Friday, July 1, 2011

Anime fans hating on anime fans

What's the one thing you can find on the internet no matter what corner of the web you hang out in?  No, it's not pornography, but that's a good guess!  Unfortunately, that one thing seems to be hatred.  No matter what site you go to or what forum you hang out on, there's always going to be someone that sets out to ruin another person's day.  While I love the internet, I can't say I enjoy that aspect.

The topic of hatred has been hitting me hard lately on Twitter.  I've been searching for all sorts of anime-related posts to look for new anime fans/friends, and while I do those searches I stumble upon some rather hate-filled messages.  Oddly enough, these Tweets are coming from anime fans...and they're directed at other anime fans!  I will not be posting specific messages here, as I do not want to stir up trouble for anyone involved.

What are these anime-hating-anime Tweets all about?  It seems to be geared toward certain anime fans hating fans of another anime.  For example, I can't tell you how many negative Naruto messages I've seen over the last week.  I don't know why, but tons of anime fans felt the need to hit Twitter and badmouth those that like Naruto.  There were others in there as well, such as a few One Piece and Bleach negative attacks, but Naruto seemed to be the biggest culprit.

I'm just throwing this out there because I wanted to show how sad it is.  We're anime fans, and the art of anime should be bringing us together!  There's absolutely no need to put down others for liking what you don't.  If they like an anime that you do not, just let it go!  The internet already has enough hate for anime fans as it is.  We don't need people turning on one another.  If someone is enjoying something that doesn't harm you or others you love in any way, be happy for their enjoyment!

7 comments:

  1. RMC as long as these companies keep releasing Subtitled only DVD's then the fight will never stop..

    Also Naruto is America's most popular Anime right now and it has been for year since it started in America, an some Anime fans can't excpt the fact that Naruto out shines there favorite show so they just Attack it. What they don't understand is that Naruto is a gateway Anime, Naruto has made alot of new Anime fans There is a small group of Naruto haters but the opiste group is much MUCH larger. You ever wondered why they keep making those Naruto games? Naruto is like the modern day Dragonball.

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  2. Take a moment and realise that anime is not a thing. It's a medium, and that it encompasses many different and varied tastes, so to speak. It's like saying that you like food, but hate onions. Some people really don't like certain things, and that's ok. You can't like everything at once. You can't say you like "anime" and expect that everything is good or worth watching. A lot of it is really bad. A lot of it is really good. And much of it is mediocre. Just as in any other media like music, film, or traditional western animation - factions are formed. You may like music, buy you like some kind of music, and dislike other kinds.

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  3. Yeah people are just mad because Naruto and Bleach are becoming mainstream. Everyone likes to be hipsters these days :P

    Now the thing I don't like, is when I hear people who say that people who watch dub. anime aren't real fans. Then I think to myslef well I'm willing to watch both ways, so it makes me more of fan than just you who only watches it one way.

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  4. Mario: Subtitled-only DVDs are a fact of life right now for smaller companies. It's not some ideological decision - it's a monetary one. Namely, that in some cases, the company just can't afford to dub shows without a sacrifice in quality elsewhere (especially when a typical high-performing anime [i.e. not Evangelion or Summer Wars] title is roughly 2,000 units). At this point in time, the only company that can afford to reliably dub every single show they obtain is FUNimation. Smaller publishers like NISA or Section23 tend to get shows that sell in the hundreds, and wouldn't break even, let alone profit on if they were dubbed, hence the strange mix of formats.

    On topic: Anime hate has existed for as long as there have been anime fans. There's a ton of factors from innate elitism, to simple blind hate. And, with the advent of the internet and the anonymity it entails, we've been treated to a number of internet tough guys that will blindly hate a show and openly insult everyone who enjoys it. The hate was always there - it's just that a lot of these people have an outlet to vent now. It's a shame, since the fandom as a whole is made of a ton of really incredible folks.

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  5. I kind of feel like the whole issue is the same as people playing Call of Duty in the gaming industry. It's just so popular a lot of people don't like it.

    Personally, I don't think I particularly make hateful comments, but I'm not afraid to say I legitly think an anime is terrible. Toradora is a good example. That series exploded and died on me half way. I couldn't stand the last set of episodes, while others think it is super romance awesome 6000 or something. I disagree and will argue my opinion, but generally won't go out just to say a person's show is crap "Just cause."

    Sure, it's fun to joke here and there. But I doubt I would seriously take down an anime just because it is a different kind of anime.

    Although I will be judgmental and if I see you watching One-Piece or something, I'll guess 9/10 you probably aren't the same kind of anime fan I am. But I do the same with everything else, including games. I thought my sister's boyfriend was just a gamer that liked Halo for awhile, since we only saw him playing Halo. We found out we were horribly wrong, but he's one of the few. Is it right to do that? No, but that's just how I am.

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  6. I largely blame the fact that anime like Bleach, Naruto and One Piece are the "anime to like" and people who don't like anime sometimes watch them and people who just like the popular anime that air on TV and stuff like that.

    They're the new DBZ, Sailor Moon, etc, although those were popular before the anime boom, really, so I guess they get free passes sometimes.

    I think another big problem is the fact that there are so many better, well thought out, artistic or just amazing anime, and there are too many people attached to the "lol popular ones that air on international TV and are all over Hot Topic".

    Aside from the "fad anime" (which isn't to say Bleach or Naruto are bad, but they are a sort of 'fad' as far as anime goes, in a sense; Due to the way the popularity is), there's also just the fact that anime fans are not united just because they like anime. Just like how gaming fans are not united just because they like games.

    There's all kinds of things that tie in and cause this kind of stuff and segregate fans.

    People are judgmental. I am. I actually enjoy Naruto (although I stopped watching it), but I am probably going to look down on you if you come out and say you love Naruto, because I think Naruto fans are obnoxious and stupid. But this is because of what I have experienced. Obviously not all of them are, but that will be my first impression unless I know ahead of time that you like things that are nothing like that or aren't "that kind" of fan that I dislike.

    This mentality bleeds into gaming, music and all kinds of things.

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  7. I think it has to do with the fact that Anime is such a broad "genre" and as such you can't please everyone. For example, I love action-anime like GITS, Tekkaman, Casshern, Karas, Lupin, etc but I really couldn't care at all about shows like Lucky Star, Haruhi, Strike Witches, Madoka, etc.

    It's like saying all movie fans should stick together. Nice sentiment but while one guy will like vintage horror like Dracula and Frankenstein, another one might hate those and like comedies like Pineapple Express and Stepbrothers. How can you expect these two to reconcile their differences?

    It's the same with anime. My Neighbor Totoro is a totally different ball game than, say, Hellsing or Legend of the Overfiend *shivers*.. and rightfully so. Anime is incredibly diverse.

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