Thread: Things about Anime that non-fans get wrong, annoying you

For example, some people not into Anime think that all Anime is for teens and that it's all animated porn, given the fanservice as of late.

What about you? What mistakes that non-fans of Anime make annoy you the most as an Anime fan?

Me? I hate how people write of Dragon Ball (Z) as just mindless action, disregarding the story and characters.

P.S. If you need elaboration on this, let me know.

Here's a common one where I live:

Anime is for 5 yr olds and is all gay.

I hate it when people compare it to cartoons like it's completely different. Anime = animation. Animation is a borrowed word which was shortened to "anime", like say conbini is short for Convenient Store. Anime = cartoon technically by Japan's standards. Animation is animation.

Something else that's always bugged me is that all anime series are the same and that they do not have different genres and series aimed at a range of people and not just young people.

Originally Posted by SSJ_Jup81

I hate it when people compare it to cartoons like it's completely different. Anime = animation. Animation is a borrowed word which was shortened to "anime", like say conbini is short for Convenient Store. Anime = cartoon technically by Japan's standards. Animation is animation.

Indeed.

Honestly, anime fans tend to get more things wrong about anime than non-fans. generally in more annoying ways, too.

When they confuse Toriyama's art style in a few animes as being from the creators of the Dragon Ball series.

I hate it when people think anime is for kids - when it's not. There are a lot of anime with deep stories which can appeal to older people.

I also hate it when they think anime is something of a low value and considered as a waste of time. Especially grown-ups. A lot of them around me told me not to watch anime since it's not good for my education and would only teach me violence.

If that's the truth, why are they letting me watch Bugs Bunny get hit by anvils?

Also, when people say anime are nothing more than close-to-porn stuff... and I tell them, 'Hell, you think One-Piece is porn?'. LOL

Well, the most common misconception that I've seen in real life (supported by the observations here) is that anime is supposed to fall into one of two groups: either some nonsensical action cartoon (i.e. Dragonball, Naruto) or an ecchi harem series. To be honest, anime in general is just another medium for TV shows, with a range of genres as wide as live-action shows in the west.

The other big one is stereotyping of the fans as various types of nerds and shut-ins. While partially true, this argument is easily countered by bringing up the names of Keanau Reeves, Will Smith and Robin Williams. Oh, and Christian Bale and Tobey MacGuire (which, by extension, means that Spider-man and Batman watch anime).

The biggest problem I have seen when trying to get people to watch Anime is that they think it's only for children. Or another common argument is that it's only hentai and has no storyline. Wish I could get people to sit down and watch a Miyazaki film....then tell me it has no storyline....

When I was younger it always irked me when my dad would refer to Goku as "Dragonball Z".
"Oh, is Dragonball Z still fighting Fajita?"

Originally Posted by matt0044

Me? I hate how people write of Dragon Ball (Z) as just mindless action, disregarding the story and characters.

To be honest...

Also, "anime is for kids" really gets on my nerves, hence why I made this:
Warning: Contains Elfen Lied.

Then there's everyone assuming anime is just hentai or moe. I can't even mention say, finding Rin from Usagi Drop adorable without being labelled as creepy as people jump to thinking I mean that kind of adorable. Then there's the bitching and moaning than ensues in my house whenever I want to watch an anime on the big tv downstairs.

Originally Posted by Adamant

Indeed.

Honestly, anime fans tend to get more things wrong about anime than non-fans. generally in more annoying ways, too.

I'd guess that could be a way of fans to try and differentiate anime from western animation, as quite a lot of western animation is for children (not saying Japanese animation is any different). Although I'm surprised the more logical argument of "Would you let a kid watch South Park / Family Guy / Metalocalypse?" isn't used more.

Originally Posted by Ghetsis-Dennis

When they confuse Toriyama's art style in a few animes as being from the creators of the Dragon Ball series.

Well, Toriyama is the creator of Dragonball. I've never seen anything with Toriyama's art style outright claim to be made by him, just saying "With character designs from the creator of Dragonball Z" or something to that effect, as he does do the art for quite a few game series' (Like Dragon Quest and Blue Dragon).

Originally Posted by SSJ_Jup81

I hate it when people compare it to cartoons like it's completely different. Anime = animation. Animation is a borrowed word which was shortened to "anime", like say conbini is short for Convenient Store. Anime = cartoon technically by Japan's standards. Animation is animation.

Isn't it usually anime fans do?

Originally Posted by Joshawott

To be honest...

Also, "anime is for kids" really gets on my nerves, hence why I made this:

I think that's something for cartoons in general

In my experience, I don't like it when people say anime is childish and then talk about live-action shows as if their writing is automatically so much better.

Originally Posted by Psystrike

In my experience, I don't like it when people say anime is childish and then talk about live-action shows as if their writing is automatically so much better.

I guess that can be true. I watched a bit of the Transformers cartoons and all three live-action films. They were all really good. Of course the cartoon was targeted at kids and had a much more simple storyline, but I found it equally enjoyable as the film. I don't think there either one of them were much better - it's just a matter of how much it was easier to understand.


There's also Death Note. If all anime were for kids, why did they air Death Note at such a late night? (If I remember, it was around midnight or later). Normally, kids won't stay up so late at that time, and it's safe to say that it was aimed at people in their teens (or late teens) and older. I still think it's one of the best anime out there with the best storyline, and pretty much everyone would agree that Death Note isn't for kids - it's not that easy to 'read' the characters emotions as it was portrayed.

However, the Death Note live action film wasn't that good. Yes, it was also enjoyable but it did not bring out the atmosphere of the original manga. The anime Death Note did a much better job in doing that. Now who's to say that live-action is better than anime?

Originally Posted by darkqueen

pretty much everyone would agree that Death Note isn't for kids

"Pretty much everyone" would be quite wrong, then.

I don't know where you watched it at midnight, but it got the regular 9:30 slot when YTV still had their anime block. Naruto and Bleach aired past midnight in Canada because they were in filler hell, and YTV stopped caring about anime, that doesn't mean it's mature.

There are cartoons with universal appeal (though I don't really see them anymore), and cartoons and anime that are clearly meant for adults.

Originally Posted by Psystrike

I don't know where you watched it at midnight, but it got the regular 9:30 slot when YTV still had their anime block. Naruto and Bleach aired past midnight in Canada because they were in filler hell, and YTV stopped caring about anime, that doesn't mean it's mature.

"Death Note aired in Japan on the Nippon Television (NTV) network every Tuesday at 24:56 [1] The series began broadcasting on NTV on October 3, 2006 and ended on June 26, 2007" - List of Death Note episodes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I meant in Japan, where they aired it first. Of course I didn't watch it in Japan, but they really did air it around that time. If it was targeted at kids, why didn't they use an earlier time slot in the first place?

There are cartoons and anime that are clearly meant for adults.

Of course there are cartoons and anime meant for adults. Stuff like Family Guy aren't for kids - and even some of The Simpsons. You don't want to let your kids watch Homer Simpson drunk driving around the town and hitting trees.