Hate to say it but being an anime fan has become equated with being an AFC nerd. Can't say that I don't see why. The fanboy-geek subculture has become almost hip, it's like an oxymoron. And many of them voluntarily adopt the fanboy geek image based on the characters in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob movies. But are these guys DJ? Probably only in their fanboy-geek circles but since they're mostly male, what's the difference?

There are a few chicks that qualify as fangirls but most of them are jailbait age and thus can be excused for their obsession. This is why fangirls don't have as bad a rep as fanboys. DJ men want something more mature and grounded. And not all women who fit this description will move on once you admit to liking anime. But here's how to at least keep them around for a while. But whether or not the girl you have your eye on is a fangirl, here's a few tips that should apply either way:

1)Do not call yourself an otaku. This has become popular among American fans who jumped on the word. Otaku means the same thing as fanboy-geek-loser in Japanese. It IS an insult in Japanese, not a trendy moniker. Americans adopted the word but left behind the negative connotations. Those in the know are wary about using the word towards others who choose to honor the original meaning of the word. If you're smart, you'll do the same.

2)Don't lace your speech with Japlish. This is the Western equivalent of Engrish. Many of those so-called Western otaku have the tendency to use honorifics with Western names (san, chan, ect) or thrown in Japanese phrases and structure (-ne? baka?, -desu, ect). This only reinforces the idea that you probably know Japanese language and culture only through anime. This will not endear you to Japanese girls, if you're lucky to know any.

3)If you are inclined towards the fangirls, more power to you. However, do not pretend to like shojo or yaoi (typical fangirl genres) if you know that you'd rather be watching something else such as Gundam. If a girl is really into you, she will respect your tastes as long as you don't lord them over her. In fact, a great number of girls will actually consider you a little more normal if this is the case. Most female fans tend to place hardcore male shojo lovers in the LBJF or gay category. And furthermore, if you admit to liking something like Gundam over shojo or yaoi, you can't exactly be accused of being a dirty old man.

4)Don't hide your love for anime. Nothing more need be said about this. But it leads me to:

5)There is a chance that if your girl isn't too into anime, but knows you are, she probably is aware of some of the common stereotypes prevailing. Porn, Ultraviolent, Poke-mon, Anime fans are mostly perverted guys, ect. Try to help her dispel those stereotypes by trancending them yourself. Why not invite her to your pad for an anime movie night? It would certainly help if you have a knowledge of anime titles beyond DBZ and Ninja Scroll. If you're a serious anime fan, you know the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. A good place as any to start. Try showing Spirited Away instead of Animatrix or Akira. She might re-evaluate her opinion.

I'm sure a lot of nay-sayers here will say that only one tip is required and that a DJ should have better things to do than watch anime. This, I think is a cop-out. When it comes to films. There is room for a lotta things other than testosterone flicks in a DJ's library. A true DJ is a rennaisance man.

I think you're making your life complicated. If you like anime, watch it, and act cool about it. There's nothing about hiding it... It's like people who make a big deal about being a virgin when they should be embracing it when asked about it.

Dude, don't make rules for yourself. As long as you don't come off as a freak or a loser, and that can be avoided by using simply common sense, it's all good. By common sense, I mean, would a normal girl go out with a white guy who constantly uses Japanese words in his speech (as you said) or wears weird-ass t-shirts and has no other conversational topic than anime?

Personally, I used to be very into anime, but I also had other hobbies on the side, like sports, movies, current events, etc. There's nothing bad about liking anime as long as it doesn't become an obsession. Like many other hobbies, it's there to complement your life, and not to BECOME your life.

You shouldn't be thinking of a way to approach girls who like anime, since they are just like any other girl. Speaking from personal experience, I used to be a fan, and so did my current girlfriend, but I only found that out two months into our relationship during a casual conversation. It didn't change a thing about how we viewed each other, we just saw it as another little thing that we have in common.

Im actually a big fan of warhammer and 40k (check www.games-workshop.com) and there are a lot of steriotypes accociated with nerds, sweaty obese arrogant men and tiny teenagers screaming. unfortunately, a lot of these steriotypes are true and, for example, some of the LARPers in my group would rather run round a field in a full set of plate armour than talk to a girl.

a lot of the points you make can be applied to pretty much any genre percieved as nerdy, be it me with my little plastic soldiers, the D&D players (yes, there is a BIG difference ) and hardcore chess players, but to be honest, i think your pretty much on the money with this.

Back in the day i let the models completely influence everything i did. I would sit on my ar$e for days at a time in dimly lit rooms painting models and all sit round with my 2 or three friends and sl@g all the "cool" kids off.

Then i found this site, and one of the first things i read was be a man by pook. The thing that stood out most about that was the part that said i could have the same hobbies and sh!t, but i could grow a pair at the same time. well, what a deal

My main problem, desipte being a bit of a minger (due to which i was technically dead twice, but thats a different story) was that i placed too much over reliance on one thing in my life. in this case, it was wargaming. I was relying on it too much to fill a void in my life that was there because of a lack of other, more rounded things to fill it.

In the end i took up tae-kwon-do, break dancing, emceeing, horse riding and writing as different things to try out, and i've had varying sucess in each field (ie: I can qualify for an ameture jockey lisence and have had a few short stories published, but i cant get past 6th kup)

and the wargaming? well, it always was my first love, and it probably always will be, but instead of hanging about at peoples houses, i took some of the skills i learnt on here about socialising and social proof and set up my own games club. i now co-run my own club with 60+ members, aging from 16-40 and we have an absolute blast.

now, when i approach a girl, and we get back to my place, if she sees it there, i tell her what i do and thats it. i dont make a big deal of it, i dont mention it in conversation and i dont make a fuss of it.

my reasoning is this: I made a lot of friends through it, i put a lot of effort into it and i'm not going to give up my hobby for some easily replaceable girl who's too imature to accept that, essentially, the hobby is no different to people learning to play an instrument, they both take time, dedication and effort. She has a problem with it, its her problem, not mine, and thus she gets the shove.

Effectively, steriotypes are used by people as its easier to catagorise a group of people by certain characteristics than it is to deal with them one on one, however, i believe that if you can break these steriotypes then you are really ahead of the game.

what are "LARPers"?

Anyways, well said Engetsu.

Live Action Role Players:

see here:

http://www.larpaweb.org/

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Live_action_role-playing_game

http://www.sailornaboo.com/sakuracon/friday/aeris.jpg

http://www.rpi.edu/~gallas3/katsu/cloud.jpg

Dont shoot the messenger, i've never done that stuff before, and if it means running about like a tw@t in a costume all day, you can bet i wont start either. As far as im concerned, its one step away from being a furrie, and the less said about that the better

*I accept no repsonsibility from retinal damage from clicking on those links*

Heres what I have learnt.

1a)Dont ask japanese people if they like anime. (Branded wappanese straight away)
1b) Dont tell japanese people that you like anime if its out of context (I did that to a japanese girl. I was more interested in the anime then her at the time)

2) Dont force anime down peoples throats.

3)Say "yeah I watch anime...." and leave it at that.

ne?

Originally posted by Engetsu
I think you're making your life complicated. If you like anime, watch it, and act cool about it. There's nothing about hiding it... It's like people who make a big deal about being a virgin when they should be embracing it when asked about it.

Dude, don't make rules for yourself. As long as you don't come off as a freak or a loser, and that can be avoided by using simply common sense, it's all good. By common sense, I mean, would a normal girl go out with a white guy who constantly uses Japanese words in his speech (as you said) or wears weird-ass t-shirts and has no other conversational topic than anime?

Personally, I used to be very into anime, but I also had other hobbies on the side, like sports, movies, current events, etc. There's nothing bad about liking anime as long as it doesn't become an obsession. Like many other hobbies, it's there to complement your life, and not to BECOME your life.

You shouldn't be thinking of a way to approach girls who like anime, since they are just like any other girl. Speaking from personal experience, I used to be a fan, and so did my current girlfriend, but I only found that out two months into our relationship during a casual conversation. It didn't change a thing about how we viewed each other, we just saw it as another little thing that we have in common.

Click to expand...

I partially understand what you mean by making it more complicated for myself. There's a bit more to this that most might not understand unless they've been fans of these geeky genres for decades. With respect to the Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Book, Anime and Gaming genres, there was a time now just over a decade ago that if you were into these things, you were considered a nerd. The mainstreaming of these genres for mass consumption greatly relaxed that sentiment.

The term "fanboy" did not come into widespread use until the image was popularized in movies like Clerks and Mallrats. However, it's worth pointing out that the characters in these movies actually represent a major revision of the image that existed prior. A revision that takes the 90s slacker generation prototype and injects it with the already existing stereotypical images of genre fans such as the ones represented in the classic 80s Saturday Night Live Star Trek Convention skit or the Fat Comic Book Store Guy on the Simpsons.

I seem to remember a time when it was agreed by consensus that SF or Comic Book fans were not always the most socially adept people but they were often more intelligent than the general public at large. Fanboys used to nitpick about the feasability of Larry Niven's Ringworld. In fact, there was a fault in it that fans discovered and Niven incorporated a change in his sequels. Nowadays, your typical fanboys is stereotyped as the kid who fantasizes about being kung-fu, ninjer, Neo clones, Super Sayain Jedi or whatever. Go to ashidakim.com if you think I'm kidding.

.

the_gunslinger said:Effectively, steriotypes are used by people as its easier to catagorise a group of people by certain characteristics than it is to deal with them one on one, however, i believe that if you can break these steriotypes then you are really ahead of the game.

Click to expand...

I am all for remaking the image of us as I believe that a lot of damage has been done and the percieved immaturity can be seen as a turn off to many. It's no wonder a lot of enthusiats either hide such hobbies or give them up. As a genre fan in my mid 30s now, I have left behind a lot of the typical fanboy behavior of my youth such as memorizing and reciting cult movie dialogue, fan-elitism, and obsessive collection of related merchandise. As a more mature enthusiast of my chosen hobbies, I prefer to rely on my encylopedic knowledge of the genres. I think that's the way to go

Originally posted by the_gunslinger
Live Action Role Players:

see here:

http://www.larpaweb.org/

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Live_action_role-playing_game

http://www.sailornaboo.com/sakuracon/friday/aeris.jpg

http://www.rpi.edu/~gallas3/katsu/cloud.jpg

Dont shoot the messenger, i've never done that stuff before, and if it means running about like a tw@t in a costume all day, you can bet i wont start either. As far as im concerned, its one step away from being a furrie, and the less said about that the better

*I accept no repsonsibility from retinal damage from clicking on those links*

Click to expand...

Well... Don't feel too bad. We have all done some pretty crazy shyte.

Heres what i know about anime..

Ninja Scroll (ownage)
Hentai (ownage)
Samurai X (ownage)
DBZ (gay except for Vegeta that guy ownz)
Pokemon (gay)

And oh yeah Cosplay, thats where a bunch of phags dress up like anime characters, sometimes you will see a fine ass chick but most of the time its just douche bags.

Originally posted by the_gunslinger
Dont shoot the messenger, i've never done that stuff before,

Click to expand...

Sometimes I think I'd rather do a line of coke in front of a cop than ever admit to a girl that I once did LARP. (And only once! *sob*)

Originally posted by the_gunslinger
As far as im concerned, its one step away from being a furrie, and the less said about that the better

Click to expand...

OMG please don't ever bring furries up again. I think I lose a little part of my sanity each time I think about them.

*shudders*

whats a furrie, hey i used to be into warhammer and had a hell of a lot of High elves, and some bretons, lizardmen. My brother had a huge Imperial Guard army. But games-workshop is a rip off and they forced the competing little gaming shops that i knew of out of business. They are far more expensive than they really cost to desgin and make, its like a bloody monopoly. I knew kids that literally were robbin money off their parents to pay for these toys. Its probably alright if you are an adult or get so obsessed you go and end up working there, but mayb they should do discounts for kids (although how enterprising i was, i probably would have stood outside reselling the contents of the shop) or *gasp*, lower the price. They also kept reinventing all the races and the games so you would have to re buy the codexs/ army manuals and the rule books.

It killed any social career when i started secondary school as my class had a bunch of real little terrors, who like i said i liked warhammer once and i was stigmatised for those two years. Bloody hell, although now i still go down to the lower school part of it and support the kids that have started their own club.

JSH said: whats a furrie, hey i used to be into warhammer and had a hell of a lot of High elves, and some bretons, lizardmen.

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The basic definition of furries is "cartoon folks with fur", but this would seem to apply to any talking animals cartoons such as WB and Disney characters. In actual practice, the term is most regularly associated with a lot of the works that seem to incorporate elvish design or occasionaly the pseudo anime/manga style into designing characters with fur and humanized animal faces (think Vincent from the live action 80s show Beauty and the Beast). One example is the comic Albedo as well many Elfquest imitation comics. Most of these works are strictly aimed at the young fangirl fanbase. Probably as a reaction to what they percieve as the male dominated character domination of the comics/fantasy genres.

lol i thought furries were those people who dressed up in animal suits (think sports mascots) and then humped eachother to get off hahah

It was on a MTV real life episode lol.

Yeah "furrie" is a pervert who likes to hump people who dress up like animals

http://www.homepages-galaxy.com/adult_toons/furrie_adult_toons.html

t h e r a p y

Wow. Other nerds

I did D&D back in high school, I went through a huge anime obsession last year and I've been playing warhammer and 40k on and off for the last 7 years.

However, its all about being balanced, and near the end of high school I joined the track team and the rugby team. I workout regularly now, I play ultimate frisbee at U, and I want to do karate (and dragonboat if I have time) next year.

In a way, I'm a recovering nerd, but I'm not at all ashamed of it. Its part of me just the way everything else about me is. Girls can like it or lump it.

Rhino

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think that someone who actually watches MTV is a bigger dork than any "LRAPer".

I've seen some good anime. Have you seen "Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki ? AKIRA was good, but the ending didn't make much sense to me. I've only seen a few movies, but they were pretty creative little films. I thought that they were better than the cr@py shyte-coms and so called "reality shows" on television stations like MTV anyways. If the name of your network is "music television" why aren't you playing music!?.

Most movies made today aren't the least bit creative either. I went to see the new movie "Van Helsing" recently. I swear, I will never watch another one of Stephen Sommers' films again...