Lone Fan

January 19th, 2007 at 10:13 am (Miscellaneous)

Just thought I’d share my whole thoughts on what a fan is, and my frustration afterwards; may be inconclusive

Original: from my travel blog, dated December 26, 2004

You ask me what a fan is, and is supposed to be.

A fan is basically someone who has an interest (and for others, support) on a particular show, whether it be a TV series, movie, game, or (in my case) an anime series. Dictionaries can only provide the most encompassing, if not confusing, distinctions that set them apart from people who have interest in other fields.

One often has to ponder how visuals can easily make a watcher judge quickly. When one sees not-so-real people on screen, one marks it with an “cartoon” mark. I know this was one of the topics discussed before, but I can’t help but wonder how the global divide fails to provide a passageway through this gap of understanding. Of course, I can forgive my 5-year-old cousin who easily told me that a “Bleach” anime is a “cartoon”. Yes, I can forgive that. However, when my 14-year-old sister still tells me that I waste all my money on buying anime CD’s, that’s a different issue.

Here in the Philippines, we anime fans are a rare commodity. We don’t have anime clubs at school like those in countries like Japan and America, so more often we took anime as one of our private interests. As stated by one post I’ve read on in an anime message board, anime fans are treated as weirdos, geeks, even juveniles.

I can understand one of society’s weak links as the indistinguishability (and probably, segregation) of those which people cannot comprehend, but incidents such as these do not need further humiliation. We do not demand respect; we simply wished to be treated equal, not special, as other men in this world.

7 Comments

  1. OHKRAオクラ！ said,

    January 22, 2007 at 12:45 am

    What I can’t take is being labelled as a “juvenile”…

    If anime is a childish thing, are the creators of the anime are childish too? That’s what I wanted to ask them. They say that they are more ‘mature’ people than those of the weirdos and geeks. But when a ‘crisis’ comes to them, they’re helpless and act like a crying child lost in a crowd… perfect examples are those ‘matured’ people and some politicians…

    Well, it can’t be help since where on that country. But someday… maybe. We’ll just hang in there for now.

  2. Ronin said,

    January 22, 2007 at 11:25 am

    Thanks for the encouragement.

    And yes, watching anime does not make one a juvenile.

    That’s why when I see anime fans, I tend to shudder at what other people think of them when they’re seen by the “regular” public.

  3. OHKRAオクラ！ said,

    January 22, 2007 at 7:01 pm

    Watching anime for me is one way of exploring imaginations, a way for visualizing and realizing strange but unique ideas that a real-life or a scifi movie can’t do. A way of expressing ‘forbidden’ concepts and… what can I say? I think said enough. :D

    But just a warning, it’s not bad to know too much anime but ‘acting’ anime too much that even the character’s behaviour also been imitated is not a good thing to do. Just balance that behavioural aspect and you’ll be fine.

  4. Ronin said,

    January 22, 2007 at 9:18 pm

    OHKRAオクラ！ Said:

    But just a warning, it’s not bad to know too much anime but ‘acting’ anime too much that even the character’s behaviour also been imitated is not a good thing to do. Just balance that behavioural aspect and you’ll be fine.
    I know. Just wish I could tell them face to face that they’re acting like weaboos or retards, with making anime the central philosophy of their life. :(

  5. OHKRAオクラ！ said,

    January 22, 2007 at 10:06 pm

    That’s the main reason why they ended up being called as retards or weaboos by other regular people. Sadly, we can also say that we (the anime fans) are the source of that problem as well; the reason why they were labelled as such.

    I feel that Japanese anime fans are not like those kind of peeps (the pinoy fans and the like). At lease they know when and where (usually at conventions or just inside the house. :D) to place their “philosophy”.

  6. Ronin said,

    January 22, 2007 at 10:50 pm

    OHKRAオクラ！ Said:

    I feel that Japanese anime fans are not like those kind of peeps (the pinoy fans and the like). At lease they know when and where (usually at conventions or just inside the house. :D ) to place their “philosophy”.
    I couldn’t agree with you more.

  7. OHKRAオクラ！ said,

    January 25, 2007 at 8:29 am

    As I’ve also experienced that. Since that happened, most of my high school classmates treated me as such…

    in my college life, I removed that. But I’m still a fan, just got more matured. At lease being an illustrator will give a bit ‘exemption’ for labeled as as such…