So the internet is a mysterious, fun, and sometimes scary place. I have observed many strange statements and maybe that is the way of the internet but really. When I hear arguments that reverse harem, BL, and ren’ai games are smart or incredibly artistic, I have to wonder if we are seeing the same things. Of course these genres have examples of greatness, but could anyone really believe that an entire genre of anything is all good? I have even seen people claim that these types of genres are the way to combat an alleged boys only attitude in fandom. It seems like a similarly elitist attitude that plagues everything.

Before we begin I would like everyone to be on the same page. So I begin with a definition. What exactly is a fujoshi? We have mentioned them in the past but I have never really talked in depth about them before now. The simple definition of fujoshi is a female otaku who focuses on BL/yaoi and BL/yaoi related material. I have seen a trend to try to label any female otaku as a fujoshi but I think this is a grave mistake. Fujoshi have very specific tastes that warrant them having their own sub-classification. All fujoshi are female otaku but not all female otaku are fujoshi.

Something strange is happening. And while it certainly isn’t just these genres, it seems to be quite prevalent. Some girls actually think that BL, reverse harems, and girl-oriented dating sims are automatically deep. I get that girls want to have their own sub-genres that are specifically created for their enjoyment, that speaks to their fantasies, but why go putting meaning in things that have none? I feel the same way about anyone who actually believes moe is the be all end all of high art. It is becoming quite apparent to me that there are some fujoshis who are a whole different class of women in denial.

You unruly cad! Are you implying that Fushigi Yugi, Fake, and Angelique are not the pinnacles of visual literature whether it be in the pantheon of Eastern or Western civilization? Next you are going to tell me that Fate/Stay Night, Strawberry Panic!, and Negima! aren’t high literature! All kidding aside, no one sane that I know has ever attempted to even imply that Night Shift Nurses or F-Force has a grand amount of subtlety and deep insight into society. They are animated porn for men to masturbate to. Any social insight gleaned from them is ancillary to the actual “narrative.” And I use narrative in the loosest sense of the word. Porn is porn and titillation is titillation no matter if it is made for men or for women. I will bet good money that 75% of all BL, reverse harems, and girl-oriented dating sims are as shallow as shows made for men. They may be entertaining and enjoyable but they are almost always about as far from deep as Naruto is far from the actual practices of ninjas. I’m not saying it’s all pop culture junk food but it is certainly the dominant percentage.

Yaoi is to manga what romance novels are to literature. Not all books containing romance go into the romance novel section, but you can bet on what you are going to find in that section. Sure some of it has some semblance of plot but that isn’t why the reader is reading it. That is not a bad thing! Read for your own enjoyment but don’t try to tell me that it is saving the world. To ascertain that BL is the answer to the “male dominated world” of anime and manga is not only wildly exaggeratory, it is insulting. That seems to imply that women are only superficially interested in these mediums. As if they could only possibly care about pretty faces and boys touching each other. I mean no woman actually wants a plot line or character development, right? Aren’t these kinds of statements ghettoizing females and making them seem even more remote in a fandom that has a great number of men?

I think that the real problem is horribly vocal crusader fujoshi. They then assume their fellow female fans are just as shallow as they are. I think that female anime fans can be similar to their male counterparts but I don’t think that one gender is filled with nothing but intellectual pursuits where as the other group only wants shallow fan-service. I think that anime containing a wide variety of genres including genres aimed at females of all ages that are often written by women makes it appealing to women.

It is true that much of geek culture has a large gap in the male to female ratio. However, I frankly think it has quite a lot to do with women more than men trying to keep girls out. Women keep women out. And this has a whole lot to do with society and many outside factors that have nothing to do with geekdom which I could go on and on about. But I won’t, not right now. Geek pride is on the rise and with the growth of online communities, one not even need to leave their house in order to interact with their chosen fandom. I’ve mostly found a female opinion welcomed.

I think that most geek guys would give their eye for more women to be into their chosen hobbies. One problem is that most geeky guys lack the interpersonal skills to easily draw more women to their groups. I will also admit that a certain percentage of any geeky community will have a no girls allowed attitude but I think they are in the definite minority. Plus, they mostly have that attitude due to bitterness of the small numbers of women actively in the community. Women stay out of geeky hobbies because they think they don’t have a place in geek fandom or it holds any interest for them. Why this happens is another debate beyond the scope of this article and perhaps even this blog. The main point is I don’t think there is a cabal of men trying to keep women out of anime and only though the diligence of Light x L and Kyo x Yuki doujinshi authors are girls watching anime.

What about that shojo manga? Manga written for young women has been a popular genre since the 1970’s (though obviously appeared much earlier) so I think it is safe to say it has plenty of influence on why women/girls like anime and manga. And shojo manga sells quite well here these days, some have even made it on to the best-seller list. What about Sailor Moon? She was a phenomenon! Half the girls I know my age remember her fondly and can credit her, atleast partially, to their thrust into fandom. Yes, there has been an influx of girls in fandom as of late but there is more than one reason for this. I just think they are overlooking huge things just to make their given preferences important.

More girls start watching anime and reading manga due to non-sexual reasons. You usually have to hook girls on the shojo and the shonen before they go out and start reading the BL and doujinshi. It’s an outgrowth of their interest in the medium. Women don’t primarily come to anime for any one reason. There is the universal appeal of Studio Ghibli films. There is the wish fulfillment magical girls. There is the simple pure-hearted romance of young girls’ shojo. There is the drama and excitement of older girl’s romance, fantasy, and adventure shojo. There is the more mature look at love and life in josei manga. Many shonen shows have had almost as many female fans as they have male fans. Do some girls just watch these shows as fodder for their BL doujinshi? Sure. Are some girls only reading Fruits Basket because they want to be surrounded by the handsome men of the Sohma family? This is an undeniable fact. I just feel that the appeal of anime and manga is stronger than that. I have always loved the attitude of certain fujoshi that their favorite pairings are not just in their heads but actually a secret between them and the author. They also usually have the feeling that anyone who does not realize this is a plain idiot.

Everyone isn’t just here watching, reading, (blogging) for purely aesthetic, superficial reasons. We all know that anime offers both things to its fans. We can have over-the-top, shallow, or silly stories and we can turn around and move on to deep, thought provoking, or endearing tales. Nothing dominates bringing female fans in as far as I can tell. It is just the vocal minority on the internet that gives this weird illusion. And don’t get me started on the obsession with non-canon relationships that do not exist. Please don’t imply that all women are that delusional. Do I read doujinshi? Yes. Do I read about characters that will never be in a relationship? Yes. Do I insist that it is real? No.

I just want to make it clear that I don’t mind fujoshi in general. Everyone is entitled to like what they like. Women should be able to indulge themselves and be catered to with all the gusto that any male would. I feel fujoshi are no better or worse than moe fans, mecha fans, hentai fans, classic anime fans, or sports anime fans. I would even go as far as to claim that American fujoshi make the U.S. market more robust and healthy. What I don’t like is fujoshi running around with a superiority complex. Even moe fans don’t claim to be the saviors of fandom.

Top 5 non-canon couples
5. Spike and Faye (Cowboy Bebop)
4. Allelujah and Sumeragi (Gundam 00)
3. Allen and Lavi (D.Gray Man)
2. Kanda and Lenalee (D.Gray Man)
1. Zoro and Nami (One Piece)

I was recently reading the Ogiue Maniax blog and he had brought up some fascinating points about what he thinks determines what a fan is. I brought the post to Narutaki’s attention mostly because it made me wonder what both of us thought makes an anime fan. What separates an anime fan from a person who just happens to just to watch anime? They might seem to be the same but I postulate that they can be very different.

We have definitely had numerous discussions, both heated and not, about fans in the anime community. It seems like one of those subjects that everyone has an opinion on, so why not think out-loud here with ours. I don’t know if we will actually come to some concrete definition, but hopefully we can clear our minds of it and maybe others will tell us what they think a fan is.

One of the greatest problems with any classification is that the extremes are easy to determine. People who are clearly not interested in anime are obviously not fans. Mega otaku are so deep in fandom that their love and devotion of anime is unmistakable. The problem is the people that are near the borders of what makes someone a fan. Where they fall, how you classify them, is strictly up to personal prejudice and taste.

No one is going to 100% agree on the definitions that get thrown out there, hell I don’t even agree with myself on where people fall. I continually ask these kinds of questions and go back and forth on my own definitions. I also think it is really easy to get a skewed opinion depending upon what parts of the anime community you frequent and what you read. It is easy to hate all of fandom if all you read is 4chan.

One of the main things we both got out of the Ogiue Maniax blog was that he postulates are two general types of people who watch anime. Anime fans and anime consumers. I don’t think the amount of anime you watch determines which category you are in. It’s not the simple divide between casual anime fan and hardcore. I think you could watch every anime show ever and still be an anime consumer and you could only watch a handful of shows and be an anime fan. What determines what category you fall into is mainly how emotionally invested you are in the medium.

I agree, but at the same time I think if you have delved deep and watched years and years worth of anime then you are most probably an anime fan, unless you’re in complete denial. And people who have just discovered the medium can be fans, just new ones. I guess it really comes down to the fact that I don’t feel you have to know everything about anime to call yourself a fan. In some instances, the pursuit of knowledge is just as important as actually learning it. It is when people claim to know it all, when they know zip, that’s when the annoyance starts. But this is where that whole gray area of fandom comes in.

An anime consumer enjoys anime. An anime fan cares about anime. There are many ways of expressing that you care about anime. I feel that supporting the industry is a big factor in showing that you care about anime. I also see an interest in learning about anime as a significant factor in being a fan. By looking into older shows, looking into who created the works you’ve seen, and researching references made in shows all support you having deep interest in what anime is all about. Participating in anime fandom can also show that you care. By doing any of these things or not doing any of these things does not necessarily make you an anime fan but I feel they are all good indicators.

I find those first two phrases to be very eloquent, simple but impactful and sensible. I have always felt a big part of fandom is caring beyond your own personal bubble of anime love. Seeking out other people is a good start because the exchange of information is ten-fold! The internet makes is easy to by knowledgeable so if someone doesn’t do any research its hard for me to see them as fan. And being involved in campaigns for shows to get licensed, have a TV run, or be shown in theaters is an excellent piece of fandom. And of course we are big on industry support, so I definitely see purchasing of legitimate DVDs and whatnot an important factor. But as we all l know a lot of young people don’t have that much income. I also feel that trying to spread the love of anime is a great part of being a fan! Sharing it with others, introducing them to it, and helping them out is a good indicator to me.

I think another problem with classify people is some people think they are anime fans when they are really only fans of a specific show or genre. You could be a Naruto or Dragonball Z fan but only a casual consumer of any other type of anime. This does not mean you are less devoted to your chosen show but it also does not automatically make you a fan of the rest of the medium. The problem comes when such a person goes around claiming they are an anime fan or expert when they are anything but.

People’s own classification of themselves makes everything all the more complicated. And the extremes of this are downright hilarious. You have people all over messageboards proclaiming they are not, absolutely not, anime fans. If you proceed to discuss anime on a daily basis. . . . I’m twice as amused by people who “hate” shows but proceed to watch the new fan-sub of them every week. What is with the self-loathing? And it is not like I have never been ridiculed about my hobbies, but seriously people. Though it is okay because I always get a good chuckle.

With all the being said I feel that an anime consumer is anyone who watches anime but does not invest any of themselves into it. They watch anime and enjoy it but they do not love it. I don’t want to be an elitist about this but as soon as one says that you can be sure the next sentence is going to be elitist. No matter how much you tell yourself you’re a fan, a consumer is not. However, I don’t think that because you’re an anime consumer you are not worthy of watching anime or you don’t get anime. Heck, I’m pretty sure there are far more anime consumers than anime fans. Without anime consumers anime would be even more of a niche market than it currently is; anime conventions would be small time affairs; Best Buy or Barnes and Nobel wouldn’t carry anime and manga.

Thank you anime consumers! If it wasn’t for you we would never get our niche titles. No one is unworthy of watching anime, but you can be unworthy of the title “fan.”

If nothing else this article has given me an odd insight into myself. I have always wondered my I did not have the same anime awakening story that everyone else I know did. I did not have that one show that I watched that instantly made me anime fan, atleast not till many years later . I remember liking anime since junior high school. I saw Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, and Ranma 1/2. I would occasionally watch what tapes people gave me or I stumbled upon but I never went out of my way to hunt down more. I remember watching Robotech and Dragon Warrior but I never had the realization that they were Japanese until years later. I always said I liked anime and would have labeled myself an anime fan. Heck, I begged by girlfriend in college to drive me hours away to see Spirited Away in theaters. But it was no greater passion in my life than say video games, sci-fi, fantasy, or table top role playing games.

I think a lot of people start off as consumers, especially now with all the access to it, and then blossom into fandom. Years ago you practically had to be a fan because you would need to go so out of your way to get your hands on things. However, I know I jumped into fandom pretty quickly. I was introduced to Ninja Scroll at the age of 11, thanks Lothos! Soon followed up by Akira, Record of Lodoss War OVA, and Slayers. I sort of hit the ground running, though I think that is just my personality. It was crazy back then to find out so many of our favorite shows as kids were anime. Me and my friend used to exchange info and shows; share and share alike. Funnily enough we both bought Evangelion at almost the exact same time. It was just coming out on VHS in the states then. So I guess I did had that one show, it all came about because of Jubei Kibagami.

It was not until my last year in college that someone lent me the Ranma 1/2 OAVs and I truly became a fan. For some reason those OAVs awakened a desire to know more about this medium that I had once only had a surface interest in. I started to look into what else Rumiko Takahasi had written. I started going to Ranma fan sites. Then I started going to general anime fan sites. I looked into the various other genres of anime. I wanted to see more, know more, and do more. I now realize in retrospect that I had been transformed. From an anime consumer to an anime fan.

Narutaki Currently!
Watching Tower of Druaga
Reading Dororo
Listening to Gackt live

Hisui (Brainwasher Detective) Currently:
Watching Karin
Reading Dororo
Listening to Yuusha-oh Tanjou! (Mythology Version) by Masaaki Endou and the GGG Shoujo Vocal Team