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Recently Hayao Miyazaki has stated that he belived the anime industry is suffering because of "otaku" (Otaku basically means anime fan; there's a more in depth definition further on).
TL;DR:
Uh, he never implied masturbation is as bad as war. He’s being a cranky old man, as cranky old men are wont to do. The author of the article just listed those things as additional things Miyazaki doesn’t like.
And something you people really, really, REALLY need to understand is that "otaku" is not a term of endearment in Japan the way “nerd” has become so in the West. If I were to speculate, I’d say it has a lot to do with cultural values - here, we place a lot of value and pride in our individual identities, but that just is not the case in Japan. They, and the East Asian countries in general, place a lot of value in working to improve the collective. Being an otaku implies a lot of the things you’d think being the classical “nerd” implies - living in your mother’s basement, spending all your time watching anime/slacking off, and being a general drain on society. While that’s not “accepted” in the West per se, it is not directly contradictory to every cultural value we have. We’re just expressing our identities when we do those kinds of things. In Japan, they are the antithesis of a praiseworthy member of society.When the anime industry is, in Miyazaki’s mind, full of these kinds of people, who seal themselves off in insular groups and jack off to 2D waifus all day in between drawing said 2D waifus, that is a real problem.
Frankly, when I look at the entire catalogue of anime titles released over the past 5 years, I see what he means. Who the **** is going to buy OreImo except lolicon siscon hentai otaku? Who the **** is going to buy K-On! except ronery NEETs? I LOVE the Monogatari Series - but who the **** is going to buy that shit except social rejects?
Real-life people do not act like the people in those shows.Real people do not say to their friends/rivals in love “hey, let’s take a shower together while I fondle your tits.” Real sisters do not fall in love with their oniichan desu~s after many sessions of counseling. I love the tsundere archetype, but a real-life tsundere is someone that nobody wants to be around because they treat other people like shit.
I probably should devote an entire paragraph to lolis. (Most) people do not sexualize little girls, and in fact find the sexualization of of little girls to be repulsive. Why, then, are there so many lolis in anime? Because lolis represent a lot of things that a lot of men find desirable in women - innocence, petite bodies, cuteness in general. But for whatever reason, it has become not only okay, but the norm for anime to have prepubescent girls in compromising sexual positions. If you like flat chests - fine. If you like inexperienced girls - fine. If you like cute things - fine. Mashing all of those things together on a 12-year-old and slapping a bikini on her to appeal to otaku with those preferences? Most people will say that is ****ed up.
Fanservice is off-putting to a lot of people. Incest is off-putting to a lot of people. Lolis are off-putting to a lot of people. Unbelievable characters and character interactions are off-putting to a lot of people. But those things are things that self-proclaimed otaku audiences embrace, so that’s what the Miyazaki-proclaimed otaku in the industry draw. Because animation studios make so little money off of anything but DVD and merchandise sales, and otaku are the only people who buy that stuff, the anime industry of late has become inbred and stale at best, and offensive and pedophilic at worst.
Miyazaki is well-loved, both in the West and in the East. But he is not well-loved because his works are made for otaku. I’ve never seen anything he’s made, but the sense I get is that he’s loved in the mainstream because he tells stories that resonate with a hell of a lot of people. The problem he sees in the anime industry is that their works tend only to resonate with otaku, and otaku are not acceptable members of society in Japan. From what I’ve seen of what’s been released and been popular the past few years, I cannot blame him for thinking the way he does.
- If you unironically call yourself an otaku, you’re lumping yourself in with some of the least-respected members of society in Japan, and you shouldn’t be surprised/outraged when a well-respected member of Japanese society looks down on you.
- The things otaku like are off-putting, and because the anime industry makes most of their money from otaku, the anime industry in general is off-putting.
- The anime industry should probably be restructured so that otaku have less power to decide what gets animated, otherwise the anime industry will collapse because NOBODY LIKES IT.
Uh, he never implied masturbation is as bad as war. He’s being a cranky old man, as cranky old men are wont to do. The author of the article just listed those things as additional things Miyazaki doesn’t like.
And something you people really, really, REALLY need to understand is that "otaku" is not a term of endearment in Japan the way “nerd” has become so in the West. If I were to speculate, I’d say it has a lot to do with cultural values - here, we place a lot of value and pride in our individual identities, but that just is not the case in Japan. They, and the East Asian countries in general, place a lot of value in working to improve the collective. Being an otaku implies a lot of the things you’d think being the classical “nerd” implies - living in your mother’s basement, spending all your time watching anime/slacking off, and being a general drain on society. While that’s not “accepted” in the West per se, it is not directly contradictory to every cultural value we have. We’re just expressing our identities when we do those kinds of things. In Japan, they are the antithesis of a praiseworthy member of society.When the anime industry is, in Miyazaki’s mind, full of these kinds of people, who seal themselves off in insular groups and jack off to 2D waifus all day in between drawing said 2D waifus, that is a real problem.
Frankly, when I look at the entire catalogue of anime titles released over the past 5 years, I see what he means. Who the **** is going to buy OreImo except lolicon siscon hentai otaku? Who the **** is going to buy K-On! except ronery NEETs? I LOVE the Monogatari Series - but who the **** is going to buy that shit except social rejects?
Real-life people do not act like the people in those shows.Real people do not say to their friends/rivals in love “hey, let’s take a shower together while I fondle your tits.” Real sisters do not fall in love with their oniichan desu~s after many sessions of counseling. I love the tsundere archetype, but a real-life tsundere is someone that nobody wants to be around because they treat other people like shit.
I probably should devote an entire paragraph to lolis. (Most) people do not sexualize little girls, and in fact find the sexualization of of little girls to be repulsive. Why, then, are there so many lolis in anime? Because lolis represent a lot of things that a lot of men find desirable in women - innocence, petite bodies, cuteness in general. But for whatever reason, it has become not only okay, but the norm for anime to have prepubescent girls in compromising sexual positions. If you like flat chests - fine. If you like inexperienced girls - fine. If you like cute things - fine. Mashing all of those things together on a 12-year-old and slapping a bikini on her to appeal to otaku with those preferences? Most people will say that is ****ed up.
Fanservice is off-putting to a lot of people. Incest is off-putting to a lot of people. Lolis are off-putting to a lot of people. Unbelievable characters and character interactions are off-putting to a lot of people. But those things are things that self-proclaimed otaku audiences embrace, so that’s what the Miyazaki-proclaimed otaku in the industry draw. Because animation studios make so little money off of anything but DVD and merchandise sales, and otaku are the only people who buy that stuff, the anime industry of late has become inbred and stale at best, and offensive and pedophilic at worst.
Miyazaki is well-loved, both in the West and in the East. But he is not well-loved because his works are made for otaku. I’ve never seen anything he’s made, but the sense I get is that he’s loved in the mainstream because he tells stories that resonate with a hell of a lot of people. The problem he sees in the anime industry is that their works tend only to resonate with otaku, and otaku are not acceptable members of society in Japan. From what I’ve seen of what’s been released and been popular the past few years, I cannot blame him for thinking the way he does.
What do you guys think about this?
I am sort of on the fence about his statement. I agree what the original poster said about how offensive and stale the anime industry has become... And it’s starting to become painfully obvious. I love anime, but I’m beginning to have a really hard time finding stuff that doesn’t make me uncomfortably. Stuff that has a substantial story and good characters, without panty shots or large unruly breasts, or have unsettling things like ‘sexy 12 year olds’.
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