Suppose you’ve spent time on any digital space or social media platform in recent years. In that case, you’re probably no stranger to the popularization of Asian media and content in North America.
Take Squid Game, for example. The recent release of its second season had everyone talking about it online, sharing their favourite moments of the show or getting more viewers to follow their conspiracy theories about certain characters. The show is so popular it’s almost expected that people have seen it.
While series like Squid Game receive tremendous applause worldwide, there is another form of Asian media that some people can’t see in a good light: anime.
Be it with more popular shows like Attack on Titan or more niche ones like Fruits Basket, anime fans seem to have normalized judgment within their culture.
Deriving from somewhere online and through the sharing of experiences and cultures, there seems to exist this stigma that being an anime fan is worth being shamed for. But why?
For some, hearing the word anime immediately fosters certain images or words related to the community. This includes the term “weeb” — a word that’s been thrown across the internet on multiple occasions and, in recent years, tends to be used as an offensive descriptor to label anime fans.
Originating from the early 2000s, weeb is a shortened, more commonly used version of weeaboo, which describes a non-Japanese individual who has an overly passionate — and sometimes obsessive— interest in Japanese culture.
For some reason, these terms have become synonymous with anime culture. When people hear anime, they instantly think weeb, implying that those who watch anime, specifically here in North America, have an unhealthy fascination with the country this media derives from. This shaming has become so common that even anime fans call out people who tend to slander the entire community for their personal views.
The large size of the online anime community doesn’t help, as it opens opportunities for negative discourse and stereotypes to form. These include the belief that people who watch anime are socially awkward, have poor hygiene, and spend the entirety of their focus on these shows.
Anime fans also have an inexplicable correlation to other cultures that receive just as much judgment online. Whether it’s the Discord mod, e-girl, or gamer, people’s perception of each blends with the anime fan.
Though the most likely reason is due to how all these cultures share the same stereotypes, the disrespect they all receive is extremely harmful.
Take the Discord mod, for example. While these are simply people in charge of moderating channels on the software, they’re associated with terrible assumptions about their lifestyle, which primarily connects back to anime.
One user on Urban Dictionary defines a Discord mod as an individual “living on ramen as a weeb and knows every anime to exist and goes insane when you don’t follow Discord rules.”
A contributing factor to this shaming and judgement may be the activities held within the anime community. Some may see it as proof of an obsession or that they’re quite extensive. Instances of these include cosplaying as characters, visiting maid cafés — themed cafés where waitresses dress as maids and customers are treated like their “masters” — and, on a more rare and extreme occasion, marrying a hologram of a beloved anime character, something a Japanese man did in 2018.
This culture is unseen in North America, so while it is understandable to hold slight judgment for it, it’s unreasonable to associate fans of a form of foreign media with offensive labels.
The prevalence of these conversations has led to many anime fans feeling too scared or embarrassed to bring up their interest in it.
“I usually don’t show my weebiness to anyone other than my close friends (or other nerds) because I find the negatives outweigh the positives of doing so,” said a Reddit user in a thread titled, “Are you embarrassed to be an anime fan?”
Another user said that “anime fans are judged more by their own community than outsiders who in most cases just don’t care as long as you’re not too vocal about it.”
Anime is an incredible form of entertainment and has an intricacy that isn’t as commonly seen in North American media. From the detail of its animations to the complexity of its characters and storylines, there’s a reason why so many people love watching anime. A lot of the more popular shows have incredibly high ratings on IMDb.
So, while some fans may match the description of the unhealthy anime fan, most are simply people who enjoy watching shows that happen to be created in Japan. Other than the fact that they’re in a language other than English, they don’t differ from any other form of North American content.