Life as an anime fan sure is great. We get to travel to isekai worlds, enjoy exciting stories and battles, and thrill as our favorite characters fall in love. And while sports fans only get a single season of their favorite sport each year, we get four seasons of anime, each bringing us excitement, adventure, and the potential for new “seasonal waifus.” And yet… not everyone has a positive view of anime fans in certain real or online social settings, and from time to time otakus get shade from so-called “normies.” In this post, let’s explore how anime fans can handle negativity in a positive way!
As an Anime Fan, How Do You Deal With Negativity on Social Media?
I asked J-List’s awesome Twitter and Facebook followers to share how they managed negativity from random people on the Internet who took issue with their anime profile pictures and got some interesting replies!
Many fans were dismissive of random people judging the quality of their comments based on their choice of anime avatar…
Me when these sorts of people try to insult me.
That’s just them overcompensating that no one gives a shit about them to get attention.
“Their opinion doesn’t count they have an anime profile picture” is the first refuge of those without a good reply and/or an actual defensible position on a subject.
Them: “Anime PFP, opinion discarded.”
Me, an intellectual with a Vocaloid PFP.”
The World of Warships community is renowned for its anime bashing citing “muh historical accuracy” in a game where 80% of the ships never existed outside of plans or concepts on a napkin.
Sounds to me like an easy exit for when you’re losing an argument. Aka a noobs way out. “This person is making valid points and hurting my feelings, QUICK POINT OUT THE PROFILE PICTURE BEFORE THEY CONTINUE!”
And that’s why I use anime PFP, when they can’t give arguments but insults, the battle is already won.
The fact that you’re criticizing my avatar rather than defending your opinion is a concession of your inability to prove your point. Also my avatar isn’t from an anime. It’s Earth-chan, which is a meme character. So you’re doubly wrong.
Random: “Isn’t anime for kids?”
Me: Hm *deciding to show the puppy scene of Elfen Lied*
On the other hand, many followers had more nuanced or introspective takes. Here are some:
Honestly, as an anime fan, I can sometimes see where they are coming from. Obviously not all but there certainly is a very vocal subset of anime fans with some shitty opinions. Shame that’s what’s being associated with the medium we all love.
I’m good with it. I’d rather the fans be genuine and the culture be relatively underground than for it to get watered down and bland by being mainstream.
Are you forgetting that weebs are usually full of negativity towards other weebs?
I mean it entirely depends on the subject and how stupid what they are saying is. Personally, I don’t care what your profile pic is if you say something sensible and constructive.
What about Elon Musk?
Alienation of a group based on stereotypes and popular opinion is always wrong. I deal with this by reflecting upon what I said and if what I said was unfair, incorrect or insulting. If it’s not, I just ignore the post that says this.
That opinion exists for a reason. A lot of people hiding behind anime/cartoon/VG profile pics have some pretty horrid takes and usually have a bad personality to go along with it. It’s not always the case, but it happens way more than we’d like it to.
As someone who has seen the otaku/weeb community from the inside, I can’t even blame other people for making fun of weebs. Usually, the truth is worse than the stereotype.
It depends. But I do wish some (a lot) of people with anime profile learn to make better arguments and don’t base their whole knowledge on anime only
Happily, many reported positive feedback in their interactions with non-anime fans.
No negativity, actually. Most of my interactions with people are fellow fans and it’s a small number. Plus my icon pic is Hifumi having the, “Not getting involved with this shit” face. Love it.
My stories are mostly positive. I used to have these stickers on my rear car window…was getting gas one day, & suddenly this burly tough-looking guy started running towards me. I was petrified…until he pointed and yelled I LOVE K-ON!!! with a smiling face.
How Do I Deal with Negativity As an Otaku?
One thing I always believe is that we could/should experience more empathy with others. When I encounter on Facebook refusing to get a certain life-saving shot, or supporting a political position I might not agree with, I try to be understanding of where they’re coming from if I can, perhaps find some common ground with them. On the other hand, if I come across a community of cynical fans who think it’s “cool” to influence each other with more and more negativity until no one is having any fun, I quietly move as far away from them as I can, and shake the dust from my feet. (I’m looking at you, 4chan and Sankaku Complex.)
One of the comments I read expressed discomfort at being an older fan and attending anime conventions because they felt “too old” to be mixing with the younger fans at conventions. While I couldn’t disagree about this more — anime is one of the few subjects I can discuss with someone half my age and have us both be speaking the same language, and I love hanging out with fans of all ages at conventions — the person added that they “cringed” when they saw older Bronies at fan events. This gave me pause.
As an active fan of everything from anime to manga to classic American comics and the SF works of Gerry Anderson, I try to avoid judging any other fan group, no matter how my initial reaction. This is because I’d hate it if they came and hated on me for some of the off-color things I post to Twitter (like this, or this).
When I first saw My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic who bought plush toys then modded them into sex toys, I smiled that something so creative and random could exist outside of Japan. Back during the glory days of the Phoenix Comic-Con, we learned that Phoenix has a dedicated “furry” community, with fans wearing full-body fursuits and never breaking character by speaking, no matter what. Even though I’m not a furry myself, I was impressed with their dedication, especially in that 105°f/41°c weather. Even if I’m not into a specific fandom, I try to respect what is fresh and creative about those fans, and wish them well.
Thanks for reading this post about ways anime fans deal with negativity we encounter in society. How do you manage when you find someone who’s got biases against otakus? Tell us below, or reply to us on Twitter!
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