Letters

Thanks to those who explained to me that "rubber" is British for "eraser". I wondered what that one Card Captor Sakura site meant when it said Tomoyo gave Sakura a "rubber". Gotta get my mind out of the gutter...

And the heckling of X continues...

I saw the X movie last night. My sister, being the resident CLAMP fanatic was extremely excited. I was a little worried after hearing other accounts of people's bad experiences with hecklers, and sure enough, there were hecklers galore. I had to wonder if my sister and I were the only people in the whole theater who actually watched the movie without MSTing it. Yes, the dubbing was horrible, but the worst part was that they laughed just as much at the actual movie. My sister was justifiably upset, since her chance to see her favorite artists' work in a theater was ruined. I'm beginning to wonder if I even want to bother seeing the Evangelion movies when they're released here.

--Firia Enishigirl@aol.com
http://members.dencity.com/heero-yui
http://goddess-misato.tripod.com

I guess it's been decided. X is now officially the Rocky Horror Picture Show of anime, and the hecklers are going to treat it that way, whether the rest of the audience likes it or not...

The back and forth on the state of the fans continues...

Dear Ryan,

After reading your rant for this month's "Last Exit" I am renewed with a sense of hope. Ever since I got into discussing anime on forums, chats, etc, I've always held an anti-purist attitude. I never partook any usenet anime discussions because I knew it's full of purists, and purists are often unaccepting to creative alternatives and near-sighted. Now I have nothing personal against them because purists are also very well- versed in the stuff they are into and has a good sense of quality. But for the sake of discussing new ideas, purists are not very accepting and are usually overly-critical. More importantly, they sometime take things very personally and are easily offended. They are usually very prideful, as well.

Now I want to correct myself and say that by far most anime fans that I've talked to, and adhere to purist standards, are quite friendly and accepting of new opinions (at least are willing to respect them). Furthermore, there are plenty of other types of anime fan who have problems like taking things personally, etc, that I foolishly thought was characteristic of the purists crowds. Obviously my impression was false.

So why did I have that nasty stereotype in my head? Because they are more often on the side of the negative than others. They oppose changes companies make to appeal the masses because it is not to their best interests. They oppose changes that make things more "mainstream" and thus different from the original. And unfortunately, people with negative views tend to generate more conflicts, strife, flamewars, and what not. It brings out the worse in them.

Not to say that it is not good to adhere to an absolute sense of good and bad quality, in fact I recommend it, but when it comes to matter of taste and things who's to say what's right or wrong? Well, usually the biggest crowd say the things to do, and at this rate the purist breed will soon lose more than they win because moderate-casual folks will be in control real soon. American hard-core purists will soon driven to the position of Japanese hard-core purists (if creatures exist).

So what now? As more and more moderate fans (I am one of them) join the scene, I propose that purists need to find another way to express their opinions. Shooting down what they used to shoot down won't work anymore. The anime scene is changing fast, and the purists need to either find a fast way to relieve stress or find a new way cling onto, because at this rate more things will piss them off than ever before. (I can just imagine how people will respond to Fox's Escaflowne)

Lastly, I want to express to those purists my thanks and respect, because without these hard-working men and women the massive moderate/casual crowd would not be able to enjoy anime as is today. I hope it is worth your efforts.

Jeffy jeffc@andrew.cmu.edu

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After reading the letters about fandom I had to make this comment. People who call themselves otaku obviously aren't otaku! No one who knew what the word meant would call themselves that. I dare any of them to tell a Japanese person they're an otaku, I'm sure the Japanese person would try to get away from them as soon as possible! How did it become so popular for north american anime fans to call themselves such a negative thing? Everytime I read a flame war about people saying they're more otaku then someone else, I kind of interpret it as them saying "I'm stinkier and dorkier than you are". ^_^

Daemoness ------------------- The Fansub Trader Resource daemoness@earthlink.net http://homepages.go.com/~daemoness_metria/resource/main.htm Daemoness' Anime Haven http://homepages.go.com/~daemoness_metria/resource/index.htm

The phrase is "co-opting". It is often common for a derogatory term to be co-opted by the group the term is meant to deride. It's both a way of thumbing your nose at those who look down at you and a way of poking good-natured fun at yourself.

Hello, This is to Thomas Stubbs and anyone else who was wondering about what exactly drives people to cosplay. I think I can answer the question rather well...even though I may not be speaking on behalf of all cosplayers in general. I know one of the main reasons that my friends started doing was just the attention you recieve when you walk around the con in costume. When people stop you and ask for pictures, or when people start up conversations with you when you're just kinda walking along the halls and minding your own business, it gives you that feeling of importance. It's like being a celebrity in a sense, and it's not a feeling that many of us get on a regular basis. Cosplaying at a convention is a real ego boost. I'm afraid I can't answer the "Why women decide to dress up as Bakuretsu Hunters characters" question though.

Jason Hau cabbit@vividnet.com

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I admit that there are things about cons that bug me. I agree that standing in line for the dealers room for hours and listening to groups of adolescent boys talk about how much they like tentacles is not the highlight of my day. Neither is listening to American con-goers incorrectly append Japanese honorific suffixes to the names of the Guests of Honor during question and answer panels. And yes, there are quite a few people in Sailor outfits or Slayers garb that should lose a few pounds before their costumes look the same way they do on TV but none of these things are going to cause me to become bitter, inconsiderate and downright nasty like so many anime fans seem to be. (To quote a letter from the July issue: "Most women were not gifted with Bakuretsu Hunter bodies... Please stop dressing like them, it's embarrassing." Yeah, and few people look like Cindy Crawford, but that's hardly cause to attack them. It's attitudes like this that cause such a high occurrence of eating disorders. Get over yourself, please.)

All that -I- can do to heighten my enjoyment of a convention is file away the few Japanese phrases I know for the day I actually study the language, ignore the insane people, and enjoy being around a group of people who don't consider my obsession strange. If I don't love a certain aspect of con culture (import video gaming, model making, and bad fan art do nothing for me) I'm certainly not going to dwell on it. And if I work out regularly it's not going to be so that I don't "embarrass" other con-goers in my cosplay outfits, it's going to be for -me.-

Fans can be obsessive, rude, and scary in their devotion to what they see as the "proper" way to view anime, but that's life. (On that note, isn't it hypocritical to bash the dub of Card Captor Sakura in one breath and complain about con-goers in the other? A devout fan complaining about the fanatical?) When little things begin to bother me so much that they spoil my enjoyment of any event, it's time to either remind myself that the world doesn't revolve around me or to find something I actually enjoy doing. If you don't love "fandom," then by all means, stay at home.

-Jessica Polichetti jpolichetti@hotmail.com
http://himemiya.virtualave.net

A valid viewpoint. However, allow me to make two points. First, there's a difference between being overweight (as I am), and going out of your way to showcase your extra blubber in a skimpy costume. Secondly, me being upset about the way Card Captor Sakura was dubbed does not make me a "devout fan". I prefer dubbing in principle. But I can't condone, or even see the point, of trying to alter a shojo series in order to make it more marketable to boys. It simply makes no sense.

The July column mentions the negative responses of some fans to replacing Japanese text with English text onscreen.

While I do not necessarily agree with their aversion, it is understandable. A lot of people like anime not just because it is a medium with diverse and enjoyable content, but also because it's Japanese. Anything that makes a show feel less foreign, such as dubbing or text replacement reduces the exotic feel. Some viewers enjoy being reminded that what they're watching is a product of a different culture, and find the differences refreshing. It is thus not absurd that they would object to any "American-izing" of anime.

Reene DoNotExist@aol.com

I'm sure that is their viewpoint. However, if they truly want anime with no American taint to it, they only have one option: buy the import. I've always thought it a silly attitude to say to US anime companies "Please buy anime, translate it into English, and sell it to the American market, but don't Americanize it!" Some Americanization is going to take place; it's unavoidable. A line simply has to be drawn as to how much is too much. Some think replacing Japanese text is too much. In my opinion, text is text.

It's not often that I feel the need to write in to a letters column or website when I see something I don't agree with, but this time I feel I should. In your July letters page of Last Exit you printed a very large amount of letters trashing otaku and hardcore anime fans. Before continuing let me say this about me, and I assure you I have a point with it. I have a very sizable anime collection. I have a pretty good size manga collection. I have raw japanese manga and video tapes. I have anime soundtracks. I most definately prefer subs over dubs. I have wallscrolls and art books. I occasionally let slip (unintentionally) a "gomen", "arigato" or "hai" in regular everyday conversation. I've never been to a Con, though I had the chance to go to AX this year and I'm going with my sister to Anime Central next year.

However, these things seem destined to get me lumped in with the worst elements of anime fandom, despite all evidence to the contrary. I'm tired of being stereotyped like this. Not all hardcore anime fans are the unwashed jerks that everybody seems to want to make them out to be. It's really frustrating to try to talk to other anime fans because this attitude seems pervasive through the entire community. People think "white-guy, slightly overweight, only watches subs, has j-pop....Otaku ahoy!" and throw me in with the hecklers, hygene-neglect cases, and morons before even attempting to hear what I have to day. I'm kind of wary of going to Anime Central next year because I'm pretty sure that due to my appearance and tastes in anime I'm going to be blown off by most people as just another loser otaku.

I know that most of the people who wrote in to thrash hardcore fans ~probably~ didn't mean to throw everybody into one lump sum, but it damned well sounded like it to me. I guess I'm lucky enough to have some good friends already that aren't as judgemental as some of your readers.

Aaron "WolfSamurai" Roudabush wolfsamurai@yahoo.com

I personally am not going to lump you in with the hygene-neglect cases unless you smell. I won't lump you in with the hecklers unless you heckle. But if you say "gomen", "arigato" or "hai" in everyday speech, well, I'm sorry, but I'd proabably think you were a bit of a geek. See, an anime fan using Japanese phrases in their English speech is a little like a Trekkie saying "live long and prosper". It's gonna brand you as a nerd, whether you like it or not. Frankly, I think you protest too much. If you don't want people to dislike you, don't give them a reason. No one will have anything bad to say about you unless you annoy them or are rude to them.

Just writing a quick note in response to the many letters about crazy fans...well I'm definitely a crazy fan, but I have fun with it. That's the key word for me: fun. There is no need to turn anime-watching into a big argument over whether subs or dubs are better, or whether a certain seiyuu sucks..Discussions are fine, but arguments just make it..well, un-fun. Meowing like a catgirl? (in the essay you linked to for July's Last Exit) Well, it's a bit obsessive, but if you do it quietly and you have fun with it, I say go ahead. It's better to get some funny stares and be happy than to blend in with the crowd and be depressed. ^^ Cosplaying a Bakuretsu Hunter character? If I ever did that, it wouldn't be because "Wow, Chocolate is sooo sexy, and if I dress like her, I will be too!" it'd be because I thought it would be fun. Why do you think I dressed as Jessie of Team Rocket for Halloween last year and plan to dress as Chichiri this year? (You should have seen the looks on the kids' facesas I passed out their candy, it was priceless ^^) Pocky? I've tried it, I even had the obligatory Gundam marathon to go with (^^;) but if I buy it again, it'll be because it's a snack that tastes good and is pretty inexpensive, not because, "WOW! POCKY! JAPANESE STUFF!"

As for the "I'm so cute I can speak Japanese" thing, well, I can say that *some* of us almost can't help it. I, as an example, have watched much much much more subbed anime than dubbed. I've taken two years of Japanese, and I listen to lots of J-pop. (FYI, I didn't choose Japanese as a language because "hey, now I can watch anime in raw Japanese", I chose it because I like the culture. I don't listen to J-pop because "it comes from Japan! Everyone worship Japan o.O" but because, hey, some of it is pretty darn cool!) After being immersed in so much Japanese, it's only logical that some common words would just slip off the tip of my tounge. (I've also almost caught myself trying to pronounce "lol", just because I say it a lot online ^^) It's just a case of whatever you are around a lot, you start to pick up. Haven't you ever started saying something because your friend says it all the time?

Well, sorry that was so long and rambling, I just had a lot of things I wanted to say. Hopefully there are more otaku out there who can keep anime *fun*!

Megara megara133@yahoo.com

Now there's someone with the right attitude. That's what any fandom should be about: fun. Sometimes I think fans take it all so seriously that they lose sight of that. Some of the people I lock horns with on rec.arts.anime.misc never seem to post anything positive. It's just "I hate this company", or "I hate that dub". Have fun, be considerate of others, and enjoy the animation.

And finally, two miscellaneous letters:

I just want to point out that the girl, Ringo, in Nakayosi's "Delicious!" was not aiming to be a chef like you wrote in your short site description. It's a long story, but I'd say it was more of a quest for discovering the joy of cooking --- most important of which is making the person you like say "Delicious!" when you cook for him. Or so the manga goes. I used to like this series but when I read through it again I felt like throwing it out the window.

Sakura kinomoto@japan.com

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In the July "Last Exit Before Toll", when you encountered the Touya/Yukito Fanclub, you described it as focusing on the *belief* that there's an homosexual relationship between the two characters (my emphasis).

I would just like to take this opportunity to tell you that the relationship has been confirmed in the manga. It is a fact, not a belief.

I would also like to thank you for your choice not to pursue the subject due to your dislike of it. I and many other yaoi fans are often flamed for our fondness of such material. Your example of mature, thoughtful behaviour is *very* much appreciated. Thank you.

Yours sincerely, Raye Johnsen earnest@one.net.au

It's a fact in the manga. Got it, thanks. Of course, that may or may not mean its a fact in the anime. Perhaps we'll see someday.