Does Anime Still Get A Bad Rep?
Just was wondering. Even though anime has become more mainstream, there are still those out there who think that it is “beneath Western media” for one reason or another. To quote:
> Anime and a lot of Japanese associated tropes gives me a lot of secondhand embarrassment, and I find a lot of it creepy and pervy. It's just straight up absurd and gross, with terrible dialogue. And a lot of that stuff is commonplace in this kind of media.
> That said, not all Japanese properties are bad, far from it. I have played a great deal of Japanese video games. Those like Metroid that aren’t constantly awash in weird pervy stuff are great. It’s part of why I moved away from the Fire Emblem series, most of the new games are basically waifu simulators.
> Honestly, I also just don’t get the appeal of much of it, or why it’s considered superior to Western or other kinds of media.
Is that still the popular view of anime outside the fans? For that matter, what would you say the appeal to anime is for you and how would you respond?
> Anime and a lot of Japanese associated tropes gives me a lot of secondhand embarrassment, and I find a lot of it creepy and pervy. It's just straight up absurd and gross, with terrible dialogue. And a lot of that stuff is commonplace in this kind of media.
> That said, not all Japanese properties are bad, far from it. I have played a great deal of Japanese video games. Those like Metroid that aren’t constantly awash in weird pervy stuff are great. It’s part of why I moved away from the Fire Emblem series, most of the new games are basically waifu simulators.
> Honestly, I also just don’t get the appeal of much of it, or why it’s considered superior to Western or other kinds of media.
Is that still the popular view of anime outside the fans? For that matter, what would you say the appeal to anime is for you and how would you respond?
Commentaires
Anime is a medium, and contains the very best, and very worst, like any medium. Not liking anime because of cringy shows is like not liking music because you mumble rap is cringe.
Of course, you can just not like the medium. I'm not a fan of musicals for instance, but that is something else. Anime is often sold short.
With anime, the very worst is often used as a benchmark for all of anime. We don't do that with western animation, music, books, etc. It is a very braindead thing to do.
However, anime is plaged with slob, and problematic material. The "You don't get it, it's not pedo because she looks 12, but she's actually thousands of years old" phenomenon is no insignificant. That's just one of many.
I see manga and anime as an artform that I care about, so it bothers me that people equate slob with some of the best stories told in the medium, and call it all cringy gooner stuff.
People will always be idiots, but still, as a general population we can do better.
In my opinion it's a lot more embarrassing to say you like Marvel movies than it is to say you like anime. But also, it's even more embarrassing to care about what other people think. Watch what you want to watch, who cares.
now grown ass women are asking me if i watching anime bc its cool
What's the solution, though? Don't promote any anime with 'problematic' elements? Hide them away unless you're actively looking for them? Ban them altogether? Who even gets to decide what is and isn't problematic, for that matter?
I understand said elements making people uncomfortable. I understand (but don't agree with) wanting to make anime more broadly appealing. But every time measures have been implemented in other entertainment mediums to make them more attractive to wider society, it's only ever resulted in blatant censorship.
I don't expect any rapid change or targeted effort taking shape, all that matters is how the masses end up consuming.
OR
It's just cartoons and childish nonsense
To many, many people
It's getting better, but no....no little minded people who've never seen it