My Problem with the Anime Community

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen…you’re probably wondering what this week’s Talkative Thursday will be on just by reading the title.  Well, for those who are, in light of the fact I’ve just gotten back from a con last weekend, I thought it would be the perfect time to address (maybe even vent) some controversies that are anime related.  And much of that stems from those who enjoy anime themselves.  But before I get to the heart of that, let me make one thing clear: I LOVE ANIME!

I made this point clear in my very first post on Hanime on Anime; watching anime is not just a hobby, it’s a passion.  And that still rings true today!  Plus, I love going to conventions where I have the chance to meet the creators and talent that bring some of my favorite shows to life, and of course indulge in all the Japanese pop culture I can. More importantly, I also love talking to all different kinds of people from so many different backgrounds who come together to celebrate their love of anime.  But with all the love and passion I can give to this medium, it’s hard for me to really associate myself with the overall community that is just as passionate about it as I am.  In fact, sometimes it’s even embarrassing to say I’m apart of it.  And that’s where this week’s discussion come into play.  Getting straight to the point, I love anime, but hate the community that surrounds it sometimes.

So yeah, in reading my love for anime and going to cons, etc., it may seem strange for me to say that I don’t like being included in the anime community.  Well, whether I like it or not, as an otaku, I’m part of the anime community.  But it’s not the people themselves that I hate being involved with, on the contrary, there’s some pretty cool otakus out there who are fun to be around.  And the of the groups and clubs I’ve been apart of on Facebook and in real life, most everyone is super nice and welcoming.  It’s the actions the community partakes in sometimes that I hate; otakus tend to partake in some pretty toxic behaviors.  We’re either being ridiculously vocal or hateful, being so overly positive that we ignore glaring problems, or-even worse- putting down others for their views.  And that’s what my problem with the anime community is, the animosity (both good and bad) and toxicity. 

I can admire people for fiercely defending something that they love.  Like I said, I’m just as passionate about anime as the next otaku.  But there’s always that small group of people who cause a big stink over just about anything or create so much hype or hate that it’s annoying and dismaying.  Nerd and geek culture in general- not just the anime community- tends to have some toxic pockets.  In fact, I remember hearing a story about a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan who got viciously attacked online by people who promoted this sexually explicit fanwork that shipped two of the characters from the show, and all because the poor girl wasn’t comfortable with it and spoke up about it.  But it’s sad to me that the anime community is particularly cancerous compared to other nerd and geek communities.  Part of this does come from me only being concerned with anime and no other area, but it also comes from the fact that I have never heard any instances of fans going crazy to such a degree than within the anime community.  And when I say crazy, I mean crazy.  To show you guys what I mean, let’s talk about two instances of some hate that have happened both recently and well over two decades ago.

Earlier this year, fans of Darling in the FRANXX were outraged by a rejection of a love confession by one of the main characters.  So much so, the most angered ones sent out hate mail and even death threats to the creators and voice actors of the show.  Another incident that I heard about from an anime YouTuber who I’ll talk about later happened earlier this year involved My Hero Academia.  After the author of the manga posted some artwork of the female characters in bikinis, fans basically labeled it child pornography.  The irony here is that there’s fan art out there of the same characters in far more risqué scenarios, and none of it gets called out by fans.  These are definitely some of the more recent instances to occur, but sadly this is not the first time something like this has happened in the world of anime.  Twenty years earlier, Hideki Ano was sent harassing mail and death threats for the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Fans even went so far as to vandalize his studio (though I’d like to think that Ano got back at those people by featuring a montage of those emails and images of his vandalized studio in End of Evangelion)!  At what point do fans think it’s ok for them to lose all sense of reason or basic human decency when something in a series doesn’t go their way?  Whether it’s yesterday or twenty years ago, regardless of what’s cannon or not, THERE’S NO EXCUSE TO ACT THAT WAY!!!

Going back to the Darling in the FRANXX incident, of all the people to address this issue, I think the Japanese-Australian anime YouTuber Joey the Anime Man did it the best.  He probably was crasser than I would have been, but he didn’t apologize for calling out those fans who were acting immaturely and without reason.  Now to make one thing perfectly clear, there is nothing-absolutely nothing-wrong with sharing your opinions.  You don’t have to like a show that everyone else likes or agree with what everyone else says about a certain character or show.  And you especially shouldn’t be afraid to voice or share that opinion; I do it on my blog all the time.  But like I said, there is no excuse to act unreasonably upset over something so trivial as a ship that didn’t happen, an ending that sucked beyond belief, or an artist’s chance to have a little fun with his work.  And I commemorate Joey for sharing that same viewpoint.  But while I applaud Joey for taking a stand and addressing how wrong this kind of behavior is, there’s also another side to the issue that I feel like very few people talk about.  This is the fanaticism fans create without sense or logic.  And I actually addressed one of these instances myself back in March…yeah, we’re brining it back up again.

By far one of the most talked about shows of 2018 was Devilman Crybaby.  In fact, as early as February, many people were calling it “Anime of the Year.”  Sure, it was great in all and I enjoyed it, but I don’t think you can give out that title so early in the year, especially since there have been other shows to come out since then that have been very well received.  Sure, I’m voicing my opinion here, but the point I’m making here is that sometimes we let fanaticism take over to the point where we don’t take a step back and critically look at something for what it really is.  The perfect example of this is the hype received by Devilman Crybaby.  Going back to Joey the Anime Man, I’m proud of him for calling out otakus for acting poorly towards creators and their shows, but he was one of the many people in the anime community who went nuts over Devilman Crybaby.  He posted a video a while back praising Devilman Crybaby up and down and pretty much joining the hype train, and it disappointed me.  Once again, there’s nothing wrong with sharing your opinion on something you like or enjoy, which is what Joey did in this video.  That’s not what bothered me.  What bothered me is that Joey acts as a critical and yet upbeat voice on all things anime yet was not critical at all about his views on Devilman Crybaby.  His entire video talked about nothing but the positives of the show.  Granted, Joey is not an anime reviewer, he just makes funny videos and comments on news and events related to anime.  Still, you’d think that someone who had such a voice within the anime community would have had a level head and been unbiased.  As small or insignificant as this may be to most fans, I think it’s a problem, especially if you’re someone with such a far-reaching voice within the anime community and are seen as someone with a critical voice.

In saying that, I’ll admit I probably have no place to say something like that; I love anime and consider it a passion but being a reviewer of anime is a hobby.  In fact, most of the time, I don’t even like to call myself a reviewer.  I watch and judge anime based on my first impressions.  Even so, I’ve learned in the years I’ve done my blog that sometimes you have to leave out your personal feelings and be critical to even the most renowned of anime films and shows.  Granted, I’ve shared things on my blog that are personal during reviews, have made critiques and choices based on my preferences, and do tend to say more on shows or films that I have an interest in.  But for the most part, I try to be as critical and unbiased as I can and always try find a way to justify my opinions.  There is always a downside to ANY film or series, no matter how acclaimed it is.  And in my personal opinion, there is no perfect anime (but there have been shows that have come close)!  We all have our idea of what we think is a good show or film, and I always try to keep that in mind.  That being said, I felt that the hype with Devilman Crybaby was really this craze of shoving the opinion that it was the best down every otaku’s throat.  And it got annoying and infuriating for me to the point where I had enough and essentially ranted in a 10 page post on why it wasn’t that hot hit everyone said it was.  But over the past few months, I’ve found I’m not the only one who shared my views on this opinion

Going back to Devilman Crybaby, of all the reviews I saw on it, the best one was given by Bennett the Sage.  It was negative overall, calling the show a hot mess at the beginning of the review, but it addressed that the series had some major pacing problems, something that no one seems to notice.  And in Sage’s defense, he did give one positive remark in that the story was told much better than in any of the OVA’s released prior to Crybaby.  So yeah, there’s nothing wrong with getting excited over a show because it’s good quality anime or its entertaining as heck, but before you can give an anime the title of “Anime of the Year,” you might need to take a closer look at it first.  Cause if not, you get otakus who ramble for ten pages of why it’s not as great as you thought.

So yeah, in reading this, I might have stepped on a few people’s toes.  But like I’ve said over and over again, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH SHARING YOUR OPINION!  This post is just that: an opinion. And even though I obviously have no qualms for calling out otakus who act crazy, I will say that I am in no way trying to judge anyone-despite what I’ve said so far.  I’m very much a non-judgmental person.  What I’m trying to address here is that otakus and just anime fans in general have no middle ground when it comes to the overall fandom; we either are angry to the point where we threaten other people’s lives or we’re so happy that we completely ignore any sense of logic or reason.  In other words, and to quote Joey the Anime Man directly… 

There’s nothing wrong with getting so invested or passionate with something that you love.  It’s that investment and passion among otakus that’s made anime such a strong cultural presence in the west!  But still, I think the anime community needs to show more maturity and reason when expressing that love.  I think that when we all can do that, I think we’ll have a stronger and healthier community.  And it may be easier for me to not be so hesitant when I call myself as being apart of the anime community.

Yeah, like I said, I might have stepped on a few peoples toes with this post.  But I wanted to make a point to voice a call to action for people who love anime to continue showing that love, just in a more constructive way, like starting your own blog to review anime!I know there are many who do make constructive and creative efforts to do that, but there are those who that definitely need the verbal spanking.  We all love anime, but no one likes a jerk!

That wraps up this week’s post!  Stay tuned for when I come back Sunday for some more awesome reviews!

-Hanime on Anime