When things we don’t like become popular

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Art by ちてたんお仕事募集中 on pixiv

In a past post, I talked about how hype can sometimes ruin our enjoyment of an anime we may have otherwise liked. Whether an anime has staff pedigree or a reputable source material, these things are what make fans build high expectations for these titles before they even see them, which may inadvertently cause them to be disappointed had they not been so hyped. But while that topic was about hype ruining an anime before-hand, today I wanted to look at “post-hype”; how lasting popularity can cause us to hate something we may have just been neutral about, or even liked, otherwise…

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Fandom and the death of adulthood

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Some months ago The New York Times published an article that I found quite intriguing and surprisingly applicable to anime fandom despite being seemingly unrelated to it. It’s called “The Death of Adulthood in American Culture” and it involves a film critic for The Times discussing how American society has changed over the decades in terms of what it means to be an adult; he cites popular TV shows, movies, and books that reflect how the old view of adulthood – being part of an authority-following, gender role-centered society – has been losing popularity in favor of a freer and more rebellious idea of adulthood, most notably one that embraces childhood and supposedly childish things rather than cast them off…that sounds like anime fandom to me!…

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Anecdotes of an anime fan #2

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This is the second installment of a post I wrote back in 2011 where I recounted several interesting, weird, funny, and/or endearing anime-related things that have happened to me during my years as a fan. I’ve been wanting to return to this idea for a while but other posts have always taken precedence…until today that is! So here’s another batch of anecdotes during my now 15 years as a fan…

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Does the anime we like reveal what kind of person we are?

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I’ve touched on this topic in bits and pieces in other posts, but I don’t believe I’ve actually delved into it fully. It’s an idea that permeates anime fandom, or really, all communities of media fandoms where people tend to judge one another based on the game or show they like, and people who take such criticisms of their hobbies as personal insults. But is there any merit in either?…

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How to watch anime on a healthy schedule

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I’m sure we’ve all heard the lament before, whether from others or from ourselves, that goes “I don’t have time for all the anime I want to watch!” or “I keep falling behind on my weekly anime!” As someone who very rarely falls behind on anime and usually finds time to watch the shows I want to watch, today I felt like offering advice and tips I go by for keeping up on all my anime amidst limited free time while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle…

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Are some anime genres inherently bad?

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We all have our preferred genres of anime, but there’s some common opinion among fans that certain genres are somehow inherently better or worse than others. Today I want to think about why or why not that could be true…

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Has hype ever ruined an anime for you?

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Every time a new season of anime comes around, or even when discussions happen to bring up past titles that were very popular, you hear people say things like “It was overhyped,” “Don’t give into the hype,” and “The hype ruined it for me.” But what exactly is meant by that and can the hype of a show really affect your personal viewing experience?…

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Being bullied for liking anime

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Whenever your tastes and hobbies fall out of the norm, you run the risk of being called out by those who don’t approve of anything “different.” Anime, being the niche medium that it is, is a likely thing to be put down about by classmates, family members, coworkers, etc., who, in all likelihood, have a distorted, ignorant view of what anime is. Luckily I haven’t had to experience any extreme pressure at school, work, or home about my anime obsession, but I have had a few incidents that I wanted to share…

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My 10 unpopular anime opinions

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Today’s post idea came from Artemis over on the Otaku Lounge (who got it from Guy Shalve…I love how post ideas get around the blogsphere!) It sounded like a fun topic to think about so I decided to give it a try…

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Advertising your anime fandom

Being a big fan of anime and other things, I always feel the need to have something on my person that shows it, whether it’s a keychain, pins on my bag, or an anime T-shirt. A few years ago I actually wrote all about how I “wear” anime on my person all the time in a past post. There I described how, over the years, I’ve always kept little fan trinkets on me, like pictures on my school notebook or charms on my phone – the “how” of advertising my fandom if you will. But today, I wanted to look at the “why” and “why not” of people who like to publicly show that they’re anime fans and people who don’t…

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