The otaku. The weaboo. The tourist who's only interested in seeing the things that they heard about and say while they were watching anime in their parent's basement. Probably while wearing cat ears. And aside from that last part, I have to say that I can't entirely say that I am guilt free in that regard. While I think I got most of my nerdy urges out of the way when I was last here (seeing the cosplayers in Harajuku, seeing a Lolita, seeing a geisha, going to Tokyo Tower), I can't escape the fact that I learned about half of the districts and locations in Tokyo through manga and anime.
The sad truth remains that every time people ask me how I got interested in Japan and its culture, if I want to be honest, the answer is"I really liked anime when I was in middle school..."
My interest in Japan has since evolved over the years to a fascination at the differences in our culture--Japan and America may seem very similar because they are both "developed countries" and Japan has been "westernized" but there remain a whole shleu (sp?) of social and cultural issues and anomalies that seem to be unique to this island country. They fascinate me, and I think having a better idea about countries we feel are very similar to ours only highlights the differences between us, and brings us a little closer to who we are. Americans, I think, sometimes find pinning down that identity difficult because we don't really have a set of cultural and traditional norms because we are a baby-country that rapidly evolved, and is too big to contain a singular way of doing things, then and now.
Also, I still like manga. And anime. And I like the videogames this country puts out too. And their fashion is better. And their boys are pretty.
I don't want to be the American girl you could point out and say "They're probably only here because they like anime." I can look at groups of tourists and do that, and I feel a tiny bit embarrassed that I can't entirely dissociate myself from them. Physically, I can avoid them, but spiritually there is always that guilted connection. Maybe I shouldn't feel bad about it, considering that my interests have more to do with a variety of topics now instead of purely their animated media, but you tell anyone that you like anime, or manga, and that you want to go to Japan, they will assume this is the only reason, and suddenly my interest in the country is viewed as less serious or legitimate in any way. Even some of my friends, upon hearing that I was going to study here for a year, asked if it was because I was 'still into that anime thing.' It's frustrating... I can be truthful, and leave an impression of being silly and juvenile, or I can hide some of my interests like their bodies in a closet and try obsessively not to have people know.
How did this little rant come about, you ask?
It was only a matter of time before I bought some...
No matter how much I try to push myself away from old habits, Pocky is still delicious. <3
That... was the best rant ever. SRS.
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