Anime/Manga Stigma

More and more I'm becoming surrounded by people who watch more anime than I do. I'm the one who finds its themes and events or characters really weird/awkward usually ahaha and ask How Did Japan Become Like This. I try not to judge my weeb friends for enjoying it though; I'm sure my interests seem weird to some as well.
 
Most of my close friends don't watch anime or are unsure of what it is. It's not something that comes up in conversation often, but it's also not something that I necessarily hide, either. I guess my answer is that the vast majority people in my social circle are indifferent to anime. I actually have quite a few friends who are fond of Pokémon specifically. However, I do have one friend who is a full-fledged anime addict. He claims to have watched upwards of 250 anime and is always attempting to persuade me to watch anime I've never heard of.

I think overall people are beginning to view anime as something other than cartoons and are realizing that it can have immense substance and depth. Furthermore, I think many are learning of the various types of anime and that there's more than Pokémon and Naruto.
 
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Most people I know have the attitude "you do you, I'll do me" so I almost never run into awkward situations. When meeting new people, however, anime is definitely something I don't bring up unless prompted. But neither will the person I met. So, I came up with a protocol for figuring out if the other person is a consumer of japanese media and their stance on anime and manga:
Step 1: figure out if they are a nerdy person
Step 2: try to bring up Pokemon or something like Avatar:TLA
Step 3: move onto Totoro, Spirited Away or Ghibli in general; alternatively, ask about some video games like Kingdom Hearts, Tales or Persona
Step 4: if all of the above was yes, ask if they watch anime up front.
In my experience, mentioning anime too early might deter the person from getting to know you. Mentioning it later, they won't pay it as much attention. Sure, they might judge you a bit, but at least you had the opportunity to show your qualities as a human being and will keep contact with you.
 
LucarioBread said:
Most people I know have the attitude "you do you, I'll do me" so I almost never run into awkward situations. When meeting new people, however, anime is definitely something I don't bring up unless prompted. But neither will the person I met. So, I came up with a protocol for figuring out if the other person is a consumer of japanese media and their stance on anime and manga:
Step 1: figure out if they are a nerdy person
Step 2: try to bring up Pokemon or something like Avatar:TLA
Step 3: move onto Totoro, Spirited Away or Ghibli in general; alternatively, ask about some video games like Kingdom Hearts, Tales or Persona
Step 4: if all of the above was yes, ask if they watch anime up front.
In my experience, mentioning anime too early might deter the person from getting to know you. Mentioning it later, they won't pay it as much attention. Sure, they might judge you a bit, but at least you had the opportunity to show your qualities as a human being and will keep contact with you.
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Hahhaa sort of that protocol was what I followed when trying to figure out what kind of person my bf was when we first started dating! He came through in every step, even step 5: "already read the manga before the anime was made" ;D
 
For the most part, anime/manga has always been considered sort of a weird thing to be interested in around here, to the point where it became my habit to just never bring it up unless someone else did first because it's just easier to keep it to myself than deal with the hassle of people being judgemental. To this day, the majority of my offline friends are not at all interested and probably have no idea I am, although over the years there has been a handful with some degree of interest. My sister is full weeb though, so that has to count for something xD

These days, I think that it's becoming less stigmatised to be interested in this stuff, but we're not really at a point yet where I'd be willing to advertise my interests because it's still easier not to. We're getting better though, especially with some series now seeing more mainstream success.
 
It's definitely much more accessible now, and not just in the form of kids shows. I feel like Netflix' growing selection is helping also.
 
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