The Weeaboo Issue

[Ryotknife]

and here i thought weebos were people who act like everything from Japan is superior to anything made anywhere.

or white people using -sans or whatnot.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

Personally, I used to (and still do, to an extent) have a problem with people who self-identify as otaku/Japanophiles/weeaboo (I've heard people use it to refer to themselves), but I'm starting to wonder if its because the people I used to know who self-identified were despicable people top begin with.

ANYWAY, to weigh in on the topic, I think it's more a "omg look at the weirdos" thing. Liking western geek culture isn't "cool", its just that we don't look at the extremes (the basement dwellers who obsess over superhero comics but are unbearable to be around as people) as much as we do with Japanophiles. The fact that every other week, there's a "haha look at what Japan is doing" article somewhere probably doesn't help.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Do Japanese people count as weeaboos? Cause i know alot of Japanese weeaboos xD

I wonder if Japanese geek culture has a subgenre dedicated to being American geekdom fans..... They'd all wear cowboy hats.

"Practical information for people in Japan who aspire to live the cowboy lifestyle."
[link]http://www.realwestern.com[/link]

In the very least they have this

 

[Kontarek]

I would like to confirm that the term "weaboo" is indeed still a thing. If you don't believe me go check out /b/ or Encyclopedia Dramatica (or rather don't because those are terrible, terrible people).

Hell, the rule of thumb on ED is that if you make even one positive remark about anything Japanese you CAN be called a weaboo. And that's nothing more than thinly-veiled xenophobia bordering on racism in my eyes. (Of course these douches claim to be joking whenever they're called out on ANYTHING, but that doesn't change the fact that they ain't never made me laugh).

I mean, people who are obsessed with Japan and refuse to watch absolutely anything that isn't Japanese with English subs DO exist; but I'd say they're a relatively small number. But, despite the fact that these obsessive-individuals represent what is clearly a minority, I'd wager that the fear of becoming one or being seen as one is still great enough to steer a lot of Westerners away from Japanese media.

Which is silly because goddamn everybody deserves to know the goodness of Cowboy Bebop.

 

[Kontarek]

EDIT: double post.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

]Well, it's kinda the same in reverse, where the Japanese geek culture tend to look down on Western culture. I guess you can say they both even each other out.

Do you mean geek culture in Japan? Or the Japan geek culture here? Because I haven't experience that either - apart from the aforementioned dislike for Western comics.

I'm more specifically talking about here. I've seen a few people praise anime/manga/Japan and more or less bash American cartoons/film/comics/culture. Not quite sure of the Japanese opinion.

 

[Little Woodsman]

People who are obsessive fans of things seek out more marginalized fans of things to look down on.
It's unfortunate but true. Escapist's own Moviebob had some pretty good insights in his "nerd by
any other name" video.
Due to the alien-ness of Japanese culture it is easier to marginalize "weeaboo" or "otaku" or
whatever else you may want to call us (most of my friends & I call ourselves Otaku).
Which is sadly ironic in that I and many other fans I know were initially primarliy attracted
to anime & manga due to the plots & characters being new & different from the western stories
& characters that we had seen recycled & reused so many, many times. The Japanese ones had
likely been reused & recycled too, but *we* hadn't seen them before so it was fresh, new & novel
to us.
There's also the unfortunate truth behind "Dog bites man is not news. Man bites dog is news."
By which I mean people don't really see the average anime & manga fans, only the ones who are
being *way* over the top get attention & coverage. So people jump to the conclusion that the
way over the top fans that they have seen are the average fans--after all, every case they have
been shown is one of those.
Also *really* didn't help that some of the very first anime to be commercially released in the
US were--uh--"tentacoo-ie".

 

[axlryder]

As someone who considers anime extremely important to them, I can say, at least in my own experience, that weeaboos are still very much a thing. I agree that many weeaboos have moved on from pure Japanese interests and branched out into things like Homestuck or TF2, but the weeaboo style of behavior is still very much alive. You can spot it from a mile away, and the patented social immaturity that practically hallmarks Western anime culture isn't likely to disappear entirely.

I'll admit that, on a gut level, weeaboos are somewhat loathsome in my eyes. To me they're partially responsible for taking an art style that I love and feel has a wellspring of still untapped potential, and turning it into a mockery in the eyes of Western culture. Of course, "weeaboos" are probably also one of the only reasons anime still HAS a financially viable demo here in the states *grumbles about pirating*. All that said, I find those jerks on the kotaku whining about anything Japanese related far more loathsome.

 

[renegade7]

I actually speak a bit of Japanese. So when I go to a convention and see some girl wearing a tail screaming "DESU DESU KAWAII"- and yes, some people do this- it's infuriating. It would be like someone coming up to you and just spouting random words.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

As far as I'm concerned, I think of weeaboos as anyone who uses Japanese sentence fragments in their speech, in a context where the other participant has no chance of understanding it. I find it sort of obnoxious. I realise that's not what it actually means, but that's the unsavoury trait I associate with the term.

 

[teebeeohh]

I know people who love to insert Japanese words into their German sentence. The only thing more annoying are people who do the same with English words, because the Japanese words I can ignore but the English words I know and most people tend Fucking up their grammar when using them

 

[FireAza]

Ok is there some plot to bring up internet stuff from years ago?

Flamewars over Fallout 3, threads about not hating Nickleback, and now this?

Are we back in time or something?

The issue is still around, it only popped outside for a quick smoke. Now it's back, and it stinks.

You so baka OP desu. You cray cray?

いいえ!

I'd be inclinced to agree...

I love Animation, but since disney pretty much died in that regard (classic 2D) you don't see it as much, the great thing about Anime is that they don't have the wests "FOR KIDS!!" delusion, they can actually make an adult story for adults (when they arent making it for otakus)

Animation Age Ghetto [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimationAgeGhetto]

tl;drYes, weeabboos exist, they are generally occur when a young person first discovers anime and becomes entranced by its novelty and uniqueness from their own animation, and it is most often, as phase, and they in my experience, eventually grow out of it once they are no longer infatuated by it and mellow out. You can probably expect the most concentrated amount of them in between ages 10-15 from my experience, so considering the age demographic of the escapist, it doesn't really surprise me when some of you say that you have never met one.

You're absolutely right, people usually drop their weeaboo-like behavior as they get older. But the internet seems to think anyone who likes any aspect of Japanese pop-culture is a weeaboo.

I wonder if Japanese geek culture has a subgenre dedicated to being American geekdom fans..... They'd all wear cowboy hats.

Reading the comments on NicoNico for Japanese fansubbed episodes of MLP, there does appear to be Japanese who like Western animation. They made references to animations that I would have thought would be obscure for Japan (i.e Tom & Jerry, Happy Tree Friends, Pepe Le Pew) and a few of them referenced Western games like Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2. Hey, Microsoft is still selling the Xbox 360 in Japan, there's gotta be a dedicated Western game fanbase out there somewhere! I too like to imagine they wear cowboy hats

Which makes me all the more infuriated with Japan since it still enjoys banning foreigners from their resturants, bars, and clubs.

Apparently, this is often due to the fact that most of the staff don't have good English and foreigners don't have good Japanese. If you go with a Japanese friend, they're suppose to be cool with it. Though, there's also a problem where Westerners seem to have this habit of getting way too drunk and getting rowdy. It's hard to blame them when every week, there's a news article about an American serviceman who got drunk and broke into someone's house and punched their baby in the face. :\

I'd wager that the fear of becoming one or being seen as one is still great enough to steer a lot of Westerners away from Japanese media.

Which is silly because goddamn everybody deserves to know the goodness of Cowboy Bebop.

That's what I was talking about, and now that I think about it, this would probably also explain why there seems to be no new anime fans these days (a topic I've previous discussed). Also, I was expecting you to say Samurai Champloo, instead of Cowboy Bebop

People who are obsessive fans of things seek out more marginalized fans of things to look down on.
It's unfortunate but true. Escapist's own Moviebob had some pretty good insights in his "nerd by
any other name" video.

Very true.

what on earth is a weeaboo.. ah obbsessed japanese culture fan... mumbles something about kids making up words

I too would like to how why this word was used. What, did someone read the The Perry Bible Fellowship comic posted above and say to themselves "Weeaboo! Now THAT'S the perfect word to described Japan-obsessed anime fans!"?

 

[NemotheElvenPanda]

I think people mix the term "weeaboo" and Japanese media/pop culture enthusiast all too often. It's one thing to like certain anime and comics by virtue of their merits over their western equivalents...it's another if it's because they're simply Japanese and not western. Having been a weeaboo myself at a certain point and have had friends that were not afraid to admit it, there's a dissonance not many people notice.

Speaking Japanese because you like the language and to understand Japanese media simply because you enjoy it or that you might've actually had visited the country at some point, is not being a weeaboo; it's being intelligent even if you're only in it for the manga, anime, and video games. As the OP said, many American teens do things that could be consider "weeaboo-worthy" like watch My Little Pony or some other popular western animation, and collect the merchandise, but God-forbid if you love (insert anime/manga here) and do just the same. Personally, I enjoy both hemispheres equally, so I don't see why I should be condoned for one while being raised up for the other. I in particular love old Japanese culture; I'd kill to see a real Kabuki play and be able to visit Gion and see a relic of feudal Japan in action. However, that's being "worldly", and not "creepy" like when someone goes to Japan to see the modern and prevalent youth culture...especially when you're at the same age to be part of said sub-culture.

I think what we have here is a double standard at play, nothing more.

 

[getoffmycloud]

Its the same reason that people get pissed at bronies cause there is always a small minority of people who do nothing but talk about it every single waking moment of their lives and that quite rightly pisses people off.

 

[axlryder]

I think people mix the term "weeaboo" and Japanese media/pop culture enthusiast all too often. It's one thing to like certain anime and comics by virtue of their merits over their western equivalents...it's another if it's because they're simply Japanese and not western. Having been a weeaboo myself at a certain point and have had friends that were not afraid to admit it, there's a dissonance not many people notice.

Speaking Japanese because you like the language and to understand Japanese media simply because you enjoy it or that you might've actually had visited the country at some point, is not being a weeaboo; it's being intelligent even if you're only in it for the manga, anime, and video games. As the OP said, many American teens do things that could be consider "weeaboo-worthy" like watch My Little Pony or some other popular western animation, and collect the merchandise, but God-forbid if you love (insert anime/manga here) and do just the same. Personally, I enjoy both hemispheres equally, so I don't see why I should be condoned for one while being raised up for the other. I in particular love old Japanese culture; I'd kill to see a real Kabuki play and be able to visit Gion and see a relic of feudal Japan in action. However, that's being "worldly", and not "creepy" like when someone goes to Japan to see the modern and prevalent youth culture...especially when you're at the same age to be part of said sub-culture.

I think what we have here is a double standard at play, nothing more.

rarely have I ever seen someone who is truly fluent in Japanese that also fits the typical description of "weeaboo". I've seen it, but I find that if someone actually respects the Japanese culture enough to learn the language fluently (as opposed to romanticizing it to compensate for their social isolation in 'murica), then usually they understand it enough to appreciate things like social nuance. I really do feel horribly sorry for any "weeaboo" youth who goes to Japan in hopes of some kind of participatory gratification.

Of course, I agree that there's nothing wrong with have a strong interest in anime, or that such and interest does not automatically qualifies one as a "weeaboo". However, I think people started making those generalizations due to the generally overzealous and tactlessly defensive dispositions that a lot of weeaboos have/had (undoubtedly perpetuated by a vicious circle of antagonism fueling retaliation fueling antagonism). But yeah, it seems that social sentiment towards Japanophiles is pretty well ingratiated at this point.

 

[NemotheElvenPanda]

I think people mix the term "weeaboo" and Japanese media/pop culture enthusiast all too often. It's one thing to like certain anime and comics by virtue of their merits over their western equivalents...it's another if it's because they're simply Japanese and not western. Having been a weeaboo myself at a certain point and have had friends that were not afraid to admit it, there's a dissonance not many people notice.

Speaking Japanese because you like the language and to understand Japanese media simply because you enjoy it or that you might've actually had visited the country at some point, is not being a weeaboo; it's being intelligent even if you're only in it for the manga, anime, and video games. As the OP said, many American teens do things that could be consider "weeaboo-worthy" like watch My Little Pony or some other popular western animation, and collect the merchandise, but God-forbid if you love (insert anime/manga here) and do just the same. Personally, I enjoy both hemispheres equally, so I don't see why I should be condoned for one while being raised up for the other. I in particular love old Japanese culture; I'd kill to see a real Kabuki play and be able to visit Gion and see a relic of feudal Japan in action. However, that's being "worldly", and not "creepy" like when someone goes to Japan to see the modern and prevalent youth culture...especially when you're at the same age to be part of said sub-culture.

I think what we have here is a double standard at play, nothing more.

rarely have I ever seen someone who is truly fluent in Japanese that also fits the typical description of "weeaboo". I've seen it, but I find that if someone actually respects the Japanese culture enough to learn the language fluently (as opposed to romanticizing it to compensate for their social isolation in 'murica), then usually they understand it enough to appreciate things like social nuance. I really do feel horribly sorry for any "weeaboo" youth who goes to Japan in hopes of some kind of participatory gratification.

Of course, I agree that there's nothing wrong with have a strong interest in anime, or that such and interest does not automatically qualifies one as a "weeaboo". However, I think people started making those generalizations due to the generally overzealous and tactlessly defensive dispositions that a lot of weeaboos have/had (undoubtedly perpetuated by a vicious circle of antagonism fueling retaliation fueling antagonism). But yeah, it seems that social sentiment towards Japanophiles is pretty well ingratiated at this point.

The sad part for me though is that when teenagers say that they like Japanese culture, people think that they mean anime and manga, rather than history or art. The entire "debate" as essentially cemented the idea that if a young person does love Japan, it's only for its video games, comics, et cetera. Even if that's the case, there are good things to be said about Japanese pop culture if you're willing to go beyond the ink as it where as it is in all forms of media. Of course, not many fans, weeaboos or otherwise, don't do that, so it's somewhat self-inflicted.