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Otaku: Narration of an Anime Fan; It's mostly a rant...
Topic Started: Nov 17 2009, 04:43 PM (289 Views)
Omega
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Master of The World
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Chapter 1: Introduction
1999, a year, a moment in time, or rather a state of existence. A single year, that, in a decade that saw the Bill Clinton scandal, the rise of playstation and the Y2K. If it’s any consequence—If there should be any—I was born in the 90’s as part of ‘generation X’ the globally conscious yet inherently lazy group of kids that were promised control of the entire world by the time they were 20…boy were we in for a surprise.
But this isn’t about that in particular, after all everything has been said and done and though the war in Iraq gets most attention these days, we are blinded by our own ignorance to the several, smaller wars that occur every moment of every day, from the time we wake to the minute we fall asleep and beyond. Some of these include the war on drugs, a bitter conflict that has been fought since Nixon graced the oval office and the inner precincts of the Watergate building. Another is the war against racism and discrimination which—though clearly a war long since fought and won—still has dissidents in certain southern areas of the United States in the form of Neo-Nazis, Skinheads, and the Ku Klux Klan. In particular a war that I often find myself stuck in the middle of is the mass media war which has been fought for centuries in many different forms, though the sides remain the same: teens versus their strict/conservative parents. This war extends to more than just media, it involves the topic of underage drinking, drug usage and sex as well (the last one is the only one that I see no big deal with). Though these are NOTHING compared to the frenzy that is stirred up whenever Jack Thompson bothers the Florida state court—again—over whether videogame violence actually causes kids to kill each other. In a logical sense, it’s simply the rambling of a highly conservative person who shouldn’t be a lawyer in the first place.
I digress. The real reason that I’m bothering to type up any of this is because of the media war’s effect on one of my favorite forms of entertainment: Anime, a billion dollar industry (in the U.S. alone) that has cranked out several hundred or even thousands of television series since its creation. This however is nothing compared to the social stigma surrounding anime and the people who watch. Why is this? Why is anime such a taboo topic now? Well, it all comes back to 1999…
During my childhood in the 90’s I always remembered more than anything else the joy of returning home from school to watch “Toonami”, a Cartoon Network “happy hour” of sorts where they would showcase several anime series that were being dubbed at the time. Being the very open minded child I was, I had gotten into anime with Pokémon, working my way up to Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Wing and beyond with little difficulty, seeing how these shows kicked the crap out of any American cartoons I had been watching. I didn’t know where anime came from, all I knew from those days was that it was good, very good, a staple of my very life. If I missed an episode, shit would be broken and tempers would flare. This state of bliss lasted into the next year and was still going strong. Nothing could stop it…until, on September 11th, 2001, the World Trade Center in New York City fell…I remember I was just getting home from school that day when I found out that the towers went down, and though I didn’t know what it meant at first, I came to despise the terrorist regime with a passion. After the events of 9/11 it was clear that the country only became worse. One of the first things they did in the media was eliminate all foreign programming…anime in general was a victim of this policy, and for one whole year, it seemed that anime vanished off the face of the Earth. This, however, was quickly revoked considering the popularity of these programs. Though with that act, the first blow was struck in the battle of America versus Anime, though not violent or obvious, it was another Kawanakajima; each side was merely drawing their lines and waiting for the opportunity to strike.

Chapter 2: Origins
Originating in Japan, anime is a slang term for “Japanese animation”. As with any other addicting substance, anime also has several terms that I shall explain when they are used. As for the title word, “otaku”, it is Japanese slang for “fanatic” though you can actually call anyone addicted to something an “otaku”. Anime has two major types that are broken down from anime as a whole. The first, and most popular, is called “Shonen”, which is a genre aimed towards boys (not always the case though). This genre is characterized by mostly action or comedy based storylines. The top anime series in this category, for example, are Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Hokuto no Ken, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin and many more. The second genre is called “Shojo”, and is aimed towards girls. Shojo is characterized by containing mostly romance stories or the archetype character of Shojo: the “Magical Girl”. Though I may not be a fan of Shojo, I do know that the most famous example of Shojo style anime is Sailor Moon (which, while on Toonami, was considered one of the worst dubbed shows of all time next to the 4kids version of One Piece in 2005-06). After these two groups have been classified there are several sub-groups of anime that often revolve around certain items or the method of execution. Though most are similar to the usual groups we would associate with a TV series, some are unique to anime.
The first unique sub-group is “Mecha”, the second largest sub-group that actually dates back to the 1950’s and 60’s and includes probably the second most popular anime series of all time: Mobile Suit Gundam. Mecha anime revolves around large robots, often involving military groups and space combat (like in Gundam). A key characteristic in Mecha anime is the idea of a young pilot being able to defeat an older experienced pilot that is still a subject of debate (a.k.a The Amuro/Kira Effect). Another is ridiculous amounts of firepower that can often decimate several thousand grunt units in a single attack (a.k.a. Hi-Mat Spamming). Mecha is also divided into three smaller categories: real, super and transforming robot genres. Real robots follow real world principles, and behave more realistically with very little over the top technology. Gundam is the number one example of a real robot series. Super robots are opposite of the real robots, they rarely obey the laws of physics and may carry weaponry capable of decimating entire cities or even planets. Not surprisingly, the Super robots are also larger; the exception is the series G Gundam which, though it bears the Gundam name, has more in common with Super Robots. Transforming robots are a halfway point, as they may or may not carry the devastating armament of super robots, or have as much realism as real robots. Rather, their perk is the ability to change their shape or they may have many modes or forms. Macross is the most famous of the transforming robot series (yes, more so than Transformers because they didn’t have to suck Michael Bay’s dick to become popular).
The second and largest group is the martial artist sub-group. As its name suggests, this group involves fighting…lots of fighting. Though it seems to be bland it is, in fact, the most popular of the genres with several from this group placing in the top ten, and holds the number one spot (Dragon Ball, Z and GT series). This group is famous for making up its own physics from the way things explode to the fighters themselves. Of this group the most infamous is Hokuto no Ken (lit. Fist of the North Star), a series that prided itself on manly action that often ended up with somebody being sliced to pieces, shredded into ribbons or being blown up from the inside out, inventing its own law of anime physics which survives to this day, “Villains do not immediately know that they are dead, because being evil distorts their sense of reality”. This was taken from Kenshiro’s (the hero of HnK) famous catch-phrase “You’re already dead” which he would tell his enemies before they burst open in a shower of blood, not knowing that they were, in fact, going to die. On the whole, the martial arts genre created the laws of anime physics, Dragon Ball Z in particular, and is the back-bone of the anime world.

Chapter 3: Hatred and Demonization
Following a rebirth of anime in 2003, something happened in American society…something really bad. The popularity that anime had amongst my age group was gone. For some reason or another, my peers abandoned the shows that they had once held so dear. I had to find the answer.
My investigation started with the student body. They couldn’t have simply changed all of a sudden, rather it was an outside influence, and after all, teens happen to be heavily influenced by what others think since most can’t think for themselves. At the heart of the matter, as it became clear, was that the anime club in the Middle school was to blame. The reason: they had watched anime TOO! So people assumed that they would become like them: unpopular, horrible looking, and awkward in social situations. But this was only the beginning. This chapter is short because, I believe, that the reason that anime has gotten the reputation it has now is due to one organization that has ruined anime for countless fans…

Chapter 4-kids: The Evil Empire
One company has stood out in the dubbing industry. They worked on Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and many more shows, most of which were actually popular when I was younger. However, they started to show signs of a darker side in their later works. 4kids entertainment decided in 2005 to buy the dubbing rights to One Piece, a show that was NOT meant for children. This, however, was a mere trifle to the CEO and chairman of 4kids, Alfred R. Kahn, who decided to bend One Piece to his will. Along with several other series, One Piece was a show destroyed by 4kids Entertainment under the false pretense of being “kid friendly”. The excuses for such a travesty are numerous, often revolving around the usual suspects: violence, sex, drugs and alcohol. Others were simply done because Al Kahn thought they were necessary changes, including eliminating Japanese cultural references, replacing dialogue with bad jokes, tossing out all aspects of drama and character development, cutting episodes and rearranging them, eliminating black people from anime (via the infamous “Black Face” scandal), and eliminating the concept of death from the shows even though it is a main subject in them, replacing death with just leaving the show or going to the “Shadow Realm”. 4kids Entertainment has done more damage to anime than what was done to Britain during WWII by the German Luftwaffe, and has probably done irreversable damage on the opinions of average Americans that will last as long, if not longer, than the war in Iraq.
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Omega
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Chapter 5: In Conclusion...

As a long time anime fan...no...as a friend of all, I must speak against the tides of censorship and the ignorance of our generation. It's by time that we stop being closed minded to something that would normally seem so trivial, until you become a part of it. We are in this together as part of "Generation X", the generation that was supposed to inherit control, freedom and democracy from the current regime and former screw ups. Though I use anime as an example, the abominations perpetrated by the previous generation spreads to all matters of our generation. We must be firm! We must be swift! We must be powerful! As humans born with natural rights, we should demand that out media (in my case anime) free from the tyranny of mass media fuck ups like 4kids, or the even bigger fuck ups: the FCC. We must take control now, or be lead to ruin.
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Strider Seiryu
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Chapter 1: Genesis

The year is 1993...power rangers just started coming on tv...Gangsta rap was dominating popular music....Kids sang along to snoop dog on the bus on the way to school. Hulk Hogan had just left the world wrestling federation for world championship wrestling..Super nintendo was the game console of choice. Video arcades were plentiful in every state in the U.S...The arcade was the cool place to be on weekends..It was a different era...I watched cartoons religiously on satyrday and sunday mornings..Ninja turtles, GI Joe, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Xmen, Mario brothers, Camp Candy..you name it I was watching it....One sunday I saw a cartoon that was somehow different from all the other cartoons I had ever seen in my short life...The animation was you unique the fighting was more violent and there were no corny be safe public service adds done by the characters at the end of the show...I was invigorated by what I was watching....This show was called Voltron: Defender of the universe (Beast King GoLion)...5 young men piloted lions that came together to form the ultimate in justice defending, monster slaying power....Each of the lions had a special power unique to the team of 5 pilots.....I told my friends at school and they began watching it too...We then started playing voltron during recess...

1994-I continued to wonder what made voltron stand out from other cartoons. I flipped thru the channels looking for other show like it but I was unsuccessful in my search..the only alternative to the norm I could find was disney stuff...I always hated disney (even in early childhood)..One day I finally discovered more of what I yearned for, Action, Adventure, swords, violence....It was a new show that was coming on WGN after school..There were 5 multi colred samurai with cool looking armor..Each had a unique weapon and controlled a unique element...Furthermore, each of these samurai represented a noble principle....a code of honor..It ws unlike anything I had seen before....The bad guys were being killed like nothing every episode and for the first time I saw villains that I thought were cool...not bumbling idiots and buffoons like bebop and rocksteady from ninja turtles but elite sleek, warrior villains....This show was called ronin warriors..Me, my little brother and our friends watched at my house after school and re enacted the show in woods behind my house, whacking trees and bushes with pool sticks.those trees were the simulated enemies..I got the seem feeling from ronin warriors that I got from Voltron. Street Fighter 2 was the biggest thing going in pop culture since it came out in 92...Mortal Kombat was ok, but sub zero and scorpion could never reach the great standard set by Ryu and Ken..SF was so big that there was blockbuster hit movie starring jean claude van damme...I saw the movie owned all the games, and beat asian men twice my age in the arcade games every saturday....On my 10th birthday I had a massive party that started at a local arcade and fun center and ended with a sleepover party at my house...my friend lenny recently moved to california from japan..His dad was in the air force like mine was....He brought a VHS tape to the party..We watched in the living room after my parents went to bed...To my surprise is was a street fighter 2 animated movie....The characters didnt speak english but there was white text at the bottom of the screen to read...It was awesome, blood, violence, death and even a nude shower scene...That was the first time a saw nudity without someone telling me to close my eyes.. (this changed how I looked at chun li forever)...When the movie ended and bison was killed by ryu and ken something clicked in my mind....This was the same feeling I got from voltron and ronin warriors..These shows are all from japan.......

Chapter 2: Acquisition

1995-1997..After I experienced my street fighter epiphany, I lost interest in the american cartoons I used to love....I embarked on a quest to find more "japanese cartoons" (I didnt know the proper name at the time)....I started out going to every video store in town..I made no progress at first but I eventually started finding movies and renting them.....My dad bought some blank tapes and showed me how to copy tapes using 2 separate VCRs..I went to work, renting watching and copying every japanese show I could find at the video stores.......Fatal Fury, Voltron, Ronin warriors, Akira, Ninja Scroll, Robotech it didnt matter....I learned more about this style of television with every tape I watched. I saw a range of different types of shows from action to comedy to drama....It provided me with a level of entertainment I had only gotten from watching feature films before...Then I discovered the name..the proper name for what i was watching..Anime

Chapter 3: Ascension

1998-2000-I was 14 in 1998...I became aware of the many diferrent Genres and styles within the anime umbrella...I cognizant of subtitles, editing dubbing, voice actors and voice quality....The advent of the internet opened new doors to me in my quest to be entertained..I searched yahoo and aol all hours of the night looking for anime..I wasnt allowed be on the internet during the day because that tied up the phone lines (dial up internet really sucked)....In my internet searches found anime titles that were being released in english....I got my mom to buy them for me all the time......Flipping thru the channels I saw a new show on cartoon network...I saw to men with unusual hairstyles fighting it out....One of them was wearing blue and the other orange....The blue one would later become one of my favorite characters of all time.......This show was called dragonball Z....I watched everyday like clockwork....My older cousin was an adult and had bootleg tapes of subbed DBZ..I began to watch ahead by borrowing tapes from him...In late 98 I moved to the washington DC area.......There were more asians there than my there were in my previous residences......There I discovered asian owned video stores that specialized in bootlegging anime....I rented and watched all the way up to the cell games on tape before those eps were dubbed in english....I also became acquainted with anime related merchandise and imports........ I started buying dragonball z video games for playstation and god a mod chip installed on my ps1......The first anime related game I ever owned was Dragon Ball Z Legends.....I started collecting anime action figures around this time too....My first set was the DBZ super battle collection figures..lol I still have those now....I digress from my main point now I will get back on topic...In 2000 another show started airing on toonami before DBZ...It was gundam wing.....5 all unique but equally cool teens fighting against a massive army peaked my interest....I was gripped by its intricate plot and storyline twists..Gundam wing and DBZ started coming to home video later that year and I collected them every tuesday they came out....
( i discovered that games and movies always come out tuesdays in 1999).....I didnt participate in the pokemon revolution because I was too old to enjoy it when it started..My brother started out on it though...

Chapter 4: Conflict of interest; Balancing act between coolness and obscurity...the ins outs of anime's fade way

2001-2003: In 2001 I was 17 and a senior in high school......I skipped school a lot and worked part time..( going to class was a a waste of my fuckin time at this point).....September 11th changed the perception of all things non american.....Anime was stigmatized and ridiculed by the older crowd that once watched it everyday...The friends that once loved denied ever watching it in the past...I think this also had something to do with my age at the time.....With the exception of the nerds and unpopular people anime was nonexistent in the high school scene..Especially among my peer group, black males......I continued to watch DBZ and Mobile suit gundam faithfully..More shows started come on as well...Stardust memory, war in the pocket, G Gundam rurouni kenshin and yu yu hakusho all came to prominence during this time....I watched them all but I had no one to talk about it with.....On top of that I had a growing interest in having sex with girls from my school.....I was walking a tightrope.....I wanted to keep being one of the cool kids and enjoy anime at the same time.....avoiding being exposed as an anime fan became increasingly difficult...I had a room full of Gundam action figures and DBZ posters when everyone else had bikini models, female celebrities or whoever the flavor of the month rapper was on their walls....I wanted to fuck bitches, but I didnt want them to see what I had in my room....I had a major dilemma..I decided to put all my anime related stuff in the basement for a while.....Time went I by and a banged a lot of girls my senior year..I maintained my cool status with the colorado school crowd...all went well but things didnt seem right for some reason...As I started having serious girl friend they started asking more personal question like what my interests are and what i watch on tv....I made up lies and even watched other shows to hold true to my lies....That is until I finally got caught......


Chapter 4: The Truth

2003-..One day I was shopping at Kmart with my new girlfriend.....I passed by the toy Aisle and spotted a brand new set of G-Gundam figures...I already owned most of them but there were a few that I didnt have yet....I told my GF tina to wait while I looked at the gundam figures......she followed me any way and saw what I was looking at.....She snickered at me...."Are you getting those for yourself" she asked while giggling at me..."No these are for R...Ronnie and Brandon" (My 2 younger brothers who are also into gundam)..She could tell by the look in my eye that I was lying....(She was 22 and I was 18 at the time)....she mocked me and called me a child for the rest of the to my displeasure......I bought the figures anyway.....during the ride home she she asked me about gundams and I told her about the anime....Later that night after she was done laughing at my expense she told me what she really thought.....It didnt matter what I liked watch on tv.....SHe liked me and anime had no affect on her feelings either way.....From that day forward I didnt hide the fact that I liked anime from anyone...In fact told people at my job that I like Gundam and DBZ only to find out that all my buddies were doing the same thing that I was in regards to watching anime in secret and not talking to others about it.....Some people are more ignorant and less intelligent than others.......Anyone that does make fun of someone else because of something like that is a fucking idiot and will never become anything more than an ignorant fool.....
Edited by Strider Seiryu, Nov 20 2009, 07:24 PM.
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