What's Wrong With Being an Otaku?

Just recently, an Anon asked an interesting question.

"Hey, Raikoh, I have a problem I've been having for a while. See, I've been watching this anime called "Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood" with my dear mother, but I've come a problem. We've gotten through the first 13 episodes, but over that course, I was watching it through my mother's perspective, who never watched anime at all, and my empathy suddenly left me feeling like I was watching this hyperactive animation with unrealistically shifting emotions and expressions, and a sense of humor that nobody outside of the Asian region would get.

Think you can help me out here? My liking for anime has suddenly diminished by quite a few levels and I think I'm starting to hate it, which is something I seriously hope is not happening."

It's probably something most anime fans face at some point, though the exact series to do it varies. I know that I personally faced a conundrum with "do I really like this?" some time in the middle of Bleach. Now, I might not be the most well-rounded anime fan (my area of expertise is mecha, and even on that front I haven't gotten around to watching some of the classics like Zambot 3, Bokurano, or hell, even TV Patlabor - and I know that a big group of mecha fans would tear me apart for that last one), but I've been around the block a few times so I think I can try and come up with an answer.

Just a quick disclaimer: I'm not sure if this will apply to your situation, and as such I'll try and write as if you are what I perceive as an "average" anime fan, the model of which is, admittedly, my "not so otaku" older brother. That is to say, most of the exposure to anime probably comes from Toonami or other similar channels such as Sci Fi, though you probably also have a few more titles under your belt because everyone talks about them or you saw a DVD that caught your eye at a Fry's (if you don't have Fry's, Best Buy) or something.

You ask most people who aren't "in the know" about anime and you'd get results that most fans might find offensive. You'd get things like "Pokeymans" or "tentacle porn," or one of my personal pet peeves, "Isn't that all, like, thirty minutes of yelling?" However, this is normal. Any hobby one might take a fancy to will have people who know nothing about it. It's just that anime is a niche market - it just is - in both the East and the West (though I think that the reason it's niche on each side of the Pacific is for different reasons). You look at any anime parody in American pop culture and you see all the misconceptions that the normal people have about the industry.

There's a lot of stigma that comes from enjoying anime, which is odd since it's different than pretty much any other medium when it comes to this. People enjoying Western animation is just a thing that happens now (of course, I'm not huge on it so I may be underestimating whatever plights they might have) to the point where major clothing chains often carry just as much or more apparel with cartoon characters for adults than for children, but mention you enjoy anime and you get weird looks. This is why I tend to keep it to myself (well, and I'm not the in-your-face kind of fan who goes nuts in public, I'm very worried about what people think of me pretty much all the time). The important thing to remember is that while what's on screen is objective, what you take away from it is entirely subjective.

The root of the problem I'm seeing here, Anon, is that you're starting to get disillusioned by anime because it feels juvenile. Well, the hard truth is that an overwhelming majority of anime is juvenile, especially the stuff that gets attention in the West. Probably most anime is an adaptation of either a Shonen manga or a light novel, both of which have a target demographic of young boys. Because of this, most anime tends towards having vibrant colors and animation (my personal theory being that more artistic stuff doesn't appeal to the key demo), as well as things that young boys like (fighting, fanservice, unsubtle comedy, etc.). For the most part, I mean. I think a lot of Shonen does appeal just as much to adults as it does to kids - just not the mainline Jump stuff. Here's a short list of some series as examples: Hokuto no Ken, Hajime no Ippo, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and heck, even Dragon Ball has surprisingly good writing that can be appreciated (the manga/Kai). However, there are still plenty of adult-oriented anime out there, you just have to know where to look. Expand your horizons, despite how difficult it might seem. I know firsthand how hard it can be to go beyond just the recognizable big-name shows and get to watch more niche appeal things, but there are ways. Websites such as MyAnimeList, Anime News Network, Anime Planet, etc., while not the best source for information, do have comprehensive databases that at least have the titles and usually a quick synopsis of pretty much every anime in existence.

You could ask around on various boards that specialize in anime. As a mecha fan I know a common tactic is "use Super Robot Wars as a guide" which could probably expand to other crossover games. If push comes to shove there's the method I sometimes use which is just "go to a site with a random feature (such as BakaBT) and keep hitting it until you come across something that looks interesting." A few other of my preferred tactics are to look up a voice actor, a composer, a director, whatever - someone I like - and try and see some more of their work. That's literally how I got to discover one of my personal favorite comedies that virtually nobody knows, Seitokai no Ichizon. That itself stemmed from somebody linking me a clip of Nichijou (Nichijou fans, you can probably guess which one), another criminally underrated comedy, which got me to watch the series in its entirety and end up really enjoying Honda Mariko's work.

I think it's also one of the many problems within the anime industry. Most of the anime we bring over and publicize is the stuff that can make money - for obvious reasons. Being able to make money, however, can make the story suffer. For example, in Sword Art Online we have an incredibly bland protagonist with no discernible personality because that allows people of all shapes and sizes to project onto this invincible, morally perfect Ubermensch who oozes so many pheromones that apparently every woman he meets is all over him in seconds. It's classic wish fulfillment, and there's nothing wrong with power fantasies here and there, but so many of them are around nowadays that it gets real old real fast. Point being that licensing anime costs money, and a company will want to ensure that their investments pay off, so they go with things that are most likely to appeal to the widest audience.

In the international market, we might need to give up on the thought of licensing auteur works that are critically acclaimed but would have trouble turning a profit. DVDs are only a small part of it, a lot of money (especially in the Japanese market) is made by selling products - plamo, keychains, cups, clothes... Dakimakura... Like the Spaceballs put it, "Moichandising! Where the real money is made!" Macross barely releases models of the VFs any more, because the money is made mainly through DVD and soundtrack sales. Contrast that with Gundam, where pretty much every unit put on the screen is intended to become a figure ASAP (including some 30+ variants of the Unicorn mold).

There are very mature, high-quality series that never make it to the States. The first one that comes to mind is Turn A Gundam, often cited as being the best Gundam series (and I agree with that), but for some reason it never got released in any form here. Another recent example would be M3, which I will keep ragging on about until people start watching it, which is probably among my favorite anime of all time but most people have never even heard of. On the other hand, because of our different tastes, the Western world often will appreciate series that barely got any recognition in Japan, such as The Big O.

Suddenly I realize that I went on a fairly sizeable tangent about the anime industry that has little to do with the question at hand. Back on topic.

Having your tastes change isn't something to be concerned about. I think it's a good thing, since gaining a more discerning taste means you're getting more well-versed in the media. When I was a kid, I just liked everything I saw without thinking about it. I even liked The Phantom Menace (hey, I wasn't even in double digits, give me a break). As I got older, I started to dislike more things, since I could start analyzing them more critically. Some would say this is a bad thing, making yourself more cynical, but it also comes with the positive aspect of being able to more fully appreciate the good parts. It wasn't until recently that I was able to realize that Dragon Ball Z actually has pretty strong writing and character development when you sit back and think about it.

In fact, it might not even be a problem with having your tastes change. It could just be that you're getting bored with the status quo and need something different to spice things up. If you normally watch mostly action shows, give a sports show a try. If you mainly watch shonen series, why not take a break and watch a shoujo or two? It could very well be that you're just burnt out from so much anime with similar styles. I know I've been there. When I first got into the mecha genre, I binged on so many robots that they all started to blend together into a nearly incomprehensible mess. I only really appreciated them when I took a break, watched some other stuff like comedies. This is part of why Gundam Build Fighters was almost universally loved by the mecha community - after years and years of nothing but serious war dramas, a lighthearted and fun show was like a breath of fresh air.

If you're ever worried that you might feel ashamed of enjoying anime... Well, there's practically a whole genre of anime that I would call "otaku therapy." Those sort of things are probably better at explaining it than me, so I think I'll just go into them for a little bit. Otaku no Video, for example, has its entire second episode devoted to pure, undiluted wish fulfillment for anime fans. On the topic of Otaku no Video, it has probably the best way to explain my stance on anime fandom: "Are we really that depressing? Are we really that weird? Is it a crime to love anime or SFX movies? Why should it be a reason to set us apart? If you're into playing tennis that's just fine, but if you watch anime, you're weird? Why?" I don't really mind if people don't share my interests, and I hope they don't mind if I don't share theirs. I can barely even bear watching sports, I don't have any interest in most of the television programs everyone talks about, so I can at least try and see the outside perspective. Even works not specifically designed for otaku therapy, like Martian Successor Nadesico, can have traces of it. I personally finished watching Genshiken's first season recently, and let me tell you, that's a series that does not glorify the otaku lifestyle but still points out, "Hey, it's okay to be like this if it makes you happy!"

I think I should start to wrap this up, and I figured it would be best to do so with one of my favorite quotes is from C.S. Lewis...
""Critics who treat "adult" as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adults themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence....When I was ten, I read fairytales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

I've tried to take this quote to heart, but as I'm still developing it's a bit difficult. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't really open up and reveal my true otaku colors in the real world - not often. Probably because I have a very "live and let live" attitude, and I don't feel the need to force my opinion on others. Though if someone asked me why I love anime, then I could probably come up with a simple answer. To quote Gundam Build Fighters, "You don't need reasons to like something, you simply like it." A truly mature outlook is that no matter what you think of as enjoyable, feel free to enjoy it. Don't judge other people based on their tastes, and don't let other people judge you for your tastes.

Anyway, hope this helped you out.