Is Anime Making You Racist?

[@ARKSAAXX-ys9gz]

I'm Japanese, but yeah I was once sent pictures of atomic bombs and the Enola Gay by random strangers with anime profile pics on twitter. It seems to be true that many anime otakus tend to be racists, and the funny thing is, as I mentioned earlier, some anime fans overseas even have a hatred toward Japan for some reason.

[@RitualEXE]

I’m very sorry that you’ve had to deal with that. It’s definitely a problem and was a big part of the inspiration behind making this video. American anime fans have some serious problems.

[@KuroKorvus]

Please don’t think that’s all of us… those people also tend to lead very miserable existences unfortunately but I have enough intersectionality to be able to process and articulate topics with what I hope is a minimal amount of nuance to say that unfortunately anime tends to attract miserable people, speaking from experience.

[@LinguaLinguistics]

Just commenting for the algorithm gods, I think no one is impervious from bias so this video is a good reminder to be mindful. No group of people are a monolith and despite being from the same culture can have vastly different experiences.great video ❤.

[@RitualEXE]

Thank you! That was my reason for creating it.

[@biteofdog]

I hope you keep making videos, it's refreshing to see a unique perspective of things. Also, the room you are sitting in is awesome, it is a wonderful mix of you and your wife and cat(s).

[@RitualEXE]

Well, thank you! And yeah, it’s the little room where we play games and music :)

[@neverkanever]

Upvote this comment and leave very angry replies so that when I delete the text people will be very confused about what I wrote.

[@saga7516]

(Was that good enough?)

[@Mando0975]

Too many based takes for one video. Calling out Girls Und Panzer. Using NieR music. Astolfo. Fruits Basket, egg time, a thoughtful discussion of the unconscious bias we all like to pretend we dont have. This video has everything

[@RitualEXE]

No you have everything, my love.

[@cozyarbi]

Hello, Black American and new subscriber here! I can feel the socialism radiating off of this one. Anyways, good video and thanks for the content!

[@RitualEXE]

I do tend to radiate that vibe lol

[@cozyarbi]

@@RitualEXE It's a good thing! In my years of practice I've gotten to the point where I can smell it in the air (or through the screen)

[@kukuandkookie]

Going to add to the conversation but yes, while anime has become more mainstream, there’s still a large chunk that seems kind of conservative in politics. In a way that’s a generalization, and again, since anime is more mainstream now, there’s actually a diverse range of kinds of anime fans. BUT! When talking about personal experience and how some anime fans may be prejudiced, _quite_ a number of them can be pretty shitty about China. I get it-China in general is pretty condemned today and is a politically divisive topic, especially as sinophobia becomes more normalized (eg USA being reported just recently to be putting $1 billion into anti-China propaganda). But even in that generality, being in an anime space does mean you’ll likely pick up on sinophobia. Like I’m a donghua (Chinese animation) fan, and going into the comment section on anime sites can drive you up a wall. A lot of anime fans for some reason treat it like a competition and thus seem to view Chinese animation as a threat, rather than embracing that there’s cool Chinese animation out there too that you can enjoy. Most fans have a “two cakes” mindset (reference to the meme about how fans appreciate quantity of fan content so they’re not as cruel about quality as you may be to yourself toward something you made). But even though many fans would go “two cakes!”, a number of anime fans seem to not get that. :/ So often you get stuff from anime fans about how “Chinese anime is ugly” or “Chinese anime has no good ones” (even though they clearly haven’t accessed enough donghua in general to make such a claim 🙄), but one _especially_ common sinophobic comment from anime fans is that “Chinese sounds so gross; I’d watch this if it had a Japanese dub.” That drives me up the wall because it’s literally a _language_ that _actual people_ speak. Like do these anime fans go up to German speakers to complain about how cacophonous German sounds??? The answer is no, and so I wish they could be more normal about Chinese too. 🙄 It’s just a language! All you have to do is get used to it. Remember the _Parasite_ director who mentioned getting past the barrier of subtitles and opening up a new realm for yourself?? More anime fans should do that lol. Anyway, that’s just my mini rant about this haha. I could talk so much more about the cultural exchange that goes on in animation (eg China had Asia’s first feature-length animated film, _Princess Iron Fan,_ and it inspired Japan, which led to _their_ first feature-length animated film but also inspired Osamu Tezuka, creator of _Astro Boy_ and the godfather of anime… So yeah, now donghua is also inspired by anime, but that’s how cultural exchange and art works!! For another example, both early Japanese and Chinese animation were also inspired by American animation). So even though a lot of anime fans seem to make them more in support of homogeneity and view Japan as above all else (which is admittedly impressive soft power-and haha as I type this I just got to where you mention the Moon propaganda video and even China), they should remember art is all about exchange and that you can embrace diversity (and intermixing!).

[@RitualEXE]

Thank you SO much for taking the time to contribute this. These are the conversations and thoughts I hope to encourage. Honestly I’m not very well versed in Chinese animation, but I have noticed those same conversations and assumptions in gaming! There is a strange tendency (particularly by the “Thing. Thing -Japan.” crowd) to look at any cultural export of China as inferior in some way. They might even like it UNTIL they find out it’s Chinese. I do see some of it in anime itself and as far as I can tell there’s some degree of animosity between citizens of the different countries (not justified but understandable due to the history of conflict in the region). But, perhaps because of my cultural frame of reference being the USA, I far more readily blame it on Americans searching to validate their Sinophobia in media. Though nineties anime DEFINITELY had a lot of that one particular offensive Chinese stereotype. You know the one.

[@gerinko7874]

Some dude just chilling by a tree or random other places giving us good info, this is pretty cool.

[@RitualEXE]

Chilling places and giving info are the two things I’m known for. I’m like an NPC in that way.

[@gerinko7874]

@@RitualEXE If you’re an NPC the devs did well

[@braziliantsar]

I dropped anime about 5 years ago, yet I'm surprisingly more gamer than before

[@TheAK74Lawson]

Media in general simultaneously creates a connection and disconnect from others. It's clear in shows that those people do not act in such a way under normal circumstances (i.e. comedians, especially in Japan) creating a disconnect. A more recent example is "hawk tua" girl only being known for her one gig. The meme being the only identifiable trait anyone has of her. If you look for it though, there are some great anime that has that at least presents the audience with these preconceived stereotypes and develops characters to help the audience realize their opinions are not applicable (i.e. Golden Boy and Ping Pong the Animation, although not perfect examples). Love ya ritual :)

[@RitualEXE]

This is perfectly said. I think media that manages to subvert some of those cultural expectations and throw it back in the face of native and foreign audiences alike has a special place in these conversations.

[@TheAK74Lawson]

@@RitualEXE ah shit can you remind me that this video isn't part of my graduate studies? Lmao

[@RitualEXE]

GO GET THAT DEGREE YOUNG MAN

[@bridgerbush9936]

Another banger of a video. Thank you Mr EXE

[@RitualEXE]

You can’t see it but I’m tipping my very stylish wide-brim fedora.

[@sleepysnow-rm7zh]

Thank you for the good video, stay strong

[@bloodmemes]

I'm from Argentina, and I always tried to stop me from thinking that other cultures's depictions of themselves were a good way to judge them, because other than I thought that it was kind of racist, I didn't think that my own culture's self representation in fiction is a good way of representation (at least not all). However the biggest "cultural assumption" I have to the US is that people are bombarded with some extent of military propaganda, some more subtle (think of something like top gun) and some that to me, seem kinda fucked up (like the America's Army games), again I really try to avoid generalizing with these type of things, but it's still that I'm at least, curious to know if it's actually true or not

[@RitualEXE]

This is a very thoughtful comment! Thank you! I would say that your assumption makes perfect sense based on the media that we export. In fact, I think American’s receive so much pro-military propaganda that we don’t even notice it at this point. Video games, films, and even KZbinrs have received so much military funding that it’s in EVERYTHING. As someone pretty staunchly anti-military it can be jarring, but that took a great deal of unlearning.

[@bloodmemes]

@@RitualEXE Some KZbinrs in the Hispanic community have made some pretty interesting videos about America's Army and that eSports team that they have, and to someone who's also not fond of the military (especially due to my county's historical context), it's pretty horrible, and a shame that so much funding goes that way, but I also think that a lot of people are becoming aware of that fact, seeing how the internet has helped in some way to Us people noticing how it's not really normal having movies who's director claims are military propaganda.

[@halcyon63]

as an american, yes, we get a lot of military propaganda. (the channel justin taylor has a great video titled 'why do you get advertisments for fighter jets?' which is kind of related and very interesting)

[@ForestTheHedgehog5]

This is an...interesting video I'm conflicted because i feel like the mindful message is good but I think calling someone "racist" for having certain preconceived notions about a culture is overstepping and the same about saying regular media including anime is propaganda. Although I'm a fan of Moon Channel and do believe in soft power as a concept I'm not really on the Japan is trying to trick you into thinking it's cool so you forget about WW2 train, plus i believe China is much more aggressive than Japan is with it's use of Soft power but that's off topic. Also on the topic of AA culture we do have a cultural problem and i think people who aren't black that point that out even if it's for the wrong reasons still should do so because it's better than pretending that it doesn't exist at all and i say that as an AA myself.

[@RitualEXE]

Your first point is why I qualify that later in the video. I agree, the concepts I talk about in the early parts of the video don’t really point to someone being racist… But rather serve more as a warning against internal biases unchecked. And I guess we’ll agree to disagree on the subject of Black Americans. I can understand why you would have the attitude you do even if I disagree with the conclusion. My full thoughts on the matter would take far more space and nuance than is easily packed into a KZbin comment section! Thank you very much for taking the time to comment!

[@BoldMold]

No. I'm making anime racist instead. My negative aura alone is corrupting the whole Japanese market and all of Japan's culture even though I've never even interacted with it. It's a passive skill I got after being cursed by a gnome. I can't turn it off. Sorry.

[@RitualEXE]

I get the feeling this one was much funnier in your head.

[@BoldMold]

@@RitualEXE It was, sorry. I was high at the time.

[@RitualEXE]

Lol no sweat.

[@ItsMiover]

I see why you put Gojo there lol

[@RitualEXE]

Dude got problems

[@dekkeroid2962]

Dude literally says "I alone am the chosen one" and stuff. You know the flags were there.

[@SarathMuddana-qx9gt]

The culture comment you made towards the end is becoming a major problem. Canada, UK, USA, and many more countries have this problem of accusing minority cultures of ruining their culture. Its kinda scary to see the violence, rhetoric, and biases continue to get worse. I mean just this past month, we had a presendential and vice presidental canidate that Haitian ppl were eating pets. Inciting violence in the area even when repeatedly unable to prove their statements. Media, whether good or bad, entertaining or informative has a massive influence on how the world. I think we can all do a bit better in being aware of that.

[@RitualEXE]

Very well said, my friend! Sarath speaks the truth.

[@ruberxwibebadhi]

I have seen American movies i like that they are self critical and have tolerance of different ideas, they are also more technologically advanced and more progressive than us in terms of thinking and innovation. they also (in my opinion) make the best movies and music, and also are the trend setters. and we indians are way wayyyyyyyyyy behind them in almost everything

[@RitualEXE]

This is a very interesting take, especially as an American. I guess my impression of India is that there is a massive divide between rich and poor… where the rich live super comfortable lives and the poor are stuck in conditions that mirror a 100 years ago. I also get the impression that there’s a great deal of colorism in the country, which maybe you could speak on. But I do think that a lot of American media is pretty self critical. I think the media does a better job of that than a great deal of the people lol

[@TheOrangeOverlord]

I found that a lot of anime weeks are very racist, most of them don't interact with other people and only interact with people online. I found that along of them are incredibly shallow, like incredibly, where they look down on you if you don't have a specific look. Never mind that the majority d9nt know how to bathe or have ever exercised thier life.

[@RitualEXE]

I think anime has a tendency to attract people that struggle with social integration/interaction. So I’m not surprised that you’ve had some less than savory moments with fans. But at the same time, I think that drawing broad conclusions such as this one probably don’t help sway things. I find it more effective in discussions to say “I have had some bad experiences with some ______” rather than “______ are bad and awful and smelly.” I think it makes people more open to understanding your point of view. To respond to your other comment… oh yeah. You will find a lot of racism in anime itself. Granted… you will find a lot of racism in LOTS of media. The USA seems to have undergone a significant cultural shift around 10 years ago, but before that time disgusting racist, homophobic, and transphobic tropes were practically the standard in American media. I think the world is changing a lot right now, and I hope to see it only improve further. Particularly when it comes to South Asians, like you mentioned. I still see crazy amounts of racism toward those communities all over the place.

[@vadimemelin2941]

Problem? Hueblem.

[@Januaryof28]

Jjk made germany look cool

[@Program-zw4oe]

Genuine question!! Is jjk racist bc of how gojo thinking African people are generally strong or is it the specific manga panel shown in the video.. or something else I'm not getting? The former is called out in the manga by the characters for being insensitive and the ladder has to do with the power system where that character basically sees with an alternate method. He can literally see the other guys technique just from looking (something only he can do bc of his ability not at all because of race). Am I missing something bc I feel like the clips shown aren't representative of actual racism. There definitely are bad shows so I'm curious why these clips were used. Am I missing some nuances?? What are you thoughts

[@Program-zw4oe]

U could also be making a joke and I missed the sarcasm😂

[@RitualEXE]

I used JJK because Gojo is presented as an occasionally racist character, not because I think the anime is deeply flawed. I really like it, actually. Same with the rest of the clips. Most of them are just bits of shows I like meant to keep the visuals interesting. A few of them have little bits that tie into what I’m talking about if you know the dialogue that’s going on… but my point was not really that anime itself is racist, but rather that we need to be careful about forming opinions regarding Japanese people based on it.

[@TheOrangeOverlord]

Also I've noticed that thier are sometimes a lot of racist undertones towards South Asians whereby if they are completely ignored by anime where the whole concept is about a world tournament where every country is involved except for any South asian countries or the only depiction is them eating curry or making curry.

[@baldbooger16]

no it makes me cringe