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[entremet]

I don't watch much anime anymore, although I do dabble and have sizable collection of old favorites on DVD--Ghibli (need to upgrade to Blu), Cowboy Bebop, EVA, Gurren Laggan probably my last anime on physical format.

I also catch stuff on Netflix and Hulu these days.

I did catch Space Dandy and rent a lot of the more well regarded stuff.

I know we like to joke about anime in geek circles. It's like the red headed stepchild of the geek community.

But for outside of it, is it considered ultra geeky?

I say this because over the years, I've introduced various anime movies and series to folks of all kinds, old girlfriends, some coworkers, and the response has always been positive. They never had the weird hangups geek have about anime. Like it's some weird shame.

There could be a selection bias effect, as I generally have shared and recommend the "classics". I never recommend EVA since it's so out there. But Ghibli, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Macross Plus, Ninja Scroll, and so one have been pretty well received.

The only times I hear people put down anime, again is in geek circles.

I had a old boss that I completely converted to Ghibli stuff. She started buying all the DVDs and later Blurays for her young kids.

As a note, I never used the term "anime" as it makes no sense to many people. I just say animation.

When did anime become the whipping boy of the geek community?

 

[Slayven]

EVA

Like neckbeard crack.

 

[Warxard]

Went from ultra-geeky to ultra creepy.

 

[richiek]

From the late 90s to the early 2000s anime was kinda considered mainstream. But today, yeah it has a limited niche audience.

 

[Nightbird]

Even Geeks need something to feel superior to.

Edit: all the moe Anime did make things easier for that

 

[bjork]

No. When your tapes came with this on the front end, you knew you were fixing to watch some dope shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIeLlDN8RsM

 

[Two Words]

I refuse to watch anime because it is anime. If a show looks interesting, I'll watch it. I always hated treating anime different than any other tv show or cartoon.

 

[entremet]

Went from ultra-geeky to ultra creepy.

I'm aware of that, but like any other media, you can self select.

I don't really consume that stuff as it's not really appealing to me.

But there is still stuff like Wolf Children being made.

 

[Somnid]

I wouldn't say it's more "geeky" than anything else. For one it's absolutely massive in scope ranging pretty much any and all genres and targeting males, females and children alike. I'd say the whipping comes from the more extreme parts of the community and sexual pandering.

 

[SparkleMotion]

Why does everyone act like Dragonball Z isn't anime? Dragonball Z is beloved in pop culture, and even athletes and celebrities reference Dragonball Z in social media. But then the same people who love it would be like "EWW, ANIME"

 

[The Technomancer]

I wouldn't say it's more "geeky" than anything else. For one it's absolutely massive in scope ranging pretty much any and all genres and targeting males, females and children alike. I'd say the whipping comes from the more extreme parts of the community and sexual pandering.

I would actually, since "anime" seems to be one of the last areas where the "geek experience" is still intact to any degree. Liking comic heroes, video games, hell even stuff like Magic doesn't really get you ostracized as a highschooler these days in the way it would have in the 80s or early 90s, but anime remains one of the interests that can create a genuine social divide

 

[120v]

i think so

back in the early-mid 90s "anime" was relegated to ponytail guys with stained Akira shirts, more or less. then it got mainstream with DBZ, cowboy bepop, ect but the people eating it up were the same demo plugging hours into everquest or whatever

at least that's been my experience the past 25 years

 

[entremet]

I would actually, since "anime" seems to be one of the last areas where the "geek experience" is still intact to any degree. Liking comic heroes, video games, hell even stuff like Magic doesn't really get you ostracized as a highschooler these days in the way it would have in the 80s or early 90s, but anime remains one of the interests that can create a genuine social divide

Really?

Things must have changed drastically then lol (80s kid here)

We thought anime, when we finally figured where it was from and how it was different, was cool.

The level of violence was much higher as well, which for a young boy's perspective, was always was plus!

But this was also before anime culture--dbz shirts and the like. We just liked the shows.

 

[flintstryker]

I would actually, since "anime" seems to be one of the last areas where the "geek experience" is still intact to any degree. Liking comic heroes, video games, hell even stuff like Magic doesn't really get you ostracized as a highschooler these days in the way it would have in the 80s or early 90s, but anime remains one of the interests that can create a genuine social divide

not in my experience animes and comics are pretty much the same on the geek scale here

 

[Saganator]

Anime is labeled geeky because a lot of the people who watch it are ultra geeky.

No offense AnimeGAF, but some of the anime folks I've known are the geekiest people I've met.

 

[Mortemis]

I wouldn't say it's more "geeky" than anything else. For one it's absolutely massive in scope ranging pretty much any and all genres and targeting males, females and children alike. I'd say the whipping comes from the more extreme parts of the community and sexual pandering.

I think it's because geek circles just have a lot more exposure to these parts of anime than a mainstream audience.

 

[entremet]

Anime is labeled geeky because a lot of the people who watch it are ultra geeky.

No offense AnimeGAF, but some of the anime folks I've known are the geekiest people I've met.

I mean, we're all posting in gaming forum so we all fall under the geek umbrella lol.

 

[The Technomancer]

not in my experience animes and comics are pretty much the same on the geek scale here

Experiences will vary, of course, but I think that if in conversation you casually mention that you read Superman comics the reaction today would at least be "oh that's cool I liked Man of Steel" while saying that you're catching up on Sword Art Online (and the ensuing explanation) would still get you some looks

 

[entremet]

Experiences will vary, of course, but I think that if in conversation you casually mention that you read Superman comics the reaction today would at least be "oh that's cool I liked Man of Steel" while saying that you're catching up on Sword Art Online (and the ensuing explanation) would still get you some looks

What about Naruto? Both anime and manga?

That was pretty mainstream with my younger brother's generation.

 

[Dice//]

I refuse to watch anime because it is anime. If a show looks interesting, I'll watch it. I always hated treating anime different than any other tv show or cartoon.

I like this.

When I was young I definitely did watch any anime I can find... seeing how much is shit makes me treat it like other cartoons. If a show is good, it's good; if it's not, it's not, regardless what it is or where it's from.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Anime is labeled geeky because a lot of the people who watch it are ultra geeky.

No offense AnimeGAF, but some of the anime folks I've known are the geekiest people I've met.

Yeah, the people who went to my university's "anime-club" were really....something. As someone who had always been really interested in anime after watching Cowboy Bebop, I ended up eagerly joining the club as a freshman. After attending a couple of meetings though, they pretty much ended up putting me off the medium entirely. I wish each one of them all the happiness in the world, but they were probably the most awkward and painfully repressed people I'd ever met and all the stuff they'd eventually choose for us to watch was pretty...bizarre.

 

[Saganator]

I mean, we're all posting in gaming forum so we all fall under the geek umbrella lol.

True but there are degrees of geek, man.

If you saw me walking down the street, you would have no clue that I'm a gamer and total space geek. The anime geeks I'm talking about, you'd know they like anime the second you lay eyes on or talk to them.

 

[entremet]

I like this.

When I was young I definitely did watch any anime I can find... seeing how much is shit makes me treat it like other cartoons. If a show is good, it's good; if it's not, it's not, regardless what it is or where it's from.

Well one thing though, anime that made it abroad usually had a vetting process of sorts.

The West was sparred from a lot of terrible anime too.

Same thing happens today, it's not like the West gets a lot of the loli stuff either. There's just not a huge market for it.

 

[Daingurse]

It felt pretty mainstream during the DBZ Toonami era over here in America, but other than that I think it's been a really geeky niche.

 

[dorkkaos]

Experiences will vary, of course, but I think that if in conversation you casually mention that you read Superman comics the reaction today would at least be "oh that's cool I liked Man of Steel" while saying that you're catching up on Sword Art Online (and the ensuing explanation) would still get you some looks

I don't know, I think it more depends on which anime you're talking about. If you say you watch something as ubiquitous as Dragon Ball Z, a lot of people would probably have say that's cool. Heck, where i'm from, Initial D or Pokemon, i'd get the same response. But if I said I watch the power rangers, i'd probably get looks lol. it's probably more, how mainstream something is and the topic of the story.

 

[Mortemis]

Experiences will vary, of course, but I think that if in conversation you casually mention that you read Superman comics the reaction today would at least be "oh that's cool I liked Man of Steel" while saying that you're catching up on Sword Art Online (and the ensuing explanation) would still get you some looks

Nah, when I was in high school (like, 2 yrs ago), you can casually drop what you think about DBZ or Naruto and no one would give a crap. I don't think it's fair to use superman in your argument and then use something like SAO.

 

[daviyoung]

anything other than Pokemon and DBZ was for the nerds

and if you were over 13 then Pokemon and DBZ fell into that bracket too

 

[Chairmanchuck]

I would actually, since "anime" seems to be one of the last areas where the "geek experience" is still intact to any degree. Liking comic heroes, video games, hell even stuff like Magic doesn't really get you ostracized as a highschooler these days in the way it would have in the 80s or early 90s, but anime remains one of the interests that can create a genuine social divide

Which might be because parts of the fandom are annoying as hell. I actually think there was a demographic shift around 2002/2003. Before that I remember most people in this fandom were adults that see it as what it is. Entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less. You had your ultra-fans, but they werent really as loud as now.

Then when the Internet got more and more popular around 2003-2005 and it was far easier to consume anime instead of downloading them through dubious methods, now "children" could consume this entertainment product. And thats when it went downhill in my experience. You had 12 year old people trying to convince others that anime are mature, because in Elfenlied people die in a gory way.
You had often social-outcasts, who use that medium as some sort of escapism and in my experience dont really have much knowledge about it themselves, but pretend they do and kinda act like missionaries of anime/manga.
You have those people who use japanese phrases in their sentences because "Japan is the country where milk and honey flows".

The medium itself has problems, but I think the main reason why people think "anime-fans" are weird, social outcasts is because of those "weaboos". I mean if I go to the bookstore and want to buy manga, I can be sure 2-3 sit there in their cosplays reading manga for free and being loud.

A japanese teacher at my old university once told me that usually half of her language courses have those people, that either dress up as Visual Kei fans or go to a university lecture in their cosplay and she found it quite sad, that the country is reduced to this.

(And like I said. Usually the loudest and most obnoxious ones are the ones that dont even have much knowledge about their fandom/entertainment medium and the ones that you can talk to without any awkwardness and wouldnt notice they watch anime (because they dont define themselves through it) are the ones you could talk hours about the medium, historical changes, shifting in the medium and of course anime/manga itself).

Yeah, the people who went to my university's "anime-club" were really....something. As someone who had always been really interested in anime after watching Cowboy Bebop, I ended up eagerly joining the club as a freshman. After attending a couple of meetings though, they pretty much ended up putting me off the medium entirely. I wish each one of them all the happiness in the world, but they were probably the most awkward and painfully repressed people I'd ever met and all the stuff they'd eventually choose for us to watch was pretty...bizarre.

Find out what you like by yourself. I would never go into an anime-club. I mean I go to an anime convention almost every year and you find a lot of the people I described in the upper paragraph there. But also the ones you can talk to on a normal level.

 

[Sonicbug]

Public consciousness of anime seems to change every five to ten years and is confined to this set of labels:

Cartoons from Japan (Speed Racer) -> Giant Robots from Japan (early 80s) -> "Ultra violent porn cartoons"- mst3k, Late 80s early 90s -> late 90s "kids stuff" pokemon/dbz/sailor moon -> COWBOY BEEBOP! GHIBLI! ART! early 2000s -> market crash -> Creepy loli stuff (now)

Considering how difficult it was to access certain anime for years on end it tended to be niche and thus, geeky. With comic book movies going mainstream anime is still seen as more geeky. There you go. I personally think it's been slowly getting less Ultra geeky in the mainstream, despite the weird reputation it has on the internet because of the shows Japan tends to pump out in a desperate bid to stay in business.

 

[richiek]

Anime is labeled geeky because a lot of the people who watch it are ultra geeky.

No offense AnimeGAF, but some of the anime folks I've known are the geekiest people I've met.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQScjlXbBE

 

[Santiako]

Let's email Stevie and ask him.

 

[entremet]

Public consciousness of anime seems to change every five to ten years and is confined to this set of labels:

Cartoons from Japan (Speed Racer) -> Giant Robots from Japan (early 80s) -> "Ultra violent porn cartoons"- mst3k, Late 80s early 90s -> late 90s "kids stuff" pokemon/dbz/sailor moon -> COWBOY BEEBOP! GHIBLI! ART! early 2000s -> market crash -> Creepy loli stuff (now)

Considering how difficult it was to access certain anime for years on end it tended to be niche and thus, geeky. With comic book movies going mainstream anime is still seen as more geeky. There you go. I personally think it's been slowly getting less Ultra geeky in the mainstream, despite the weird reputation it has on the internet because of the shows Japan tends to pump out in a desperate bid to stay in business.

That's a very cool summary.

I came in the ultra violent porn cartoon era--mostly via VHS fansubs, sold in my local comic book shop. It was very illegal lol. But it was surprisingly common with anime.

 

[ShaoranWright]

I like this.

When I was young I definitely did watch any anime I can find... seeing how much is shit makes me treat it like other cartoons. If a show is good, it's good; if it's not, it's not, regardless what it is or where it's from.

I'm on the same page, I mean, after watching anime for 20 years straight you treat this as any other type of tv show/movie and if the premise is good, ok, if not, I'm not gonna waste my time with that,

 

[Aureon]

Anime ain't geekdom by any stretch where i live.
Actually, my most social-butterly friends are heavy anime fans, both sexes.
Geeks tend to like anime, though. But there's really no causation the other way round.

 

[Saganator]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQScjlXbBE

Haha, that pretty much nails it.

 

[Gonzalez]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQScjlXbBE

That is a damn accurate video.

 

[andymcc]

Ghibli stuff and DBZ are pretty much exempt from being classified as normal anime to most people but, otherwise, there is some truth to this. I blame it on the amount of creepy pandering shit that's even in the most mainstream of popular series (SAO is a good example) nowadays.

 

[Steez]

Just make sure to not mention your fanaticism towards anime to a new potential roommate and you should be golden.

edit:

Let's email Stevie and ask him.

fuck, beaten.

 

[Gonzalez]

Just make sure to not mention your fanaticism towards anime to a new potential girlfriend and you should be golden.

FTFY

 

[Chairmanchuck]

On another note its totally different in China than in the West.

Somehow in the west you have the "weeaboos", that revolve their life around anime, waifus whatever. but in China Anime/Manga are actually an accepted medium.
I actually havent encountered one of those obnoxious fans here. Quite contrary I know a lot of people who like anime (especially One Piece is extremely popular here and Fate/Stay Night besides 80s anime) and you would never notice that these people like anime, build Gunplas etc.
Even at conventions they actually act like decent human beings, not what I encountered at german anime conventions.

 

[radios shipping overview]

I would actually, since "anime" seems to be one of the last areas where the "geek experience" is still intact to any degree. Liking comic heroes, video games, hell even stuff like Magic doesn't really get you ostracized as a highschooler these days in the way it would have in the 80s or early 90s, but anime remains one of the interests that can create a genuine social divide

It's visibility. I think this has to do with who's making money off nerd culture, and what parts of it have penetrated the mainstream because of the megacorps who are basing their business models around it now. If it's visible everywhere, it's just part of the everyday landscape and it's only historically geeky.

Anime has never been very visible in the states aside from a few popular cartoons and the occasional Ghibli film. And those aren't part of any huge US-focused marketing efforts. You have to be pretty self-directed to get into it.

There are tons and tons of socially suboptimal people who are into Star Wars, video games, and comic books, and who are very loud about them. But those people are less visible than the marketing for those things at the moment.

 

[teruterubozu]

The occasional anime is not geeky, just don't admit you're "an expert."

 

[Daingurse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQScjlXbBE

"Then one day I rented a vhs copy of Ninja Scroll from a Hollywood Video. It saved me. Anime raised me."

Lol, always loved this vid.

 

[Ultimadrago]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQScjlXbBE

I wish I could say this is very inaccurate...

 

[brawly]

It sure is. That's why finding out someone you know watches them and talk about it is all the sweeter.

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

Not at all. Once there was a race of doe eyed warrior elves with advanced technology, and their central spiritual practice was based around the watching and adoration of anime. They built resplendent idols from garage kits shipped over the mysterious waters between the peaks of the mountains, where the edge of the Earth could be seen. But, one day an evil demon with feathered tips and penchant for giving long speeches about his tragic origin stole upon their village in the night, whisking all the children away to his secret lair within the great volcano. At it's molten core there was no anime, and so the children learned to love sulfur and ash instead, smearing their faces with it, and frolicking with the fire lizards.

Please to buy next tape of VHS and find out how it all happens next time on Anime Was not Always Geeky: Ancestors of the Moon Lantern Part XVII, from A.D. Vision.

 

[Daingurse]

It sure is. That's why finding out someone you know watches them and talk about it is all the sweeter.

Precisely. Had a co-worker approach me in my cube one day, said the box for my Gon figure I keep in-said cube catched his eye. Turns out he likes anime and had recently binge watched all The Hunter x Hunter 2011 available on netflix and found the show amazing. Put my fist out immediately for a bump.

We just geeked the fuck out, which is frankly always fun. My office for whatever reason contains a lot of geeks. Grown ass geeks. Had a damn conversation about Mechagodzillas the other day.

 

[DominoKid]

Yes. Its something you hold close to the vest until you find out somebody else likes it. Like wrestling.

If it didnt air on Toonami or the WB saturday mornings block its nerdy.

 

[Mathaou]

Since the dawn of time.

 

[True Savior]

It must be a US thing or just a web phenomenon. Anime was considered ultra geeky (after people grew up watching some anime) but now it's its much more accepted and its a media that lots of people consume .