Gephyrophillia #239

Originally Posted on 04/03/2011 by Jeff Harris

What I'm about to say will probably not surprise you regular readers of The X Bridge, but then again, it might shock a few of you.

I'm not an otaku.

II've never been a part of the otaku side of the Japanese animation fandom spectrum. And I'm definitely not part of the younger generation of fans. Yes, I have my favorites, and every now and then, I still watch them. I'm still as big a fan of Cowboy Bebop as I was the day I bought the original DVDs. The ORIGINAL DVDs, not the special editions, the remastered editions, the super editions, and those high-definition editions coming soon, the original six discs. Even printed out a matching cover for my copy of Knockin' on Heaven's Door, the Cowboy Bebop movie known in this country as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. Still have my original Evangelion and Nadesico sets. I watch my old Toonami and Adult Swim tapes, many yet to be burned to DVD. Gundam Wing uncut on a couple of 8-hour tapes with no commercials is a great thing. Limited funds made me more appreciative of the titles I had rather than desiring titles I either didn't know about nor cared about.

Over the last couple of years, particularly in the post-Toonami world we live in, there's a sense of entitlement that exists within the otaku side of the fandom. An egotistical, arrogant side that feel that television execs should cave in to their demands, that the world owes you everything or something. I'll be the first to admit that I've been there, demanding things beyond my control, but I've put that energy into something better. These fringe otakus (I refuse to use the "w" word because it disrespects them as well as those who use the word) feel that everybody's the enemy, especially Cartoon Network, and they will do anything to get the anime and manga they want, especially if they don't have to pay for it.

Admittedly, you're probably going to suggest that I'm making a strawman argument about all anime fans. No, this isn't that. I know a lot of real fans aren't going to do illegal things to get what they want. There's a reason the term otaku shouldn't be worn proudly. It describes individuals with an unnatural obsession over anything. It's still largely a negative term in Japan. Even fans of Japanese animation try to stay away from the term basically because those that wear it as a badge have not only become the majority voice in the fanbase. Every time a voice of reason comes out, they're bullied out of the forums or called out for not really being a fan of anime.

It's the latter issue that really caused the Implosion the industry is currently undergoing. Yeah, some people blame the economy for the shrinking state of the anime industry and why distribution of titles are now in the hands of about five now (Funimation, Viz, Manga, Tokyopop, and Media Blasters [if there's others out there, please contact me]). And yes, there's some truth in that. However, a larger reason for the collapse is the fact that otaku wants Japanese animation to remain a sheltered, secretive, clandestine, underground, outlaw medium which shuns and mocks newcomers.

Heaven knows how many catcalls I got for creating a Toonami site from people who felt I should talk about "real anime, and not that Toonami crap." Ironic considering many of those same individuals are now crying for the block's resurrection even today despite the fact that in its last months, Toonami was an hour of Naruto followed by Cartoon Network reruns. These fringe otaku have surplanted the Toonami brand as a code for "all-anime," and that's a shame because the block was created to provide the finest in action cartoons around the planet, not just whatever they could pick up at the moment.

You want to know why they really don't want Toonami back? Because Cartoon Network could easily put the Toonami label on the Friday "Night of Action" block and change none of the programming. The Toonami imagery and TOM back as the host. It's Toonami. Those vocal about wanting Toonami to return won't be happy because, in their eyes, it's not really Toonami because there's no Japanese animation in it at all.

Some people may find it hard to believe, especially the fringe otaku themselves, a whole lot of anime fans exist because of "that Toonami crap," and it's kind of sad many of them have exorcised those years from their minds. In a way, Toonami kind of put that whole sense of entitlement in the minds of the modern otaku. The block provided nearly uncut Japanese titles on a daily (later weekly) basis from Bandai, Pioneer, Viz, and Funimation. When Adult Swim came up, they brought in even more uncut titles. Basically free anime every week. Well, free if you don't account for the fact that you or your parents actually pays for cable/satellite services. But now, with limited outlets on television, anime is all over the internet on sites like Crunchyroll and Hulu as well as many of the distributors' own domains. Anyone with broadband access can check them out whenever they want at all hours of the day. Otaku still complain about even that and try to find ways to circumvent around the system and get their fix illegally. Yeah, I said "fix" because it's kind of like a drug. They don't even care who they hurt, even if it's the distributors themselves. Even when some distributors decided to bring over same day-and-date episodes of fan favorites straight from Japan even if it'll kill their profit potential in the long run (why pay for something they've already seen for free or nearly free?), people still circumvent the traditional routes.

It's the nature of the beast, I guess. I'm not an otaku, and I never pretended to be one. If you're offended by what I said, well, let me know. I've already said my case and gave my reasons for why I feel this way. If you disagree, well, tell me why having such a superior, arrogant, possessive attitude about Japanese animation is a good thing.

Keep creating.

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.