Ask anything about Japan you found curious in anime.

Wicker_Senpai93 said:
Are there laws against portraying real people in fictional media? Or is this just something weird that's done in anime?

Sphinxter said:
But, but but...

There has to be some explanation behind the popularity though, with cross-dressing maid cafés and stuff even existing.

1. Leaving a letter in their locker asking them to meet up

2. Making a very outspoken and blunt confession face-to-face??

Based on my preconception (probably wrong) that Japanese people tend to be softspoken and/or timid, it's always been hard to imagine that scenario happening IRL.

Sphinxter said:
Isn't this like really old though? What one often reads about Japans relationship with cross-dressing is that it's an ancient form of theatre in Japan that has a long tradition.

But did you actually slam your hand against the wall, leaning over the confessee?

Sphinxter said:
So wall-slams don't really happen in real life and it's just fiction?

Also: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1812182

Sphinxter said:
By the way, is it common to call another man that is particularly hard to understand literally an "alien" ["utyuuzin"] to make that clear? I've seen that four times now.

Sphinxter said:
In Maid-Sama! for instance Misaki constantly uses that exact word to describe Usui when the latter is being weird; Sorata also constantly uses it to describe Misaki in The Pet Girl of Sakurasou.

Sphinxter said:
I am confused; you first said you never heard it, and now that it's an old-fashioned way to describe quirky persons.

Also, what's with this "I'm in your care." that I constantly see popping up in strip translations. I've no idea what they are saying in Japanese because I never saw it in on television, like this:

It's always that exact phrasing; what's that in Japanese?

Sphinxter said:
By the way; the foreign fandom has a lot of discussions going about stuff that is common and controversial outside of Japan; in particular two things.

• There are two many otherworld things where a super bland character gets transported to some other world and invariably acquires a thousand love interests.
  
• There is too much sexual harassment and typically characters fall for the character that blatantly sexually harasses them
  

Is this similarly controversial and debated in Japan itself?

NightmareTea said:
Is becoming a highschooler really that big of a deal?

Also, do the really hate people with tans?

And, do they think American are loud, ill mannered and annoying?

Sphinxter said:
Yeah, I had the idea that this stuff was not as controversial in Japan — Himegoto was apparently fairly well received inside of Japan with good reviews but was severely criticized by Anglo-Saxon reviewers for its reliance of sexual harassment.


Nah-ah, girlfriend.

Bakchos said:
I think it is weird that classmates or friends come to visit you when you skip school for, like, one day due to being sick. Is it a common thing in Japan?

Sphinxter said:
What's the deal with: "I am super embarrassed that my skirt flipped up due to the wind and you saw my underwear" combined with "please compliment me on how good I look in a bikini and feast your eyes on it in a sexual way" though? — does that actually happen? Do the Japanese often want to be complimented about how they look in a bikini?

Zack312 said:
Just some personal questions. Do you get along with your classmates and teachers?

Sphinxter said:
Does it like really happen that some family remarries and they get step-siblings and they are expected to basically treat those step-siblings as siblings whom they never before as actual siblings and call them "onii-tyan"?

ShadowByte said:
What's up with the subliminal and sometimes explicit NTR scenes in some anime series? I mean it's disgusting to say the least. People like those are absolute trash and are at times riddled with a plethora of STDs which they gift to unsuspecting victims.

Darling in the Franxx was a pretty okay series, just hated what they did to one of the characters, that Futoshi guy was loyal till the end to Kokoro. I mean they're literally promoting that good guys never win.

ShadowByte said:


There's plenty of anime fans that hate it. I'm speaking on behalf of quite a few anime fans who have a pretty negative opinion on NTR. I don't really care about it, just stating that can't the authors make a series interesting without relying on that, I mean it becomes a pretty easy excuse to attempt to make a series interesting.

As for the discussion about the example I gave of an anime series, I have a few other series too which specifically use NTR to keep the story going. And I don't even know how you don't consider that specific example series as NTR. You might wanna re-watch the whole series, visit the discussion forum of the episodes and check some videos made by YouTubers. Where there's plenty of people explicitly mentioning that it was NTR. There's plenty of scenes in the anime series, maybe you should re-watch it to refresh your memory.

So you saw a guy saying "I love the feel of loss", while reading a hentai right in front of you. Hmm, interesting.

Sphinxter said:
Can the Japanese by the way differentiate each other by smell like dogs can?

I see this referenced a lot? That they enjoy sniffing each other and talk about whose smell they præfer the most — like, actually enjoy sleeping in someone's bed because it has his lingering smell.

Also, does this ring a bell:

ShadowByte said:
I've noticed that in some anime series they tend to show Otakus as weird, freaky or disgusting people that rarely take any baths. I understand how some anime series also tend to take jabs at Otakus, Hikikomori and NEETs.

Is this sort of perspective on Otakus commonly or widely held among the Japanese?

Are Otakus considered dead-weight to society, are they treated badly?

Is being called an Otaku now considered a slur word in Japan?

Why do certain anime and manga series dish out insults to such people, shouldn't the anime or manga publication companies be giving a better impression of such a group when they make up the majority of the revenue and purchases that these companies earn from?

They're also shown as stalkers who stalk idols or people which have tendency to do crimes also. What's the purpose of being a fan of anime, or such popular culture when the industry is originally mocking the very same people that make up the bulk of the consumers?

There was also a pretty comedic response from the author of Gantz when his series was criticized by the Japanese viewers at 2ch forums. In Inuyashiki he included a scene where a lot of keyboard warriors/internet trolls (mostly Otakus) getting mercilessly killed by the main villain of the series (Hiro Shishigami) who also happens to be an Otaku himself (again indicating that such people are psychologically and mentally unstable).


Are you a fan of Hiroya Oku the author of Gantz and Inuyashiki? Any opinion on him and his works? How do you feel when you as an Otaku when you come across content giving a very negative representation on Otakus, Hikikomori and NEETs.

Narukami-God said:
Why is rent a Japanese mom or Japanese family a thing?

Milennin said:
Is wearing a watch with the watch part on the bottom of one's wrist an actual thing in real life Japan, and if so, why is it? Every time I see it in anime, I can't help but think how inconvenient and uncomfortable it must be just to look up the time on it, wearing it like that...

Noboru said:
I'm not from Japan, but my take would be that it's been done to prevent blinding others with it. I'm also doing it when the sun is shining strongly after having seen my father do this several times

Noboru said:
I'm not from Japan, but my take would be that it's been done to prevent blinding others with it. I'm also doing it when the sun is shining strongly after having seen my father do this several times

Korishi said:
I heard that Japanese people don't actually speak like they do in anime. I can understand that of shounen and shoujo, but what of seinen and josei? won't those have more natural/mature dialogue?

Fuzzylumpkins said:
Why do anime characters tell the meaning of their name when introducing themselves to somebody? e.g. My name is ____, its meaning is _____ and is spelt with the kanji _____.