145: Konnichi wa, Nihon!

[Khristopher Kirkland]

Konnichi wa, Nihon!

"These guys wanted to learn Japanese in order to become a part of the otaku elite. They would probably leave class, put on costumes and head to an anime convention. They would walk around quoting lines from their favorite cartoons in Japanese, saying, 'I watched the original without subtitles' as they looked down their nose at those of us who watched the dubbed version. I wanted no part of this nerd caste system."

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[Geoffrey42]

Any media in its original language > subtitles > dubbing.

Dubbing things well is incredibly difficult, and on average, isn't done very well. At least with subtitles, you still get the emotional cues in the voices of the original players, which is often lost in a dub. And if you're lucky enough to speak the language, then fantastic.

As per the people looking down on you for not knowing the language? Definitely jerks. There are a lot of languages, and few people have the time to learn a few.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I have a friend who acts as a translator for a clothing firm over in Japan. Whenever I ask her about anime she says that being able to follow those cartoons is incredibly difficult even for someone fluent. Apparently, even by Japanese standards those cartoons are talking at Mach 10. Something about the budgets I guess.

Just that much more impressive to someone who wants to go that far in learning the language.

 

[Carbon016]

It's all well and good until you major in it. Then you have to deal with the otaku constantly disrupting class sessions with discussions about their favorite animu and telling exchange students about how Sasuke is totemo kawaii, making the rest of the class all look like nerds who just got in..because they wanted to watch anime. Luckily, most of them realize it's not as easy as they thought it would be and drop out in the first years.

 

[GloatingSwine]

I have a friend who acts as a translator for a clothing firm over in Japan. Whenever I ask her about anime she says that being able to follow those cartoons is incredibly difficult even for someone fluent. Apparently, even by Japanese standards those cartoons are talking at Mach 10. Something about the budgets I guess.

Really, I find it quite the opposite. Quite a lot of anime is fairly clearly enunciated. They're talking in ScriptSpeak, like everyone on telly, no hesitation, no umming and ahhing and then falling over yourself to get what you wanted to say out. I only learned Japanese for a year, and I find that I can understand far more ScriptSpeak Japanese than I can, say, understand someone being interviewed in Japanese.

 

[sammyfreak]

I have meet my share of Otaku's and fled in terror. I doubt i ever will be able to understand Japanese culture or why so many western people are obsessed by it. Isent modern Japanese culture sort of about copying western society?

Besides, German and Russian are possibly the coolest languages out there. *throws Dovstoevsky book at your head*

Anyway, good article.

 

[Carbon016]

doubt i ever will be able to understand Japanese culture or why so many western people are obsessed by it.

Anime has little to nothing to do with Japanese culture. That's as silly as saying American culture is summed up in Ducktales.

 

[Mstrswrd]

Anime has little to nothing to do with Japanese culture. That's as silly as saying American culture is summed up in Ducktales.

HA! That's funny. Anyway, that was a great article, but it reminded me why I can't learn Japanese (I'm horrible with language. My dad has been trying to teach me Greeksince I was 3. Im 19 now. I know about 3 words)... Arrogant nerds... I wish we had those at my school.

 

[sammyfreak]

Anime has little to nothing to do with Japanese culture. That's as silly as saying American culture is summed up in Ducktales.

HA! That's funny. Anyway, that was a great article, but it reminded me why I can't learn Japanese (I'm horrible with language. My dad has been trying to teach me Greeksince I was 3. Im 19 now. I know about 3 words)... Arrogant nerds... I wish we had those at my school.

Alpha, Omega, Beta...

Damn

 

[ayoama]

"It was hard to believe that a repressed society could produce such imaginative work."
But that's exactly the reason why it gets produced.

 

[Zera]

"It was hard to believe that a repressed society could produce such imaginative work."
But that's exactly the reason why it gets produced.

Wow I never thought about it that way. Great article all the way

 

[General Ma Chao]

doubt i ever will be able to understand Japanese culture or why so many western people are obsessed by it.

Anime has little to nothing to do with Japanese culture. That's as silly as saying American culture is summed up in Ducktales.

Speaking as one of those former Japanophiles, it's a simple case of "the grass is greener on the other side of the bridge." When you're a teen and your more popular peers reject you, you will turn to something else. These guys chose anime and Japan by extension. It's new and different and makes them feel like part of a group. It's the same reason why people may go punk, goth, or emo.

 

[CWheezy]

It's weird how people can become obsessed with Japan, While historically, japan is one of the most xenophobic of the first world countries

 

[Girlysprite]

Apart from the anime, I think Japan is interesting because of some bonds it has with the culture of the country I live in (holland); they haave been trade partners for a very long time. While people here are totally going manga, the japanese have built a village with windmills and wooden shoes.
So I guess the grass is greener on the other side goes both ways.

I do think about learning Japanese some days, but not just for the manga bit. I just love the sound of that language, it's quite expressive. I like Russian and French for the same reason (though I can't understand either of them)

as for the fanboys who say that they love Japan; I have known a couple of them. It just meant they liked the Japanese pop culture. When it comes to things such as everyday culture, history, etc, they knew incredibly...little.

 

[Nerdfury]

I like anime for the culture and the stories, but generally watch it dubbed if the voice actors are good or subbed if not. But then, I loved Okami for the stories and culture, so it's all about what I can learn, not the entertainment.

 

[ayoama]

"It was hard to believe that a repressed society could produce such imaginative work."
But that's exactly the reason why it gets produced.

Wow I never thought about it that way. Great article all the way

People have desires, dreams, fantasies: if they can't have any outlet in real life, the only way to express and realize them is in fictional form, I guess.

 

[MagnusElden]

Japan rules, and anime is a huge part of the Japanese history, but not thair culture. I'm a fullblown hotukus and I feel no shame or drive in hiding it.

 

[General Ma Chao]

It's weird how people can become obsessed with Japan, While historically, japan is one of the most xenophobic of the first world countries

That's part of its allure. It makes it look mysterious.

 

[JONJONAUG]

Personally, I can't stand American and European "otaku" for three reasons.

1. They act like retards.

2. A lot of them claim to love anime and Japan, but then ignore most of the other stuff coming out of Japan and aren't even knowledgeable on anything that came out before 1996 (a good way to tell these people apart from the ones who know what they're talking about, if they think Naruto or Bleach are really good then they haven't seen anything older).

3. If I see any of that modern generic "moe" look one more time I am going to kill someone (this holds true for anime in general, not just the fans).