Why do you like anime? - And why is it popular

[GermanicusJuliusCaesar]

In general I think animation is a potentially wonderful medium for telling stories that otherwise might not be able to be seen otherwise. Unfortunately due to Walt Disney, animation in the west is largely seen as kid's stuff or low brow comedy material. So if you want an animated story that is for regular adults, there isn't much outside of anime you can get into.

Exactly. This is also why weebs get super defensive whenever someone refers to anime as 'cartoons.'

 

[JektheDumbass]

Everyone is using too many words to say "big anime tiddies"

 

[Pointless Pedant]

Exactly. This is also why weebs get super defensive whenever someone refers to anime as 'cartoons.'

Don't tell them that Spongebob is called anime in Japan, then.

 

[Dumpsterfire Enthusiast]

Anime usually has some really creative world building with the trade off of having some cringy characters. Can be sort of annoying how often they force in a bunch of fetishy stuff when it isnt relevant, can be alright when theyre more subtle about it but they usually have no subtlety

 

[verygayFrogs]

It helps numb my pain and forget my troubles by watching kids explode giant monsters

 

[Based Papa John]

Depends on which anime. There are some that I like (Steins;Gate, Fullmetal Alchemist,) and some I don't (Sword Art Online), but it's on an individual basis.

I'd say that I do like anime cheese, for one. I like that many of them place emphases on a group dynamic with elements of meaningful friendships. Steins;Gate especially appealed to me because of the friends that the characters reminded me of.

What I don't like is Otaku/Weeb culture. The autism, the cringe, the rampant pedophilia, etc. is enough to make anyone ashamed that they like anime. I try to stay away from the culture as much as I can and try to enjoy the shows for their own sake.

 

[Pointless Pedant]

Depends on which anime. There are some that I like (Steins;Gate, Fullmetal Alchemist,) and some I don't (Sword Art Online), but it's on an individual basis.

I'd say that I do like anime cheese, for one. I like that many of them place emphases on a group dynamic with elements of meaningful friendships. Steins;Gate especially appealed to me because of the friends that the characters reminded me of.

What I don't like is Otaku/Weeb culture. The autism, the cringe, the rampant pedophilia, etc. is enough to make anyone ashamed that they like anime. I try to stay away from the culture as much as I can and try to enjoy the shows for their own sake.

I can actually respect that. I don't like the cartoons themselves, but the fanbase is so much worse.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

In general I think animation is a potentially wonderful medium for telling stories that otherwise might not be able to be seen otherwise. Unfortunately due to Walt Disney, animation in the west is largely seen as kid's stuff or low brow comedy material. So if you want an animated story that is for regular adults, there isn't much outside of anime you can get into.

I don’t think it’s Walts fault at all. It’s really more the fault of the networks and other firms who never tried doing anything for adults, or who even make stuff more childish than old Disney stuff. The industry as a whole chose to wallow in children’s entertainment.

Ive thought about this whole topic some because I love cartoons because they combine art forms; a cartoon version of something would, to me, be inherently more valuable artistically because of the literal artwork in it. And there’s a lot more potential for variety with what you can do with it. But Western cartoons are mostly aimed at children or are lowbrow comedies, and Japanese anime, unless it’s really old, has an art style I find repulsive and other sensibilities I can’t stand.

 

[Heckler1]

I don’t think it’s Walts fault at all. It’s really more the fault of the networks and other firms who never tried doing anything for adults, or who even make stuff more childish than old Disney stuff. The industry as a whole chose to wallow in children’s entertainment.

Ive thought about this whole topic some because I love cartoons because they combine art forms; a cartoon version of something would, to me, be inherently more valuable artistically because of the literal artwork in it. And there’s a lot more potential for variety with what you can do with it. But Western cartoons are mostly aimed at children or are lowbrow comedies, and Japanese anime, unless it’s really old, has an art style I find repulsive and other sensibilities I can’t stand.

I wholly disagree. It is absolutely Walt's fault. Walt Disney vs the Fleischer Brothers decided the fate of American Animation. It was Walt that pushed the idea of animation needs to be for families to get kid's money while FB were more experimental and daring. It's also why Ralph Bashki is criminally underrated, as his films(some with debatable quality) all are definite boundary pushers and works of art.

Walt Disney was the Vince McMahon of animation, and to pretend anything else is laughable.

 

[Jimjamflimflam]

I like animation in general because the medium allows real creativity in the right hands.

Just seems like in American animation it falls in one of two camps. Either kid stuff or raunchy adult humour.

Alot of crap used to push merchandise to nerds and weebs in anime but you get some real great gems occasionally.

Re-read dragonball recently. Forgot how fun that was before the strongest under heaven tournament when it turned into a gotta get stronger storyline. Humorous, endearing fun characters, clean great art and just a overall fun adventure.

 

[Spangled Drongo]

As someone who’s developed a disdain for the anime fandom and hasn’t properly sat down and watched a series in years, I have a lot of issues with the medium, mostly to do with tropes and cliches as well as how extreme some fans can get.

Once upon a time I was a hardcore weeb/Japanophile, not only with an anime obsession but also an obsession with anything Japanese, though grew out of it and try to distance myself from the more cringeworthy elements of Japanese pop culture. What I dislike about anime now is the moé shit that’s obvious coomer bait (being female and straight it does nothing for me, and yaoi/BL doesn’t appeal either as the type of men it portrays aren’t what I’m into) and popular shounen series with the overly determined teenage protagonists and battles that last for several episodes. And even if a series is set outside of Japan/in a fantasy world, there’s always going to be elements of Japanese culture there, and while I understand that’s there specifically to allow the Japanese audience, its main market, to find something relatable, it can be detrimental to the western audience who either don’t get it, or find it takes away from their enjoyment of the story.

I don’t want to hate on all anime. As a former fan I understand that it’s just as varied as any other art form. But at the same time, aspects of it I once either overlooked or viewed as positive are now negatives to me and the negative baggage of the weeb phase affects my ability to get back into it.

 

[Dave.]

Because

 

[Pointless Pedant]

As someone who’s developed a disdain for the anime fandom and hasn’t properly sat down and watched a series in years, I have a lot of issues with the medium, mostly to do with tropes and cliches as well as how extreme some fans can get.

Once upon a time I was a hardcore weeb/Japanophile, not only with an anime obsession but also an obsession with anything Japanese, though grew out of it and try to distance myself from the more cringeworthy elements of Japanese pop culture. What I dislike about anime now is the moé shit that’s obvious coomer bait (being female and straight it does nothing for me, and yaoi/BL doesn’t appeal either as the type of men it portrays aren’t what I’m into) and popular shounen series with the overly determined teenage protagonists and battles that last for several episodes. And even if a series is set outside of Japan/in a fantasy world, there’s always going to be elements of Japanese culture there, and while I understand that’s there specifically to allow the Japanese audience, its main market, to find something relatable, it can be detrimental to the western audience who either don’t get it, or find it takes away from their enjoyment of the story.

I don’t want to hate on all anime. As a former fan I understand that it’s just as varied as any other art form. But at the same time, aspects of it I once either overlooked or viewed as positive are now negatives to me and the negative baggage of the weeb phase affects my ability to get back into it.

I mostly agree with you but I find it's interesting that you find elements of Japanese culture detrimental. Does that mean you wouldn't watch something like Stray Dog or Fires on the Plain because of elements of Japanese culture, though it's obviously not lame and pervy/childish like cartoons?

 

[I Love Beef]

As someone who’s developed a disdain for the anime fandom and hasn’t properly sat down and watched a series in years, I have a lot of issues with the medium, mostly to do with tropes and cliches as well as how extreme some fans can get.

Once upon a time I was a hardcore weeb/Japanophile, not only with an anime obsession but also an obsession with anything Japanese, though grew out of it and try to distance myself from the more cringeworthy elements of Japanese pop culture. What I dislike about anime now is the moé shit that’s obvious coomer bait (being female and straight it does nothing for me, and yaoi/BL doesn’t appeal either as the type of men it portrays aren’t what I’m into) and popular shounen series with the overly determined teenage protagonists and battles that last for several episodes. And even if a series is set outside of Japan/in a fantasy world, there’s always going to be elements of Japanese culture there, and while I understand that’s there specifically to allow the Japanese audience, its main market, to find something relatable, it can be detrimental to the western audience who either don’t get it, or find it takes away from their enjoyment of the story.

I don’t want to hate on all anime. As a former fan I understand that it’s just as varied as any other art form. But at the same time, aspects of it I once either overlooked or viewed as positive are now negatives to me and the negative baggage of the weeb phase affects my ability to get back into it.

ngl, not to come across as to posture or impose, but you obviously need more than just obsession and sensation to continue being a connoisseur than just a fan. I'm sure that applies to everything. I remember living through the times of the anime boom of the late 1990s and the early 2000s; those were passionate, and great times, at least in my perspective. Sure, nothing was all that perfect, but that energy and those feelings from those memories still are there deep in me.

I too am not too much into current day anime stuff; sure, somethings strike my fancy, like Symphogear and Redline and what not, and it's nice to see anime still thriving. Thankfully I know how to balance out what I like with what the changing world holds so that I don't take things for granted.

Again, if you ask me, the problem is that out west has established and firmly rooted tastes in what it wants out of anime, but it's a menagerie of problems; there's the idea that anime can only be made by the Japanese, there's little good mentality going on establishing anime into the American cultural fabric, fandom is still pretty cringe all around from not just the spergs and spazs but to the "smart" and "tasteful" fans, and there's little self motivation to want to get into actually creating anime/manga of original content. It's definitely a most careful balancing act for sure if someone wants to take up the task, but nothing has yet become groundbreaking, or has maintained a good burn from its start (one bad example would have to be RWBY). I still believe since those boom days that anime as a style bears symbolism (at least to me) in that it represents the liberation of the freedom of expression and the upstart of meaningful revolution considering its influence in American sequential art and popular media at the time, and in the world of today where everything is getting poz'd, SJW'd, and overtly corporately controlled to shit, I think it's going to be the last bastion that is going to hold out in the face of corporate media astroturfing and the last grabs of the abused corpse of Hollywood. Again, I've mostly played video games and watched anime/read manga at a lesser rate, but I still am an oldfag- Nothing's changed my perspective, video games still count. I read the guides and dev materials, slag off.

If there is anything to argue on though, it would have to be the idea that Japanese virtues and mores do need to be recognized, acknowledged, and understood on a fundamental level, while with a recognition of a deep awareness on a human level that ties everyone together, and you have to practice this in your daily life. Everyone in the world too is guilty of some degree of bias for their home nation or ethnicity as that's who the authors are, and should feel no guilt in shame over it, so for every reason that America gets to save the day in action movies and TV shows, I can give leeway that Japan saves the day or a Japanese person saves the world and becomes a globally respected figure. Plus, there's plenty of series in the past that don't have overly explicit Japanese presence, and to some perspectives of people, the law of attraction is real; it's amazing to know how many Japanese American figures there are in American entertainment. Even then, I do believe anime can be made with western tastes in mind, but it can't strictly follow what mainstream thought and standards dictates into today; it's like there's a tradition that's yet to be established for anime out west itself, and it has to realize that on its own.

I'm probably waxing reminscient and nostalgic long on, carrying my old banner and journeying raggedly onward with old ideals intact, but I think it's nice to meet with someone from those passionate days again. Sorry you were a weeaboo though. Personally, I think that baggage is something you must sort through and come to terms on your own, really, if you want to move on from it. At least you're not one right now.

 

[Spangled Drongo]

I mostly agree with you but I find it's interesting that you find elements of Japanese culture detrimental. Does that mean you wouldn't watch something like Stray Dog or Fires on the Plain because of elements of Japanese culture, though it's obviously not lame and pervy/childish like cartoons?

It’s interesting because I do still enjoy Ghibli films, out of nostalgia and because they don’t attract anywhere near the same amount of cringe you see in the fandoms for series like Naruto, Hetalia and whatever slice-of-life show featuring underage girls being quirky is currently popular (when I was growing up it was Strawberry Marshmallow and Azumanga Daioh). It’s something I’ve noticed in other areas of Japanese pop culture too - there are definitely some video games, live action films and music that are less weeby than others - for instance when it comes to games I’ll happily play Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, Soul Calibur and Ace Attorney, but dating sim games and most other visual novels are a hard pass for me.

I think it has something to do with whether or not it has universal appeal outside the otaku demographic (in the west in particular) - continuing on with my example of the vidya, I’m a gamer first and foremost, and a lot of games from Japanese devs appeal to me because I find the story, gameplay and/or aesthetic compelling, and if there is a slight Japanese cultural element to it, it’s not overt like some of the games aimed at a more niche audience. The things I do enjoy nowadays are mostly made in the west and their fanbase is majority western as well - I’m pretty sure RPGs like WoW and Elder Scrolls as well as tabletop games like Warhammer have a small Japanese audience, but since Japan as a whole is very insular and most people prefer to stick with what they know, domestically produced content is what sells best. And while there is a demographic of Japanese people who do idolise the west, I haven’t noticed much overlap with the people most likely to take an interest in nerd culture - it’s mostly fashion and beauty companies that hire foreign or mixed race models to appeal to the young stylish women in their 20s and 30s, and European/American things tend to have a luxurious, high class image in Japan which appeals to that demographic, but it’s certainly not the approach a game company would want to use when trying to sell video games to otaku.

(I haven’t stayed in Japan for more than a month, but when I had an all-consuming obsession with the culture I did a lot of reading on the subject, and made friends online with a few Japanese people who were willing to tolerate a foreigner asking all these questions. I studied Japanese for a considerable amount of time so there was hardly any language barrier, but it was when I started to get deep into learning about the culture that I found out about some of the more unsavoury bits that put me right off, and ultimately came to realise it wasn’t worth pursuing and decided to move on after losing interest.)

Also sorry for the TL;DR reply, it’s just that this topic has me doing a lot of reflecting on my weeb past and how it’s affected my opinion of anime and other stuff in that realm.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

I like 80s and 90s stuff, they are really kewl and the visual style in those old animes is very bold and striking, some anime creators have pushed animation to some really awesome places that you would otherwise not see ever coming from USA, think stuff like Akira, Gits, Paprika, etc. I think most people would agree some anime movies and shows are just amazing cinema who happens to be animated. And even if its not some high art sometimes you just want to watch some edgy stuff with trippy visuals thats also not an ironical tongue in cheek sitcom in hanna barbera format.

Moe is shit though.

 

[Spangled Drongo]

ngl, not to come across as to posture or impose, but you obviously need more than just obsession and sensation to continue being a connoisseur than just a fan. I'm sure that applies to everything. I remember living through the times of the anime boom of the late 1990s and the early 2000s; those were passionate, and great times, at least in my perspective. Sure, nothing was all that perfect, but that energy and those feelings from those memories still are there deep in me.

I too am not too much into current day anime stuff; sure, somethings strike my fancy, like Symphogear and Redline and what not, and it's nice to see anime still thriving. Thankfully I know how to balance out what I like with what the changing world holds so that I don't take things for granted.

Again, if you ask me, the problem is that out west has established and firmly rooted tastes in what it wants out of anime, but it's a menagerie of problems; there's the idea that anime can only be made by the Japanese, there's little good mentality going on establishing anime into the American cultural fabric, fandom is still pretty cringe all around from not just the spergs and spazs but to the "smart" and "tasteful" fans, and there's little self motivation to want to get into actually creating anime/manga of original content. It's definitely a most careful balancing act for sure if someone wants to take up the task, but nothing has yet become groundbreaking, or has maintained a good burn from its start (one bad example would have to be RWBY). I still believe since those boom days that anime as a style bears symbolism (at least to me) in that it represents the liberation of the freedom of expression and the upstart of meaningful revolution considering its influence in American sequential art and popular media at the time, and in the world of today where everything is getting poz'd, SJW'd, and overtly corporately controlled to shit, I think it's going to be the last bastion that is going to hold out in the face of corporate media astroturfing and the last grabs of the abused corpse of Hollywood. Again, I've mostly played video games and watched anime/read manga at a lesser rate, but I still am an oldfag- Nothing's changed my perspective, video games still count. I read the guides and dev materials, slag off.

If there is anything to argue on though, it would have to be the idea that Japanese virtues and mores do need to be recognized, acknowledged, and understood on a fundamental level, while with a recognition of a deep awareness on a human level that ties everyone together, and you have to practice this in your daily life. Everyone in the world too is guilty of some degree of bias for their home nation or ethnicity as that's who the authors are, and should feel no guilt in shame over it, so for every reason that America gets to save the day in action movies and TV shows, I can give leeway that Japan saves the day or a Japanese person saves the world and becomes a globally respected figure. Plus, there's plenty of series in the past that don't have overly explicit Japanese presence, and to some perspectives of people, the law of attraction is real; it's amazing to know how many Japanese American figures there are in American entertainment. Even then, I do believe anime can be made with western tastes in mind, but it can't strictly follow what mainstream thought and standards dictates into today; it's like there's a tradition that's yet to be established for anime out west itself, and it has to realize that on its own.

I'm probably waxing reminscient and nostalgic long on, carrying my old banner and journeying raggedly onward with old ideals intact, but I think it's nice to meet with someone from those passionate days again. Sorry you were a weeaboo though. Personally, I think that baggage is something you must sort through and come to terms on your own, really, if you want to move on from it. At least you're not one right now.

That then raises the age-old question: does it still count as anime if it was produced outside of Japan? I remember Tokyopop when they were still around would occasionally publish OEL (Original English Language) manga, which I wasn’t interested in as a preteen at the peak of my weeb phase, as I didn’t believe it was “real manga”. There’s also the grey area when it comes to manhwa (Korean)/manhua (Chinese), they all derive from the same word, but I find it interesting that there’s a distinction based on what country they originate from. And as far as anime goes, the most famous example I can think of that was produced in the west is Avatar, but mostly I’ve seen that referred to as inspired by anime but still ultimately a western cartoon. I guess it just comes down to whether you define it as a particular art style and maybe a few specific tropes/reoccurring themes, or as animation specifically produced in Japan.

And I can completely understand why a Japanese creator would want to make something that’s culturally relevant to their audience - it’s much easier to get into a work of fiction if there’s something in it that connects to your experience of reality, as someone who writes as a hobby this is something I understand well. But my preferred genre is high fantasy, with settings that deviate from reality quite a bit, and I’ve found very few anime that has the same feel as my favourite works of western fiction - more often than not it’s isekai and I’d rather see a pure fantasy setting than “Japanese teenager gets magically transported to fantasy world”. My ex showed me the first few episodes of DanMachi and while I appreciated the setting and the mythology references, there was still a common anime trope that I disliked - the gratuitous fanservice. There probably is a series or two that is just a sword and sorcery adventure with little to no fanservice, I just haven’t been actively looking, due to the negative baggage with my past weeb phase.

Again, not trying to hate on anime as a whole - just my take as a disillusioned former hardcore fan.

 

[Eris!]

When I watch anime it does not give me the profound sense of meaningless ennui I get from western media. People in anime respect their parents, pray at shrines, and take their work and future careers seriously. Even in ridiculous, campy, or overtly lewd settings, that foundation remains in some sense. The fundamental underpinnings of a meaningful society are all still there, where they have been excised from western culture.

 

[whogoesthere]

I think anime is the same as film or anything visual media. If it tells an interesting story then I will watch it. I don't care for most of it, too much "big tiddies!" for my tastes, but something a bit more serious I will give a shot.

Its just another way of telling a story. Kinda like saying "I like books", no one likes books, they enjoy some but not all, different strokes and all that.

 

[Pointless Pedant]

ngl, not to come across as to posture or impose, but you obviously need more than just obsession and sensation to continue being a connoisseur than just a fan. I'm sure that applies to everything. I remember living through the times of the anime boom of the late 1990s and the early 2000s; those were passionate, and great times, at least in my perspective. Sure, nothing was all that perfect, but that energy and those feelings from those memories still are there deep in me.

I too am not too much into current day anime stuff; sure, somethings strike my fancy, like Symphogear and Redline and what not, and it's nice to see anime still thriving. Thankfully I know how to balance out what I like with what the changing world holds so that I don't take things for granted.

Again, if you ask me, the problem is that out west has established and firmly rooted tastes in what it wants out of anime, but it's a menagerie of problems; there's the idea that anime can only be made by the Japanese, there's little good mentality going on establishing anime into the American cultural fabric, fandom is still pretty cringe all around from not just the spergs and spazs but to the "smart" and "tasteful" fans, and there's little self motivation to want to get into actually creating anime/manga of original content. It's definitely a most careful balancing act for sure if someone wants to take up the task, but nothing has yet become groundbreaking, or has maintained a good burn from its start (one bad example would have to be RWBY). I still believe since those boom days that anime as a style bears symbolism (at least to me) in that it represents the liberation of the freedom of expression and the upstart of meaningful revolution considering its influence in American sequential art and popular media at the time, and in the world of today where everything is getting poz'd, SJW'd, and overtly corporately controlled to shit, I think it's going to be the last bastion that is going to hold out in the face of corporate media astroturfing and the last grabs of the abused corpse of Hollywood. Again, I've mostly played video games and watched anime/read manga at a lesser rate, but I still am an oldfag- Nothing's changed my perspective, video games still count. I read the guides and dev materials, slag off.

If there is anything to argue on though, it would have to be the idea that Japanese virtues and mores do need to be recognized, acknowledged, and understood on a fundamental level, while with a recognition of a deep awareness on a human level that ties everyone together, and you have to practice this in your daily life. Everyone in the world too is guilty of some degree of bias for their home nation or ethnicity as that's who the authors are, and should feel no guilt in shame over it, so for every reason that America gets to save the day in action movies and TV shows, I can give leeway that Japan saves the day or a Japanese person saves the world and becomes a globally respected figure. Plus, there's plenty of series in the past that don't have overly explicit Japanese presence, and to some perspectives of people, the law of attraction is real; it's amazing to know how many Japanese American figures there are in American entertainment. Even then, I do believe anime can be made with western tastes in mind, but it can't strictly follow what mainstream thought and standards dictates into today; it's like there's a tradition that's yet to be established for anime out west itself, and it has to realize that on its own.

I'm probably waxing reminscient and nostalgic long on, carrying my old banner and journeying raggedly onward with old ideals intact, but I think it's nice to meet with someone from those passionate days again. Sorry you were a weeaboo though. Personally, I think that baggage is something you must sort through and come to terms on your own, really, if you want to move on from it. At least you're not one right now.

People making anime out as this heroic last stand against communism are really weird to me. It's junk made for profit by underpaid animators and mostly sold to China. Censorship will come when the CCP asks nicely.

When I watch anime it does not give me the profound sense of meaningless ennui I get from western media. People in anime respect their parents, pray at shrines, and take their work and future careers seriously. Even in ridiculous, campy, or overtly lewd settings, that foundation remains in some sense. The fundamental underpinnings of a meaningful society are all still there, where they have been excised from western culture.

For a lot of people in Japan "working" is sitting around doing nothing for hours and giving the appearance of working hard to trick the boss. I'm guessing you probably don't get a lot of satire of corporate culture in anime though...

It’s interesting because I do still enjoy Ghibli films, out of nostalgia and because they don’t attract anywhere near the same amount of cringe you see in the fandoms for series like Naruto, Hetalia and whatever slice-of-life show featuring underage girls being quirky is currently popular (when I was growing up it was Strawberry Marshmallow and Azumanga Daioh). It’s something I’ve noticed in other areas of Japanese pop culture too - there are definitely some video games, live action films and music that are less weeby than others - for instance when it comes to games I’ll happily play Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, Soul Calibur and Ace Attorney, but dating sim games and most other visual novels are a hard pass for me.

I think it has something to do with whether or not it has universal appeal outside the otaku demographic (in the west in particular) - continuing on with my example of the vidya, I’m a gamer first and foremost, and a lot of games from Japanese devs appeal to me because I find the story, gameplay and/or aesthetic compelling, and if there is a slight Japanese cultural element to it, it’s not overt like some of the games aimed at a more niche audience. The things I do enjoy nowadays are mostly made in the west and their fanbase is majority western as well - I’m pretty sure RPGs like WoW and Elder Scrolls as well as tabletop games like Warhammer have a small Japanese audience, but since Japan as a whole is very insular and most people prefer to stick with what they know, domestically produced content is what sells best. And while there is a demographic of Japanese people who do idolise the west, I haven’t noticed much overlap with the people most likely to take an interest in nerd culture - it’s mostly fashion and beauty companies that hire foreign or mixed race models to appeal to the young stylish women in their 20s and 30s, and European/American things tend to have a luxurious, high class image in Japan which appeals to that demographic, but it’s certainly not the approach a game company would want to use when trying to sell video games to otaku.

(I haven’t stayed in Japan for more than a month, but when I had an all-consuming obsession with the culture I did a lot of reading on the subject, and made friends online with a few Japanese people who were willing to tolerate a foreigner asking all these questions. I studied Japanese for a considerable amount of time so there was hardly any language barrier, but it was when I started to get deep into learning about the culture that I found out about some of the more unsavoury bits that put me right off, and ultimately came to realise it wasn’t worth pursuing and decided to move on after losing interest.)

Also sorry for the TL;DR reply, it’s just that this topic has me doing a lot of reflecting on my weeb past and how it’s affected my opinion of anime and other stuff in that realm.

Minecraft, Call of Duty, Fortnite etc are huge in Japan. I'm not sure who you were talking to who said they don't play western video games. It's comparable to Mario and Animal Crossing being big in the west. This also applies to other media, there are loads of Marvel and Star Wars spergs there. Unless you're talking about the tiny subcultures of people who never leave their rooms they're not insular at all.