Anime culture and D&D

[I'm A Banana]

Granted, stuff like Miyazaki is big--like the opening of a new Disney animated feature here. But otherwise guys who sit around watching a lot of anime are considered just as dorky in Japan as they are here.

From my experience talking with people who have lived there and actual Japanese people:

No more than Americans sitting around watching Lord of the Rings movies and X-Men movies and Spiderman movies.

In other words, people like good entertainment. There's a slight cultural bias in the US against animation as a universal storytelling vehicle, as opposed to something that's "just for kids," but it's definately nothing major, especially recently (and with the greater use of computer animation).

But people who really love, say, Dragonball Z to the point of obsession are just as dorky in JApan as the guys who really love DBZ here, and people who have an encyclopedic knowledge of Doctor Doom over here are just as nerdy either of 'em.

Dorkiness is evidenced by obsessive fandom in a casual pusuit, right?

 

[mhacdebhandia]

There have been a few just off the top of my head but I wouldn't really compare most of them to their animated inspriations. You want to see live action anime, watch Kung Fu Hustle.

I have watched that, indeed. I could do without the lame slapstick, but that's clearly a cultural thing: it's not cringeworthy in Japan (or Korea, cf. Volcano High) for the badass to become a boob whenever the girl he likes walks by.

On the other hand, Stephen Chow's character really is a boob for most of that movie, so it works a lot better.

 

[Ranger REG]

Oh, definitely! Wuxia is a great genre of film, and I'm a gigantic fan. You may want to look up Dragonfist, Ranger; it's a PDF that was recently updated from AD&D to d20, aimed at recreating wuxia.

Look up [AD&D] Dragon Fist? I already have it ... way before Y2K.

I'm still waiting for Green Ronin to revive it.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Speak for yourself. I think the Simpsons is vastly over-rated by "geek subculture".

Futurama, then?

 

[Ranger REG]

From my experience talking with people who have lived there and actual Japanese people:

No more than Americans sitting around watching Lord of the Rings movies and X-Men movies and Spiderman movies.

In other words, people like good entertainment. There's a slight cultural bias in the US against animation as a universal storytelling vehicle, as opposed to something that's "just for kids," but it's definately nothing major, especially recently (and with the greater use of computer animation).

But people who really love, say, Dragonball Z to the point of obsession are just as dorky in JApan as the guys who really love DBZ here, and people who have an encyclopedic knowledge of Doctor Doom over here are just as nerdy either of 'em.

Dorkiness is evidenced by obsessive fandom in a casual pusuit, right?

Anime is dorky in Japan?

Yeah, and Angelina Jolie is actually my licensed wife.

The one thing I like about Japan, your parents won't tell you to grow out of your comic books, because they're reading comic books (manga) themselves.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Anime is dorky in Japan?

Yeah, and Angelina Jolie is actually my licensed wife.

The one thing I like about Japan, your parents won't tell you to grow out of your comic books, because they're reading comic books (manga) themselves.

Well, I was more trying to make the point that still reading comics made for little kids (like Pokemon) when you're 45 is dorky in Japan.

It would be like if someone never grew out of Hardy Boys novels over here.

But people move onto different novels over here and different manga over there.

(And the whole stunted adolescence thing is a cultural bag of worms I will choose not to open. )

 

[Ranger REG]

Well, I was more trying to make the point that still reading comics made for little kids (like Pokemon) when you're 45 is dorky in Japan.

It would be like if someone never grew out of Hardy Boys novels over here.

Hardy Boys not made for adults?

It could have been worse, like reading the Harry Potter collection, or The Night Before Christmas.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Anime is dorky in Japan?

Yeah, and Angelina Jolie is actually my licensed wife.

It's fairly ubiquitous at the same time, which is somewhat confusing... but it really is/ seems to be the case. "Otaku", which many western fans identify as a cool name to call themselves is really not a positive thing in Japanese culture. Obsessive fandom is seen very poorly over there, from what I understand.

There's a difference between watching a bit of something and being an Otaku. A lot of it is "just there", I guess. A matter of degrees, I guess.

The one thing I like about Japan, your parents won't tell you to grow out of your comic books, because they're reading comic books (manga) themselves.

This is true, but also because many of the current crop of Japanese and Korean (I'm not sure about Chinese) parents are fairly indulgent of their children, and it is shameful to draw attention to social flaws (even if they are only perceived).

---
All that being said, I like a number of anime things. As far as D&D goes, there have been occasions when I stolen a story here and there, but I tend to prefer wuxia action for D&D, and use BESM for easier anime emulation.

There are some shows I really like, and some I really don't. Just like most things. Lucky for me, there's enough of a variety for me to enjoy from time to time, from silly slapstick (for when I want a giggle) to dramas, to action (over the top or otherwise). Certainly not worth going on a messageboard and spouting off about HOW. MUCH. IT. SUCKS. AND. IS. SO. UN. REAL. ISTIC!

We are talking about animated characters, here. It's not supposed to represent reality.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

I think thunder cats was done in japan too, along with maybe silver hawks. I know it had the same voice acters (the voice of liono in particular) , and the animation looks very similar.

Transformers has japan written all over it. can we say mecha?

anime is just cartoons from japan. Nothing more, nothing less. They have a much wider range then American cartoons have, i will give you that. just like American cartoons though, most of its junk, and some of its art, but you will find some topics that American cartoons wont touch (R rated content) , so their is a benefit to watching anime if you love animation

 

[Desdichado]

Dorkiness is evidenced by obsessive fandom in a casual pusuit, right?

Fair enough, and I think that (in general) Japanese society is slightly more forgiving to it's "geek crowd" than American culture. Slightly.

But that's not based on the POV of an insider. That's based on the reports of slightly geeky Americans living in Japan.

Anime is dorky in Japan?

Yeah, and Angelina Jolie is actually my licensed wife.

*sigh* And the myth continues. Personally, I believe that it's self-perpetuating--all these geeky guys who feel that society is "keeping them down" because of their geeky habits want to imagine a place where they can do exactly what they do now and not be seen as geeks, but it really is just an imaginary place, IMO.

It doesn't hurt that Japan is also full of perky women who wear tiny little school girl outfits and is the place where bukkake was invented either, I suppose.