Weeaboos are inescapable in the anime fandom. To anyone who doesn’t have anime as a hobby they probably seem strange enough, but no less so than over-zealous trekkies or Star Wars fans. However to an anime fan, or at least to myself, they’re even more annoying.
I’ll say this first: I don’t consider myself that much of a weeaboo. It’s not that I don’t ❤ anime or that I dislike anything about Japan -I’ve just never been as enamoured with Japanese Culture anymore than I have with French or Italian culture. I just happen to know more about the Japanese due to anime, the blogosphere, Google Reader(FTW) and 4Chan. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have weeaboo tendecies, as shown by my INCREASED USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS ON TWITTER. However, I tend to scale back my Japanophile side whenever I can, not so much because I don’t want to be seen as much od a weeaboo (though that is part of the reason) but also because I know it irritates the hell out of me when others do this and I wouldn;t want someone to put up with that kind of thing.
For example, the wwwwwwww thing. It’s annoying and I don’t understand how it’s become(ing) so widespread. It doesn’t even work in any language outside of Japanese. ghostlightning rightly said that it was easier to type out than loooooool but something about it still feels off. It’s a step too far, in my opinion, replacing something that’s served well enough in the past for no reason. It’s the type of thing that happened with the 2chan emoticons, only not nearly as well applied. The various 2chan emoticons seemed more like upgrades of standard emoticons and so worked quite well.
Minor internet gripes aside, I’m writing more to look at the reasons why weeaboos even exist. And by weeaboos, I mean the extreme ones, those which seem to have such a lack of self-respect awareness it borders on the delusional. Though I commend the fact that they are open and passionate about they’re hobby (expressive, as it were) I think there comes a point when they should just stop and not do the things they do.
It’s a niche subculture, so to the newly initiated anime is something FRESH, DIFFERENT and NEW. I think that many everyone felt this way when they first got into and ended up liking anime. I know that when I first Excel Saga, I showed it to my friend and when he said that it wasn’t that funny I wondered why he couldn’t see the awesome that I did. Barring the fact that Excel Saga just isn’t a gateway anime in any way, he probably never would have liked anime since it just wasn’t his thing.
For those who do enjoy it, there’s a tendency to take things to the extreme, as evidenced by the numerous (horrible) Bleach and Naruto cosplay and awful AWFUL fandubs that show up on Youtube. AWFUL. Many grow out of this phase rather quickly (or simply grow older and more cynical wwwwwww lol) and move beyond the mainstream titles to find something more interesting.
You could also put it down to social escapism, as with some other hobbies (I think it would for the most part be “social” rather than familial or financial since anime and everything related there of (cons, figurines, DVDs) is quite an expensive hobby). It’s far easier to watch and fanboy/fangirl over certain shows than actually, you know, talk with people with no interest in anime. What’s weird is that when they do talk with anyone who knows about anime they seem to think they’re just the same and will want to jump aup and down screaming about how great their show is.
So why do I hate weeaboos? Because they encapsulate everything I hate about the fandom. They’re noisy and irritatingly excessive in anything to do with anime and help support this image. Of course, that’s how it’ll always be since anime isn’t going to (ever?) become mainstream. In any case, there will always be weeaboos in anime just like there will always be n00bs in gaming, and there’s nothing we can do but try to tolerate it and hope they expand their tastes beyond DATTEBAYO. And if they do, let’s hope it doesn’t end up being GIRUGAMESH.
Alternatively, my thoughts could be summed up as:
Grand Punk Railroad 
At some point, I gave on getting annoyed at weeaboos and fantards because I realized that it was mostly an age thing rather than an intelligence or common sense thing. People tend to be more zealous and ignorant when they’re in that preteen and early teen stage, and so they will run around with Naruto headbands warbling about kawaii things and tacking -chan and -kun after all of the friends’ names. And that’s okay because I know just about all of them will grow out of it.
In the meantime, they might spread the image of otaku retardism, but hey, if the mainstream isn’t ever going to accept us, then who the hell cares? Let them think we’re all retarded. Whatever. There’s no point in getting pissed at kids being kids is all I’m sayin’. I could be using my energy to get pissed at legitimately stupid people that should have hit puberty a long time ago (though really, that’s kind of pointless too). Maybe I’m just too apathetic about the whole thing though. Other people can be the old folks sitting on the porch yelling at the kids on their lawn. I’ll be inside watching cartoons.
Yes this.
I mean c’mon Omisyth! I’m a weaboo and I’m neither young nor an idiot. But if I were 13 I would act like an idiot. At 13 I was an idiot for thrash metal.
SLAYER IS THE BEST BAND EVURR. SATAN WILL EAT ALL YOU DISCO DANCING LOSERS. I WILL BUILD AN ALTAR OF HORNS AND COMMIT ALL YOU UNBELIEVERS TO TEH FLAMES…
Yes, that kind of idiot. But remember, 13 years old! I wasn’t a social outcast because I was lucky enough to be part of the ‘bad boys’ in school and seniors (girls) found us cute. It was when I ran out of upperclassmen friends that I felt more and more isolated.
—
So this post is kind of well, hard to take. It assumes two things:
1. You’re better than some other people (the weaboos)
2. You’re a victim of their behavior
Please.
I mean you might be really better human beings than they are! (WTF do I know?) But you’re really saying you’re a better fan of anime in general than they are. Maybe most of these kids won’t be able to articulate their thoughts on anime on a blog like this by the time they’re your age. Maybe they would never have a taste as broad as yours. Maybe they’d have given up anime altogether at 18, ever so ashamed of their 13 y/o selves. But to condemn them for their behavior which Kiri above describes well as
is pretty lame, seriously.
Look man, people grow up and kill themselves trying to conform to the mainstream — to get the job, the girl, the raise, the sale, whatever. But once they’re there they kill themselves trying to show how different/distinct they are from everyone else. Most of them fail both ways.
Don’t act like a victim, especially of the behavior of 13 year olds. It isn’t manly, ever. I’d rather we look at these kids and see ourselves as the possibility of such expression. To be 13 again! You may not value this because you’re in your late teens and are excited for adulthood. But for me 13 is almost two decades ago (I’m 32), so our values may be a bit different. But I think you’ll see the sense (and the love) I’m trying to share here because you are becoming adult. You’re no idiot, and you care enough about this to write a post this long and this personal.
Basically, the world doesn’t owe you anything. And if you want to be taken as a man of quality regardless of the shows you watch and the books you read, as well as all the things you don’t do/like/own, then you’ll just have to win this regard for yourself. Don’t condemn others and blame them for the potential or illusory adversity you may face.
Basically my thoughts on the matter. From my own experiences, I find that it’s a good thing to set back and question yourself a little bit more.
And to be honest, I’m also tempted to go “wwwwww”, since it’s silly. 😛
Tempted? Just go fer it. WWWwwwWWWwwww
Ｉｔｓ ｌｉｋｅ Ｉｍ ｒｅａｌｌｙ ｉｎ ２ｃｈ ｗｗｗｗ
♪┏(・o･)┛♪┗ ( ･o･) ┓♪┏ ( ) ┛♪┗ (･o･ ) ┓♪┏(･o･)┛♪
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Sadly, I personally know a weeaboo. My classmate. Watches Naruto and yells “Konnichi wa” on every asian looking girl.
Hate it.
Hey, you’ve gotta hand it to him – he’s got some guts.
Or he’s just stupid.
I know quite a few weeaboos (not personally). They all wear Naruto headbands at least once a week. D:
Hmm. I’d call that ignorance. That dude just needs a slap in the head.
Actually it would be better if he had less guts. Not only a weeaboo, he is also a World of Warcraft freak. And the most popular male in our class. That annoys.
[Magical Ferret]
ww
All the things you mentioned are the reasons why I dread going to conventions, mostly because there’s far too much “crazed-fan” activity which doesn’t fit my reserved tendencies too well.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
That was an interesting article, but you should have provided a link to a good definition of weeaboo and the emoticon thingies. The sense that I had was that a weeaboo was a white person who wanted to be Japanese, kinda like a wigger is a white person who wants to be black (is wigger a risque term to use?? i hope not!!).
Also, I’m assuming that wwww=LOL. How is wwww more Japanese?? I don’t get it.
I could be diligent and look all of this up, but I’d rather some of you here enlightened me (it’s not lazyness, I’m sure the info will be more accurate!!).
From Urban Dictionary: the Japanese equivalent of “lol.” The “w” comes from “warau” (笑う), Japanese verb for “laugh”. The actual number of w’s used is immaterial but 5 is considered to be a common minimum.
乙ｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ
@Kiri
You’re probably right, but for me I don’t have that type of perspective yet since it wasn’t too lng ago that I was spamming TAIGA-SAMA all over the place. It’s mostly because I haven’t been able to express my feelings about anime in the same way, since it was (is) a rather lonely hobby for me, especially in the UK where there are only 3 or 4 cons a year around where I live. When I started getting to terms with the internet and the blogging community, I grew up rather quickly in terms of anime watching (at least I think I did) so I haven’t really gotten to the point where I won’t be pissed off fantards yet.
@ghostlightning
Duuuuude harsh.
That’s a complete generalisation of what I’m trying to say (and for the record I’ve never thought of myself as a better human being than anyone other than murderers, rapists and Hitler).
I’m not a better fan of anime, I just have a wider range of knowledge and tastes that they do. I even said that I admire the fact that they’re so open and passionate about their hobby. There aren’t many better ways to show that you like a character beyond copying them in some way – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I just don’t like it when what they do is completely, god awful.
And that’s not going to change for some time. I don’t have the same nostalgic appreciation that you do since I haven’t had as much time to look back and say “ahhh I remember when I…”. I can’t remember love. Case in point: I condemn their behaviour, Kiri chooses to ignore it and just accept it for what it is, and you condemn my response. Kind of an age trend there as well.
I wasn’t trying to potray myslef as the victim, either. I was just expressing what annoys me about their behaviour and will probably continue annoying me for some time to come. I don’t care about how people see my own personal appreciation for anime, regardless of how weeaboos make it seem. I like what I like, no matter what anyone says, and I’m going to act as if I’ve been wronged for dong so.
So, what I mean is those two points you summed up my post as are wrong and sorry if you got that impression since it wasn’t what I was trying to put across. Perhaps this should’ve been categorized under rants.
@Gargron
Dude, that’s just a bit racist.
@zzeroparticle
Go anyway, I think it’d be fun especially if you had people to go with.
@animekritik
I think as with many internet terms it’s just taken on a whole new meaning through fan usage. Also, you probably want to look at this, for lelangir’s definition:
http://lelangir.dasaku.net/?p=1380
The two points stand unless
1) You hate people only who are your equals or betters..
2) You don’t feel compromised in any way, there’s no problem that compels you to hate, and hold these people in now way responsible for these issues.
Harsh. (Do you consider people without self-respect or self-awareness, or borderline delusional your equals or betters?)
Harsher. (Do you think your way of being a fan = or < people who "encapsulate everything [you] hate about the fandom?")
C'mon Omi, you meant those. No point denying it now. If hating isn't a condemnation in this context, then what is it? Endorsement? Constructive criticism? C'mon!
Now I on the other hand, am not condemning you. Rather, I did call you out and still am doing so.
Not harsh.
Why should I care anyway? We’re team-mates fool. OH! may be dead but some of us are still at-large and all the more we should support one another. The good thing here is that you are very honest in the post. You said out loud probably what more than a few people think. You meant what you said and once you own up to what you wrote, maybe you can consider what I’ve been saying and see what works for you.
I don’t understand why you keep insisting that I think I’m better than other people. That’s not what I meant, nor what I wrote. By condemning others that doesn’t automatically mean I think I’m better than them, it means I don’t agree with what they’re doing.
Why do you need to be so absolutist? I don’t feel the need to categorise weeaboos as worse, equal or better – they’re just people who’s actions I don’t agree with.
My way of being a fan is just that – my way of being a fan. If you’re claiming that I think I’m better than them in my way of being a fan, then how does your fandom rank? Do you think of them as worse, equal or better? If equal or better, that must mean that you appreciate and agree with everything they do and have no problems with their actions yourself. For instance, that Lucky Star video. If you condemn it, by your logic, that means you think your better than them.
That’s how the text reads, hence the blockquotes. I’m indifferent to them, which can be interpreted as worse than hate if you choose to. But yes, I have no problem with their behavior (read: they don’t bother me; at local cons I see them a lot with their cosplay fail and what not).
You’re the one who used the term hate. Your response did not address my questions regarding the quoted items. You are responding from outside of what you wrote.
So if you do think that this hate isn’t misplaced, and want to hold on to it, then fine. It’s really your business.
My fandom, of course I find it awesome. If I were to force-rank fandoms, then I would rank mine first (otherwise I would choose a different way) – but you would have to force me, since ranking isn’t an important thing to me. Maybe it isn’t important to you too, but your text suggests that it does.
So how do I deal with this? I’ll share it with you. There’s this Italian dude, Wilifredo Pareto. He did some math stuff. Basically,
80% of your enjoyment will come from 20% of the available sources.
similarly, 80% of the entire fanbase will behave in an annoying way, compared to the 20% who you can agree with/have fun with.
80% of the animeblogs will not give you what you’re looking for. You get most (80%) of your enjoyment reading 20% of the blogs you encounter/subscribe to.
80% Kadokawa’s/Bandai’s toy sales will be generated by 20% of their licensed characters.
Point is, there’s no need to get really pissed more than you already have. No need to get bothered by the 80% of the things that happen that isn’t cool/awesome. So if you ignore/are bothered by 80% of what I said, keep in mind this last paragraph. Peace dude.
Okay, let me directly respond to those questions.
Yes, they are my equals. It’s only that I don’t agree with what they’re doing.
No, I do not, since it is my way of being a fan, and that’s all it is.
If I hate something, I hate something and that’s not going to change unles I experience or am told something to make me think differently.
Remember that whole digiboy thing? Since then I’ve visited his site, read more of what he’s written, and found out that he’s awesome.
Until that sort of thing happens with the weeaboos, I’m going to keep feeling the way I do. Peace.
I think what’s going on is this: ghost thinks that omi was calling himself “better” than the weaboos. Now, omi’s clarification is that he’s not talking about being better overall, but simply being “better” in the area of being an “anime fan”. Then ghost thinks, well even so, there’s no basis for you calling yourself “better” than anyone in any area.. Omi changes directions a bit: he simply dislikes the weaboo way, and this “taste” doesn’t necessarily mean “better” or anything. It’s just taste. But in the end ghost changes directions too: he accepts that he views his fan-style as “better”, but that he doesn’t get bothered by the weaboo style.
What we need is a weaboo to provide some testimony to the court.
I prefer using wwww than lol. Im starting to feel like you hate
memes.And blame Shin about me using wwww and urbandictionary.com, Omisyth..
And what is Konata doing there? Is she supposed to be related on weab- Oh I get it now..
Also, obligatory, wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
So that’s what wwwwwwwww means. Learn something new everyday.
Weaboos give other fans a bad name. But then it’s the mainstream’s fault for thinking that all anime fans are weaboos. But then, how can you blame them when all they probably publicly see are weaboos. It’s kind of a catch-22.
In the end, you grow old and cynical and stop caring about how other people act and how others perceive you. I’m not entirely sure if that’s a good thing or not, but I’m certainly ‘moved’ by these sorts of things less and less.
And apparently this is how ghostlightning remembers rage. Second time I’ve seen him just flat out go off on someone. Come on ghost, place nice. I think you’re looking too deep into this. Of course, like I said before, this sort of stuff doesn’t ‘move’ me like it probably does you. But I can certainly understand Omisyth’s frustration. Sometimes we just need to vent. Nothing more. And I won’t begrudge him that at all.
This isn’t really him going off on someone, but more of him calling out what he has problems with on this post. I think. 😛
Thanks N, I appreciate your prevention of any misunderstanding. ^_^/
@ Michael
No rage, I truly believe that I acted in support – not attack of Omisyth.
Also,
I’ve stated as much in my responses. In the past when I disagreed with him I actually sent him an email first. Upon which he published in a post update. That tells me he’s cool with me saying what I have to say in his posts. We go back Omi and I.
And much love and peace to Omi. It’s not like I called him names or anything. It’s a passionate disagreement. As far as I’m concerned, he’s settled it in his most recent response. Any further disagreement from me won’t serve my purpose of supporting him.
Passionate discussion over animu related issues is being weaboo too wwwwww.
@animekritik
The context of my ranking is that of a forced-ranking (like how one of my former bosses rated our performance: there has to be a ‘best’ and a ‘worst’). My preferred way of being is utility-based. Use what works for you. In Omi’s final statement he made it clear what way works for him. So that pretty much settles it for me, despite how I feel about the post proper.
I’m a weaboo [->]
[…] at this pint. But, as is usual with things like this, I was prompted by another blogger’s post, wherein said blogger proclaimed to hate weeaboos. Whoa, ‘hate’? Isn’t that a […]
A little late to the party, but this made me realise I have absolutely no idea where the term weeaboo comes from. Seriously, weeaboo? Who came up with such a shitty term?
@nazarielle Weeaboo is a slang for “wapanese” made by 2ch or 4ch or some crap.
Bleh, I never really used the w’s for LOL. That’s nico nico thing…not mine lulz.
The fandubs on youtube are HORRIBLE. Except teh YGO, Naruto abridged series. The only Naruto I’ll watch. There was also a really good Code Geass about 6 episodes but when I tried to find it again it didn’t turn up in the search results. [Other than that, all the other CG dubs suck.]
There’s some weeaboos at my school…one in my art class…and the rest to the table where I eat lunch. They go like “baka” and talk about Bleach and whatever manga that is about a billion chapters long.
But yeh, probably most will grow out of it. In my view, I see it as “their first taste in manga/anime they just spaz the heck out of it.” They’re okay…except when they’re acting a bit racist.
Grammar mistake
*and the rest sitting to a table that is next to my table where I eat lunch. I don’t sit with them.