Forum - View topicAnime Fans & Obsessed Fans - The wide fat line?
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Mr_Tym
Posts: 18 Location: USA |
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I love Anime ever since I started watching Gundam Wing on CN. I consider myself one of the "baby boomers" of the Anime era in America like many of you. I started watching stuff like EL Hazard, Macross, Hana Yori Dango, and Naussica and almost any fansub I could get after I got into Anime.
But lately there seems to be a boom in obsessed fans who know nothing but a few anime titles which they obsess over. Kenshin, Inu Yasha, and Naruto to name a few. I dont think these shows suck, I think they're great personally. My problem is they claim to be Anime fans when they have not seen any classics. Galaxy Express 999 and Original Macross to name a few. I find that those shows I named have that power of fulfilling the voids in the peoples lives who obsess over them. Now I'm not hating I'm more or less irratated. Why? I've had too many damn obsessed fans get pissed when I say "hey you know thats not the greatest or the only anime ever made?" or along those lines. Afterwards they react with malice towards me. Another example: I said Inu Yasha was too damn long like DBZ. This girl at my work decides to get pissy with me and the two guys I was talking to. Anyways just wondering if anyone knows what I'm talking about. |
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Wolverine Princess
 Posts: 1100 |
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Whoa, this was an adult woman and not some teenager? Talk about immature. I think it's really irritating when people say, "What are your hobbies?" and I say, "I like Japanese anime and manga," and they respond, "I still have all my Pokèmon cards," or "My kid really likes Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi." (Which isn't even anime, but people assume it is since it's about Japanese kids.) It's relatively difficult to find a brick-and-mortar place to legally rent the "classic" anime from, aside from Blockbuster where, depending on where you live, they stock titles like Fruits Basket, Haibane and RahXephon. People just don't want to seek out anime they can't get for free on TV. In fact, it was almost two years after my first exposure to Cartoon Network anime like Inuyasha, which was got me hooked, that I bought my first DVD. |
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys |
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I know what you mean, and I've experienced similar things as well. Personally I don't fret much over it, because basically its the same with any genre of media and entertainment. I'll parallel it to to metal music for instance. I'm a huge metal-head, been one longer than I've been an anime fan, have great knowledge of the metal scene, yet when I start naming classic bands of certain styles of metal to other self-proclaimed metal-heads I tend to draw blank stares(mainly from those nu-metal kids
 ). Those people are in all scenes/subcultures/etc. Most are hopeless, but there are a few that will realize they've only been dwelling on the tip of the ice berg and decide to plunge deeper, but fretting over them all will only make your hair fall out.
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Um, I would think that it's okay to call yourself an anime fan no matter what kind of anime you like. It's anime. I'm not even twenty, but I tend to like the classic anime more than the modern day made anime like Lupin and as the thread author pointed out, Galaxy Express 999. I think however, that modern day manga is the better one. I've always liked manga, so I don't know what people can say about my anime likings.
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Azathrael
 Posts: 745 |
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I don't see anything wrong with it. I watched DBZ growing up, while I didn't even know it was anime back then. So my first official "anime" was Elfen Lied. I was obsessed with it that I watched it 4 times over and finally got sick of it during my 5th. But I still plan on watching it again soon. Back then, I thought Elfen Lied was the best anime that existed. Then I watched FMA and thought that was the best. Then I watched GitS and thought that was the best. See a pattern? The way I see it, leave them alone in their obsession, which is temporary 99% of the time anyway, and suggest more anime instead.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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I actually was the most obsessed over the first five or so anime i watched, simply because it was a whole world of something completely wonderful and new to me. Previous to Naruto, my "introduction" to anime (since DBZ and Pokemon on CN doesn't technically really count...), seemed like the best thing ever made, because I didn't have a basis of comparison. The dragged out fight scenes, the unnecessary dialogue, even the filler were all thoroughly enjoyable to me because I had little previous exposure to something of the sort. This continued with One Piece next, FMA, Love Hina, Elfen Lied, etc. By the time I had reached my 15th title or so, my "expectations" had risen quite a bit, and nothing seemed quite as exciting anymore because it was more like, "been there, done that." I saw repeating patterns of cliche storytelling, and started noticing smaller details like faults in animation and the like because it was no longer so fascinating.
Most people really do think mainstream titles like Naruto, Bleach, Kenshin, Inu-yasha, One Piece is the best thing ever and become completely immersed in it if it is one of the only animes they have watched. They most likely claim "__________ iz teh best anime evar!!!!1" because of the "first anime syndrome" and the fact that they haven't watched much else. If these people would watch more anime, they'd find that their mind will change very quickly. If they don't, that's fine too. |
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Stupidman007
 Posts: 394 |
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Instead of arguing over the best thing ever, it's probably much easier to just point to the polls and the reviews. In most cases, the set up and the sampling size are good and fairly accurate results are given.
Personally, I'm always open to suggestions, because people have different tastes, and one's trash can be another's treasure. As for those fans obsessed with titles such as Kenshin, Inuyasha, Naruto, etc.. I don't think they even consider themselves much of an anime fan. My experiences tell me that those who call themselves anime fans are open to different titles and are more willing to accept. Those who's only seen a couple of anime titles are more like fans of the show than anime in general. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Yeah, that's true. Still, these fans obsessed with the mainstream titles should expand their horizons if they violently argue and delcare that their favorite anime is better than any other anime in the whole world whenever the topic of "anime" is mentioned (which I think was the point the original poster was getting at). I've seen many of these types of people; it's one thing to be obsessed over a particular mainstream title, but another to violently claim that it is the best anime ever in existence without being exposed to other kinds of anime. |
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joel_s95387
Posts: 1804 Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn |
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First off, I'm a little confused by your post. To me, it sounds like you're mad/irritated because people who have only seen a few anime consider themselves "Anime Fans".
It doesn't matter if you've seen Galaxy Express 999 or the original Macross or other so called classics to be considered an anime fan. Who's to say what they are watching now will not be considered classic in the future? Instead of saying "hey you know thats not the greatest or the only anime ever made?", you could ask if they've seen a particular title or even reccommend them something. I would have responded "hey you know you can leave if you don't like what were talking about". Long story short, if you like anime, you are an anime fan! Reminds me of the whole "controversy" behind people calling themselves "gamers". And the girl getting mad cause you said InuYasha was too damn long like DBZ, sounds illogical to me. Like you made something up to try to get us on your side. But it's not like people on the internet lie... 
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6897 Location: Kazune City |
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Hmm, is it necessary to know Beethoven and the Beatles to consider yourself a music fan? I agree that people can be way too obsessed with certain series, but usually that's because it's all they know. If you give them time and guidance, they'll eventually broaden their tastes. I probably need to see more classic anime, but I consider myself a fan because I have seen quite a few series, from a variety of genra. The problem with classic anime is that many of them are so long, like Ranma, Gatchaman, and Urusei Yatsura, that I just don't want to get into them; I'm sure they're decent series, but they don't appeal to me enough to watch 100+ episodes. I have enough trouble motivating myself to watch a 52 episode series, and prefer to stick to 13-26.
Incidentally, I was at one of Steve Benett's panels at Naka-con, and he exhibited a similar, but less derisive attitude, "What? You guys haven't seen Otaku no video? Man, what's going on with anime fans today?" So, I do plan to at least get to that particular classic. |
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Alex K.
Posts: 247 |
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Wait, so you have have seen the classics to be considered a true anime fan? Wow, I guess I'm the only anime fan in my club, seeing as how no one else has seen (or probably even heard of) Macross. Please.
Looks like someone's just irritated about the 15-year-old Inuyasha fangirls and Naruto fanboys running around at Hot Topic.
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IchigoK90
 Posts: 1634 Location: Scarborough, Ontario |
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Well I understand what the thread writer is saying since did feel like that a while back but not anymore. Even I was like that once and then I got recommended to some other anime and soon I started looking for anime by myself and now i'm glad I branched out from just watching stuff on tv. I've been able to watch great series and movies because of that. Anyways I don't have anything against people calling themselves anime fans even if the only anime they watch is on tv because thats how a lot of anime fans start out.
However I had a very similar experience to the thread writer. I was invited into a group conversation on msn messenger and all they talked about was Naruto. I pointed out that there are much better anime than Naruto because at that time I was sorta pissed with the fillers and all and then they started flaming me. Good thing is I couldn't read what they said because they kept typing up messages that none of them stayed long enough the stay on the screen. "Believe it!" - IchigoK90 |
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wanirose
Posts: 128 |
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A lot of people have already stated it, but you don't have to see what you considered to be "the classics" to be an anime fan. The problem with "the classics," as you call them, is that everybody has their own opinions on what they actually are. Some people would consider some of the older animes as the classics, and others would think that the most popular anime titles are the classics. And since everybody has there own tastes and personal favorites, you can't state what everybody has to like.
When Mr._Tym said
IchigoK90 wrote:
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Hi wanirose
 interesting comments. I myself wholheartedly approve of being aware of classic anime, and I think most longtime anime fans would agree that classics are the titles that came out of the "Golden Age" of anime beginning with the early 80's up until about the early 90's. Something I do want to point out in addition to the problem of fans obsessed only with a handful of new anime series is the issue of fans my age who only obsess over certain classics and completely ignore new stuff. And yes, I am that age where I am familiar with those titles that have come out in the time period I have mentioned.
There are many anime fans who I meet who proclaim that anime now is not as good as in "the good old days" and I believe that couldn't be further from the truth. Personally I think anime is both evolving and getting better (in both quality and presentation). I love a lot of the older series that have set the standards for today's anime but there are so many series that have only just recently replaced older ones on my list of top favorites. It is a great time right now to be an anime fan these days so what I say: don't obsess over all the new popular stuff or all the old classic stuff, instead love all that Japan has to offer and watch as much anime as you can, both old and new. |
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daristar
Posts: 49 |
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Why not just suggest some other titles that they might find interesting since they like such and such anime? Heck let them borrow DVD's if you have them and you're reasonably sure you'll get them back.
They're likely obsessed because that's all they've been exposed to or seen. As a kid I was all about Starblazers because a local TV channel actually showed the first 2 seasons (Iscandar and Comet Empire) in the afternoons. But since that was all I really had to watch it's pretty reasonable that I'd be obsessed about it. HS and college I'd watch what I could find, but between other pursuits and lack of money it was hard to keep up. Now I DL and buy stuff that perks my interest or I just want. I even went back and bought Starblazers on DVD. Then again I'm a maniac in keeping up with new stuff and going to look for older stuff. Oh yeah and if they have digital cable they can probably get some Anime through OnDemand (I get the feeling lots of people don't know that). |
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