In Defense of Anime

By Contributor

November 15, 2011

Nicole_Lyn started her email to us with a question for the ages: "Why is anime the butt-monkey of American television?"—Sparkitors

It has come to my attention that liking anime whilst simultaneously living in America makes you a weird nerd. Let’s get something straight: I’m usually fully aware of my own weirdness. Believe me. But I fail to see why anime is viewed as some pinnacle of eccentricity. I honestly do not compute. I know I’m a weird nerd, but that’s because I use applesauce as a condiment and I think lectures on the history of literature are riveting. Anime has nothing to do with that stuff.

To make anime’s reputation in America even more mind-bogglingly confusing, the arguments against it leave much to be desired as far as legitimate explanations go. Let it be known that I’m not raging at anyone for not liking anime. That would be scary and obsessive. There are plenty of things that I don’t like, and having personal tastes respected is nice. Live and let live, and all that.

That disclaimer being given, I’ve complied a handy list of the most common arguments against anime, and I will now dissect them like a dead fetal pig in a ninth grade biology class.

Argument 1: The art style is bad. I’m an artist. I know the importance of aesthetic appeal, and I totally understand the objectivity of art itself. Not liking a specific style of art is perfectly fine with me—but I don’t think that’s a good reason to write off an entire group of movies/TV shows. Most anime manages to be nicely detailed and well-executed. “But all the characters look the same, Nicole! It's all big eyes and school girl outfits and nothing else!” you cry. And on that, I call malarkey! Anyone who says that obviously hasn’t been acquainted with any anime outside of Sailor Moon and Naruto.

It’s too violent, and we must think of the children! Warning! This is the first of many times that I will bring this particular rebuttal to light. This argument could be applied to literally anything, anime or otherwise. I’m under the impression that “think of the children” is just a go-to phrase for people who don’t have anything constructive to say. People let their kids watch lazerbeam-crazy GI Joe and even Power Rangers (which is also taken from a Japanese show...strange), and that show has giant toy monsters destroying blocks upon blocks of abandoned warehouses. People could be IN those warehouses, hiding from the cops after stealing a briefcase full of diamonds. Where’s the concern for their safety?

It’s weird and/or stupid. We’ve all watched Japanese game shows on the interwebs, so I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you that anime is never weird. But those are individual shows, ladies and gentlemen, so it’s okay to judge them. Saying that all of anime is weird and shallow after watching two seconds of Dragon Ball Z is being overly judgmental. And you know who else was overly judgmental? Charles Manson. Think about it.

It reinforces sexism. Considering that this is supposed to be a snarky blog post about TV shows and not a deep examination of chauvinism in the 21st century, this one will be short. There are some things that are lost in translation when watching something from another country; that’s why Ash from Pokemon supposedly eats sandwiches all the time when he is so obviously eating rice balls. But, once again, saying that all anime is sexist is an inaccurate generalization. There are some really strong female characters found in anime—characters that would make Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) proud!

Reading is for nerds. This argument is just stupid. Sub-titles aren’t the plague, people; it won’t kill you to read them. And if you have some weird sub-title allergy or are partially blind, dubbing is yet another option.

Nicole’s Recommendations: For those of you out there who were slightly swayed by my logic, here are some animes that even anime-haters will admit are “okay, I guess,” and that will serve as a good introduction into the world of media multi-culturalism:

Cowboy Bebop and Trigun (Space Westerns anyone? Firefly fans, come here.)

Monster and Death Note (People looking for tales of ethics and morality, come here.)

Neon Genesis Evangelion (People who like giant robots and the apocalypse, come here.)

Axis Powers Hetalia (Slackers who want to learn about World War II without actually learning anything about World War II, come here.)

So, do YOU like anime?