Is the Japanese culture having a negative impact to the teenagers?

[_.Mevs]

Basically, i've been thinking a lot of some stuff recently, and please don't get me wrong! I love Japanese culture and i'm not attacking it, is something totally different!

The Beggining

Alright, some days ago i was playing some games with my friends, to be more exact, a MMORPG called Toram Online (i recommend, btw) and then we ended up crossing with someone in a dungeong where we were grinding at 

Basically, this person said that isn't so common to find people in that place (since there was a place with really high level monsters) and asked if he could come with us to our party, so we could grind all together

We accepted and did some grinding during the rest of the day, and in the end he asked if we could talk more, so i gave my discord and added him in the server with my friends 

What i noticed was that he loves Japanese culture, and well, just to remind, Brazil is the most miscegenated country in the world, so it's easy to find people from lots of places around the world, i have friends that came from Japan, China, Italy and etc that lived in Brazil for years, so some of them know a lot and in a really intimate way about those cultures

So, we found out about his age (16yo) and well, we didn't judged or nothing, mostly since i also used to be really addicted to Japanese stuff during my teenage and childhood

The problem started when he wanted to teach us about Japanese culture and uh, he just said a lot of stuff without any basis aside from anime, just like saying that Japan is the best country in the world to live with a lot of healthy content, so, as you can imagine, since some of our friends are actually people that lived in Japan, they corrected him about a lot of stuff, not only about the life in Japan but also language aspects and etc

And all good so far, as much as he was still trying to prove his points about stuff like a samurai being able to kill several american soldiers alone (honestly, that even sounds like a joke), but we just ignored it and kept playing with him

The problem started when he began to talk badly about other cultures to make the Japanese culture seem as the best one, for example, when we were playing a FPS game called OpenSpades and made some jokes like "a cobra vai fumar" (that's basically something that Brazilian soldiers used to say during WW2) and he started to say that Brazil is a country of shitheads and he wish he lived in Japan, and also started bad talking about Brazilian culture itself

And well, when we asked why, he said it was because we cursed at Japanese culture (???), but like, we never talked badly about Japanese culture, all we did was correcting him about stuff he thought he knew a lot more than he really did (like, we talk about anime and a lot of Japanese stuff basically everyday, why we'd offend Japanese culture if even we like it?)

And just to finish this subject, after some stuff, our friend that's an actual Japanese descendant just decided to basically call him a emotionated weeaboo and well, it just made him leave the group (everyone was tired of him in the end, our group is always so peaceful and we never fight, and then someone appears and just interrupt it)

Some thoughts

So, it is really common here to see people, mostly teenagers that absolutely love Japanese animes, mangas and etc, it is each day more common to see people with lots of anime clothes, tattoos and even anime playing on public TVs here, and even mangas being more sold than regular books

I don't really have something against it, but it kinda worries me a bit about the way it affects some of the teenagers and children here

So, sometimes i visit my cousin, and he's already married and have a 7yo son, basically his son really loves anime like Naruto, Dragon Ball and etc, and that's nice tbh, for me it is just a different childhood from the one i had, but i respect it... Until some point

Before talking about the childhood and teenage of the kids nowadays, nothing more fair than talking about myself

So, my father never liked anime and that stuff (and also didn't let me watch it during some time), so i didn't have contact with it till i was 10yo and used to hang out with friends at school, and i liked what every kid used to like too, basically Dragon Ball and Pokemon, and it was my first contact with animes and mangas in general

I didn't know a lot, mostly since i didn't have a phone and my only contact with internet were online shooting games i played on my PC, like Halo: Combat Evolved Multiplayer and Counter Strike 1.6, i didn't really know how to use internet aside from those games and youtube, where i used to watch Worms (a game) animations

So, my contact with anime and manga was basically what my friends talked about on school, Pokemon trade cards that my mother used to buy for me (idk why my father never had a problem with Pokemon but had with any other anime) and the few times when it used to pass on TV, i basically used to watch it when my father was out to work

It changed at my teenage, since i learned more about using internet on PC and also had my first phone when i was 14yo, and there was when i found out about the magic of the Japanese online media

So, i watched my first anime, that was Sword Art Online, and after that, i started watching others such as Naruto, Evangelion and Death Note, so i started making my first online friends, and thanks to them i knew more animes to watch

So, in my teenage i was already someone that really loved animes and mangas, and i also started getting mangas because of it, and i'm talking about a time when animes weren't so popular here in Brazil, only Naruto and Dragon Ball were really known and loved by other people

Now, aside from the good things anime brought me, i have to talk about a more intimate topic, that's nothing more than basically hentai

I knew hentai at school, i was part of a group of 4 boys (counting me, 5) and we used to talk about animes and mangas, and once we were playing something to see who knew more animes, basically each one had a certain time to say the name of the max of animes we could remember of, and it was fun till someone said to try to see who knows more hentais

And i didn't know what the fuck hentais where, but everyone there seemed to be pretty aknowledged about it and even did laughed with it, so they started saying some names that i don't really remember

So, arriving at my house i just searched for hentai and found out about all that shit they were talking about, and it wasn't really good since i started searching for it more and more

In the end, i could get over it in just some time but honestly, if i could go back to the past, i wouldn't have searched for it, and in the end, all that happened thanks to all my curiosity about anime and japanese content (yes, i found out about hentai even before porn itself)

Now, getting back to the teenagers nowadays, isn't uncommon for me to see those people that really love Japanese culture and animes, and knowing all the contact they have with technology, it just make me think, is it really something positive? It wouldn't be horrible if thanks to this love for Japanese culture they knew all the downhole that are the Japanese pornographic stuff and start even to see Japan as a perfect place, like the guy i talked about before?

I know is just a moment that those people will go through during their teenages and that's normal but, are they really enjoying the Japanese content in a healthy way? It also reminds me of a guy i knew that was older than me and acted exactly the same way as the 16yo boy i talked about before, like, if it can affect negatively adults, what about the teenagers?

Don't get me wrong, i don't think people should stop liking the animes and mangas and share it, but i really worry about how this generation is going on, like, i'm only 20, isn't like i'm a old man, but all that sounds like something from a whole other universe to think that children and teenagers nowadays have so much contact with stuff that can turn up to be so weird for them

Like, i already saw people trying to copy personalities that they saw in animes and all that, i know that it is normal since even when i was little, i liked to imagine myself as characters i saw on TV but, my contact with that was just my TV and that's it, nowadays the children are born with a phone and a Tik Tok account

And my parents had control over me and i still ended up into hentai, so just imagine those children that have almost no supervision, and a whole universe to find in their phones

I found posts of people talking about hentai, virginity and etc on social media and some of those people aren't even 18, that's just something so gross for me

And not only talking about the sexual part, all the obsession they have with Japan nowadays, is it really normal and healthy? For them, Japan is what they see in animes and internet posts, like, it's nice that the Asian culture is spreading around the world but some people are taking it way too far, and most of those people are just 12, 16yo

Like, imagine the shame and all the negative impact that all that contact with Japanese content can cause on them due to internet? I already went through a lot of that when i used to love Japan like if it was a perfect place, and i didn't had a lot of contact with it, nowadays the teenagers have this contact and are becoming totally obsessed with Japanese stuff

I know nothing will change it in the end, but the reason i wanted to make this thread is to ask, what's your opinion about it and all the impact that this content is having on this generation? Feel free to talk about it =)

Btw. sorry if i said anything wrong! First of all, that's just my vision and what i understood of all that i saw here in Brazil, sorry if it bothers anyone!

 

[Reitisen]

Honestly I feel like this is something that is talked about a lot around the internet, especially with how generations are constantly critiquing on older or newer generations on how they act. Personally, I think the focus on Japanese culture is a good and bad thing, to which I'm going to break up for clarity.

The Good

Spoiler

Well, first off, Touhou and other series in general! We wouldn't have such an amazing global community (for some) if such widespread adoption of anime and manga culture hadn't exposed people to these genres. Because of the widespread popularity and general acceptance of anime, many fangames, written works, videos, and doujin circle works have been translated or created around the world.

Personally, I saw anime as something more of a close-knit community back in the days when shooter games were much more widely focused on in terms of popularity and general trend. So it is much more amazing to see something that would've stayed local turn global in terms of popularity!

The Bad Spread of Culture

Now, getting back to the teenagers nowadays, isn't uncommon for me to see those people that really love Japanese culture and animes, and knowing all the contact they have with technology, it just make me think, is it really something positive? It wouldn't be horrible if thanks to this love for Japanese culture they knew all the downhole that are the Japanese pornographic stuff and start even to see Japan as a perfect place, like the guy i talked about before?

I know is just a moment that those people will go through during their teenages and that's normal but, are they really enjoying the Japanese content in a healthy way? It also reminds me of a guy i knew that was older than me and acted exactly the same way as the 16yo boy i talked about before, like, if it can affect negatively adults, what about the teenagers?

Spoiler

Now this is something I also see a lot in terms of the rise of anime and Japanese culture in general. "Weeabos" 

Personally, I see a lot less "cringey" weebs since I quit interacting with a lot of popular social media sites where a lot of opinions are gathered to form echo chambers of some weirdos. (Dear god the stuff I saw that shouldn't be seen)

In general, sexual themes are tolerated more liberally in Japan. Something that appears to have spread globally and made people more horny in general, which I personally despise given that people are more interested in being lewd publicly than stories, both in manga and anime. ( -.- )

One egregious example would be the MHA fanbase, where a lot of children and adults (who are over 18) seem to like shipping characters and attacking others who don't agree or see them as weird, oftentimes painting the whole community as this weirdo hive. (given the fact that some characters are children who are shipped)

Children today seem to be growing up a lot more, which I think social media sites and parents are to blame for, and by that I mean, literally, that 5th graders have a social media account and have the attitudes of crappy, hormonal teens who are way too addicted to fame and are general nuisances to other people. and that was, I believe, between 2012 and 2018. That all occurred in a generally small to medium sized town that I grew up in.

High school was worse given the fact that people were actually horny and didn't care, to the point where I don't want to talk about it.

Conclusion

Spoiler

Generally, I think the spread of Japanese culture is for the better given the fact that there are a lot of good communities out there; it's just that not a lot of people generally hear about them given the fact that smaller groups of weirdos are generally going to get more attention than people being wholesome and actually civil.

I personally wish that people had a lot more moderation in their interactions, like in public, rather than acting like the internet is where you dump your takes for everyone to see and fight over, but hey! probably never going to happen given the fact that parents want the government to teach their children modesty and social media sites do not have any parental controls or age verification!

Whelp, that's all I have to say about what this generation brings.

 

[_.Mevs]

Well, first off, Touhou and other series in general! We wouldn't have such an amazing global community (for some) if such widespread adoption of anime and manga culture hadn't exposed people to these genres. Because of the widespread popularity and general acceptance of anime, many fangames, written works, videos, and doujin circle works have been translated or created around the world.

Personally, I saw anime as something more of a close-knit community back in the days when shooter games were much more widely focused on in terms of popularity and general trend. So it is much more amazing to see something that would've stayed local turn global in terms of popularity!

It makes sense! That's the part i love about Japan actually, for me every culture should have it's place, like, every country has a lot to offer about their cultural stuff and that's amazing!

I personally prefer more close communities without a lot of people, but honestly, i like to see other communities growing and getting bigger at their own themes! I'd say, i worry more about the people taking it way too far (for example NEETs and teenagers that are so obsessed with it)

Now this is something I also see a lot in terms of the rise of anime and Japanese culture in general. "Weeabos" 

Personally, I see a lot less "cringey" weebs since I quit interacting with a lot of popular social media sites where a lot of opinions are gathered to form echo chambers of some weirdos. (Dear god the stuff I saw that shouldn't be seen)

In general, sexual themes are tolerated more liberally in Japan. Something that appears to have spread globally and made people more horny in general, which I personally despise given that people are more interested in being lewd publicly than stories, both in manga and anime. ( -.- )

One egregious example would be the MHA fanbase, where a lot of children and adults (who are over 18) seem to like shipping characters and attacking others who don't agree or see them as weird, oftentimes painting the whole community as this weirdo hive. (given the fact that some characters are children who are shipped)

Children today seem to be growing up a lot more, which I think social media sites and parents are to blame for, and by that I mean, literally, that 5th graders have a social media account and have the attitudes of crappy, hormonal teens who are way too addicted to fame and are general nuisances to other people. and that was, I believe, between 2012 and 2018. That all occurred in a generally small to medium sized town that I grew up in.

High school was worse given the fact that people were actually horny and didn't care, to the point where I don't want to talk about it.

In my case, i don't really use a lot of social media (i can say that this forum is the only place i post stuff to other people to see xd), but i end up going through lots of people that are obsessed with Japan and some that are complete hentai addicts everytime i play some games like Toram Online or visit discord servers with people that like anime, idk if i'm so unlucky to always find this kind of people or if it is really spreading and becoming common to be a simp for the Japanese and that stuff =')

I won't complain about the way people deal with sexual stuff in Japan (mostly because, who am i to judge how they think and act in their own country), but i think the problem is the way it is affecting people here and a lot of them being really young (some having less than 14yo), so, i know about puberty but what makes me think the most is the hentai stuff, like, i know teenagers end up watching porn (they're in the puberty, isn't like something can change that), but is way harder to find a porn with weird fetishes and fantasies than to find hentai with that, and i say that specially because of the sexual assault, zoophilia (or tentacles too) and lolicon content that appear A LOT in Japanese hentai, and well, what if those teenagers and children that end up having content with hentai end up finding that stuff? And worse, imagine if they ended up liking that, it's something just gross to imagine, mostly after seeing people literally talking about loli hentai as it was something completely normal

I already saw stuff about MHA fanbase tbh, even without liking or being a fan of the anime, i already saw stuff from it's fanbase, and well, i think the weirdest aren't just the shipping stuff but also the way it is representated, since a lot of those times, it is shown sexually, and it isn't hard to find tbh, and well, as someone that has a MHA manga and did read it, even with the ecchi scenes, i think that the fanbase take the sexual stuff related to it to another other level and surely forget that they are some teenagers in a high school

You're completely right, the children surely are growing more than they should because of all the content they have in their hands, and it's so common to find them talking about sexual stuff even before puberty, and well, children are "dumb" so they're so easy to influence, and i think that's the whole basis of the weeaboos, since those children nowadays only know to talk about Japanese animes and mangas (at least here, in a big urban city in São Paulo, where i live, but from what my friends from the northeast part of the country, i think it isn't so different between the regions)

I notice the high school is worse just by knowing that a lot of teenagers that are getting into hentai and that stuff already lost the virginity, and some are the contrary and started to isolate themselves way more to live in their own worlds (that's how a NEET is born, unless he get over it within time), and honestly, that's worrying, not only the sexual part as i said, but also the way they are getting each moment away from their cultures to idealize and call the Japanese culture as the most amazing and perfect one, i don't think it is good for them

Generally, I think the spread of Japanese culture is for the better given the fact that there are a lot of good communities out there; it's just that not a lot of people generally hear about them given the fact that smaller groups of weirdos are generally going to get more attention than people being wholesome and actually civil.

I personally wish that people had a lot more moderation in their interactions, like in public, rather than acting like the internet is where you dump your takes for everyone to see and fight over, but hey! probably never going to happen given the fact that parents want the government to teach their children modesty and social media sites do not have any parental controls or age verification!

Whelp, that's all I have to say about what this generation brings.

I think that's the true problem, the way this bad part receives a lot of attention to a level they're starting to be the most common thing, it isn't okay tbh, it's like if someone have the first contact with Touhou looking for the doujins in nhentai or the twitter/reddit communities that have more sexual content than actual Touhou content

It makes sense, sometimes i go to eat in restaurant and when a group of teens are near, there's 2 things they'll be talking about: Netflix series and animes or sexual stuff

I wanted to have some hope that this generation won't be a bunch of degenerates but honestly, it is pretty hard sometimes, i just hope that stuff get less worse than they are now

Thanks for sharing your opinion btw! =D

 

[TheM3ds]

Now I can't exactly pinpoint if Japanese media is having an negative influence on today's teens but what I can say is that a lot of people going through this phase aren't emotionally or mentally mature enough to truly grasp on what their doing with their lives, they tend to be curious or reckless.

I am not an expert on Japanese Culture by any means but I think the reason why people love Anime and Manga so much is because of how accessible it is, compared to the 80's and 90's where it was a niche interest hobby then is now an extremely popular form of entertainment both in it's home country and across the globe. As kids we grew up with shows like Pokémon, Dragon Ball Yu-Gi-Yo Etc. Yet as we grow older, our curiosity for Japanese media grows bigger thanks to TV programs like Toonami and the internet.

Having a hobby of watching anime and reading manga on a daily basis is rather normal in our modern society (to a degree) but this can be taken to an unhealthy degree by not only consuming nothing but Japanese media but also disregarding there own culture, hence the term 'Weeaboo." Though the term is usually reserved for people who truly think there Japanese so maybe it's not the right word I'm looking for.

However, what I can say is how saturated Anime industry is, you have many different shows appealing to a wide demographic of people, otaku's included. Shonen Jump is no stranger to this with it's male audience with works like Dragon Ball, One Piece and Naruto. Of course someone would want to become a Super Sayian or whatever but a lot of people are often influenced by anime, so naturally people like to have an emotional connection with their favorite show, even if they do silly things like doing the naruto run or acting out there favorite scenes because there passionate about it.

Of course, you will always have those who have some... questionable tastes in things.

The Bad Spread of Culture

Spoiler

In general, sexual themes are tolerated more liberally in Japan. Something that appears to have spread globally and made people more horny in general, which I personally despise given that people are more interested in being lewd publicly than stories, both in manga and anime. ( -.- )

One egregious example would be the MHA fanbase, where a lot of children and adults (who are over 18) seem to like shipping characters and attacking others who don't agree or see them as weird, oftentimes painting the whole community as this weirdo hive. (given the fact that some characters are children who are shipped)

Children today seem to be growing up a lot more, which I think social media sites and parents are to blame for, and by that I mean, literally, that 5th graders have a social media account and have the attitudes of crappy, hormonal teens who are way too addicted to fame and are general nuisances to other people. and that was, I believe, between 2012 and 2018. That all occurred in a generally small to medium sized town that I grew up in.

High school was worse given the fact that people were actually horny and didn't care, to the point where I don't want to talk about it.

To be fair, a lot of people are addicted to fame and they tend to chase after clout whenever they can since people have a competitive mind set when it comes to bragging rights, that's social media for you.

I'm not a MHA fan at all but I've heard about how toxic the fan-base can be, especially when it comes to character shipping.

Usually I avoid talking about sexual topics solely because I don't know how to tackle them but all I can say is a lot of people where horny at some point in their lives during there high school years, it's not uncommon. It's all part of growing up I suppose.

I do have to apologize since I had rush this segment because I have to get ready to leave with some family members to go on a hike, so if I said anything wrong or inappropriate then I apologize and I will correct any errors I've made. So yeah, that's all I have for now.

 

[_.Mevs]

Now I can't exactly pinpoint if Japanese media is having an negative influence on today's teens but what I can say is that a lot of people going through this phase aren't emotionally or mentally mature enough to truly grasp on what their doing with their lives, they tend to be curious or reckless.

It actually makes sense, most people like me for example find out about all the horrible stuff about Japan due to curiosity, and some people can just deal with it perfectly, but other ones end up liking or getting way addicted into it

I think that what worries me the most is how this curiosity can affect their health, since a lot of people that likes or consume weird stuff as adults started with that in their teenage, so, with it being each day more common to be seen, it is worrying to imagine that a lot of people with gross desires (like all the weird sexual stuff Japan has) are forming so massively 

And also all their obsession for Japanese culture in a really unhealthy way, i met a guy past year that literally used to draw his dead cat as a anime character, and it would be okay, even beautiful to think he didn't forget his cat, but the problem is that all his love for Japan and etc exists because he was a complete addict into Japan, like, if you said something bad about Japan, he'd ban you from the group ( i saw him doing it), and i really hope that he was just a isolated case, but seeing all those teens that act exactly as him (he was 21yo) is worrying, who knows if they will turn out to be like him?

I am not an expert on Japanese Culture by any means but I think the reason why people love Anime and Manga so much is because of how accessible it is, compared to the 80's and 90's where it was a niche interest hobby then is now an extremely popular form of entertainment both in it's home country and across the globe. As kids we grew up with shows like Pokémon, Dragon Ball Yu-Gi-Yo Etc. Yet as we grow older, our curiosity for Japanese media grows bigger thanks to TV programs like Toonami and the internet.

Yup, i think that something else that worries me about the animes is all the ecchi on it, some kids with their contacts with internet, if they watch an anime with ecchi stuff and search more for it, maybe they can end up in a really gross downhole, like, Dragon Ball Z used to have a lot of ecchi, but it didn't affect a lot the children because they didn't had a phone in their hands to look for stuff related to this kind of content

With anime becoming more popular and more children knowing it, it is something pretty weird to think that they can end up finding horrible stuff about the animes they like just through a simple google search, and also the part they can end up being complete addicts to Japanese culture, since is normal for it to happen to people with less age, and all we can do is hope for all that to be just a phase and they don't end up taking this to another level in their lives

Having a hobby of watching anime and reading manga on a daily basis is rather normal in our modern society (to a degree) but this can be taken to an unhealthy degree by not only consuming nothing but Japanese media but also disregarding there own culture, hence the term 'Weeaboo." Though the term is usually reserved for people who truly think there Japanese so maybe it's not the right word I'm looking for.

Yup, watching anime and reading manga in a healthy way as a hobby is great, it can even make someone's life better, but well, exactly what you said, when people take this kind of hobby way too far, it surely is horrible, and it applies for any hobby actually, since liking to post in forums (like we're doing right now) to listen to metal music (it usually has negative themes, so if someone let this kind of thing consume them, it would be horrible), and the reason Japanese culture is something so different to all the other hobbies that can turn out to be unhealthy, is the way it spreads so fastly, like, each day more people get into it and more people has chance to misunderstood everything and take this kind of content way too far

And well, Weeaboo can be a good term for that, don't worry! Since most people that spam Japanese culture everywhere and treat it as perfect usually think about theirselves as Japanese born in the wrong place (i already saw a lot of brazilians saying that)

However, what I can say is how saturated Anime industry is, you have many different shows appealing to a wide demographic of people, otaku's included. Shonen Jump is no stranger to this with it's male audience with works like Dragon Ball, One Piece and Naruto. Of course someone would want to become a Super Sayian or whatever but a lot of people are often influenced by anime, so naturally people like to have an emotional connection with their favorite show, even if they do silly things like doing the naruto run or acting out there favorite scenes because there passionate about it.

In my opinion, isn't something so weird for people to do this kind of thing when they're underage, as i said, i also wanted to hunt pokemons when i was little, but it surely is weird when people, since their teenages till nowadays still treat this kind of content as something so amazing and perfect like they did when younger

I think is normal to anime to influence people, but what worries me is about when this influence is positive or not, for example, myself, i started playing bass because i love K-On! and my favorite character is Mio, a bass player, but it didn't made me see Japan as exactly what K-On represents or even go too far at a level that my lifestyle is based into K-On (for example, that REALLY WEIRD guys that think their waifus are their girlfriends and that stuff, or also people that marry with anime characters, you can see for example that guy that married hatsune miku and bought dakimakuras and a lot of other stuff about her, even if people claim that it is okay, i just can't take it as something natural and normal)

I think the whole problem is about how sensitive the person that get into Japanese culture is, for example, someone without any knowledge about Japan watch an anime and think it is exactly what the content from there represents, without not even caring to search more for it and taking what they saw in their favorite shows as the truth

Usually I avoid talking about sexual topics solely because I don't know how to tackle them but all I can say is a lot of people where horny at some point in their lives during there high school years, it's not uncommon. It's all part of growing up I suppose.

It is normal to have sexual wishes during puberty, but what worries me about the pornography in Japan is mostly the hentai content, since in a regular porn that those teens would end up falling into you won't see tentacles, rape or all the lolicon stuff that you find in hentais and etc, if a fragile person with gross sexual wishes that it doesn't know yet end up falling into a hentai with those wishes exactly representated, they will end up in a downhole that's worse than just watching a normal sex video you find normally on internet 

And the scariest part is that it will affect totally their personal lives, if not in their social life, in their life at their house or even alone, if regular porn already destroys someone's mind, just imagine what a hentai with weird or even criminal content can do

Anyway, thanks for sharing your opinion! It was a nice post to read tbh, it was really interesting to read and you really know well about what you're saying =D

Btw, sorry if i said anything wrong! 

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[Nekoko]

Oh my… I have so many things to say about this subject, I’m just going to tackle a part of it and then I’ll write the rest of my reflection later  ^^

What I don’t like is that some teens believe that the way anime characters behave is the way Japanese people act in real life, so when I’m talking with some weeb in real life, they are mimicking childish hand gesture, trying to make cute faces or cute sound and sometimes they just add Japanese word in their sentences

I’ve seen in a video made by a Japanese guy that those kind of person are called "burikko" and this isn’t a compliment, Japanese men think that it’s annoying but cute and Japanese women don’t appreciate it because it’s a too much artificial behavior 

 

[CountVonNumenor]

Hello Mevs! Sorry for not writing a large reply this time around, but your thread has actually given me an idea for writing something. It comes as a little bit of a hijack from what I was initially planning to write about today, but I strongly feel like it should be addressed. And it comes hand-in-hand with the original edition of the "Why is anime and its art style getting so much hate" (or better said a follow-up to that thread), as well as this thread about negative impact. It might take me a while as I have some data to process, but it should be done in the following hours. 

But I will try at some point to come back here as well to write a proper reply to this thread.

 

[TheM3ds]

It actually makes sense, most people like me for example find out about all the horrible stuff about Japan due to curiosity, and some people can just deal with it perfectly, but other ones end up liking or getting way addicted into it

I think that what worries me the most is how this curiosity can affect their health, since a lot of people that likes or consume weird stuff as adults started with that in their teenage, so, with it being each day more common to be seen, it is worrying to imagine that a lot of people with gross desires (like all the weird sexual stuff Japan has) are forming so massively 

And also all their obsession for Japanese culture in a really unhealthy way, i met a guy past year that literally used to draw his dead cat as a anime character, and it would be okay, even beautiful to think he didn't forget his cat, but the problem is that all his love for Japan and etc exists because he was a complete addict into Japan, like, if you said something bad about Japan, he'd ban you from the group ( i saw him doing it), and i really hope that he was just a isolated case, but seeing all those teens that act exactly as him (he was 21yo) is worrying, who knows if they will turn out to be like him?

Yup, i think that something else that worries me about the animes is all the ecchi on it, some kids with their contacts with internet, if they watch an anime with ecchi stuff and search more for it, maybe they can end up in a really gross downhole, like, Dragon Ball Z used to have a lot of ecchi, but it didn't Theaffect a lot the children because they didn't had a phone in their hands to look for stuff related to this kind of content

With anime becoming more popular and more children knowing it, it is something pretty weird to think that they can end up finding horrible stuff about the animes they like just through a simple google search, and also the part they can end up being complete addicts to Japanese culture, since is normal for it to happen to people with less age, and all we can do is hope for all that to be just a phase and they don't end up taking this to another level in their lives

Yup, watching anime and reading manga in a healthy way as a hobby is great, it can even make someone's life better, but well, exactly what you said, when people take this kind of hobby way too far, it surely is horrible, and it applies for any hobby actually, since liking to post in forums (like we're doing right now) to listen to metal music (it usually has negative themes, so if someone let this kind of thing consume them, it would be horrible), and the reason Japanese culture is something so different to all the other hobbies that can turn out to be unhealthy, is the way it spreads so fastly, like, each day more people get into it and more people has chance to misunderstood everything and take this kind of content way too far

And well, Weeaboo can be a good term for that, don't worry! Since most people that spam Japanese culture everywhere and treat it as perfect usually think about theirselves as Japanese born in the wrong place (i already saw a lot of brazilians saying that)

In my opinion, isn't something so weird for people to do this kind of thing when they're underage, as i said, i also wanted to hunt pokemons when i was little, but it surely is weird when people, since their teenages till nowadays still treat this kind of content as something so amazing and perfect like they did when younger

I think is normal to anime to influence people, but what worries me is about when this influence is positive or not, for example, myself, i started playing bass because i love K-On! and my favorite character is Mio, a bass player, but it didn't made me see Japan as exactly what K-On represents or even go too far at a level that my lifestyle is based into K-On (for example, that REALLY WEIRD guys that think their waifus are their girlfriends and that stuff, or also people that marry with anime characters, you can see for example that guy that married hatsune miku and bought dakimakuras and a lot of other stuff about her, even if people claim that it is okay, i just can't take it as something natural and normal)

I think the whole problem is about how sensitive the person that get into Japanese culture is, for example, someone without any knowledge about Japan watch an anime and think it is exactly what the content from there represents, without not even caring to search more for it and taking what they saw in their favorite shows as the truth

It is normal to have sexual wishes during puberty, but what worries me about the pornography in Japan is mostly the hentai content, since in a regular porn that those teens would end up falling into you won't see tentacles, rape or all the lolicon stuff that you find in hentais and etc, if a fragile person with gross sexual wishes that it doesn't know yet end up falling into a hentai with those wishes exactly representated, they will end up in a downhole that's worse than just watching a normal sex video you find normally on internet 

And the scariest part is that it will affect totally their personal lives, if not in their social life, in their life at their house or even alone, if regular porn already destroys someone's mind, just imagine what a hentai with weird or even criminal content can do

Anyway, thanks for sharing your opinion! It was a nice post to read tbh, it was really interesting to read and you really know well about what you're saying =D

Btw, sorry if i said anything wrong! 

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Apologies for the late reply but like you pointed out: there's nothing wrong being passionate about your favorite anime (or game) like Pokemon or K-On for instance but I would've never imagined someone you've met could do something fucked up as drawing a dead cat as an anime character lol. 

The thing for me is that I'm kind of indifferent or weirded out towards ecchi in Japanese media sometimes, although if the characters are teens then it makes feel uneasy. Like you said, it could go down towards a gross rabbit hole and it does raise some concerns. Though if it's for adults then it doesn't really bother me.

I don't know which is sadder; the fact that weeabos support one of the most xenophobic countries in the world or they worship a 2D drawing on a screen to an unhealthy degree to the point where they develop to a creepy obsession or both. That's not to say you can't have a waifu or a like a cute anime girls but there people who do take it too far and claim that their married to a 14 year old and how could it not disturb someone?

Yeah, Japanese porn can be fucked up to put it lightly, since there's so much bizarre and downright gross fetishes (I.E Lolicon, incest, rape Ect.) Personally I don't like talking about my history with hentai mainly because it had an negative impact on my mind before, though It's saddening that some people can turn into addicts, especially if they have mental health issues to begin with (though I DO NOT sympathize with legitimate creeps or people who exploit others), it's a rabbit-hole that'll ruin you brain if your not careful or don't value your sanity.

It was fun discussing this topic with you, I'm glad you enjoyed my post! I tried to keep this appropriate to the topic as much as possible while making it SFW (because of the rules here), hope I didn't say anything weird.

 

[_.Mevs]

Oh my… I have so many things to say about this subject, I’m just going to tackle a part of it and then I’ll write the rest of my reflection later  ^^

Oh, okay! Take your time =D

What I don’t like is that some teens believe that the way anime characters behave is the way Japanese people act in real life, so when I’m talking with some weeb in real life, they are mimicking childish hand gesture, trying to make cute faces or cute sound and sometimes they just add Japanese word in their sentences 

Honestly, i think that's the weirdest point, where they stop believing the perfect world of the anime and start to reproduce it in real life, is like they change the configuration of their brains to "what i saw on kawaii moe anime" instead of "what i learned during my whole life", it's something that idk if is so stupid or so sad =')

I’ve seen in a video made by a Japanese guy that those kind of person are called "burikko" and this isn’t a compliment, Japanese men think that it’s annoying but cute and Japanese women don’t appreciate it because it’s a too much artificial behavior 

I think it would happen with anyone at all, as a Brazilian, i'd also feel annoyed if someone started suddenly dancing samba in front of me because saw it in a carnival video, probably everyone would feel bothered if people started acting in front of them the way they learned with stuff that aren't what they actually do, that's something kinda sad to think that all the identity of a country nowadays can be reduced to what the media shows about them...

 

[_.Mevs]

Hello Mevs! Sorry for not writing a large reply this time around, but your thread has actually given me an idea for writing something. It comes as a little bit of a hijack from what I was initially planning to write about today, but I strongly feel like it should be addressed. And it comes hand-in-hand with the original edition of the "Why is anime and its art style getting so much hate" (or better said a follow-up to that thread), as well as this thread about negative impact. It might take me a while as I have some data to process, but it should be done in the following hours. 

Oh, hello Count! And don't worry, it's alright =D

It's nice to see that you got an idea thanks to this thread, i actually saw the thread you made and did read some of it, i'm gonna read everything in some time (i woke up some minutes ago so i don't think i'd write something really good to a reply right now xd), i think all the discussion about Japanese spread nowadays deserves to be talked about, since is really complicated and each day more, is hard to tell if it gets worse or better

But I will try at some point to come back here as well to write a proper reply to this thread.

Alright, take your time and have a good day! =D

 

[_.Mevs]

 ...but I would've never imagined someone you've met could do something fucked up as drawing a dead cat as an anime character lol. 

Well, as someone that's into anime communities since my teenage, i already saw a lot of disturbing stuff =')

Tbh, is amazing how the whole Japanese media can be awesome and beautiful in a side and affect people in a really good way and can be the worst and more disgusting thing i've ever seen in another side =')

The thing for me is that I'm kind of indifferent or weirded out towards ecchi in Japanese media sometimes, although if the characters are teens then it makes feel uneasy. Like you said, it could go down towards a gross rabbit hole and it does raise some concerns. Though if it's for adults then it doesn't really bother me.

I think the ecchi is a worst trigger when it is on shows for all ages, for example Dragon Ball or Naruto, but if it's for adults, i don't really mind, mostly since i also can't talk a lot, i admit that i like some ecchi animes, but they're all +18 so i don't see any problem at all

The deep hole is really easy to be found and the scary part is that is so easy to a kid or a teenager get into it, just like i did and a lot of people also did or are doing...

I don't know which is sadder; the fact that weeabos support one of the most xenophobic countries in the world or they worship a 2D drawing on a screen to an unhealthy degree to the point where they develop to a creepy obsession or both. That's not to say you can't have a waifu or a like a cute anime girls but there people who do take it too far and claim that their married to a 14 year old and how could it not disturb someone?

Honestly, both, the way they talk about Japan as a perfect land is almost a propaganda, and honestly, works really well, since a lot of people fall into it and start thinking that Japan is so evolved and so good, like when they see a video of a robotic Japanese cafe and think "woah that's the cafes in Japan then, they're so evolved" like if all Japan was like that, and the part pf the 2D obsession, it is already horrible to think that people that fall into it each day more, but do you know what's even worse? When people fall into it and treat it as normal, making more people fall into it too =')

I never got so attracted to the idea of having a waifu, but i don't mind about people that does, i find weird when it comes to a point... A really specific point:

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Yeah, Japanese porn can be fucked up to put it lightly, since there's so much bizarre and downright gross fetishes (I.E Lolicon, incest, rape Ect.) Personally I don't like talking about my history with hentai mainly because it had an negative impact on my mind before, though It's saddening that some people can turn into addicts, especially if they have mental health issues to begin with (though I DO NOT sympathize with legitimate creeps or people who exploit others), it's a rabbit-hole that'll ruin you brain if your not careful or don't value your sanity.

I also had a negative impact due to hentai, and i really would never talk about the details to someone, and no, it wasn't something gross in the level of ilegal thing but yes just some really weird specific tastes i had, and i feel like it wouldn't be nice to talk about, i left this phase years ago, isn't like will change positively or negatively my life to talk about it now, so i rather not talk

It actually reminds me of my friends that were addicts... I just feel glad for stopping walking with those guys, some of them got into some trouble that i really wouldn't want to be related to, and the worst is thinking that they were my friends from school, not some weirdos from the internet 

It was fun discussing this topic with you, I'm glad you enjoyed my post! I tried to keep this appropriate to the topic as much as possible while making it SFW (because of the rules here), hope I didn't say anything weird.

Well, i could talk more, even say names, but well, it would be unnecessary and plus, i wouldn't like to violate the rules of the forum, so, is better to try keeping it as SFW as possible, thanks for the talk, it was nice =D

 

[buskerdog]

Basically, i've been thinking a lot of some stuff recently, and please don't get me wrong! I love Japanese culture and i'm not attacking it, is something totally different!

The Beggining

Alright, some days ago i was playing some games with my friends, to be more exact, a MMORPG called Toram Online (i recommend, btw) and then we ended up crossing with someone in a dungeong where we were grinding at 

Basically, this person said that isn't so common to find people in that place (since there was a place with really high level monsters) and asked if he could come with us to our party, so we could grind all together

We accepted and did some grinding during the rest of the day, and in the end he asked if we could talk more, so i gave my discord and added him in the server with my friends 

What i noticed was that he loves Japanese culture, and well, just to remind, Brazil is the most miscegenated country in the world, so it's easy to find people from lots of places around the world, i have friends that came from Japan, China, Italy and etc that lived in Brazil for years, so some of them know a lot and in a really intimate way about those cultures

So, we found out about his age (16yo) and well, we didn't judged or nothing, mostly since i also used to be really addicted to Japanese stuff during my teenage and childhood

The problem started when he wanted to teach us about Japanese culture and uh, he just said a lot of stuff without any basis aside from anime, just like saying that Japan is the best country in the world to live with a lot of healthy content, so, as you can imagine, since some of our friends are actually people that lived in Japan, they corrected him about a lot of stuff, not only about the life in Japan but also language aspects and etc

And all good so far, as much as he was still trying to prove his points about stuff like a samurai being able to kill several american soldiers alone (honestly, that even sounds like a joke), but we just ignored it and kept playing with him

The problem started when he began to talk badly about other cultures to make the Japanese culture seem as the best one, for example, when we were playing a FPS game called OpenSpades and made some jokes like "a cobra vai fumar" (that's basically something that Brazilian soldiers used to say during WW2) and he started to say that Brazil is a country of shitheads and he wish he lived in Japan, and also started bad talking about Brazilian culture itself

And well, when we asked why, he said it was because we cursed at Japanese culture (???), but like, we never talked badly about Japanese culture, all we did was correcting him about stuff he thought he knew a lot more than he really did (like, we talk about anime and a lot of Japanese stuff basically everyday, why we'd offend Japanese culture if even we like it?)

And just to finish this subject, after some stuff, our friend that's an actual Japanese descendant just decided to basically call him a emotionated weeaboo and well, it just made him leave the group (everyone was tired of him in the end, our group is always so peaceful and we never fight, and then someone appears and just interrupt it)

Some thoughts

So, it is really common here to see people, mostly teenagers that absolutely love Japanese animes, mangas and etc, it is each day more common to see people with lots of anime clothes, tattoos and even anime playing on public TVs here, and even mangas being more sold than regular books

I don't really have something against it, but it kinda worries me a bit about the way it affects some of the teenagers and children here

So, sometimes i visit my cousin, and he's already married and have a 7yo son, basically his son really loves anime like Naruto, Dragon Ball and etc, and that's nice tbh, for me it is just a different childhood from the one i had, but i respect it... Until some point

Before talking about the childhood and teenage of the kids nowadays, nothing more fair than talking about myself

So, my father never liked anime and that stuff (and also didn't let me watch it during some time), so i didn't have contact with it till i was 10yo and used to hang out with friends at school, and i liked what every kid used to like too, basically Dragon Ball and Pokemon, and it was my first contact with animes and mangas in general

I didn't know a lot, mostly since i didn't have a phone and my only contact with internet were online shooting games i played on my PC, like Halo: Combat Evolved Multiplayer and Counter Strike 1.6, i didn't really know how to use internet aside from those games and youtube, where i used to watch Worms (a game) animations

So, my contact with anime and manga was basically what my friends talked about on school, Pokemon trade cards that my mother used to buy for me (idk why my father never had a problem with Pokemon but had with any other anime) and the few times when it used to pass on TV, i basically used to watch it when my father was out to work

It changed at my teenage, since i learned more about using internet on PC and also had my first phone when i was 14yo, and there was when i found out about the magic of the Japanese online media

So, i watched my first anime, that was Sword Art Online, and after that, i started watching others such as Naruto, Evangelion and Death Note, so i started making my first online friends, and thanks to them i knew more animes to watch

So, in my teenage i was already someone that really loved animes and mangas, and i also started getting mangas because of it, and i'm talking about a time when animes weren't so popular here in Brazil, only Naruto and Dragon Ball were really known and loved by other people

Now, aside from the good things anime brought me, i have to talk about a more intimate topic, that's nothing more than basically hentai

I knew hentai at school, i was part of a group of 4 boys (counting me, 5) and we used to talk about animes and mangas, and once we were playing something to see who knew more animes, basically each one had a certain time to say the name of the max of animes we could remember of, and it was fun till someone said to try to see who knows more hentais

And i didn't know what the fuck hentais where, but everyone there seemed to be pretty aknowledged about it and even did laughed with it, so they started saying some names that i don't really remember

So, arriving at my house i just searched for hentai and found out about all that shit they were talking about, and it wasn't really good since i started searching for it more and more

In the end, i could get over it in just some time but honestly, if i could go back to the past, i wouldn't have searched for it, and in the end, all that happened thanks to all my curiosity about anime and japanese content (yes, i found out about hentai even before porn itself)

Now, getting back to the teenagers nowadays, isn't uncommon for me to see those people that really love Japanese culture and animes, and knowing all the contact they have with technology, it just make me think, is it really something positive? It wouldn't be horrible if thanks to this love for Japanese culture they knew all the downhole that are the Japanese pornographic stuff and start even to see Japan as a perfect place, like the guy i talked about before?

I know is just a moment that those people will go through during their teenages and that's normal but, are they really enjoying the Japanese content in a healthy way? It also reminds me of a guy i knew that was older than me and acted exactly the same way as the 16yo boy i talked about before, like, if it can affect negatively adults, what about the teenagers?

Don't get me wrong, i don't think people should stop liking the animes and mangas and share it, but i really worry about how this generation is going on, like, i'm only 20, isn't like i'm a old man, but all that sounds like something from a whole other universe to think that children and teenagers nowadays have so much contact with stuff that can turn up to be so weird for them

Like, i already saw people trying to copy personalities that they saw in animes and all that, i know that it is normal since even when i was little, i liked to imagine myself as characters i saw on TV but, my contact with that was just my TV and that's it, nowadays the children are born with a phone and a Tik Tok account

And my parents had control over me and i still ended up into hentai, so just imagine those children that have almost no supervision, and a whole universe to find in their phones

I found posts of people talking about hentai, virginity and etc on social media and some of those people aren't even 18, that's just something so gross for me

And not only talking about the sexual part, all the obsession they have with Japan nowadays, is it really normal and healthy? For them, Japan is what they see in animes and internet posts, like, it's nice that the Asian culture is spreading around the world but some people are taking it way too far, and most of those people are just 12, 16yo

Like, imagine the shame and all the negative impact that all that contact with Japanese content can cause on them due to internet? I already went through a lot of that when i used to love Japan like if it was a perfect place, and i didn't had a lot of contact with it, nowadays the teenagers have this contact and are becoming totally obsessed with Japanese stuff

I know nothing will change it in the end, but the reason i wanted to make this thread is to ask, what's your opinion about it and all the impact that this content is having on this generation? Feel free to talk about it =)

Btw. sorry if i said anything wrong! First of all, that's just my vision and what i understood of all that i saw here in Brazil, sorry if it bothers anyone!

Being in a class full of anime fans and people who just love Japan in general, I'm glad I don't know anyone like this. Then again, we're adults, not teenagers (OK, some of us are teenagers, but you know, almost at 20).

I'm afraid I don't really know what else to say on this subject. For me personally, although I've long had contact with Japanese culture through Nintendo games and also did have a ninja phase at one point when I was young, I'd say that Touhou Project counts as my first proper connection with Japan, and is what sparked my interest in the country. And yes I've watched a bit of anime and read a manga, but it just didn't quite become my thing compared to other facets of Japanese culture - namely gaming, traditional folklore, and food does doujin count too even if it's only Touhou doujin?

Sorry I can't really help the discussion more, I'd bring up my experiences of weeaboos if I had any but I guess not being that integrated into the anime subculture means that I don't really have encounters with them.

 

[Nekoko]

Honestly, i think that's the weirdest point, where they stop believing the perfect world of the anime and start to reproduce it in real life, is like they change the configuration of their brains to "what i saw on kawaii moe anime" instead of "what i learned during my whole life", it's something that idk if is so stupid or so sad =')

I know that this kind of behavior existed during the early 2000s but at this time, it was just a phase for most of the teenagers. Now, teens really seems to try being the embodiment of an anime character for the rest of their lives by wearing moe clothes (maid outfit, animal ears and all the stuff) or calling themselves "baka" "waifu" "senpai"... It's 100% cringe and disturbing 

I think it would happen with anyone at all, as a Brazilian, i'd also feel annoyed if someone started suddenly dancing samba in front of me because saw it in a carnival video, probably everyone would feel bothered if people started acting in front of them the way they learned with stuff that aren't what they actually do, that's something kinda sad to think that all the identity of a country nowadays can be reduced to what the media shows about them...

As a French some people still think that we are like Yuga Aoyama in My Hero Academia, I remember that when some American student went in France, they were still thinking that we are drinking a lot of wine and eating a lot of cheese and snails. Btw I know that some of my friends think that Brazilian are like Laura or Sean in Street Fighter ^_^ '

Now about the topic :

I think what is really having a bad impact to teenagers is how TikTok turned this passion into a cringe trend and lifestyle. We can also see some hentai video on TikTok as if it was normal to see this on a social media. So in my opinion, this is not Japanese culture itself wich has a negative impact on teens but social media (i'm not saying that social media are bad but dangerous for some early teens)

Also, it's normal that teens are "attracted" by Japanese culture, it's called in geopolitic "soft power" : it consists into making a country power thanks to its culture. The Japanese governement is taking the reputation of their country very seriously, like there is some law against people doing illegal stuff in cosplay so as to the franchise wont have a bad reputation because of the cosplayers. I guess anime culture is a big part of Japanese economy anyway 

 

[_.Mevs]

I know that this kind of behavior existed during the early 2000s but at this time, it was just a phase for most of the teenagers. Now, teens really seems to try being the embodiment of an anime character for the rest of their lives by wearing moe clothes (maid outfit, animal ears and all the stuff) or calling themselves "baka" "waifu" "senpai"... It's 100% cringe and disturbing 

It surely is weird, it also reminds me of stuff i see in my daily life, like when i go to work, there's a girl that usually leaves her house in the same time i arrive at my work, and she basically dress herself as a cat (nothing against it, i love cats, but isn't too much to dress the same thing everyday like if she was a cartoon character?), and also a friend i had that used to call me senpai, it never bothered me but nowadays i find it so weird

As a French some people still think that we are like Yuga Aoyama in My Hero Academia, I remember that when some American student went in France, they were still thinking that we are drinking a lot of wine and eating a lot of cheese and snails.

It is actually something interesting, some people start thinking that people are the way they learned with something that isn't even from the country itself =')

French culture is nice but i don't think that people should think of people because of what their culture is, i know a French comedian that came to Brazil, he's called Paul Cabanes, and he says some stuff from France that i never heard about before, and i think the effect would be the same with Brazilian stuff in other countries, just like with Japan stuff, but well, most people that says to admire Japanese culture has all their basis into kawaii waifus and anime =')

Btw I know that some of my friends think that Brazilian are like Laura or Sean in Street Fighter ^_^ '

Ngl, they're not soooo wrong xd

When you go somewhere like Rio De Janeiro, you'll find a lot of people that are similar to the stereotypes you find out there xd

I think what is really having a bad impact to teenagers is how TikTok turned this passion into a cringe trend and lifestyle. We can also see some hentai video on TikTok as if it was normal to see this on a social media. So in my opinion, this is not Japanese culture itself wich has a negative impact on teens but social media (i'm not saying that social media are bad but dangerous for some early teens)

Yup, not only Tik Tok, but every social media (just to remind, i got into hentai in a time i didn't even know what a social media was), since if it's already easy to find it without contact with social media, just imagine having that contact, knowing the lots of people that talk about that kind of thing like if it was normal? I remember seeing something about a forum in a Youtube video about a VRChat iceberg, and the video just said it was something so bad and that you shouldn't look for it, but without explaining what it was, so i searched and easy like that, it was a fucking lolicon forum, with people that were talking about their gross wishes (thankfully i didn't look deeper than that, and it was already enough to have me shocked for some hours)

It's the classical thing, isn't the thing said, is the person that's talking about it, if a adult talk about hentai, he more likely will tell you to get away from this because is something bad, but a teenager, that doesn't has such conscience about it, will just talk about it like something normal, making more people falling into this, and more people spreading the worst part of Japanese media and it's fans

Also, it's normal that teens are "attracted" by Japanese culture, it's called in geopolitic "soft power" : it consists into making a country power thanks to its culture. The Japanese governement is taking the reputation of their country very seriously, like there is some law against people doing illegal stuff in cosplay so as to the franchise wont have a bad reputation because of the cosplayers. I guess anime culture is a big part of Japanese economy anyway

Exactly, is like what North Korea does basically, they hide the truth but part of it is already shown

The difference is that Japan has it completely shown, but they hide it so well with the nice stuff they do that hardly someone will see all the horrible things that exist there, like their laws about "artistic freedom", that allow you to do absolutely anything, as much as it is a cartoon

It was nice to read btw! =D 

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[Nekoko]

Sorry in advance, I’m replying to you really really late and I’m writing this message on my phone so it’s not really convenient  ^-^

So thank you very much for all the information you’ve bring me (I’ve never heard of Paul Cabanes before), I was thinking about the topic and kinda came to the conclusion that, it’s not the culture itself which have a negative impact but the value or moral teens learn with it. Anime sometimes revolve around sexualizing normal and innocent  stuff (like school uniforms lol) and pretend that there’s nothing wrong about it, also I often see some kids acting like psycho just because they think it’s cool and normal :/ 

So, it’s not specific to Japanese culture I guess because I’ve seen recently that some Japanese girl who like French culture (the fake one) dress up like princess because they think it’s the way we dress up in France. Here, the impact of French culture is also negative on those girls because they tea live far away from the reality and it’s kinda ridiculous ^^

 

[SoundOfRayne]

I've been keeping quiet on this topic for a while, mainly because I could never quite get my thoughts in order on it. Hell, I'm not even convinced I have them in order now.

The main issue I have with trying to answer this kind of question is: "Yeah, obviously there are people exhibit bad behavior who are also big fans of anime, but how much of that bad behavior is anime's 'fault?' And if it's not anime's fault, than whose is it? The viewer? The community? Something else entirely? Or all of the above?" I wish I had a conclusion for that, but I don't, so in no particular order, here are my thoughts relevant to the thread.

• So, I think we can all agree that imitating media is generally not a smart idea. Media is filtered and polished and crafted to form and support a narrative, and reality just isn't like that. That's not to say that media doesn't portray reality, but it's never a perfect reflection and it never will be. And as such, mimicking any piece of media and expecting the results to turn up like that media had is astronomically stupid. And the thing is, this isn't exclusive to anime. One of my favorite examples of my friend-and-flatmate being just the dumbest thing alive happened a couple of years back. I wasn't present for this, so I have to go off of recounting. He was in a group call with a bunch of friends, and as a gesture of camaraderie, he told one of his lady-friends in the group that "she's his bitch." He was absolutely dumbfounded why the entire group call turned on him and collectively agreed that that wasn't cool. And when I asked him what could possibly convince him to say something so fantastically stupid, the answer exceeded even my expectations. See, in chick-flick films, it's not uncommon to have a group of women get together and call each other "bitchezzz" in their stereotypical valley-girl accent as light jabs to affirm their tight friendship, and he believed he could do the same and expected to receive a glorious Yas Queen! reception, completely oblivious of just how different the two scenarios are. My brain couldn't fathom the thought process needed to get to that point. Sure, the incident didn't leave a negative impact on their friendship. She understood that he didn't mean any offense by it, but still had to dress him down and tell him he can't just do that. It highlights my point: dude watches movies, thinks that what he watches indicates how he can behave, and reality steps in and says "No, it doesn't go down like that."
  
• One of the things about anime that really sucks is how people perceive it. Specifically, this really dumb narrative that anime is this "more mature" alternative to watching cartoons. And on a surface level, there's some truth to that. Anime is no stranger to showing gratuitous amounts of violent and sexual material that would never get greenlit for production here in the States. Most anime, just by nature of what they decide to put onscreen, would heavily straddle the line between PG-13 and R ratings. But all of that violence and blood and sex don't actually make anime a more mature story; it has basically no impact on how the story or characters are written. Most anime are pretty simple stories once you've broken them down; they just have a lot of flair given to them that you don't see as much of in other animation. Some people look up to anime for being more "mature" when it really isn't.
  
• This one's personal, but I absolutely h a t e how much anime treats its own viewers like complete losers. Seriously, how did get to a point in society where everyone can collectively pan HBO's Velma for cynically insulting its own audience, but anime can frequently write the most unpleasant, grotesque depictions of anime fans and their culture and people are like "omg it me frfr"? And this goes both ways. Anime fans should not be celebrating being depicted as human waste. Not only is it not a good look for them to people outside of anime, but I'd wager it paints a picture for those anime fans on what being an anime fan should be like, and that's awful. The Isekai genre is particularly nasty about this, as its very premise tells the audience, "Hey, see this absolute fuckin' waste of life who does nothing but play video games, watch anime, and buy merchandise that definitely isn't you? Wouldn't it be cool if, instead of expanding and improving their current life, they were instead given a new one where their decisions or lack thereof actually put them at the top of the food chain?" One of my favorite manga and anime, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku completely does away with this and has all of its main characters be stable, working adults leading fulfilling, albeit eccentric, lives. It was genuinely moving to have an anime tell me that I can still enjoy the things I love and be passionate about them, and also be a functioning adult. And it still gets to be funny and poke fun at the less appealing aspects of otaku culture without coming across as completely dismissing it.
  
• This one's a personal pet theory of mine, but I'm convinced that "anime" and "the internet" are a match made in hell. Anime is centered heavily around melodrama; emotions are presented at fever-pitch to really hit viewers with raw feelings right where it hurts. And I love it for it. It's fun to watch. But if anyone's every actually talked to someone who tries to get melodramatic like an anime would, you know they're some of the most insufferable people to ever exist. And where can you go to find people who get tons of attention and clout for being loud, hyperreactive, and overly emotional? Yeah.
  
• I wanna be harder on the kids and teens who treat anime like it's some perfect representation of Japan for being stupid, because it is genuinely stupid to think any piece of media is wholely representative of where it came from. But it's hard to really be upset about it from the outside because that kind of half-heartedness is pretty universal. The Dunning-Kruger Effect wouldn't be a thing if there was only one notable example of it. I get it. You watch anime, and you pick up little bits and pieces of info about Japanese culture and language from it, and you start thinking you're some sort of expert because you technically know more than nothing. It's obnoxious to be sure, but that's nothing unique to anime, and anyone with half a functioning brain and/or access to Google can very quickly dismantle any drivel they decide to pass off as fact.
  
• I do wanna close out my thoughts on a hopeful note, though. See, anime's gotten exponentially more popular and widespread through the last decade or so. It may be bold to say so, but I think that if it hasn't already become so, anime is only a few degrees off from being mainstream. And anime fans will likely disagree with that sentiment, since otaku and weebs have gotten pretty comfortable with this stigma that they're perpetually ostracized, but we're getting close to the point where saying you watch anime will be as innocuous as saying you go out to the movies. More importantly, adults who watch anime will be having children who watch anime. Anime will stop being this weird generational gap where fans insist that all these old people just don't understand, because they will. And parents will actually be in a good position to talk to their kids about anime, and their respective good and bad takeaways. Hopefully a lot of that bad behavior we see from anime fans will die down as everyone collectively gets more informed about it. Maybe that's being too optimistic, but I'd like to imagine a coming generation where anime is as normalized a hobby as, say, being a comic book fan post-Marvel's MCU.