[DEMONSLAYER68]

Where i live i've never had problems really My friends used to enjoy anime some still do, my parents were like meh my Mum watched some but didn't like it and my dad likes some of it but not all. when i was at college some of the friends i made there liked it and others were like it's ok. i do get weird looks in the street tho for having the visual kei look tho but i'm like w/e you got your look i got mine

[Arctic]

Mom says it's for kid ... FU mom I'm old enough not to listen to you lol
Dad don't care and prefers to have a shot of vodka with me
Frineds ... some don't care some laugh to it ... like I care ... they know that if they pi** me off I will beat them quite enough to shut their trap anyway since it's not their bussines what I watch as it's n ot mine to judge them cause of what they like lol xD

[Phoenix44]

Anime and manga will never be fully accepted in American society because it is too foreign. Even shows that have crossed the border don't "click" with society because we have too much cultural difference. Even if the shows are English dubbed, the settings always seem off (i.e. there are no Udon shops anywhere in the suburbs of Detroit). IMO, I think this still partly stems from the resentment of Japan during WWII and the bombings of Pearl Harbor, then Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's unfortunate because some pretty sweet shit has come from Japan.

[TwistedLunacy]

In short...no and yes. I havn't told the people who i know wouldn't accept it, but i have told the people who will and have accepted it. I think it's easier that way.

IMO i find that most people don't like what they can't understand, and anime/manga seems to be one of those things that just doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Anime is a form of entertainment which i vastly enjoy much more than anything on the TV at the moment, thats why i know i'll always love it, it's just sad that most people arn't more open minded about it.

^Agreed, lots of sweet shit has came out of Japan XD

[Kyle_Dimetri]

Jamaican society----HELL NO!!!!!!!!

[Michelaxx]

In my place, people think of anime as another kind of cartoon, so it's fine.
The society accepts my hobby. My family and friends know about it and they don't mind. In fact, my friends read manga & watch anime too, just not as much as I do.
My parents give me money to buy manga (I collect it), it doesn't matter to them as long as I manage my time well.

[realglitch]

I take my katana and force people around me to accept anime! *raises sword.*

[OtakuDao]

Well, I live in the states specifically New York City.
People in my area know about anime and manga and a lot watch and read it as well.
But as far as a anime hobby goes I don't think many people are into that.

I usually post my figures and posters I recently get on facebook and people usually tell me it's a waste of money or it's stupid to buy those etc etc.

Anime and Manga? Recognized.
As a Hobby? Nope.

[dokidokifr]

Originally Posted by chococya96

and the question is does your society accepts your hobby of these? like from family members, friends, colleagues, co-workers, strangers etc??

Pretty much, no.

I think my co-workers know I watch "Japanese cartoons". One girl is slightly more enlightened as she was looking over my shoulder as I was watching a recent episode of Another during the... um... umbrella moment. She was quite shocked, I wonder if before she imagined I was watching a slanty-eyed version of Road runner or somesuch?!

I think animé suffers from the Japanese having a different mindset, so a lot of stuff that is fairly normal in animé can come across as rather pervy to somebody only prepared to give it a cursory examination. Not to mention that animated material spans age ranges from stuff aimed firmly at tots right up to stuff that might be too heavy for sensitive teenagers. Plus one thing I have noticed is that death is often dealt with full on, in a manner that would be jarring to a westerner for death is often a silent private thing in western media unless it is the butt of the joke (most post-modern zombie films, for instance). Even in horror films, the body count is so high that cheerleaders being mowed down by a chainsaw is some screaming, some splashing blood, and more screaming by other people. It's a little hard to take seriously.

Then there's the school uniform. You know the one. Everybody knows the one. It's the one that has "wannabe paedo" written all over it. Because why the hell would a thirty-something year old male watch something with lots of girls in school uniform? Let us not forget that in places where uniforms are normal, they turn up a lot on television - the early Harry Potter films, any teenager in Neighbours, for example. But no, animé is something else entirely. Especially when one prude sees one "panty shot".

it is very childish and unethical to have this kind of hobby.

For a long time in the UK there was a problem with the ratings of animé. A lot of people associate "cartoons" and "children". This does not prepare them for what to do when confronted with, say, Genocyber.

they will ridicule me for having "bad" hobbies.

I live in France, so my reply is "tu regarde le football, moi je regarde ce; si il est un problème, franchement, casse-toi pauvre con...".
For those who don't speak French, this means "you watch football, I watch this; if there's a problem, frankly, f*ck you asshole".
[the "casse-toi pauvre con", I must point out, was an expression taught to me by Mr. Sarkozy, Monsieur Le President! ]

if your an otaku

I'm a geek and proud of it. When I go home from work and it's not an animé night, I fire up my compiler. ARM is my speciality. Not for work, for fun. Other people listen to rap. Others make out. Some hit the pubs and blow too much of their pay on destroying their livers. Everybody is different, it's rather comic how some things are "cool" and some things are "sad"; though to be honest I think the majority are sheep and only follow into this cool/sad distinction because everybody else does. I'm way past giving a shit.
Repeat after me: Casse-toi pauvre con.

even if it doesn't hinders your social life

I don't have a social life. Things are very uncomplicated. If people wish to insult me behind my back, that's their perogative. I have much more respect for those who insult me to my face, but few people do as they might have to defend their ill informed opinions.

But I live in hope. I have episode one of "Elfen Lied" on my phone, just in case somebody is brave enough to accuse me of watching kid's stuff. I'll hand them the phone and see how much they get through before the penny drops.

I mean, there are millions of other hobbies which some of them are really gay/worse though,

You're in danger of destroying your own argument here. There are a myriad of hobbies, not all of which are accepted by the mainstream. Leave it at that.

Sure you can just say "Oh who cares about it... its our hobbies anyway... why the fuck we should care about others thinking??"

That's exactly what I do say and think.

but hey, we're living in a world where it is inevitable to escape from socializing with others unless you lock yourself in an basement.

There are degrees of socialising. I don't go to parties or out to bars with co-workers. I just don't find I derive any pleasure from such events. But I take break with them, I work with them.
I am quite happy to run my life to my own schedule. If they don't like it, say it with me...

( Click to show/hide )

casse-toi pauvre con

(spoiler text to see if you remembered the phrase)

They would immediately say "Oh isn't that hentai??",

I would be SO proud if ANY of them knew a word like "hentai". Or in fact any Japanese word that wasn't a make of car or appliance...

you will get the "looks" from everyone, as if your an outcast...

Yeah. Stopped caring about that when I was, like, ten.

- Is being obessed with anime good or bad??

Some people are obsessed with football. Some with cricket. Some with rugby. Some with Kerry Katona. Some with making money, some with making out. I reckon the word obsession is frequently misused. I don't enjoy my cute panty-flashing schoolgirls to the detriment of my life. I don't receive my pay and hit Amazon for the latest DVD box sets before the bills have been seen to. Nor do I refuse to talk to somebody because such-and-such is on, or wet myself because that movie adaption went on and on and on and I couldn't handle pausing...
No. I like animé. In its way it's a form of escapism no more or less than the things western TV offers up, from Avatar and Stargate to New Girl and Firefly. These are all things we watch to distract us from the shit that passes for reality. My liking of animé is because it is where I've learned to come for a decent story that won't patronise me. Sure, not all animé falls into that category, but I don't watch all animé. Consider "Time of Eve" (if you haven't seen this, do so asap!). Once you have, and once you've had time to discuss the many points raised with somebody else, ask yourself if it would work as well as live action. Ask if Hollywood could remake it (either live action or a pixar thing) without missing the point and utterly breaking it. Some stuff just works well in animated/drawn form. If enjoying this makes me a sad sack, so be it. I could care less.


Oh dear. Long reply. I'll stop here too.


d.

[realglitch]

The umbrella scene in Another. It would have been fun to see the expression on her face when seeing that. lol
I remember having similar moment when I put on a dvd of Akira and the massive shooting that happens toward the beginning when a character is surrounded by soldiers.