Quotes of General Patton

LOL, you’re probably not supposed to. Much like any of the interviewees on Otaku no Video. But I guess you just have too much shame to understand where I’m coming from. Or where Shokotan is coming from XD

Not that is a bad thing.

But before you talk about household names in anime, the general impression of gaijin on Japanese mainstream media very much so parallels with the caricatures you listed in anime. Maybe a better question to ask is do those references mean squat or what. Because those are just lip service in some sense.

Frankie:
I socialize with international fans over the internet. I’d say easily 30% or so of the people I talk/discuss with on the net are not based in the US, where I am. But at the same time there are definitely local social groups both here and anywhere else, that are cut off from some “international brotherhood” or whatever. So I don’t know how much of that matters.

No, I base it on years of living in Japan in a regional city where using English wasn’t an option, years of attending events both in Japan and in Western countries and the experiences of myself and my friends (both Japanese and foreign).

Consider foreigners/gaijin all the same is the same misconception made by Japanese. An american otaku doesn’t communciate so much with a German or a French one. Is there a strong communication between different nationalities otakus?! If for example french otakus don’t communicate with US otakus cause the language barrier it’s pretty obvious why the Japanese and “gaijin” don’t mix up so much… beside the language barrier, (otaku) comunication is based on information exchange. If you got something to exchange, and you speak a little bit Japanese, I think it’s pretty easy to communicate with Japanese otakus. Even Japanese otaku don’t mix up if their interests don’t overlap (and no: being a generic anime fan is not enough) so I don’t see anything strange in the fact that there is not so much interaction between Japanese and not-Japanese otakus.

Shokotan quote:
“Americans are really great at making weapons and stuff” and wondering “How can they carry all that stuff around??”.

@ big cosplay events in Japan like Comiket it’s illegal to carry weapons reproductions…

While foreigners have largely never had and still don’t have a favorable place in the historic or contemporary xenophobic Japanese psyche, you can’t accurately derive a country’s, a society’s view on the subject through conjecture based on their media. Making reference to another culture as a simile would do little to underline this point; it would only serve to obfuscate the singularity of Japanese culture. Obviously, standing here more than half a century after WWII, opinions of the foreigner have lightened if not been wholly reversed taking into account the perspective of that time period. Though the Japanese at large may put on a face of appreciation or good gesture when inwardly mocking, it stands to reason that today Japan is one of the worlds greatest powers, politically, economically, and industrially. In their presence on the world stage, do you really think that the current Prime Minister curses the foreign blood he deals with on a daily basis? Of course, I could be wrong and he could certainly do that but I believe the reality has more to do with the author, the director, the artist’s portrayal of what THEY believe to be truth for the Japanese people as a whole. In fact, the American’s role is now an archetype in anime and manga. The vast majority of Japanese have no divination of what an American might be like, but the image of a hamburger-loving, cowboy hat-wearing, busty blonde in a red white and blue bikini (reference anyone?) lends itself to the image if not only because its that very image that has permeated anime and manga. Of those creator’s with a brain, they know this to be an inaccurate depiction. Something closer to reality though, a weeaboo for example, is less understandable. For this reason too, you have that “freak” image of a Western fan of anime or manga. They don’t understand us, and we, the majority, don’t understand them. Really, its only the hedgehog’s dilemma played out on a world scale. You shouldn’t be “DEEPLY offended” by any portrayal as a “freaky weirdo” assuming that you don’t admit to being one and don’t count yourself among the “90% of Western fans” who are.

I’m friends with a few of my otaku classmates (Japanese), but we became friends before we found that out. Hardly have any otaku discussions because our fields of interest don’t really overlap.

Yeah, and also in Lucky Star, Azumanga Daioh and a million other things. And they’re all portrayed as freaky weirdos – that’s the equivalent of someone saying “Hey, I like Japanese people. Look at Arnold from Happy Days! Don’t forget Jerry Lewis’ character in Hardly Working.”

I don’t know HOW you can take those characters as a source of pride – as a foreigner who DOES like anime and DOES speak almost fluent Japanese I am DEEPLY offended by those portrayals which only serve to further the image of the Western anime or manga or Japanese culture fan as a complete freak, in the eyes of the Japanese anime watching/manga reading audience.

Basically, there is no international brotherhood of Otaku. Western fans generally don’t relate to the sub-culture in the same way as Japanese ones. The majority of Western fans are generally sub-culturally illiterate because of the language barrier, geographical barrier & the fact that most Western fans have no money and thus will only voraciously devour free stuff that gets put (illegally) on the internet through scanlations and fansubs.

Seiya>
“And likewise, it’s only natural for them to see us as obnoxious and boorish parasites, latching on to an “exotic” culture without ever developing a real understanding or appreciation remaining hopelessly out of touch and making up for what we lack in expertise using pure volume.”

Yeah it is only natural for them to see us like that because that is 90% of Western fans are. What are the anime or manga household names in Japan? Unless you mentioned Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan or Doraemon then you ARE culturally ignorant.

It also doesn’t help that the most visible Western fans have no shame about behaving in the most debasing fashion possible, especially if there’s a chance of getting on TV (looking at you, participants on “TV Champion – Foreign Otaku King” episode, AppleMilk & Magibon).

Both are ways to measure your premise I think.

Because before we go the distance and talk about mutual reminder of shame or anything like that, your observation has to have some real, factual basis. As I see it, there are plenty of shameless people all over to make things work. It’s a different question as to if you and I should care all that much beyond a personal context, and why we should or should not care about how fans live in Japan or how Japanese fans care or care less about Americans or British or Brazilian fans.

But as creators, they do care and they recognize that there’s more to all of this than what they see in Japan. I think that’s why people like Shokotan gave it a nod at all.

http://www.felipesmith.com/mbq/ <— Felipe Smith is currently drawing a serial for Morning 2
http://blackmoontides.com/ <— grand prize winner of the Morning international competition.
doujin-wise, http://kurot.deviantart.com <— A rather popular Reborn doujinka, recently hit wall space at fuyucomi.

And I’m sure there are many more I’m forgetting.