To all you no-justification Anime Haters out there: Watch Before You Judge!

 Okay, I just want to talk about something that's been bothering me lately. People are often inquisitive about my decision to move to Japan. It's fine, because I recognize that wanting to permanently move to a country other than the one you were raised in could seem somewhat unusual to some people, and to be honest, I really like having the opportunity to educate people about Japan.  I enjoy teaching people about a country and culture that they are unfamiliar with, and I am always especially excited to teach people about cultural and subcultural nuances in depth because that's what I'm passionate about. It's why I became an anthropologist, of course! Many people I meet here in the States very much like their home town and can't picture themselves living anywhere else, and I totally understand that.

 What I HAVE been having a hard time with lately, is the following series of comments from some Americans I have met who seem to know nothing about Japanese Animation:
"Anime? Isn't that those Japanese porn cartoons?" or "Anime, that's stupid, isn't that for kids?" (the list goes on, ranging from insults to accusations.)

 This is generally followed by either a large sigh or frustrated sputtering that I struggle to contain (mostly because there are sometimes profanities involved). After all, it is my job as an anthropologist to be understanding (as much as possible, because let's face it, we all have our moments...) of other people's views, no matter how ignorant or un-informed they may seem to me. My job, I find, is sometimes to break down cultural stereotypes and try to bring understanding to others who have been living under a rock and make accusations about things like this with no prior knowledge of the topic to back it up.

 I can understand how a lot of people don't know much about Japanese Animation (Anime is pronounced in Japanese as "Ahh Nee May"). Unless you are a part of the recently rising generation of anime fans in the United States (these are mostly between the ages of 8 and 25) then you are probably not too familiar with anime. There are many exceptions to this, of course, but I find the older the person is that I talk to about anime in the United States, the less likely they are to know anything about it. Of course, this is a natural consequence to the fact that Anime only recently blew up in popularity in the past ten years (plus, the interwebs, because it's awesome), and I am totally okay with explaining to people why I really like a lot of Anime, but insults and biases about an entire medium is just uncalled for. Why? Because it not only shows a lot of ignorance, it also shows that the person is seriously closed-minded. I mean, seriously people, we live in an age where you can get almost any information you need off the internet in seconds, and you can't take a few of those seconds to go look up some more about something you're going to bash insult others about. Really? REALLY?

 That being said, I actually do take the time to explain the following:
 The reason I came to love anime is because the medium is as diverse in style, theme, and topic choice as film.   You can find Anime about nearly any topic, taking place in all imaginable kinds of universes, with all kinds of people, things, and happenings. Anime is only called Anime because it is comprised of animation as opposed to Live Action Filming. This means that you can have any genre you like (and some that are multiple genres put together and brought to you in an all new light!).

Samurai Champloo is a genre-bending thrill ride of Awesome, in my opinion. It was fairly popular in the United States on Cartoon Network for a while, but came nowhere near as popular as Cowboy Beebop.

 Cowboy Beebop is the anime that literally changed my opinion on the medium forever. It was full of such vibrant storytelling, animation, and character development that I loved it more than any other show I had seen when I was 14 (and it is still one of my favorite series of all time). Furthermore, it was about Science Fiction, Space-Cowboy-Bounty-Hunters in the future and the way they told the stories of all the characters involved was often nothing short of poetic, and really pulled you in to the universe. Furthermore, Japanese Animation intrigued me as a child and encouraged me to learn more about the culture it came from. I wanted to know why they were telling stories with much different influences and themes than the ones I saw here in the United States (and, most importantly, I wanted to know where I could find a Kickass Gundam! When is science finally going to give us Gundams?!) But seriously, all joking aside, Anime is a fantastic way to get people interested in Japanese culture. And no, it's not just for children. There are anime series and films designed for all different age groups (some of the ones designed for adults are so violent and graphic by US censorship standards that they would most certainly be rated R in the United States. Maybe even NC-17 in some instances...)

Cowboy Beebop would probably be that fuzzy line between PG13 and R because of all the blood and violence, but I think it's already to be just PG13. Beebop broke out in America on the television network Cartoon Network (back when the block of Anime cartoons known as "Toonami" used to air every night past 9 PM) and is often credited as being one of the most succesful international anime series of all time because it aired during the years when anime went from being a niche interest to a full-blown phenomenon here in the States.

Someone on Giant Bombcast made this about Toonami when Cartoon Network decided to pull the plug on their all-anime block in 2008. I agree, I was quite sad that they decided to can their Toonami programming, as it was a great way to watch new anime series in the US (although I will admit sometimes they didn't pick the best shows of the anime crop for their programming slots. Usually they were very good).

 And for those of you out there who don't know, there is actually Animated Pornography in Japan, so the rather crude comment above is not entirely without grounding. The genre is usually referred to as Hentai (pronounced Hen-tai-ee)and yes, a lot of people do watch it. I make educated guesses ranging from "it might be because in Japan pornography must be censored around areas showing genitalia (meaning they are blurred out) or the fact that Japanese people are immersed in a culture full of animated characters since they day they are born." Mascots for all kinds of companies and products are animated characters, and therefore there is probably less aversion to animated pornography in a country with such conditions. (You can feel free to argue with me here, because I don't pretend to be ultra-knowledgeable about this particular point).

I'm not putting a video here, for obvious reasons! If' you're that curious then go look it up yourself!

 The main point I'm really trying to make here is that I don't like when people make accusations and insults to those who love Japanese Animation when they have nothing to back their reasoning up. They've never watched it. They just make assumptions based on hearsay or the people they see watching anime. They merely speak ignorance about the entire medium and therefore end up insulting or hurting others due to their stupidity. Maybe I have just happened to run into a lot of closed-minded people in my life (and apparently Brian has as well, because he has also run into people who spout of this nonsense.). Now, don't get me wrong, I totally understand not liking anime, I just think spreading hate and ignorance around isn't the right thing to do. Make an educated decision! Please!

 What do you think about it? Have you run into people that sneer at you or give you a close-minded opinion about Anime when you tell them you watch it? Or am I just meeting a lot of anime haters in my path?

Signing out for now,
 Lady Lara Jones

Photo from Icanhascheezburger.com, where you can get your daily dose of LOLCats.