| Being a fan of anime is viewed by some of the general public as a weird and non desirable hobby. I’m pretty sure we have all seen the stereotypes attached to being a fan such as being lazy, overweight, and cringy. This stigma has died down some now that anime has become more mainstream in America, but it is still present nonetheless. Ever since I started watching anime I always wondered why it was viewed as sort of a negative thing. Could it be people just passing judgement without giving it a chance or some fans of the medium giving the rest of us a bad rap? |
Laciani said: Well that could also be said about other mediums as well. Because within Anime there are a lot of negative things. |
| Isn't it "cartoons are for kids" stereotype? Us adults still watching cartoons, then the simple processing of us being weird as adults. And well, we do have examples around the world on how anime fans behave contrasting to others, so the label. |
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| Cartoon is for children is one stigma. It's also quite frequently associated with hentai, not that hentai is an inherently bad thing, but it's viewed negatively by many normies. |
╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭ |
| Wait... Being lazy, overweight and cringy are not the stereotypes of americans? I've never heard about that stigma. |
 "というわけで。待望の、体 操 服！ でっあ～る。祭りであれば、余も着飾ってはいられぬと用意したが……うむ！ 心身ともに軽くなったようだ。どうだ？ 似合っているであろう、マスター？" - Random Quote From Internet by Saber Nero |
| So far I've heard three. "Cartoons are for kids" "Anime is just porn and blood" "Anime fans are autistic" The first one is historically inaccurate, they were never intended to be kids' entertainment. The second one is ironically a result of people showing "mature" themes to prove cartoons aren't just for kids. The final one y'all will have to explain to me as I never understood why being autistic is worse than death, or why enjoying the same things as a mentally ill individual isn't ok. I'd argue it helps them stick around longer if you share their interests. |
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| I think it's mostly caused by several things. First is that majority of western cartoons are aimed at children, and therefore people think that all animated things are for children, so watching them as an adult appears dorky and/or just plain weird. Another may be that due to large amount of ecchi present in anime, and the fact that majority of people either only see a short clip of the whole thing, or come across hentai on porn sites, it may seem to be only for perverts. It's also probably a fact that people unacquainted with the medium may not understand too well some parts of otaku culture, and if they see videos from anime cons, or there happens to be some nearby, many people there must seem crazy to them with cosplay and other things. In the end it's caused by generalizing things based on misconceptions, and therefore as it becomes more mainstream these things will continue to disappear. I think that majority of new things/unusual things and hobbies tend to suffer from same problems. |
| Here in Germany I don't really have a problem with those stereotypes, most people kinda know what anime is, and aren't so quick to judge. |
| Idk I'm American and people really don't seem judgemental to me. I'll talk openly at work when it comes up about how anime is a big hobby of mine. Then again there was another guy who pretty much always wore brony shirts when he wasn't in uniform and never heard anyone give him shit either. |
| Does Zombieland Saga count as good comedy anime while still retaining it's mature plot. |
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| It's relatively new and different to the west. To people who aren't into it, it just seems wierd and alien. |
| People look down on things that are different and niche solely because of that. There doesn't need to be a reason for it past that, that's why there are a bunch of wildly different excuses people use to justify being confused why someone would like something different than them without understanding it first. I assume it's a lack of empathy mixed with ego. Something that's done a 180 if you're a 90s and older or perhaps early 2k kid, is gaming and esports, it's already gone through most of the process from being bottom of the barrel to globally mainstream. |
 I don't believe in the Devil. You should. He believes in you. |
| just look at your pathetic avatar/picture of Spike from Cowboy Bebop, ask why you put that as you picture |
| Maybe in America? Not here in my country though, watching anime is just normal to most people. |
| its because of the fans i suppose at least thats true in my country anime fans are projected in relatively negative way, suggesting them being anti social, awkward and lack of self awareness in some extreme cases they are even labled as social outcasts or pedophiles if you tell people you watch anime, there is high chance for them to think negatively of you of course thats not true universally and here in u.s as I'm studying here as an international student, anime is accepted |
| I've been a serious anime fan for about two years (though I've watched a bit here and there for much longer) and I've never been stigmatized for it. A bunch of my friends and family also watch anime. Any stigma associated with being an anime fan pales in comparison to the stigma associated with being a furry fan, which I've been for about twenty years. The situation has improved quite a bit in recent years compared to times in the past, but it continues to this day to a fair degree. |
A møøse once bit my sister... |
| This video goes through the history of anime and explains the historical origins of the main prejudices or misconceptions that the general public had about anime itself. But of course to some degree any subculture will be stigmatized by the mainstream. Until it either dissolves or is absorbed by the mainstream. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| Anime fans themselves don't help, either. Just look at this video. You don't even need to understand the words, just feel the pain. Yes, it's not even cringe, just pain now. |
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| While there is a lot of stupid stuff that anime fans have done in public that actually isn't a good reason for the social stigma as I can find equal cases about tons of other hobbies where people behave incredibly badly. You don't see sports fans being stigmatized by the mainstream culture and depending on sport and region those fans are way way worse than anything that comes out of the anime fanbase (trust me I know). In truth its just because anime is more of an unknown and foreign medium that is it. Other hobbies experienced this sort of stigma in the past when they were less popular. If anime grows in the popularity the stigma will be less and less common which I already am observing. |
| Because (some) people don't like things that are different |
| "This little girl, who's not even half my size... taught me that tears can flow even from these silver eyes." - Teresa |
| Get your cum-drenched, scantily dressed loli daki's out bois, our weeb pride is at stake. We must engage in one-sided debates on why harems, ecchi and horseshit slapstick humor are objectively the pinnacle of human creativity and why these should be shoved down everyone's throat. We're not weird, we're just different reeee. |
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| It's like most stereotypes. The loudest / most noticeable of our ranks end up representing the entire community... usually for the worst. But things are getting a little better. It's all about exposure. I think it's just hard to try and normalize some things in anime due to cultural differences here in the west. |
| Only if you let it become a social stigma. I've never let it or anybody interfere with my like of watching anime. |
| Life Is Short But Intense. |
| Because the fans are the ones that takes it too far. Shouting japanesse stuff or doing weird shit is not normal, not even in Japan. Most people don't even know I watch anime, and when I say I do they never said anything. I make jokes about being a weirdo because of anime... I also make fun of the people that takes it too far, they are annoying af. I do avoid the topic in some cases because of the stereotypes- |
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| because society has set certain social value need to be fulfilled, and noticeable amount of anime fans fail at those... |
 "If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
Aslat24 said: Being a fan of anime is viewed by some of the general public as a weird and non desirable hobby. I’m pretty sure we have all seen the stereotypes attached to being a fan such as being lazy, overweight, and cringy. This stigma has died down some now that anime has become more mainstream in America, but it is still present nonetheless. Ever since I started watching anime I always wondered why it was viewed as sort of a negative thing. Could it be people just passing judgement without giving it a chance or some fans of the medium giving the rest of us a bad rap? You know what, that is a good question. and it's one thing I'm baffled at. I mean, I don't understand why there is a stigma amongst anime fan yet the same people are OK with the Netflix's Castlevania despite the anime-esque drawing. I don't understand how people stigmatized anime but accept Avatar: the last Airbender despite the anime-esque art. The same can be said about Steven Universe, a American cartoon met with critical acclaim from American audiences despite the show was influenced by Japanese anime like Uetna for example. To be honest, I don't understand it either. It's just like how people asked why is K-pop music accepted and be successful in America when J-pop couldn't do the same. I had J-pop fans asking why did BTS and Blackpink able to win mainstream American audiences when AKB48 couldn't. Just to let you know there was a time when K-pop was stigmatized in the west. Let me quote the article I linked: I first became interested in Kpop with the release of DBSK’s Hug in 2004. Like any young fangirl, I blew up my social media sites with pictures and videos of my newfound love. However, I received an overwhelming amount of criticism from friends: “But you’re not Korean?” “Why are you into this? You don’t even speak Korean.” “Korean music is really weird.” “But you don’t understand what they’re saying.” Fast forward 9 years and the rise of Kpop has become a world-wide phenomenon. The very same people who questioned my interest in Kpop are now jamming to Big Bang and criticizing me yet again, but this time for not hearing the latest Kpop song. And look where we are now, we saw BTS becoming a big name in America and K-pop gaining high profile in the US. And that's not making some anime (and J-pop) fan happy that Korean pop culture is getting more attention then anime. So how did K-pop went from once-stigmatized in the US to now being cool? I don't have a definitive answer, but a long time ago a foreign music couldn't break into America, but BTS did it. It is possible double standard bias and hypocrisy could also play a role in anime being stigmatized. I mean I've seen people hating on anime but yet they watch Korean drama based on a famous Japanese manga whether they knew it was based on a manga or they didn't know about it. |
DaCraziGuy said: Because the fans are the ones that takes it too far. Shouting japanesse stuff or doing weird shit is not normal, not even in Japan. Most people don't even know I watch anime, and when I say I do they never said anything. Yet, it's OK to be a rabid K-pop fan in the US, and I say this as a K-pop fan myself. Being a rabid K-pop fan is not weird. But long time ago, K-pop was stigmatized in the US but not anymore since 2009/2010. |
MrZawa said: I think it's mostly caused by several things. First is that majority of western cartoons are aimed at children, and therefore people think that all animated things are for children, so watching them as an adult appears dorky and/or just plain weird. Another may be that due to large amount of ecchi present in anime, and the fact that majority of people either only see a short clip of the whole thing, or come across hentai on porn sites, it may seem to be only for perverts. It's also probably a fact that people unacquainted with the medium may not understand too well some parts of otaku culture, and if they see videos from anime cons, or there happens to be some nearby, many people there must seem crazy to them with cosplay and other things. In the end it's caused by generalizing things based on misconceptions, and therefore as it becomes more mainstream these things will continue to disappear. I think that majority of new things/unusual things and hobbies tend to suffer from same problems. ^^^^^^^ This pretty much sums it up. |
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Pullman said: Hey, I was just thinking about this video a few weeks ago. Guess I'll have to find an hour to watch it again.This video goes through the history of anime and explains the historical origins of the main prejudices or misconceptions that the general public had about anime itself. But of course to some degree any subculture will be stigmatized by the mainstream. Until it either dissolves or is absorbed by the mainstream. |
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mdo7 said: DaCraziGuy said: Because the fans are the ones that takes it too far. Shouting japanesse stuff or doing weird shit is not normal, not even in Japan. Most people don't even know I watch anime, and when I say I do they never said anything. Yet, it's OK to be a rabid K-pop fan in the US, and I say this as a K-pop fan myself. Being a rabid K-pop fan is not weird. But long time ago, K-pop was stigmatized in the US but not anymore since 2009/2010. In my country that is pretty new, and they get mocked. Nothing that bad tho, just simple jokes. Anyway, like I said it's not K-pop is not that well known so I can't say much else. |
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DaCraziGuy said: In my country that is pretty new, and they get mocked. Nothing that bad tho, just simple jokes. Anyway, like I said it's not K-pop is not that well known so I can't say much else. May I ask what country are you from? Because BTS and K-pop is already big in the US, I mean I'm not making this up. There was a time when K-pop was stigmatized, but in 2009/2010 something that made K-pop become no longer stigmatized. |
| I believe it's either because anime is seen as a kids thing or because weaboos (those hardcore fans that take their anime hobby to an extreme) are extremely cringy 90% of the time. Maybe it's even both those things, I wouldn't know. |
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| People at my school are either indifferent to it or think im a weeb that jacks off to hentai there’s little to no inbetween. Anime is somewhat misunderstood I think. |
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mdo7 said: DaCraziGuy said: In my country that is pretty new, and they get mocked. Nothing that bad tho, just simple jokes. Anyway, like I said it's not K-pop is not that well known so I can't say much else. May I ask what country are you from? Because BTS and K-pop is already big in the US, I mean I'm not making this up. There was a time when K-pop was stigmatized, but in 2009/2010 something that made K-pop become no longer stigmatized. Argentina, probably a country you don't even know about hahaha. I heard about this K-pop fever for the first time last year. It may be older than I think, but no more than a couple of years. I still think is not that big here. |
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| In my country there is no such thing. |
Anime4Normies said: Because a big % of anime fans are legitimately socially retarded- They sexualize kids, or talk about incest in a way that just grosses out 99% of society. Or they sperg out in embarrassing ways- not understanding that, yeah, you may really love [your favorite anime], but (1) that doesnt make you special, and (2) nobody else gives a shit. People (westerners- not talking about Japanese) who think they're "otaku", not realizing THAT, thinking they're "otaku", is exactly why they're weeaboos. The stereotype of the awkward, sexually clueless/perverted, overly-enthusiastic, super-autistic weeaboo didn't come from no-where; shit,just search "weeaboo cringe" on youtube (if you still dont get it after that, *you* are probably the reason for that reputation, tbh) Also, watching anime seems to be something many fans view as some super-important, defining part of their identity for some reason- (the "otaku" thing), rather than just a kind of media they like. People who watch reality tv, or horror movies, don't see that as "part of their identity", or something that makes the special- its just a thing they like to watch, but for some reason its different for anime (for some people). People just find that obsessive, "I'm special" stuff cringey- not the anime-watching, but the obsessiveness and thinking it makes them special. Tl:dr Anime fans got that reputation because of anime fans (some of them, at least. #NotAllWeebs). You're not an "otaku". You're not special. You're just a person who happens to like anime. Your taste in anime is exactly as important/interesting/cool/impressive as your neighbours taste in jazz/tennis shoes/Tanzanian Speed Metal/whatever other dumb shit they're into. No one cares. (Also, that thing of knowing like a half-dozen Japanese words, and repeating them over and over like it makes you cool. "Sugoi, desu sempai" all that stuff. Just generally embarrasing behaviour) Uh, that's a bit condescending on your part. There's more layers than "anime just doesn't make you special" and there's nothing wrong about making being an otaku part of your identity. People, specially in the teens and young adulthood, often need to be part of something and form an identity. Otaku culture offers this to some, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, the same happens with music genres and groups. This whole text you wrote here is reasonable when the person is pushy and tries to force others into their hobbies and the way they view the medium, but for a large percent of these same people it's straight up shaming. If people want to cosplay, want to use fancy Japanese words in their daily speech with people they know or want to express how much they like anime in whatever non-toxic way it's on them, keep your cringe feelings to yourself and don't act like they are the ones who have a problem. |
Flevalt said: Aslat24 said: Being a fan of anime is viewed by some of the general public as a weird and non desirable hobby. I’m pretty sure we have all seen the stereotypes attached to being a fan such as being lazy, overweight, and cringy. This stigma has died down some now that anime has become more mainstream in America, but it is still present nonetheless. Ever since I started watching anime I always wondered why it was viewed as sort of a negative thing. Could it be people just passing judgement without giving it a chance or some fans of the medium giving the rest of us a bad rap? I've had that exact outlook on anime ever since I was small. I've always thought it was a minority of people, possibly even just those in Japan, that create the stereotype. But it really is not. You will find the proof at anime conventions and when you look at the most common anime tags and genre. Almost every anime plays in a school setting. So many anime with either a neet protagonist or a neet side character that is ALWAYS an unlikeable pig of a character. The former because of self-insertion and the latter so that the neets can distance themselves from their stereotype. “Almost every anime.” Thats not true, there’s plenty of anime that don’t have a school setting. Or are you referring to seasonals specifically? Anyways, I avoid anime with high school settings for the most part since such anime tend to be boring for me. |
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| well my irl anime friend once said it's because of the creeps, virgins who get turned on to hentai and animated representation of children, people who shout japan stuff and a lot of crazy people who are full on cringe and a living meme that made a stigma |
| "Why is there a social stigma attached to being an anime fan?" Because society hates when people are having fun. |
DaCraziGuy said: Argentina, probably a country you don't even know about hahaha. I heard about this K-pop fever for the first time last year. It may be older than I think, but no more than a couple of years. I still think is not that big here. I know where Argentina is, it's in South America. I know K-pop is popular over there, judging from Super Junior's publicity in 2013: They returned to Argentina this year and they got a lot of attention like they got back in 2013. And I saw several video demonstrating K-pop's popularity, these video are from 3 years ago: I even saw news broadcast from Argentina about K-pop: And why did this TV channel from Argentina showed this MV from Henry of Super Junior-M: I don't know where were you in 2013, but in K-pop has already gotten big in Latin/South America since 2011. |
| Cuz conser- I mean conformism ;) That's about it. |
| You are not your body, you are your brain, the "self" that emerges from within it. |
| It's a combination of the "Animation is for Kids" stereotype (Though that's kinda faded away quite a bit in recent years) and the fact that well, Fanservice, Ecchi, Hentai, etc. etc. are sometimes what people think of when they hear anime. There's a lot of good anime, but even the good anime have weird fanservice things and such that can honestly make it hard to get people into it. Also, the people who are BIG into anime fit the stereotypes of the creepy nerds that well, doesn't really help the perception people already have of anime for the reasons listed above. Not necessarily justified, but it's not exactly hard to see why it can be judged from people on the outside looking in. |
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| People are idiots. They are ignorant. They are scared of new things. Simple as that. |
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