One of my biggest pet peeves is anime/manga fanboyism. And that includes fangirls, so don’t go accusing me of sexism. Perhaps “fanradicalism” is a better term? Anyway, I’m talking about people so completely obsessed with anime, manga, and Japanese culture that it’s destroyed their grip on reality. If you’ve ever seen photos taken at anime conventions, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. (Fat people in spandex anime outfits. I kid you not.)

Why do I find them so annoying? For the record, I see nothing wrong with really enjoying your hobby. We all do that from time to time. But when your hobby becomes an obsession which disconnects you from society and affects interpersonal relationships, then hey, you’ve got a problem! Furthermore, the arrogance displayed by the fanradicals is appalling.

For example, let’s take the hotly-debated issue of subtitles versus dubbing in anime. Personally, I prefer dubbed anime as long as it’s a quality dub. If I have to watch subtitles, I’m not going to bitch. What I take issue with is the fanradicals who swear up and down that subtitling is the only way to go, often claiming that the English translations “suck” or that the dub voice actors are terrible. Now, first of all, the English translations for subtitles can be just as bad; it all depends on who you have handling the translation, so that claim is rendered moot.

Secondly, the issue of voice acting. While anyone who’s watched even a tiny bit of dubbed anime or film knows that there’s plenty of truly shitty dub work out there, there’s conversely an overwhelming amount of extremely high quality English voice acting. This is a natural progression; anime in the 1980s, for example, wasn’t as hugely popular stateside as it is now. So, over time, higher quality dubs were created. It bothers me that fanradicals still decry it as inferior nowadays; that’s incredibly insulting to the hardworking voice actors. (Need I remind you that the greatest voice actors of all time, Mel Blanc and Frank Welker, are both American?) Also, for those idiots who go on and on about how the Japanese voice work is somehow better at conveying emotion and story…how do you know? Are you fluent in Japanese, and all of its dialects? If not…then your claims fly right out the window. In some cases, the Japanese voice acting is actually pretty bad, while the English voice acting is a marked improvement; Fullmetal Alchemist is a prime example of this. (I’ve confirmed it with Japanese-speaking friends.) It’s just like any other medium; there’s good work, and bad.

Moving on to manga, we find many of the same complaints. While the voice acting bit obviously doesn’t apply, there’s complaints about translations. Again, that’s all dependent on the translation team, and in some cases, changes must be made due to linguistic and cultural differences. If you can still enjoy the story, then who gives a shit?

Next up…video games. The fanradicals there are a super-niche group, as many of them do know some Japanese in order to play text-heavy games. Rounding them out, however, are those who claim that Japanese-designed games are the only way to go. Everyone who knows me is aware that I prefer Japanese-developed games, but that’s only because that’s where a majority of my favorite series come from. I have no beef with Western developers at all, especially since I was a PC gaming addict throughout my high school and college years. C’mon, do these fanradicals honestly think that the classic LucasArts adventure games were bad, simply because they weren’t Japanese?

Last but not least, we’ve got the cancerous growths known as J-pop and J-rock. As you can tell by the name, these are very Japan-centric versions of pop and rock music. However, what sets them apart is the fact that they’re unbelievably annoying and saccharine to the extent of rotting out your teeth just by hearing them (especially J-pop). Much of the styles’ popularity over here is due to the fact that groups are often hired to perform theme songs for various anime adaptations. While good theme music is essential to heighten a TV show’s mood, these songs often clash wildly with the show’s theme. The super-upbeat pop songs before a particularly violent episode of Bleach? Please. How do the fanradicals factor into this? By blaring the vile shit over and over, and screeching out the lyrics in poorly spoken Japanese! I used to work with kids at a summer camp ages ago, and the Backstreet Boys fangirls there weren’t nearly as bad as this.

As you can see, the anime/manga fanradicals drive me insane. To put the final nail in the coffin, I’ll end this post with a personal anecdote.

About a month and a half ago, I went with friends to the US screening of Death Note, a Japanese live-action film based on the manga of the same name. We knew going in that we’d likely be the oldest folks in there, as anime and manga in the US is heavily marketed towards the teen set. We also knew that the fanradical contigent would be out in full force, and we were proven correct. (There were even a few cosplayers.) We didn’t get angry at this; they had every right to be there as we did. I just didn’t want them to disrupt my enjoyment of the film with their antics…but that was apparently too much to ask. A group of fanboys sitting behind my roommate had comments to make about just about every scene, until he shushed them. Even worse were the fangirls sitting behind me. I knew they’d squeal every time a character appeared onscreen for the first time; it irritated me, but I let it go. What I could not tolerate was their commenting on the most asinine and pointless elements of the film! For example, the character “L” is always seen barefoot. In one scene towards the end of the film, he’s got sneakers on. This caused the fangirls to loudly proclaim, “Omigod, he’s got shoes!” To which I turned around and growled, “Thanks, genius.” And then there was the guy sitting in front of me, who yelled out “Why didn’t you give us the recipe?” after a brief segment that showed a character on a cooking show. Why the hell would you yell something out like that? Oh yeah, because you’re a fat slob. (This guy definitely was.)

Seriously, I don’t care how much of a fan you are, shut the fuck up. (This dovetails nicely with my thoughts on movie theater etiquette, but I’ll save that for another post.) I had to silence those bitches behind me quite a few times during the movie, and my patience was strained to the limit. While I enjoyed the film quite a bit, it almost wasn’t worth it due to the constant disruptions from the fanradicals. I already know the film was Japanese; I don’t need to be reminded of every irrelevant detail just because Death Note runs your goddamn life.

Whew, now my head hurts. My advice to the fanradicals is the wise words spoken by William Shatner:

“Get a life.”