Top Seven Things Anime Fans Need to Stop Doing

Anime

Unfortunately, seven is not exactly the best number when it comes to lists. I think a lot of people are fond of the number since it’s supposedly lucky, but these biased numerical ranking lists tend to opt for three, five, or ten. Seven just isn’t a contender in this aspect.

But I’m drafting (and publishing) this post in order to celebrate the fact that I recently hit 700 followers, so logic and common sense were both abandoned by the wayside already. Seriously, thank you all so much for enabling me to hit that follower count despite my sporadic activity.

If you read an older post, then you might have already noticed that I’m recycling a previously scrapped post. The Lily Garden is pro-green sometimes!

Alright, so here goes my list of things anime fans should probably cease to do!

Stop Arguing over Dub vs Sub

Well, this is actually more of an one-sided affair considering I have yet to see someone decry or denounce subs. It’s mostly just elitists who prefer subs punching down and hating on dubs, which is unfortunate since the dubbing industry and whatnot is just much smaller in comparison to the very competitive seiyuu world.

I mean, I can’t remember the last time I’ve watched a dub aside from Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon back when I was young enough to enjoy smelling blankets (okay, I still do this) and I highly prefer subs. Still, it’s clear to me that watching subs doesn’t necessarily mean you’re enjoying a more “pure” version of anime. Translations sometimes don’t measure up to the native tongue, after all. We have to have compromises with puns, pronouns, etc…

If you’re going to go be such an annoying purist, then go move to Japan and watch anime as they broadcast, why don’t you? Quit being so pedantic and let people enjoy anime in the way they want to enjoy it.

Don’t Assume about Genres

I firmly believe there’s a CGDCT show for everyone. Tons of people liked Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (Girls’ Last Tour) even though a lot of those particular fans usually dislike said genre.

The same goes with sports. People who usually cite the genre as not being their cup of tea happened to also appreciate Yuri!!! on Ice, for instance. Just like with Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou, there was something (or several things, even) about Yuri!!! on Ice that made it very popular even to skeptics.

Genres usually are something to mind. If you don’t like one comedy series it’s possible you won’t like most. But it’s not the be-all-end-all. Don’t write off all isekai series even though most of them are pretty bad and don’t look down on someone for liking shoujo. Is that so hard? Maybe it is for some. But it really shouldn’t be.

Stop Assuming Demographics for Series

All kinds of people like all kinds of shows. So don’t even try to pull this crap off and claim that only edgelords/idiots/virgins/normies like or are into specific shows. Just because you can’t see the appeal in particular series doesn’t mean you get to generalize and hate like that. Appreciate that others have different tastes from you and move on.

Absolutes Need to Go

I’m kind of hesitant to use the words, “masterpiece,” “Anime of the Season,” “Anime of the Year,” “best girl.” It’s all very subjective. Now, it’s a different story if you throw in “in my opinion” or specify that “my AotS.” That emphasizes that personal preferences are at the forefront so you reduce the chances of sounding like some dingdong who doesn’t accept others’ opinions. In my opinion, at least.

Quit Ignoring Others’ Opinions

Speaking of which, don’t discredit someone just because their personal rankings (when it comes to the “best” anime) are different compared to that of yours. It’s boring if everyone feels the same way, I’d say. Celebrate diversity by observing why they value specific series so highly and try to glean a bit of their personality and character from their preferences. Isn’t that much better than trying to force an echo chamber?

Don’t Take it Personnel Personal

Be that as it may, people will hate shows you like. It’s the sad truth. For every show that the majority like, someone will hate. Same goes with shows that the majority dislike.

Still, don’t take it to heart. If you’re open to other people’s ideas, give such content a shot by reading their harsh reviews. Just remember to mentally add in the words, “in my opinion,” after the end of every other sentence you read. People who write about anything, including anime, are really just plugging in their subjective beliefs. They tend to leave out such words in order to not undermine their own authority, but that doesn’t change the fact that everything is so arbitrary.

Don’t be Afraid to Share Your Opinion

At the end of the day, however, you are entitled to your opinion. Don’t be afraid to say what you feel about a series. Good for you if you weren’t feeling the most popular series of the year. There’s nothing wrong with thoroughly enjoying a series that was lowly regarded by most. Own up to your personal tastes and be proud for standing your ground.

And the text-based aniblogger concludes yet another pre-work post!

Did you agree with what I was saying? Disagree? Feel free to let me know what you think!

Happy Monday, everyone! Once again, thank you all for reading!

41 thoughts on “Top Seven Things Anime Fans Need to Stop Doing”

  1. Congratulations on 700 Remy-nii!
    And yeah those things are really off putting huh. Many of them are true for a lot of other communities too…

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  2. Pingback: Anime Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week: October 5, 2018 | Lesley's Anime and Manga Corner

  4. Ahahaha oh soon as I read the title i was laughing and even more as I was reading. Sub and Dub ugh worse thing personally have wished would fans bring up all the time. It’s like god damn just shut up, it’s a personal preference ya damn idiots ahaha. I fully agree with all the 7 things fans should stop but it’s hard to twiddle it down to 7 I can think of a thousand more.

    One major one I’d say is “stop sending deaths threats to creators and writers” just horrid and overkill. but fantastic, amusing post remy !!!

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  5. congrats on the milestone!! this was a really fun post. the first i feel is always on this kind of list but the others i hadn’t even thought of xD but i agree, i think people just have to be more openminded 🙂

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  6. 700 followers!? That’s awesome to hear Remy—congratulations!! As for the rest of this post, “official” “anime of the year” stuff is so overrated. And sharing your positive opinions on a not-so-hot series? Preach Remy, PREACH!

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  8. Congratulations on the 700 followers. I agree that we need to respect other opinions but people also shouldn’t be afraid to have their own opinion, provided they recognise it is their opinion. Thanks for sharing this post.

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  9. subs vs dubs argument is one of those things that i mostly see get talked about but never actually see. it’s been years…maybe i just dont care enough to force the argument to happen

    i agree with you about genres. i think ive experienced enough abuse of the “mystery” tag that it no longer holds any meaning for me. personally, i also dont like the idea of defining yourself with a certain genre. ive been accused of being the “mecha guy” in the past and that frustrates me.

    also agree on absolutes…i tend to avoid them like the plague because im painfully aware that i couldnt possibly be qualified to make those proclamations

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  10. Hahah I do argue about dub and sub with my sister. She only watches dub and I sub haha. I do agree with the opinion. Everyone has one and we have to respect them

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  11. Congrats! Gotta say, I’ve always ahted the subbed vs dubbed argument. There are so many reasons someone may want to watch dubbed rather than subbed, such as reading level. Why we can’t all just enjoy what version we enjoy is beyond me.

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  12. Thank you – this needed to be said! Once upon a time when you wrote something out on a forum, unless it was a factual answer to a factual question, you almost always had IMHO in there somewhere (in my humble opinion). Some of the writers need to keep that in mind when it comes to anime bloggers/reviewers/fans – and as readers we need to mentally stick those words in now and then, too. We are all entitled to an opinion, and to share our opinion if we can do that without getting personally insulting. Much of the posturing in anime – as in any group – comes from people who want to somehow make themselves “superior” to others. We should be nice to those people. They clearly have issues in their life. Don’t engage, smile and walk away. It’s for the best, really.

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  13. IMHO, I shouldn’t need to keep adding IMHO to my posts when my posts are often filled with opinions. If you can’t tell the difference between when I’m stating fact (This event occurred in the plot.) or when I’m stating an opinion (The plot was interesting.) please think a bit before you argue. Facts may be incorrect but opinions are only ever different. Facts may need to be checked, actions may need to be questioned but even opinions ought be respected even if you strongly disagree.

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  14. The Sub v. Dub argument at this point is more annoying than anything. What people on both sides don’t want to admit is that criticisms can be made of both, and that people should just enjoy what they like.

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    1. The problem is that many dubs are terrible. I’m sure many dubs are terrible as well but since I can’t understand Japanese, I don’t notice it. That leads to anti-sub bias.

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      1. I agree, but acting like there’s nothing wrong with subs is wrong too. There is plenty of bias in how certain things are translated because there isn’t always a one to one translation of certain words. This means that our interpretation of the show is often times getting filtered through other people’s biases.

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  16. Your list is short one item: “people should stop dragging academics and realism into every discussion”. For GochiUsa, this one guy spent an entire forum post explaining to people the biological pathway and mechanisms behind why a certain kind of tea could suppress one’s sense of sweetness. This same individual also spent both seasons asking questions of the stars, wondering how the town’s economy worked, whether or not there was censorship in the series, etc: he fancied himself a professor talking down on a room full of first-year undergrads. As far as I can tell, this is nonsense, and this is one of the few ways people should not be watching anime.

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  17. I definitely liked this post. Great point about the dub vs. sub debate. That’s true how no anime fan has ever complained about subs before. I find that argument bogus since I’ve seen DVDs with subtitling typos and questionable translations even with my limited Japanese. That and I found some anime series to have better dub voice acting in my opinion like Shinesman, Yugo the Negotiator, or Sailor Victory. Some anime movies and series have voice acting that’s good in both versions. Same thing about making assumptions about anime. I have totally learned to stick to my guns when it comes to voicing my opinions. I do my best to back it up with research and to not be afraid of any backlash since some reviews (live action and anime) are controversial and I thought I would be hardcore trolled or even get death threats for certain ones. Some of these situations were part of the reason why I made that Fandom Hypocrisy rant a few weeks ago.

    Great job, Remy.

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    1. Yeah, subs are sometimes not great. Some opt for more comedic translations which really stray from what was originally said and all.

      Ah, I remember that post. We live in trying times in some aspects.

      Thank you.

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      1. Thank you! I’m glad I’m not the only person who noticed that.

        Thanks for reading it when I posted that article. The level of immaturity and rage has ticked me off almost as much as the more serious issues going on now.

        No problem, Remy.

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  18. Great post that I obviously agree with tenfold.

    In the past, I’ve claimed that just about all of these needs to stop at some point or another, particularly the sub vs dub argument which is one of the most tired and stupid debates I’ve ever seen. It needs to die. It doesn’t matter!

    I’d also like to add the whole “old Anime vs new Anime” thing to the list too, as it’s something I’ve been seeing a lot of lately and found just as exhausting as the rest of the things you mentioned. Particularly older fans who’ve “been around longer” acting as though that mere fact makes them above those who are new to the medium.

    Great post Remy.

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    1. Thank you, Leth! I’m glad you agree ;__;

      Yes, that’s super annoying, too. There are also newer anime fans who like to claim that the newer shows completely paved the way for this and that without having any knowledge of older classics, which is frustrating and just goes to show it goes both ways unfortunately.

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  19. First of: Congratulations of course for hitting that 700 followers mark (or 701 when I’m writing this comment lol). 🎉🎉 It’s a terrific achievement, and I’m convinced it won’t stop there any time soon!
    I definitely agree with all the things you wrote here. I think it comes down to what I have said in this comment section before: respect. A lot of people have different opinions on things, and that’s how it should be. Yes I prefer to watch my anime only subbed because I always watch everything in the original language. Does that mean I feel that everyone should? Duh, of course not. If someone prefers watching a dubbed version: more power to them! I have seen lenghty discussions sometimes between people debating over whether a particular show is in a certain genre. Honestly? Who cares? Just watch the series if you like it, and don’t watch it if you don’t. I really couldn’t care less about which category something falls into, as long as it’s something that I like to watch.
    Well, I could go on, but I think I have made it pretty clear that I completely agree here! Wonderful post Remy! 😊

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I-it's not like I want you to leave a comment or anything. B-baka.