Were You Ever a Weeaboo?

[Baby~Eevee]

Most people who find out about anime start to love it but some go farther with that love than ever.

A Weeaboo is someone who loves anime and therefore wants to be near anime all the time. Where is anime produced? Japan. They start to suddenly love Japan just because that's where anime is from and tries to be a Japanese person. Sometimes they even start to reject their own culture! They throw in random Japanese words in their speech to look cool, they change their username to something Japanese and generally act like they know everything about Japan when they don't. Don't dare offend their favourite anime character, anime in general or even disagree with their opinions or they'll attack you with their desus.

To most people, they come off as annoying so here's the question.

Were you ever one?

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Luckily for me, I got into anime at a later age so I've had a "taste" of Weeaboos from seeing them online everywhere and learned how annoying they can be. Now that I love anime, I know how to learn Japanese properly and appreciate Japanese culture without thinking Japan is the best country or that my own country sucks.​

 

[Weeaboo Name]

I'm thinking about becoming one.

 

[derozio]

Nippon Saikyou-desu!!
Omae saetei-desu!!

Ore Nippon no koto daisuki-desu!!

'weeaboo'? OMAE! KUSO GAKI!! YURUSAI!

...honestly, no. I wish to learn jap sometime, though. Would be cool.

 

[Sopheria]

I never have been, never will be. I'm very much into anime, but I'm not into anime in general (that is, I'm not the kind of person who will enjoy an anime just because it's anime). There series that I like, I really like, but there's plenty of anime that I don't like at all.

Also, I've been to Japan and was an exchange student there for a semester, so I feel like I am well enough acquainted with Japanese culture that I recognize how ridiculous it looks when people act like they are, when really they know nothing about it. Seriously, I cringe whenever someone puts "desu" at the end of an English sentence >_>

 

[Esper]

I thought I was, but when I took Japanese classes in college I saw how much worse it could get from some of my classmates. So however much I once marathoned through shows I don't do that anymore and hardly watch anime or read manga now.

I've still got a healthy interest in a good number of Japanese things, but I have other interests as well.

 

[Pokemon_Fangirl]

Ugh, yes. It was an embarrassing phase I went through from 12 to 16. Now, I see anime and Japan for what it is; great while still very flawed. I still have a genuine love for the culture and language in general; and I still want to go on a vacation to Japan one day. I really like entire continent of Asia and its culture, but Japan is still my favorite part of it.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

I was, I am and I will be =D
It's fun being a weeaboo :P

 

[Seki]

I might get killed literally if I am one here, sucks to be in a country that's been occupied by Japan in WWII.

 

[Raine]

Never knew there was a name for that...I thought 'otaku' was the term for those kinds of people o.o But I wouldn't consider myself one. I enjoy watching anime, and appreciate the Japanese culture, but at the same time, some of the things they do are questionable and eyebrow raising so I wouldn't ever consider assimilating myself in it \:

 

[antemortem]

Absolutely not. Japanese culture is interesting, but the languages are too complicated for me and I just don't care enough to indulge myself too deeply in such expansive culture.

 

[machomuu]

When I was a kid, yeah. Though I think that might have just been a case of me being a kid and imitating what I saw on shows, especially when I was getting into anime; it's pretty much expected then.

Nowadays, I'm more genuinely interested in Japan than I was when anime and the like were my only sources of info on the place, and there was a time some years ago when I built a complex around the word simply because I was called it for liking anime and stuff of that nature. But y'know, that was the internet. I started avoiding doing things in certain ways or avoiding other things entirely due to the fear of being called one, but lately I've just ignored it and do what I want. Life's more fun that way.

So now I'd definitely say no, and I can't say that I really approve of weeaboos. I mean, I guess it's a little contradictory to say that when I believe that people should enjoy what they want to enjoy, but it seems somewhat insulting to the Japanese, largely because what weeaboos imitate is rarely based on legitimate or realistic practice, so it almost seems like (inadvertent) mocking of a culture.

 

[Fenris]

From about the ages of 12 to 15 I think I was. Luckily (or unluckily) I'm an introvert and tend to keep to myself, so I didn't go around bothering people with it. I still enjoy anime and manga now, but I tend to only talk about it with people I know won't mind discussing it.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Never knew there was a name for that...I thought 'otaku' was the term for those kinds of people o.o But I wouldn't consider myself one. I enjoy watching anime, and appreciate the Japanese culture, but at the same time, some of the things they do are questionable and eyebrow raising so I wouldn't ever consider assimilating myself in it \:

Otaku is something like official term, weeaboo is 4chan terminology, I must be M when I enjoy being called that because it's just something noobish 4ch community thought of and isn't official =D

 

[machomuu]

Otaku is something like official term, weeaboo is 4chan terminology, I must be M when I enjoy being called that because it's just something noobish 4ch community thought of and isn't official =D

Well there's a difference between weeaboos and otaku. Some people swear up and down that they're the same, but the do have differences...although they are both originally derogatory. The phrase otaku was created as an insult to those who were obsessed with anything (as in, to completely unhealthy levels). Though it's often used for anime and manga, it can be referring to anything, and it's rare that one won't be offended by being called it. In the West, though, it's undergone meaning evolution. Here it basically means X-geek, "X" for anything but are mostly used to refer to those who are into anime, manga, and things of that nature. Heck, here people actually call themselves that affectionately, but on its own it has little to do with Japan, it just often refers to an interest in Japanese pop culture (but doesn't have to).

Weeaboo technically isn't inherently derogatory. It just refers to someone who wants to be Japanese. That in itself is pretty questionable, because it already gives implications of misinformation on the part of the person in question. And...that's pretty much it. The problem is, a lot of times (and most of the time) the reason the person wants to be Japanese or live in Japan is because of what they see in anime and manga. That's a large reason why the two are used interchangeably. They often have a warped view on Japan or Japanese culture thanks to the exaggerated representation that anime often presents. These are the guys that will sprinkle popular Japanese words into sentences for no reason or use honorifics in average conversation, or sometimes they'll act the way they see in anime or the like. As such, the interest they have in Japan is often fiscal or unrealistic, based off of some collage of gathered fictional information.

I'm not the type to try to tell people not to be themselves, and heck just because you do some eccentric things that could be considered weeaboo doesn't necessarily mean you are one. Like I, for example, listen to predominately Japanese music. It's not weeaboo, it's just a preference, and I know some people use honorifics just because they like to use honorifics. But the problem with being a weeaboo and acting on your information is that one mocks the very culture (and race) that they're trying emulate.

 

[kuzronk]

I think I am turning into one at the moment. I keep looking at anime at school and showing somebody who goes to madman website some anime pictures.

 

[derozio]

Just liking anime - checking it out in school - or showing it around to people doesn't make you a weeaboo, though. :p

 

[Taemin]

I love Japan, and it's culture, and language. Though, when I think about going to Japan, or learning about it.. anime doesn't really come to mind. They're almost seperate things to me, if that's possible. I can watch anime, and find anime merchandise just fine where I am. If I were in Japan, the last thing I would care about would be finding anime stores. xD; When I was younger, I used to be a weeaboo and wanted to go there because it was the land of animu, and would unironically use "kawaii" and "nani?", etc, but I was 12, and my viewpoints have changed a lot over the years. That's like saying that I wanna visit South Korea so much or learn Korean because I like K-pop. Not the case. An animation style, and a music genre can't make me love a country when they're both 1/4th of the entire thing.

 

[Bounsweet]

Never a weeaboo phase, unless you count me taking Japanese as a college course at the moment lol. Had a pretty heavy otaku phase in middle school though, when Naruto debuted on Toonami. Dark times.

 

[Darkwing Ducklett]

Well...not really. I did develop an interest in Japanese culture after I discovered anime, and I even based my Masters dissertation on Japanese business culture, but I wouldn't say I was obsessed; it's just so radically different that I can't help but be fascinated by it. Anime led to the interest, yes, but what I found continued the interest because, obviously, there is more to Japan than just anime.

I've never even considered learning the language - I had enough trouble with mandatory French at school; that put me right off learning another language when I was younger, and now that I'm older I don't really have the time or motivation for it - and, whilst I'd love to live in Japan, that's because I'm attracted to big cities (I've lived in small villages for my entire life) and I'd love to see some of the sights.

I guess you could say I have reasons outside of my interest in anime for being interested in Japan itself. One led to the other, but they're entirely independent of one another.

 

[Sonata]

I'd like to live in Japan and learn Japanese so that I could get all the anime, manga, video games, and new tech as soon as it comes out...I don't really think I'm a weeaboo but, one of my friends once accused me of being one and I had a whole conversation with this asian girl at my school once in Japanese to try to impress her.