Anime Anguish

Typical anime girl

There are multitudes of cultures and sub-cultures running within the average American high school. One such culture centers around the obsession (bordering on worship in  extreme cases) with the Japanese animating style, anime. Given the prominence of this new anime fad, I was unsurprised when I was asked a certain question upon my arrival in Japan."Do you like anime?" inquired nearly every other foreign exchange student I met (most of whom adorned themselves in memorabilia from various animated shows and movies). Despite my preparation for this question and the inevitable disappointment of my conversation partners, I was incredibly shocked by the query that followed--"If you don't like anime, then why are you interested in Japan?" To me, Japan had always seemed such a fascinating country, a harmonious dichotomy between an ancient, spiritual culture and a highly modernized lifestyle. Japan is famous for its fashion, cuisine and advanced technology. Seeing that my peers had set their interests solely in cutesy animated television rather than the beautiful culture, I committed myself fully to understanding Japan on a deeper level--but such a commitment does not lend itself to an easy and stress-free life. My own passion for Japanese language and culture became associated with band of people with no appreciation for Japan's heritage, no respect for the complex linguistics and no care for their embarrassing tendencies (such as cosplay).

Otaku in cosplay

Due to the heavy dramatization of Japan in anime, a great many misconceptions reside within those who fervently watch anime. For a pedantic scholar of Japanese culture and language such as myself, these misunderstandings are a constant irritation, like an itch that refuses to remain scratched. Many fans of anime (or "otaku" as they call themselves) attempt to gain a knowledge of the Japanese language simply by watching shows in Japanese, but usually end up with a few basic (and highly obnoxious) words as well as a garbled understanding of rudimentary Japanese grammar. Often these otaku consider themselves absolutely correct, even when presented with evidence by someone actually studying the language in earnest. I do believe that if I were to view another Youtube comment deeming something"kawaii<3<3" (cute) or wishing that American girls were more like Japanese girls (at least as they are portrayed in Sailor Moon) I may well reach a breaking point. Due to my interest in Japan, I am often associated with these otaku (who are targets or derision both on the internet and in real life). I chafe under this relation, but hesitate to correct the people around me at risk of sounding pretentious.

Piling upon these offenses against Japanese language and culture, many otaku express their love for their favorite anime by dressing as a character portrayed in the show. While it is understandable for an individual to show off their obsessions, cosplay has received a very bad name in most circles and is met with ridicule by many. I fully admit to being embarrassed whenever I see a cosplayer at a Japanese cultural function, simply because I know that such a display of utter "wapanese"tendencies will ultimately affect how people see serious students of Japanese such as myself.

I do not mean to imply, however, that I have never seen an anime. As a child I greatly loved movies by Miyazaki Hayao, a director regarded as the Walt Disney of Japan. Even to this day I greatly respect Miyazaki for the complex nature and moral intricacies of his movies. In my Freshman year of high school I even joined the anime club, hoping to find another individual with a love of Japanese culture and language. I was sorely disappointed to say the least. In this club I met no one studying Japanese with any seriousness, and left the club feeling perhaps more alone than when I had joined it.

The new and the old

I did, however, find solace in my weekly Japanese classes and my studies in traditional Japanese tea ceremony. My peers in these classes still find it odd that I do not have a fondness for Naruto or suchlike, but they maintain a love for many of the things that I care for as well. In the end, one of the best things about Japan is its incredible ability to balance the old and the new, the sacredly spiritual and the unapologetically secular. While I resent being associated in any way with the sort of people who love Japan purely due to an unhealthy obsession with anime, I accept that the association will always be made. This helps to slightly lessen the impulse to smack an otaku every once in a while.