before they fully develop.”
Yes, Shirou is a bad role model.. lol.
I haven’t introduced anyone to Anime either for the fact that I people I met already started watching just like you said… Mainstream titles is the reason why Anime got popular in the West, since it exposed the medium to the masses, although their are some misconceptions about it.
I agree with what you said about Shirou… no one should really try to be a hero of justice while living life on the edge. He is such a bad influence.
Sometimes I think a handful of fans wanting to propagate anime as being super hardcore and violent may have a negative effect towards an outsider’s point-of-view on it as well, especially since we live in a slightly prude nation when it comes to objectionable content in media. Either way, there are times where we all just should just buckle down and acknowledge that there’s nothing inherently wrong about liking something as timeless as a cartoon, whether or not it is aimed at kids.
I do agree that the behavior of some fans, especially the super hardcore can definitely have an effect on an outside view for the fact that they heavily judge someone’s tastes and call it crap. While I covered some aspects of this in several opinion pieces, I can understand why they will feel this way. Of course, this doesn’t just applies to any media in general, but also other topics.
But aside from that, I do agree that there is nothing wrong liking anything. I enjoy video games and Anime just like any normal people does. I do think the stigma needs to go away and people should stop assuming that only 20 year old manchilds or nerds like watching Anime for the fact that there are other normal people that enjoy it too… The same applies to other media like video games.