"Weeaboo Anime"

Ian Wolf

Ian Wolf

Mushi-shi
AUKN Staff
I was on Facebook earlier today and someone was asking whether or Sword Art Online was any good. Amongst the comments I read was from one guy who said: "No. It's a weeaboo anime."

I've never heard of any anime described as a "weeaboo anime", and while everyone is entitled to their own views on anime, this term seems to come across as snobbish - a dislike of series that are more mainstream than others. While I think that some anime fans or weeaboos are annoying and can put you off certain series, I don't think there is any title that could be described as a "weeaboo anime". And even if there was, what would such an anime be like?
 
I'm pretty sure they were an idiot. Poseurs who try to be cool by bashing anything remotely popular and rolling out that 'word' to bully overly enthusiastic young fans are not cool.

Struggling to wrap my brain around the idea of any anime which could be classified that way non-jokingly (even titles I don't like).

R
 
What is the etymology of the word "weeaboo" anyway? I've never understood how the word came to be in the form that it is. Can anyone elaborate?

In regards to the question at hand, Sword Art Online and Shonen Jump series' like Naruto and Bleach have sadly been given bad reputations and as someone who watches/reads all three, I have no idea why (okay, maybe for Bleach, as the quality has really nose-dived) My guess is that those titles are more mainstream and thus, normal Joe Bloggs on the street losing them makes some anime fans fear that their "special snowflake" status as a fan of something that's meant to be niche and underground and their only defence is to attack and try to disassociate themselves with the series' they feel are the cause of it. Once Attack On Titan started to garner popularity, I saw it happen with that series too.
 
Joshawott said:
What is the etymology of the word "weeaboo" anyway? I've never understood how the word came to be in the form that it is. Can anyone elaborate?

In regards to the question at hand, Sword Art Online and Shonen Jump series' like Naruto and Bleach have sadly been given bad reputations and as someone who watches/reads all three, I have no idea why (okay, maybe for Bleach, as the quality has really nose-dived) My guess is that those titles are more mainstream and thus, normal Joe Bloggs on the street losing them makes some anime fans fear that their "special snowflake" status as a fan of something that's meant to be niche and underground and their only defence is to attack and try to disassociate themselves with the series' they feel are the cause of it. Once Attack On Titan started to garner popularity, I saw it happen with that series too.
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From http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/weeaboo

Invented word from the Perry Bible Fellowship comic, then used arbitrarily by the 4chan Web site as an automated replacement for wapanese in users' posts.
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It didn't actually refer to anything until it was adopted by 4chan, it was a non-specific 'this is a bad thing to be'.

I think the Naruto/One Piece/Bleach thing is mostly because it's 3 big titles all competing to be number one week on week so it's split the fan base over the years.

Sword Art Online is kinda interesting because it caused such a split, everything gets a little criticism but for some reason that show really caused a lot of hatred in the fanbase. I'd suspect that's why the OP saw such a negative reaction on facebook, and arguably an incorrect use of the term weeaboo (it's a horrible word in any event)
 
I think there's this perception of SAO in particular as being 'wish fulfilment' in that it is essentially a series about what a lot of 'otaku' do in their spare time (play MMO's). While the later episodes go on to do their own thing, coming into the show fresh, the first few episodes do feel very zeitgeisty in a 'Hey guys, you love MMOs right? Guess what, this is an anime (that other thing you love, right!) about them - how cool!!!'

There's a lot of things both right and wrong about the show as a series, but a lot of the criticism is unjustified, and there's certainly elements of snobbery about the show.

As with Naruto - SAO is a victim of its own success. These things are popular for a reason, and that shouldn't count against them.
 
Lutga said:
I think there's this perception of SAO in particular as being 'wish fulfilment' in that it is essentially a series about what a lot of 'otaku' do in their spare time (play MMO's). While the later episodes go on to do their own thing, coming into the show fresh, the first few episodes do feel very zeitgeisty in a 'Hey guys, you love MMOs right? Guess what, this is an anime (that other thing you love, right!) about them - how cool!!!'
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I can see how that'd be off putting.

I was put off in at least part because the MC was a badass/expert which leads straight back to the wish fulfilment aspect. A lot of shows get flak for the weak MC but it does at least allow space for growth, things aren't nearly as fun when you know the MC will 2 shot every bad guy.
 
Rosencrantz said:
Joshawott said:
What is the etymology of the word "weeaboo" anyway? I've never understood how the word came to be in the form that it is. Can anyone elaborate?

In regards to the question at hand, Sword Art Online and Shonen Jump series' like Naruto and Bleach have sadly been given bad reputations and as someone who watches/reads all three, I have no idea why (okay, maybe for Bleach, as the quality has really nose-dived) My guess is that those titles are more mainstream and thus, normal Joe Bloggs on the street losing them makes some anime fans fear that their "special snowflake" status as a fan of something that's meant to be niche and underground and their only defence is to attack and try to disassociate themselves with the series' they feel are the cause of it. Once Attack On Titan started to garner popularity, I saw it happen with that series too.
Click to expand...

From http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/weeaboo

Invented word from the Perry Bible Fellowship comic, then used arbitrarily by the 4chan Web site as an automated replacement for wapanese in users' posts.
Click to expand...

It didn't actually refer to anything until it was adopted by 4chan, it was a non-specific 'this is a bad thing to be'.
Click to expand...
So it's just a random bunch of vowels and consonants thrown against a wall until the end-result could be pronounced by human tongues? How lame. At least "Wapanese" is is a portmanteau of "Western" and "Japanese".

I think the Naruto/One Piece/Bleach thing is mostly because it's 3 big titles all competing to be number one week on week so it's split the fan base over the years.
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The relationship between Naruto/Bleach/One Piece is weird, because while I've definitely seen Naruto and Bleach put in the same camp, the One Piece fan base tends to be like the "PC Master Race" of gaming. It's weird.

Sword Art Online is kinda interesting because it caused such a split, everything gets a little criticism but for some reason that show really caused a lot of hatred in the fanbase. I'd suspect that's why the OP saw such a negative reaction on facebook, and arguably an incorrect use of the term weeaboo (it's a horrible word in any event)
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Personally, speaking from someone who reviews Sword Art Online on a weekly basis, it really does have its flaws. The biggest criticism I've seen though, is that Kirito is seen as a "Gary Stu" (the male equivalent of a "Mary Sue"); a flawless protagonist. To be honest, I can't disagree with that assessment, because of reasons like:
1) The whole dual-wielding thing from season 1.
2) How he somehow came back from the dead to defeat Kayaba at the end of season 1.
3) How he somehow had all of his abilities and such from Sword Art Online when entering ALfheim Online (but had to convert his avatar for Gun Gale Online? 0.o)
4) Remember when he randomly transformed into a monster and it was never brought up again?
5) How he was able to overcome that fixed game in Gun Gale Online on his very first try.
6) The over-used "Look, I can swat these bullets away with my lightsaber rip off!" thing.
7) The harem.
The kid has a stronger plotkai than Ichigo Kurosaki, who's from the series that's responsible for the term "plotkai".

Is that justification to hate on the series as much as people do? I wouldn't say so. If people are able to look beyond them and simply enjoy the series for what it is - an entertaining action series for teenagers, then good on them. Let them do that.
 
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The whole plastic, 'good guy always wins' attitude of SAO certainly sucks at times, but I also think it's part of the show's appeal. Every medium, whether it be film, literature or anime needs its big 'blockbuster' popcorn-stuffing moments, and SAO is a good example of that. It doesn't require you to engage your brain much - you just flop back and enjoy the way it pushes the most obvious buttons at every plot point. Does it make it an intelligent series? Hell no. But does it make it enjoyable? Very probably.

It's the X Factor of anime. The Michael Bay movie of anime. The McDonalds of anime. And in its shamelessness of doing what it does, I've always found a certain charm in it.
 
In the case of SAO, I think at least some of the ire comes from it having (or having had) a very vocal fan-base, many of whom seemed to treat it like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
 
Professor Irony said:
In the case of SAO, I think at least some of the ire comes from it having (or having had) a very vocal fan-base, many of whom seemed to treat it like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
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That happens with everything though.
 
It seems to have happened to a far greater degree with SAO though. I personally didn't like it because Asuna annoyed the hell out of me and Kirito is far too much of a Gary Stu. It's a teenage boy's wet dream, but I'm not a teenage boy so it didn't work for me. Perhaps in the hands of a better writer I may have enjoyed it more.
 
I don't really see the connection with it being a slightly trashy teenage power fantasy and the slur though. Is it too hard for those people to just say they don't like it?

A lot of people on the Internet seem too chicken to take ownership of their opinions and say "I don't like SAO", so they attack its objective quality instead in the hope that other people will agree (or be bullied into no longer voicing their opinions to avoid an argument if they don't).

R
 
st_owly said:
I think it's because people who label SAO a weeaboo show want to feel superior about the shows they watch.
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Pretty much this. All about making them feel like they're more well-endowed by acting like big shots on the internet.
 
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