What is it with nerds and anime?
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I'm not saying I've seen it done, nor that it's even been done at all outside of anime. I'm just saying that it could easily be done in any medium.Naheal said:
I've noticed that there's a general overlap between people particularly into video games and into anime (look at the avatars around here, for example, and we're hardly exceptional for a gaming forum). There could be many explanations for this, but I'd say it can be summarized as Pokemon (actually a stand-in for a more complex, aka stupid, theory I have).
Basically, whatever attracts nerds to video games seems to attract many of them to anime. There's probably a variety of other factors as well (anime, generally speaking, isn't too far off from other stereotypical nerd interests like sci-fi).
I predict BonsaiK will come in with his strange-but-interesting analysis of these kind of things.
Basically, whatever attracts nerds to video games seems to attract many of them to anime. There's probably a variety of other factors as well (anime, generally speaking, isn't too far off from other stereotypical nerd interests like sci-fi).
I predict BonsaiK will come in with his strange-but-interesting analysis of these kind of things.
A bit ignorant dude. Just because they share the same medium doesn't make then the same thing.Zhukov said:
T.V. and Movie both use film, and yet they are not the same. A comic book is like a T.V. show; it spans many issues, has long term plot archs and re-occuring characters. A grphic novel is more like a movie; it tells one basic plot arch in a short number of issues.
As for nerds and anime, I don't know what to say. I guess it would be more interesting than watching two teams off all men fight over a ball to win a pointless amount of points(cough sports cough)
Anime is different from sitcoms and American cartoons because its meant for older, more mature audiences.
In a typical American cartoon, its aimed for kids, not for adults.
And sitcoms are aimed for the whole family (sure they talk about sex and stuff but that's just the naughty stuff meant to attract younger viewers). They usually DO NOT go in a straight line, each episode is a separate story somewhat. So you won't miss anything if you start on episode 20. Character development in sitcoms are usually limited, with some episodes dedicated to big problems and then they never talk about it again.
Anime is like a visual novel. Its meant to tell a story as well as it can, with lots of details and character development (depends on the anime of course) so of course the audience is going to need to think more. You'll also have to watch the episodes in order to understand the story, since its like reading a novel. That's something the lowest common denominator (for lack of a better word) doesn't want to do.
As to why its uncool to be an engaged viewer, I can't answer that.
In a typical American cartoon, its aimed for kids, not for adults.
And sitcoms are aimed for the whole family (sure they talk about sex and stuff but that's just the naughty stuff meant to attract younger viewers). They usually DO NOT go in a straight line, each episode is a separate story somewhat. So you won't miss anything if you start on episode 20. Character development in sitcoms are usually limited, with some episodes dedicated to big problems and then they never talk about it again.
Anime is like a visual novel. Its meant to tell a story as well as it can, with lots of details and character development (depends on the anime of course) so of course the audience is going to need to think more. You'll also have to watch the episodes in order to understand the story, since its like reading a novel. That's something the lowest common denominator (for lack of a better word) doesn't want to do.
As to why its uncool to be an engaged viewer, I can't answer that.
Because anime is something that popular culture does not understand. It's animation that is serious, dramatic, and meaningful. It's an example of animation as a legitimate storytelling medium, no different than live-action film in its ability to portray serious drama and ethically significant issues. Most people (in America at least) don't understand that. Nerds are one of the few sub-cultures willing to look past misconceptions like "cartoons are for kids" to see the actual potential of anime as a storytelling medium. Everything nerds are into involves looking past ignorant pop-culture stereotypes, thus they become known as nerdy things.
It's simple (well at least my answer is). Anime is really just a form of television show. Most non-television shows don't appeal to nerds due to them being about things nerds aren't typically interested in. Nerds like anime because it's TV that's frequently about robots, aliens, big swords and other cool stuff. That's my theory.Zhukov said:
It really has to the with the foreignness of the medium and its views on perfection. Just to say, the Japanese art style has managed to encapsulate human norm into something completely strange and complex. If you look at any Anime character, perfect skin, toned eyes, and hair that looks like its been superglued together. It is an attraction to these "normalities" that draw the attention of "nerds" and the mixing in the fantastic that stimulates the "Holy shit" response in our brains, the same that video games give.
Also it has to do with the stigma of Japanese culture and formalities, the bowing, the wave, and generally how they act. It is foreign and people are attracted to it.
I am going to leave out the physical appeal that Japanese artists almost shamelessly use to make their characters more likable.
Add all of these together and you have yourself a potent mix that affects those "nerds" who like to seek out stimulus but cannot do so through physical means.
This is just my theory.
Also it has to do with the stigma of Japanese culture and formalities, the bowing, the wave, and generally how they act. It is foreign and people are attracted to it.
I am going to leave out the physical appeal that Japanese artists almost shamelessly use to make their characters more likable.
Add all of these together and you have yourself a potent mix that affects those "nerds" who like to seek out stimulus but cannot do so through physical means.
This is just my theory.
Well, yeah, I'm going to have to make the same point as a lot of people here.
What is defined as a 'nerd'?
I mean, I have friends who watch anime, who would definitely not be categorised as nerds, while on the other side, I know people who actually enjoy doing maths (freaks), read graphic novels, are into sci-fi, and all that, yet do not watch anime.
It's kind of a silly question, making assumptions that aren't held up, with bad correlations between facts.
Though, all in all, I hope that you can now say this;
'Curiosity; Satisfied.'
What is defined as a 'nerd'?
I mean, I have friends who watch anime, who would definitely not be categorised as nerds, while on the other side, I know people who actually enjoy doing maths (freaks), read graphic novels, are into sci-fi, and all that, yet do not watch anime.
It's kind of a silly question, making assumptions that aren't held up, with bad correlations between facts.
Though, all in all, I hope that you can now say this;
'Curiosity; Satisfied.'
Just to mention something here, when a recent MovieBob review was up, an offhand comment was made about watching Glee. The topic dedicated to it had loads of people acting like this was soo stupid, only one of those filthy plebs would consider watching something so inane and moronic. It's the same condescionsion anime watchers get, if something is outside a groups norm then there is a desire to mock it.
NB: I've watched only one episode of Glee and I thought it wa alright but hardly amazing, though the villian was entertaining. I imagine it would be the same reaction most people who sat down and watched anime would have.
NB: I've watched only one episode of Glee and I thought it wa alright but hardly amazing, though the villian was entertaining. I imagine it would be the same reaction most people who sat down and watched anime would have.
I don't know about the other people in this thread, but one of my favourite things about anime is that it (almost always) ends. The shows are setup to use a fixed number of episodes (13, 24, 26 etc.) have a well defined, begining, middle and end with an overarching storyline. This setup just seems to be so rare in western TV. There's a few shows that have attempted it, Heroes and Lost come to mind, but they usually get corrupted by the season format, always looking to make more money by putting out another season, so the stories lose their potency and often never have satisfying endings. I think if western TV took on a similar format we would have a whole lot more quality TV out there.
Hello, I've been asking myself kind of the same question, I was wondering why animes sometimes almost gives me some kind of addiction (not a strong one, but just some weird need to watch more of it, especially when my social life doesn't feel good, like when my girlfriend and I broke up)..
During my teenage years, I might not have been labeled as a "nerd", but I definitely lacked social and emotional skills. And it was definitely the time when I watched the most animes..
I read somewhere that people in general are attracted in movies, or entertainment that represent their own ideal, whether it's a personality or a situation they'd like to have. It's some kind of a projection, we naturally love what makes us dream.
You will rarely see a "social butterfly" be interested in Evangelion, Rahxephon, probably because the main character in it would be really annoying for this kind of person. As opposed, this kind of main character would be really appealing to more shy, insecure types, with less bright lives, that would find comfort in the mood of such animes..
So I wouldn't say that nerds are more attracted to animes, but I think that people who lack emotional satisfaction in their life might be enclined to love it more than other people.
Aside from the sometimes unrealistic aspect of the plot, what I now find even less realistic is the relationships between the characters, especially love relationships.
For instance, it's really common in anime that a girl (or several girls) fall in love with the shy, sad, uneasy but kind, self-conscious guy.
In the real world, this almost never happens.
Truth is, if you're a very shy (and sad) guy, it's very unlikely that any really pretty and cool girl is gonna fall in love with you, even if you're kind of handsome. On the other end if you're not so handsome, and have a great personality and social skills, you're a lot more likely to attract pretty girls. But most of the time this is not the kind of main character you'll find in animes..
Plus you often see girls make the first move or literally hit on a (shy, sad, depressive but cute) guy. In real life this is very, very rare..
This is very emotionnally comfortable for people who lack satisfaction in these areas.. And kind of annoying to someone who is doing well socially..
Of course I don't know that much about animes, I might have watched 9 or 10 series in my whole life, but this comes from what I've seen personally. The less emotionnally-driven animes I watched (GTO, Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho...) were generally the most watched by social people I know, whereas the more emotionnally-driven ones (Rahxephon, Evangelion, Elfen Lied..) tended to generate some kind of WTF?! factor..
And this may only apply to me, but although I like some animes very much (and I don't hide it), I found that too much of it was making me socially numb, and preserved me from doing better in this area. I now see it kind of like drugs... It sure feels good, but it's not necessarily sane for me if I want to do better socially.. (not because of what people can think of animes, but because of the false social patterns that animes tend to convey to me)
During my teenage years, I might not have been labeled as a "nerd", but I definitely lacked social and emotional skills. And it was definitely the time when I watched the most animes..
I read somewhere that people in general are attracted in movies, or entertainment that represent their own ideal, whether it's a personality or a situation they'd like to have. It's some kind of a projection, we naturally love what makes us dream.
You will rarely see a "social butterfly" be interested in Evangelion, Rahxephon, probably because the main character in it would be really annoying for this kind of person. As opposed, this kind of main character would be really appealing to more shy, insecure types, with less bright lives, that would find comfort in the mood of such animes..
So I wouldn't say that nerds are more attracted to animes, but I think that people who lack emotional satisfaction in their life might be enclined to love it more than other people.
Aside from the sometimes unrealistic aspect of the plot, what I now find even less realistic is the relationships between the characters, especially love relationships.
For instance, it's really common in anime that a girl (or several girls) fall in love with the shy, sad, uneasy but kind, self-conscious guy.
In the real world, this almost never happens.
Truth is, if you're a very shy (and sad) guy, it's very unlikely that any really pretty and cool girl is gonna fall in love with you, even if you're kind of handsome. On the other end if you're not so handsome, and have a great personality and social skills, you're a lot more likely to attract pretty girls. But most of the time this is not the kind of main character you'll find in animes..
Plus you often see girls make the first move or literally hit on a (shy, sad, depressive but cute) guy. In real life this is very, very rare..
This is very emotionnally comfortable for people who lack satisfaction in these areas.. And kind of annoying to someone who is doing well socially..
Of course I don't know that much about animes, I might have watched 9 or 10 series in my whole life, but this comes from what I've seen personally. The less emotionnally-driven animes I watched (GTO, Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho...) were generally the most watched by social people I know, whereas the more emotionnally-driven ones (Rahxephon, Evangelion, Elfen Lied..) tended to generate some kind of WTF?! factor..
And this may only apply to me, but although I like some animes very much (and I don't hide it), I found that too much of it was making me socially numb, and preserved me from doing better in this area. I now see it kind of like drugs... It sure feels good, but it's not necessarily sane for me if I want to do better socially.. (not because of what people can think of animes, but because of the false social patterns that animes tend to convey to me)
Does being a nerd make you know about anime, or does knowing about anime make you a nerd? Basic chicken egg scenario there
Okay, this might only apply to me, but here is the reason why I (and as a quick survey revealed, many of my friends) like anime:
Because generally speaking: STUFF HAPPENS.
Yeah, it´s sometimes stupid stuff or ridiculous stuff, but it HAPPENS.
Have you watched main-stream tv lately ? For god´s sake, take any episode of Lost, Glee, Fringe, whatever.
Any given episode of Gundam 00, Denno Coil or GitS has a higher percentage of stuffity going on than an entire season of this tedious, navel-gazing, pointless drivel.
So yeah, why do nerds like anime..... for me, the reason is apparently attention-deficit disorder.
God bless Japan, bless it´s willfully, deliberate, precison-engineerd insanity.
Because generally speaking: STUFF HAPPENS.
Yeah, it´s sometimes stupid stuff or ridiculous stuff, but it HAPPENS.
Have you watched main-stream tv lately ? For god´s sake, take any episode of Lost, Glee, Fringe, whatever.
Any given episode of Gundam 00, Denno Coil or GitS has a higher percentage of stuffity going on than an entire season of this tedious, navel-gazing, pointless drivel.
So yeah, why do nerds like anime..... for me, the reason is apparently attention-deficit disorder.
Oh yes, also this.-Samurai- said:
God bless Japan, bless it´s willfully, deliberate, precison-engineerd insanity.
I think the real question is why nerds get so huffy and defensive and start evangelizing every time someone says they don't like anime.