The Self-Hating Anime Fan Club

[Roy Focker]

An Short Opinion Piece

The Self-Hating Anime Fan Club

So, who among us is a member?

Have you heard of this club? It's not offical as of yet but you may already be a member, I know I am. While I enjoyed the Macross series, the Patlabor movies, Orguss, UC era Gundam and Gunbuster I don't consider myself an anime fan.

I consider most of the popular or mainstream anime to be silly, lame immature crap. Anime conventions are freak shows. Asians in general even if they have a ugly face tend to be smaller in size. Most of them can carry off cosplay. When you see some large Caucasian male or female doing it most look pretty sad. In fact there is nothing sadder then a fat and bladding guy with a anime T-shirt walking into the same store your in. When I over hear strangers talking about anime I rarely join in. I could be making instant friends to discuss anime with but these people I see are like the nerds of the nerds and are talking about some stupid anime or worst Robotech ( ).

I realize that I like some anime but that's classic stuff by default this may make me a fan. Liking anime in the west for a kid is okay but for an adult it is a geek's hobby. I have a lot of geeky hobbies but unlike you dorks I still look pretty good! I'm not as awesome like Agent one. He had to work his body to get to such high levels of awesomeness. Had he not I would be naturally more awesome. It hurts being too cool for everybody else. Torn between the beautiful people who looks down on anime and you ugly, sick perverted freaks who like it.

[bsu legato]

"Heard of this club?" Dude, I'm a charter member!

[JsARCLIGHT]

100% agreement here.

While I like the occasional anime and watch the occasional anime DVD or TV show and collect the odd toy here and there I will deny to the death that I am an "otaku" or an "anime fan". My excuse is that I just "like what I like" and if I happen to watch the odd cartoon here and there that is just fine and dandy. In my mind, "otaku" will blindly love just because something is made by a certain person or has a certain thing in it. Like Trekkies and Star Wars fans, they just seem to blindly follow wherever the road bends. I can't do that... I just can't. I like one thing but another thing in the same "universe" will be total crap and I'll hate it. Outside of that my personal line is when you start wearing T-shirts of the show, dressing up in cosplay and getting in regular heated debates over the minutia of something that doesn't even exsist you are indeed a dork/geek/fanboy. I will every now and then cross that line but I like to think I notice it and quickly run back across to the other side.

It's not that I'm embarrassed or ashamed of liking what I like, it's just that I tend to only want to be entertained by it rather than live it 24 hours a day. In the end it is all entertainment and I go through things like crazy... something I like today I will be sick of tomorrow with few exceptions. I don't possess the genes to be a hardcore fanboy... I'm too fickle.

[UN_MARINE]

And then, there were 4

yeah. stuff I like. that's it. it doesn't even go as far as knowing EVERY terminology in a show. I just watch it, & it's done. I hardly ever watch anything more than twice. unless I have no choice.

Hell, i'm not even a serious gamer, I get bored of 'em real easy. And I don't have the 'drive' to play RPG's either.

[EXO]

Thank you sir may I have another!

I treat anime like I treat any other show or movie. If I like it, I'll add it to my library. There's a few that I take to heart even though I hate the anime, just because I like the designs, like Gasaraki and EVA.

[jenius]

I'm confused. If I see anime on television I will take pause and usually watch the episode just to get a feel for whether or not I'll like it. Truth is I have pretty discerning taste in most the time anime just doesn't hold my interest... but I do give it far more a chance than just some random sitcom I may stumble upon. Does the fact I give it more of a chance then typcial live action TV preclude me from being a member in the club? I would never go to a convention but I do have a room of toys from Macross and Mospeada... (most girls see that and would lump me right in with every Otaku cosplayer they ever heard stories about). I do spend an inordinate amount of time on MW and RT.com also.... but one of my favorite hobbies is making fun of shows super anime fans take way too seriously just to get a good rise out of them. Do I fit the requirements to join the club?

[JsARCLIGHT]

It sounds to me like the only requirement is the hipocracy of liking something and calling foul on people who like it waaaaaay too much. IE I like some anime but I think people who live, breathe, eat and sleep anime are complete tards.

[Jemstone]

I'm not an anime fan. I'm an animation fan that treats them like I would any otehr piece of entertainment. I do howver HATE the stupid fans that will watch any piece of crap just because it's "anime". Like those bunch of idiots that run the so called anime club which supposedly only shows quality shows. Yet they won't watch the original GunBuster because it's "old" yet play the new crapfest.

[mechaninac]

Ditto on the "self hating fan" bit.

I find myself in the category of those who like the hardware (Toys and models) more than the shows themselves. It may be because I'm technically oriented, I'm an engineer, that makes me so fond of the mecha from many anime. However, even I try to hide most of my stash so that visitors don't see my little addiction.

[Father Jack]

I'm an Anime fan I guess I'm not self-hating, but I also loath the majority of anime fans. Most of the other ones I've met are galloping botards who never shower, write stupid inuyasha goku slash fiction or some such bullshit, and wouldn't know plot or character development if it bit them in the ass.

Let me tell you a story about a guy named Brandon. Brandon was the whitest samurai in America, or so I understood from his rantings. He would show up to our anime club, (Which did usually show good things, and not just the newest harem anime crapfest.) Lumber to his seat talk to his retarded friends throughout the whole of the showings. He would then proceed to laugh anytime anything serious happened, (characters dying, climax of a series, that sort of thing). This got to the point where the club officers would get up after the showngs and remind everyone not to be retarded (meaning him, but since it was a university club it was easier to do this than go through all the red tape to try and throw him out.)

He would also regale his friends with tales of his fighting prowess and kendo skill (Which, since I have seen manatees in better shape than him, probably consisted him swinging around a curtain rod for 5 minutes, and then eating another box of Twinkies).

Anyway he is the epitome of everything I hate about the majority of fans

I.E. thinks he's Japanese, thinks watching anime makes him the coolest thing on two legs, constantly missed the point of serious things in favor of breasts or stupid comic relief characters, and he was probably a furry too.

So yeah I guess I'm like the rest of you I treat these works as I would any other film, book, ect. If I enjoy it I will watch it. If not I'm not just going to watch it because it's currently the grand poobah of nerd town.

[sabretooth]

i hate shitty cartoons and the people that love them

[ogami]

>i hate shitty cartoons and the people that love them

hmm... does this cartoon start with a "R" and end with a "h" ?

I don't think I am a member if this club (not yet). Maybe in the future time, I will join without realizing I am stepping into the club.

[Rune]

If wondering" what the hell are these freaks thinking" in regards to when I see these overweight caucazoids go a little to far in thier love for anime then HECK YES, I am a member. I like a lot of anime (Macross ,Samuria Champloo,Gundam Seed and a few others) but I also understand that I am here on EARTH in the reality we know, not the one that is designed by our imaginations(as fun as we would like it to be)

I guess I am too rooted to this plane,Besides there is so much to this world I have yet to devote more time for then sitting my whole life away when in the end I'll regret not taking more stock of that time.

[UN_MARINE]

over at this side of the world, you can actually identify 'Super otakus' even if they're not ranting about anything.

how they move or dress is already a dead giveaway

...I've said too much

[Nightbat]

Has it happened?

Did Mod Roy Finally lose his marbles?

Will he find them again?

Is Agent One a 13 year old jewish lesbian in real life?

Where do all my left socks go?

Al this and more in the next episode of "MacrossWorld"

[UN_MARINE]

and what's the deal with watching EVERY new show that comes out?

do they NEED to? will they DIE if they can't keep watching?

...or is the 'alpha geek' gonna kick their asses (with his black belt kendo) if they don't ?

one time, I was actually told "why don't you know any new shows?" and it was in a

"sinner ! you will burn in the fires of hell ! " tone

oh the humanity...

Edited September 2, 2005 by UN_MARINE

[eriku]

I'm a card-carrying member. Macross, Miyazaki (well, Ghibli generally), Lupin III, Evangelion, Love Hina, Cowboy Bebop, GITS, Lain, and Samurai Champloo are about all that's ever done anything for me. I resent it when someone sees my toys or my handful of anime DVDs and says, "Oh, you're an anime fan, huh?" It's hard to explain to someone that liking a few anime series doesn't make one an "anime fan". A good analogy is that just because someone likes Johnny Cash or Hank Williams does not make them a "country music fan".

[EXO]

Given that most adults don't watch ANY anime, then to them that makes us anime fans. Not to mention that any anime they watch is probably in that narrow list we have seen, it's almost guaranteed that we've seen what ever they can name. That just reaffirms the fact that we've seen every anime there is.

[Skull Leader]

Not only the president, I'm also a client.

Down with MGREXX-looking manchildren.

[Skippy438]

Is there a self hating star trek club too?

[Noyhauser]

I used to be part of the club, but then I just learned to accept it, and I find my friends who aren't into Anime at all except for the big mainstream stuff like Miyazaki, don't really care either. I do a lot of other things in my life, I play rugby, work in a bar, and completing my masters, so to judge me as a geek because I watch anime is pretty shallow. I do admit there are many people out there that are really geeks and let it determine their lives, however I think its how people deal with it that is more indicative of their geekdom. I'm sure most of you have other facets of your life that probably define you more than if you watch the occasional anime.

[NERV]

i like anime cuz it tends to be better than most american shows, but i also love family guy, futurama, simpsons, aqua teen hunger force, and to a lesser extend, american dad, so it's not anime i like, it's animation, animated things are funnier because all sorts of whacky stuff and facial expressions can be done that couldnt happen in real life with out a painfully obvious special effect, and the same goes for action, which makes me very curious as to how well the live version of evangelion will be pulled off, ive yet to see a good looking giant robot in a live movie, the closest thing so far has been the power loader from aliens, and ED-209 from robocop, everythign else has been either bad cg, bad animatronics, or bad man-in-suit (power rangers)

[Mr March]

I've held a rule close to my heart that I stand by to this day. It goes something like this:

As long as I date regularly, party regularly, exercise, hold a stable job/attend school, plan/act on the future, save money, vote, and work at my relationships with family/friends/girlfriends, I can do whatever the hell I want to do with the rest of my available time...and not only will everyone have to accept it, they'll be forced to live with it.

Since I'm currently satisfying all these requirements, I can watch my anime, collect my models, watch cinema, eat junk, drink vodka, talk about video games, argue politics, debate religion, slam stupid public figures, bitch about taxes, curse insurance, and generally carry on as the person I am for the rest of my existance.

And it's fun

[Noyhauser]

I've held a rule close to my heart that I stand by to this day.  It goes something like this:

As long as I date regularly, party regularly, exercise, hold a stable job/attend school, plan/act on the future, save money, vote, and work at my relationships with family/friends/girlfriends, I can do whatever the hell I want to do with the rest of my available time...and not only will everyone have to accept it, they'll be forced to live with it.

Since I'm currently satisfying all these requirements, I can watch my anime, collect my models, watch cinema, eat junk, drink vodka, talk about video games, argue politics, debate religion, slam stupid public figures, bitch about taxes, curse insurance, and generally carry on as the person I am for the rest of my existance.

And it's fun

325498[/snapback]

PREACH ON BRUTHA, PREACH ON

[JKeats]

Finally! I belong!

I always felt weird about liking Macross but hating 90 percent of the anime out there. I was always asking myself, is it bad that I'll watch Cowboy Bebop but hate (insert newest anime here), even though I haven't watched it?

I love animation and I think animation as an art form is exciting and fun to watch but most anime just makes me cringe.

[Ed.Coli]

I was wondering when this club would publicly announce itself. I for one enjoy anime as a part of the whole genre of animated films/television, and I absolutely despise it when some self-righteous anime-jerk takes it upon himself to extoll the virtues of Nipponese animation techniques and how they are utterly and completely superior to all other forms of animation (which they will then denounce as mere "cartoons.") Coincidentally, these are also the same people who strut around and speak whatever new phrase they learned from "crappy Japanese cartoon of the week #479," like they know the language by heart. People, let's face it; despite the slightly better storytelling of the quality Anime out there (which is completely offset by the teeming mass of crap that most watch), the quality of the animation rarely matches up to US or French or even Korean animation. Does it really pain you so much to admit that Japanese animation really isn't that high-quality? Is it such a foreign concept to you that the quality of Japanese animation, like all other animation in the world, is a direct reflection of the budget that goes into it? Can you not realize that there is no such thing as "anime-style," because applying an artistic style to a gigantically encompassing genre is completely moronic?

Yes, I am a proud member of this club, then.

Edited September 2, 2005 by Ed.Coli

[Sumdumgai]

I may be heavily into some anime, but I won't watch just anything.

I hated the anime club at my high school. The high quality shows they showed were Dragon Ball Z dubbed in spanish of chinese, and that's about it. When they tried to show Ghost in the Shell so they would see some titties, the club got shut down. And they all took themselves as the most serious hardcore otaku in existence, the baddest things to walk the earth.

Good god, I've seen otaku in Japan. It's really really scary. It's really really bad.

I'm really picky about what I watch, period. Not just anime.

I've been rather dissapointed of everything in general as of late. Other than ROTS, and ROTK, the movies lately haven't been all that memorable to me. Most anime titles I just roll my eyes and stop watching after an episode (if not in the middle of it).

Count me in as a member.

[Noriko Takaya]

Given my obsession for everything Gunbuster, people would say I was a fanatical anime nut. But like most of you guys here, I only like a certain percentage of shows in the genre, and most of them are older series.

So, when do I get my application in the mail?

[sabretooth]

do we get a badge or a card or something?

or are we able to be outed by our lack of hygiene?

[Stampeed Valkyrie]

I'm not sure if this supposed to be a serious thread or a joke, either way I am quite amused. I personally find it funny that anyone who visits this board can even judge someone else's hobby and come off sounding serious liks some of the prior posts.

I mean seriously what is MW? its a place that people can get together and discuss an ANIME TV series from the early 80's, as well as all Toys and other merchandise. So the last time I checked "Toy" collecting wasn't a line to pick up chicks. Remember the line "People who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones." And guess what, I like Macross, I have a collection of Macross toys, and I am an Anime Fan. I don't need to justify it to anyone nor do I honestly value the opinions of people who mean nothing to me. But don't worry I'll try to find something "cool" to get into let me go ask Agent One he seems to be in the know.

Rob

otaku 4 life in the hiznouse

[Major Johnathan]

An Short Opinion Piece

Anime conventions are freak shows.  Asians in general even if they have a ugly face tend to be smaller in size.  Most of them can carry off cosplay.  When you see some large Caucasian male or female doing it most look pretty sad.  In fact there is nothing sadder then a fat and bladding guy with a anime T-shirt walking into the same store your in. 

325417[/snapback]

Man, from a mod that's uncool. Cosplay in general is silly, but saying caucasians can't pull it off and Asians can? Have you seen the cast of Macross lately? Not even Hikaru Ichijo or Misa Hayase look Japanese, I've yet to see an Asian pull off a good Roy Focker. Not many blond haired,blue eyed, 7' giants in the Asian world.

I think Japan pulls off higher quality cosplayers simply because they take it more seriously. And I single out Japan. I can't say I've noticed Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian etc. as showing some noticeably better cosplay than anything else outside of Japan. Cosplay is cheesy the world over, but I don't care if people want to have fun and embaress themselves a bit.

Yep, whatever happened to the old MW slogan, "We've learned to embrace our geekiness, have you?" Are we the land of the beautiful people now? This is all Agent One's fault...

[Project Phoenix]

I'm definitely a member. I am so sick and tired of being branded a geek like those back in my old college. There are so many times I am so tempted to join the college Anime Club, hoping to share my opinions, experience and knowledge of various genres of anime.

However, after seeing how the horde of them being Homotech, DBZ, Samurai X and Gundam Wing cultists(this being back in 2000-2001) and the fact their president and vice-president were geeks who went as far as to suggest members cosplay every weekly gathering, I'd decided to back away and wash my hands of the lot of them.

As a result, I have been real ashamed whenever people ask me if I am an anime fan ever since. Not anymore today. I am not alone.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I'm a casual anime nerd when I hang around them, (I rely on the hardcore nerd to give me the recommendations on what to watch and for info ) but a closet nerd when I'm not around them. (people should realise that in 100 years time, none of this irrelevant poo matters, its just entertainment, get a life all you star trek geeks! *joking*)

I'm like batman! Only without the costume.

It's possibe to be two things at once you know...

[areaseven]

Already a bonafide member, having been a fan of Macross Plus and Gunbuster for over a decade. Not to mention the only fan of Figure 17 around here.

[Gui]

Let's face it, like for anything else 90% of animes are crap (Sturgeon's 90% Law ): my main interest is good stories as a whole and good Science-Fiction stories in particular. I find them more easily into animes than into other medias, this is why I've more anime DVD than other DVD, but another reason is that only a few animes are broadcasted in my country (except on cable or private channels that I can't afford to pay for...), therefore I've to buy the DVD to see them and though I'm rather lucky overally I had some disappointments

Though I may look like some sort of geek/nerd for some because I spend a lot of time at home, I'm more a reader/writer/artist than a fat otaku sitting in front of his screen to watch the latest thing in raw format because this will make me look cool to the local anime community members (actually, I don' teven know if there's something like that in my town... ): sometimes, I bring some friends to show them Gundam or Macross stuff, or we go to the theater to see GitS2 or Howl's Moving Castle, but most of the time I go out to drink some beers like anyone else