If you want to know a civilization, just watch their culture. There is a reason why culture is always researched; it allows people to understand the dreams and ambitions of the people of said civilization. Since this popular culture is one of the few that is exported in massive amounts (Around 120 million dollars in 2006, hat tip: Wikipedia) it is necessary to wonder about the message that it brings. This one in particular is disturbing because of a common factor, no matter what the piece is:
Men must submit to women
There are so-called herbs in Japan, and this message that is disseminated from childhood isn’t helping much. The skeptic or the fanbois will say “You are full of BS, where does it say that?”
Damn, how do I start?
First, this stuff is read mostly by nerds in Western countries for a reason. If you want to see totally batshit insane stories that have less sense than American comics (and that’s something), then by all means go ahead. If, on the other hand, you want something that teaches manhood and how not to be a loser, then look somewhere else, because you won’t find it there.
Disclaimer: All these opinions are sponsored by internet translators and online readers, because both are scared of lawyers, not because paying for this stuff is retarded. Say hi to them.
I could say that all this stuff promotes the idea that women can physically attack and otherwise harass men and leave it at that, but let’s be more specific: the poison that is fed through all kinds of magazines has many varieties.
- Shounen (Young boys):
In this falls the typical boys series, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto (barely) and One Piece for example. It promotes the value of friendship, loyalty and courage by having children and adults fight a lot versus all kinds of villains. So far so good. What irks me is the fact that no matter how strong and powerful the male protagonist, he is always getting manhandled by the designated female tamer, I mean, “romantic prospect.”
Come on, these guys fight and beat all kinds of WTF villains and save the female tamer of said villains, but still she punches them through a wall? Am I the only one that doesn’t see the logic in it? (yeah, I ask for logic in a work of fiction).
- Ecchi (Pervert):
This one is for boys when they get to the teen years and realize that: a)They won’t save the world, b)Girls make their dicks hard, and c)They are losers, but don’t know why (mainly because they let women walk all over them). These are basically stories about a guy (who looks AND acts suspiciously like the author) who, for some reason, either lives and/or studies with a lot of girls that are attracted to him because of his kindness, but they are just shy and express it by beating the shit out of the guy or having catfights for him. Also known as Harem (heh).
It shouldn’t be a surprise to regular readers of this site, but, for starters, Nice Guys ™ repulse women. The male protagonist does good stuff out of the kindness of his heart, but the real Nice Guys ™ just do it because they are begging for vag. And women know it, and are repulsed by their lack of testicular fortitude.
Second, quoting Roissy “The paradox of femininity is that it is often, both the ultrafeminine and ultramasculine women who have racked up big numbers of men.” Perhaps in Japan their families have tighter control over them, but shyness isn’t something that you usually find in any woman who is the center of attention or who occupies an extreme position on the gender balance.
- Shoujo (Girls and Women):
These are written by women, and are love stories between an ordinary girl (that, once again, looks a lot like the author) and the most dominant alpha male, with whatever bullshit story that they cram in the middle.
Haven’t seen one that cannot be reduced to this:
*Girl goes around.
*She finds alpha male.
*He treats her like any other of his conquests, but he tries to go too fast with her (true alphas don’t do that).
*She walks away or is saved by an unimportant character and goes complaining that “he is such a jerk”. Well, chicks dig jerks, so it’s pure rationalization.
*She finds herself in a tough situation (kidnapped, bullied, attacked, etc).
*Alpha male goes to the rescue (don’t know why).
*She’s about to give herself over him, but then she starts to feel like a slut and she screams at him or hit him while he just takes her shit (again, no true alpha does that).
Same stuff over and over (with different junk crammed in the middle) until finally she gives herself to him before making him take her shit. So it is basically an overextended Twilight, just with more rationalization.
- Hentai (Porn):
Here’s a couple of links (NSFW, obviously. Courtesy of Google) in which you can see a lot of them. Go and then get back.
Ok, back? What we remember (besides the hard-on):
*Disproportionally huge genitals and tits, lots of body fluids and porn actress screams. I know that it needs to look interesting, but these just scream that whoever produced these comics has little experience with sex.
*Most of it concerns a regular boy (or boys) finally growing a pair and screwing a hot girl (or girls). Basically the classical “No, no, no, yes, Yes, YES!!!” false rape that is a typical women’s fantasy.
Like all porn, let’s remember that both men and women watch it.
Ok, those cover the usual ones. Now the really messed up stuff.
- Shounen-ai / Shoujo-ai (Gay comics)
First, reading something about guys with other guys is icky. Need to say it.
Second, both are written by women. Both have divorced parents and/or and strict upbringing (in the ones for teens and adults) and prostitution, alcohol and drugs (in the ones for adults) way too many times to be a coincidence. The kind of women who write this stuff would be in a LGBT PRIDE parade in a Western country, so there’s a correlation in there. Put that with the usual shoujo story with both protagonists of the same gender and bam, there you got it.
- Seinen (Male Mature)
These ones, represented by Neon Genesis Evangelion, are usually fucked up stories with a lot of existentialism questions covering a lot of emo. Also, if I wanted to see a bunch of teens and adults with deep psychological traumas with no capacity whatsoever of trusting another human being, I would go to the closest rape therapy group.
- Josei (Female Mature):
Drawn versions of drama series, with the same usual quality of drama series. Nothing to see here (but couldn’t put it anywhere else).
Well, the guys in this stuff are as fancy as the typical Japanese herbivore, so they copy that motif. Unfortunately, just like women who believe that a career makes them attractive to males because they are attracted to males with a career, males believe that the appearance is what attracts women to the protagonist when it was their social dominance. Appearance is secondary.
However, what kind of social dominance can have guys that are brainwashed since children to believe that women like chumps? The lack of preparation for a free sexual market is often cited as a cause for low birth rates in Japan, but I would bet that this set of expectations held by both men and women has something to do with it.
{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
When I was a small boy it was perfectly ordinary to walk around and see WWII damage that still had not been cleaned up, 20-25 years after the war ended.
We used to buy “war comics” also sometimes known as “penny dreadfuls” though in fact they usually cost 3d (thruppence in old money)
Of course they were chock full of “Auchtung! Spitfire!”, “Die! Tommy pig dog!” and crap like that.
Of the era? Of course they were.
However, in talking about Japanese culture, I think you are missing a trick.
Yes, Anime / Manga / Hentai etc is “odd” from a western perspective, and please remember the stuff we get in the west is about as close as a Pizza Hut pizza to what you get in Turin, but, Japan is the only nation on the planet that has been nuked, twice, and in living memory at that.
Godzilla is a classic example of this “we got nuked” culture, Godzilla of course representing the USA Nuclear Power.
Japan had a basically feudal culture right up until WWII.
My point is this.
Hentai / Anime / Manga is therefore not so much Japanese, but rather a Japanese take on the imported culture of the west generally, and the imported culture of the USA in particular, just as Godzilla was a Japanese take on being nuked, twice.
From this perspective, Hentai / Anime / Manga is not so much a window on to Japanese culture, but a fairground mirror, reflecting USA culture.
Don’t forget geisha. This is not a feminists paradise.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
I stopped watching TV in 1969 so the programmes described are foreign to me. However the ideas are not. I know that in my youth I had a lot of extremely strong preconceptions branded into my thinking. One of these was that women are attracted to ‘goodness’. The idea was that a man needed to be a ‘good’ man and if he was good enough for long enough than a woman would reward him with her affection. I am not giving you a theory here but a summary of how I actually thought. I really had these ideas in my head and moulded my actions around them.
I am sure I absorbed this thinking from the culture and now regard it as one of the fault lines in my thinking which caused me absolute damage.
What GX1080 describes above will no doubt be putting in place a lot of thinking that will take many years for a man to remove from his brain.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Are you nuts?!
This is taking paranoia one step too far.
Like everything else nowadays, manga&anime has mixed messages. But it’s still far better then 99% of the crap made by hollywood.
You make the mistake so common today: you don’t trust people to have reasonable judgement. I can understand what I see on the screen, and I can select what is ok and what is bullshit, thank you.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
In fact, if you want to see something refreshing and actually quite male-chauvinistic, watch Death Note. In contrast to hollywood crap, it’s INTELLIGENT. You have to use your brains to understand what is going on. And because of that it’s really enjoyable.
9.1/10 on IMDB, I’d say that’s cool any day of the week.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0877057/
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
It’s just a commentary. GX1080 wasn’t telling us what to think.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I think you’re generally right. I read an article somewhere that said the vast majority of manga and anime was just filler meant to milk more cash out of hardcore fans. As long as they sell a small amount of each piece of trash, it justifies continuing to shovel it out.
The only anime I watch are the ones that are recommended to me from people I respect. “Paprika” and “Metropolis” are two anime that come to mind as worthy pieces of art.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I thought about it a lot lately: What is appropriate for youngsters these days? Can anyone recommend any movies, series or whatever for 10-15 year old boys and girls?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
For cryin’ out loud…
You say that women are shallow, then you scorn “existentialism questions” which in fact give depth to a story. It seems you enjoy films like the recent GI Joe movie, where you can turn your brains off and enjoy the visuals for 90 mins. Coming from this hollywood background it’s understandable that you find japanese stories with multiple layers and meanings tiresome.
Ghost in the Shell comes to mind; the original anime movie was full of action, had great artwork and still managed to make you think.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
“Don’t watch anime or manga” – what is this if not telling us what to think?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Well, I can sit here and read the article without taking it as an instruction. I don’t feel the need to follow the orders of people I don’t know online. Apparently this is a problem for you.
“Do / don’t do X” is not necessarily instruction. It could also be advice. A suggestion. A warning. etc.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
What one Westerner after another fails to realize is that both anime and manga have limitless variety. They go way beyond the genres listed in this post. Denouncing anime/manga as part of some MRA gimmick is something I haven’t seen before, though.
“I could say that all this stuff promotes the idea that women can physically attack and otherwise harass men…”
As if American entertainment is any different.
Usually people who rail against anime have only seen/heard of stuff like DBZ, Pokemon, Naruto and Evangelion. In other words they have no clue what they’re talking about. It’s like judging all of live action cinema based on Transformers. On the other hand even anime fans seem oblivious to everything except popular television shows. The last anime film I saw was the nightmarish Angel’s Egg (the nightmarish quality is best exemplified by this segment where a ghostly army of fishermen chase after shadows of fish in a dead city). The entire film is a Christian metaphor, though nobody knows what kind.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The author has never watched nor read manga. I suppose he thinks Harry potter, toy story, and most hollywood dreck is stimulating high culture that men should watch?
Most of american culture caters to the lowest common denominator, hint: it’s not nerds, and reflects poorly on the intelligence of american men as a whole.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I can find books, magazines and web pages just like the comics you describe. Should I not read books, magazines and web pages? You have ignored many fine and manly comics from Japan in your effort to tear down a small number of comics from Japan. This article isn’t raaaaaaacist, just weak. Your confidence doesn’t cover your ignorance. Spearhead too important for sloppy work.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Deansdale,
I’m going to guess either you’re a rabid fan, a clueless troll, or half-and-half.
Neon Genesis Evangelion was a decent anime, I’ll concede… Up to the point where it took a left-turn to nowhere and promptly went batshit insane. I think this is the commentary on “existentialist questions” GX1080 really takes issue with – and I do, too. Especially when it’s so VERY FAR OUT THERE. I mean, we needed to suspend disbelief for giant robots, nuclear wars, use of nuclear weapons on their home turf, “alternate” forms of humans that are almost impervious to damage, that these robots are not robots, but are in fact cloned forms of the alternate humans inside a sort of armor suit, but they must be plugged in and given a normal human brain…? AND the protagonist’s mother’s soul is trapped in the preliminary version of these pseudo-robot-human-alternately-evolved-but-created-by-man things? And the ultimate goal is to remove the human soul from the constraints of the body, to induce the “Rapture” so that everyone understands everyone else, and it’s a conspiracy dating from the time of Christ? (The old guy with the silver glasses? He’s the wandering Jew, cursed by Christ for his refusal to let Christ rest while carrying the cross.)
OK, I can suspend some disbelief, per your example of GIJoe, and yes, most of the GIJoe story was a pretty waste. But this just beggars the imagination.
And the religious aspects show up, too, as VERY strange, twisted story elements. Rei is “Lillith”, rejected by Shinji, who is also “Adam”, in favor of Asuka (That’s a GERMAN name?), who represents the Third Woman, “Eve”. Shinji, who has spent the ENTIRE SERIES feeling sorry for himself, avoiding conflict, running away, and pissing his panties, suddenly grows a pair so big he can bend the universe to his will?
Not to mention how “deep” the series goes, taking 10 minutes at a time to show black screens with 1/2 second long falshes of kanji we can’t read, which would have to tell us the character’s thoughts, ideas, etc.
Basically, it was an overdone emo piece on how a man can be born from an Omega, IF he gets abused enough by the women in his life.
BTW, if you haven’t seen End of Evangelion and Rebirth, you may not have seen some of these scenes. You missed precious little. In fact, the story went on for about 2-3 DVDs too many. Masochist that I can be, I still watched it all. Like a trainwreck, you know what’s happening, you know what you’ll see mostly, but you just can’t turn away. When all was said and done, Shinji was STILL a pussy, Rei dissolved (reference Lillith again), and Asuka has a mental breakdown and shows how much of a “Woman” she is by crying in Shinji’s arms – after she spent the entire series trying to beat him, show him up, etc. and he simply out-lasted her. He didn’t beat her once, yet he “Looked into the place [they] could not go.”
Yeah – mixed in somethign else there, kudos if you know the reference. But don’t try to tell me that staring into that abyss leads to anything more than slashing your own wrists. It’s mental masturbation, man. Let it go…
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
Oh, now you talk about “orders”. So it’s not so clearly a personal opinion now, is it?
There is a clear difference between “I don’t like anime” (personal opinion) and “don’t watch anime” (authorative voice).
ps. What’s up with the personal attack? Are you an autist or stg?
Go there and read the new comments.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
On the other hand, the Mobile Suit Gundam series has some great examples of male-female interaction, and realistically displayed. Mirai’s interest in the manly ace pilot Sleggar Law, versus the wealthy, connected but wimpish Attorney General she was engaged to is a good example. In fact, it wasn’t until Sleggar died in battle that Captain Bright Noa (no slouch in the leadership department, but without the caveman appeal of Sleggar) was able to snag her. In Zeta, Henken’s beta chasing of Emma and her dodging of it is another great example. Paptimus’ animal magnetism is quite convincingly depicted, as well as Katz’ virtual evisceration by Sarah (who even does the “you’re sweet” thing to him, as she’s under Paptimus’ spell).
There’s good and bad in anime- it’s all about where you look. A lot of the more recent stuff is dreck, admittedly.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Neither.
No offense taken.
To admit the truth I did not watch the whole NGE series, that is why I suggested watching Death Note or Ghost in the Shell. GITS especially deals with those “existentialist questions” quite well.
And yes, NGE is “out there” but hey, it’s a fantasy not a documentary.
This whole post by GX1080 looks like he is “too american” to “get”, let alone enjoy japanese culture. I’m not a fan of diversity in any PC liberal way, and I remember the “culture shock” I had when I first encountered japanese movies and cartoons, but eventually I got over it and grew to like it very much. In more ways then one they resemble american culture from 2-4 decades ago. They still have values and are not afraid to show them or talk about them. Take the aformentioned Naruto for example: the “heroes” sometimes beat villains to a bloody pulp (literally) but this is still represented as a good thing. In hollywood it’s getting ever rarer. (The bloody scenes are there, only disconnected from any “values”.) Japan is not feminized to the level the USA is, so I see more values in their art then in american art.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Deansdale is a know it all jerk, and a closet Geek whose self loathing is apparent to me know. I’m the Aspie looser, and yet I don’t hardly follow anime to the extent you do? I get it, you where a dork, had dorky friends, but then figured out how to dress right and use asshole game, and got a cute girlfriend or two, (you probably are a bit handsome; good looking people have it so easy, and just don’t get what its like to have to rely more on your mind for self actualization) so you turned your back on your own kind, and now dismiss them for not evolving their personality as easily as you did. Bravo you hypocritical deuche monger. Take your pretentous superiority complex somewhere else.
” You make the mistake so common today: you don’t trust people to have reasonable judgement. ”
And yet I can’t make judgements about my own personal characteristics, or heaven forbid, talk about them. The ego defense mechanisms are strong in this one.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Popular entertainment of any culture must not be taken seriously. It is specifically designed to cathartically relieve people of the stress of dealing with real culture through fantasy. Not harmful in small, occasional doses but very bad for you on a daily basis.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The Japanese thus have as hearty a yen for their own generations of subjugation, as they once did for their traditional ‘Rape of Nanking Eras’ of domination.
It’s interesting to see a former warrior culture’s attitude of eating its own heart out when contrasted with a post WW II German boy’s view as he grew up in the reconstruction era.
Especially when drowned-out by the rah-rah-ing of anime fanbois waxing ecstatic on their favorite fantasies in a thread designed to criticize them.
No wonder America is doomed.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Not just anime.
The list of programs that kids watch now are all mind rotting stuff. Indeed, pretty much everything on TV is mind rotting stuff. I have not watch western TV for a couple of years now being mostly in non-english speaking countries since 2002. When I do turn on a TV in the west it is crap. I only watch old cable shows of what I like.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Deansdale,
Null,
THANK YOU.
While GX may have made a some good points, there is SO MUCH MORE anime and manga out there. Code Geass, Death Note (like you said), Cowboy Bebop, Mobile Suit Gundam, Big O, Akira, Ghost in the Shell (movie and series), Vampire Hunter D, etc. Lol, can’t you tell I watch Adult Swim
.
But yeah, NGE (especially End of Evangelion and Rebirth) was a mind f*ck. And I wanted to punch Asuka in the face.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
You took it as an order, not me.
It’s a little hypocritical to accuse someone of a personal attack when calling them ‘an autist or stg’ in the next sentence (stg?)
It was more like a correction than a personal attack. I pointed to the absurdity of you believing that your choices must be dictated by online articles. To me this suggests hypersensitivity. Your reaction to my comment – taking a correction as a personal attack, and then lashing out yourself – has confirmed this.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hate to nitpick, but this is really bugging me. The title of this post ought to be “Don’t Watch Anime or Read Manga.”
Anime = Animation. You watch it.
Manga=Comic books. You read them.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
When I look at cinema from foreign cultures, it is obvious they look up to Hollywood. But I realized that the flicks I really enjoyed, always seems to be stuck on the oldschool era of the 60s, transposing the cowboy in a modern world. A perfect example would be “Cowboy Bebop”, a must watch. The lead in Platon (2008 – Russia) display a extremely dettached personna (towards women and life) , ala gentleman from the 60s.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
G’s post makes me think- maybe the core isn’t where the movie or book or comic comes from, it’s the experience of the creator and how their understanding of how the world works that counts.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
While I think dismissing any and all manga/anime out of hand is going a bit far, I do agree with the observations made in the post. Certainly the ‘strong girl gets to beat up helpless male’ and ‘average girl gets the killer alpha male’ themes are omni present.
The classics like Cowboy Bebop and GITS obviously don’t fall in the same category, but they sure as hell don’t represent the average or main stream anime these days. Nomore than ‘space: above and beyond’ represents your average sci fi series.
As for manga, I personally prefer some good, dark cyber punk stories like Blame! and Abara. Not for everyone though. If you’re looking for a positive attitude, hope and change, you’re not going to find it there.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
21Guns,
I wanted to point out the same thing but didn’t want to be accused of nitpicking. More power to ya
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
SRSLY. I wouldn’t disagree with this post as a general analysis from a western perspective PERTAINING TO THE WEST (i.e. were these Anime/Manga coming out of, say, Montana, then this this would be a valid analysis).
I wouldn’t necessarily say this about all Hentai/Anime/Manga, thought this is certainly a large motif in current Japanese culture.
Western observations on Japanese culture are, as I’ve come to see, only valid as a mock-analogy for western culture itself. Thus far, I’ve not seen anything that legitimately observes or critiques real Japanese culture.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thus far, I’ve not seen anything that legitimately observes or critiques real Japanese culture.
This is where you should make a post about real Japanese culture. GIVE US THE INSIDER KNOWLEDGE!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thanks for pointing that out. I wouldn’t have noticed, not really knowing what Manga is.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Blatant attempt to drive traffic through fanboi outrage is blatant.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Oh, come [i]on[/i]!
Have you actually [i]read[/i] a shonen manga? Lets have a look to what happens in some of them, shall we?
[u]Naruto[/u]
All the women are fucking useless, -the main female character doesn’t do anything in the first half, and only gets one fight scene at in the second half. And then she confesses her love to the titular character, in order to get him to stop obsessing with his rival. Naruto then promptly tells her to feck off stating that he doesn’t like people who “lie to themselves”.
And then there’s Shikamaru…
…a guy that actually defeats 3 women and a gay demigod in combat. And he does so by [i]outsmarting them and using strategy[/i]. Shikamaru is as big a break from feminism as you can get -a guy that actually fights women… and beats them by being smarter. It’s too bad he doesn’t get much airtime in the manga (thought he does get more exposition than the other secondary characters).
[u]One Piece[/u]
Of the two female leads, only one, Nami, does the “ritual beating of the male leads”, though she only does so when they do something stupid -which is admittedly a lot of the time. In a refreshing change of pace, she doesn’t freak out when somebody sees her naked -though she charges the crew money for sneaking a peak at her. She is a smart, funny and reliable character, though she prefers to let others fight for her. She actually scolds one of the leads for being chivalrous when fighting a female villain.
Nico Robin, on the other hand, is fairly polite and soft-spoken with the crew. I have watched 300 episodes of One Piece and not once have I seen her hitting any of the male leads. Plus, she can actually hold her own in combat.
They are both very well developed character with tragic pasts and plenty of (good) exposition. Though they are not what you may call “romantic interests”.
No, that honor goes to Boa Hancock, a man-hating queen (though you find out that she was abused by men heavily in the past), that actually falls in love with the lead Luffy -him being the only male on the planet that is actually immune to her charms. And she actually saves his butt a couple of times.
[u]Death Note[/u]
The female lead is a moron that tries to bed the male lead -plain and simple.
[u]Ranma[/u]
The male lead actually gets over his chivalry and beats the female lead.
So… Not all shounen are feminist-friendly.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
” Acksiom December 22, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Blatant attempt to drive traffic through fanboi outrage is blatant.”
(SHHHHH! Jesus man. Be cool, be cool. If it worked once before, it should work again. We might get three or four of these stunts to work if we can just keep our mouth shut about the real agenda. What’s next Welmer, “Blogging Should be Left to the Men: Women, Stop Playing with our Technology!!”)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Yes, Anime / Manga / Hentai etc is “odd” from a western perspective, and please remember the stuff we get in the west is about as close as a Pizza Hut pizza to what you get in Turin, but, Japan is the only nation on the planet that has been nuked, twice, and in living memory at that.
Godzilla is a classic example of this “we got nuked” culture, Godzilla of course representing the USA Nuclear Power.
boom boom out went the lights, and a formerly masculine culture suddenly became, well, whatever ms. america said it would become
the post-war period has been dominated by ‘intelligence culture” and consolidation of matriarchy, both of which involve the careful and constant manipulation of mass consciousness
Fat Man and Little Boy cleared and reset japanese consciousness, leaving the nation w/o options — bushido or any masculine code — other than to tag along with american corporatism and matriarchy
manga? pokemon? you cant be serious
fractured “art” for a fractured nation, irradiated mutants roaming the planet in endless, undefined warfare
when the Bomb went off, we were told it was to “make the world safe for democracy”
but in reality, it made the world safe for gynocracy
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Damn, Ray. You just thoroughly and genuinelly impressed the hell out of me. I guess we’ll be frenemies then, since Lurker didn’t want to play along anyways. I call shotgun in the dude-mobile! And you can borrow my “Girls are Yucky! Throw Tampons at them!” jacket just this once, as I look way more cooler in it than you.
xoxo
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
In anime, the women actually act like women, versus Western comics, where they act…exactly like the men. Score one for anime.
Children also act like children, not simple message-avatars.
And for the best anime rumination on the uselessness of women in combat, read Berserk.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Akira and Cowboy Bebop (two of the most highly rated and well known animes) are supposedly set to be remade into live action films by HOLLYWOOD! Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel…
Hows that for reflection of values!
I used to watch anime a lot and while teen series like Bleach, Naturo and One Piece kept me busy during my boring teenage summers when not working it was the serious adult ones that I was drawn to. I won’t even go into NGE – the whole series was absolute torture that took a year to get out of my system though I DID sympathise with Shinji because given the circumstances it does show him as a human being rather than a mere male, pussy or not.
One series I remember being impressed by was Elfen Lied. Some psychotic, misanthropic ‘queen bee’ teenage female mutant escapes from a research facility and slays 20+ machine gun armed guards with invisible telekinetic arms and eventually develops schizophrenia and becomes docile and harmless depending on the circumstances. Her past is interwoven with this complete utter omega who is constantly abused by his violent female cousin who secretly fancies him. What really got me about the series was that is was VERY anti-male. Almost ALL the male characters are depicted as evil, rapists, dog beaters, pedos – you name it while all the female characters are hapless victims of male violence and cruelty. Theres a review of it here: http://www.mensmovieguide.com/ElfenLied.htm
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hellsing Ultimate series is my guilty pleasure and as far as vampire series go, none of the Hollywood BS comes close. If Alucard would finally put an end to Edward Cullen in Twilight and all its gayness…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This sounds like it came from the Feminist blogosphere. They have some nasty, poorly thought through notions against “Nice Guys ™”. It’s their way of trying to discredit reformed nice guys (no TM) who painfully discovered that women treat nice guys like crp, and say so. To Feminists, the reformed nice guy’s crie de coeur is intolerable. They must discredit it by any means possible. So they invent a sarcastic label and they say that “Nice Guys ™” are not really nice guys but really have an inflated sense of entitlement.
I see that view echoed in this post. But take a step back and think. Why would such a man – supposedly an a-hole pretending to be a nice guy – bother? If he is a genuine a-hole, he must have discovered that being an a-hole gets him more pussy than doing good stuff.
As most men know, nice guys were usually so named by women. Usually the woman’s line begins “You’re a nice guy but …” So the idea that “Nice Guys ™” are not really nice guys looks pretty strange. Feminists don’t listen to men, so they don’t know that.
The entitlement accusation is even crazier. Who really has the most sense of personal entitlement: Women, the “dark triangle” guys that women sleep with, or nice guys (former or otherwise)? To ask the question is to answer it. But you know the drill: No evidence will convince Feminists otherwise, but any shred of apparent supporting evidence will convince them forever that they are right.
So when Feminists attach this sarcastic little “TM” after “nice guy”, let’s not be fooled. It’s just another cheap, shameless Feminist accusation.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I feel a lack of understanding. I didn’t said that women were useful in combat in anime, I said that they still tame (read: are bitchy, bossy and demanding) and hit the male character and he just sits there and takes it.
And I just can’t support anything that says “Just be a loser and women will like you”, which the harem animes do.
@Acksiom
Too bad it works.
Alucard versus some singing, dancing female nazi vampire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90nPfR_AFpQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSUbgyGc9qA&feature=related
The feminists would have coronaries!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Leave the “TM” BS to the Feminists,
Thankyou. I agree.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
C’mon, ladies-wouldn’t you really rather fuck a squid?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Just in case any women here think that women as single mothers are not complete crap and have no idea how to raise boys…read this….a mother calling the cops because she can’t make her son GO TO BED.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hchXHIPt42YOS30lsnzwo9FkVlrAD9CO49304
Women are completely useless as mothers of boys….and girls…
When my daughter would not go to bed, even as a 16 year old, she was fined, grounded, spanked, and then carried up to her bedroom and put to bed. Oh yeah, that was in 45 minutes…she was IN BED inside 45 minutes of ‘bed time’ and she was grounded for 2 weekends, out 2 months pocket money, and spanked. BY HER FATHER.
Yes, women are crap as fathers. They simply can not instill discipline and simply can not get their children to obey them as they are children themselves. Well done ‘mothers’. Calling the cops to get your boys to go to bed because you are so useless as a parent.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
LOL, there is one good reason you shouldn’t watch anime or hentai – because much of it is illegal in most countries outside of America (and I believe it’s a grey area there). In fact a law is going through the Japanese parliament right now that will criminilize a great deal of it even there.
For example, I clicked on the ‘hentai school’ link and now (as an EU citizen) I unfortunately have traces of ‘virtual child pornography’ on the harddrive of my recently purchased $900 laptop.
As a general rule, any cultural phenomenon that is criminilized according to feminist laws is at least likely not guilty of sending out a purely feminist message.
Yes, the doey eyed, large breasted female characters in Anime do tend to commit ‘comic book’ violence against the guys, but usually only when they have caught them peeking up their school uniforms etc.
From my ‘research’ of the anime genre, performed almost entirely in the Virgin Megastore in Paris, I would suggest that it does represent a confused and slightly masochistic playing out of (and escape from) male Japanese resentment at American imported feminism. It’s a world in which the unavoidable reality of girl power is recognised (represented by the comic book violence) and yet in which females still possess impossible cuteness and sex appeal.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I haven’t seen an Anime for like 6 years, but I’d think it’s just too broad a genre to condemn as a whole.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I think I’m quite capable of watching this stuff and not turning into a lickspittle beta. I think this is indeed a bit of paranoia. I have yet to see a single kid turned into a mangina because of these cartoons. Not to mention that there are plenty of them that don’t fit your description (ie Death Note).
I sort of understand where you’re coming from, but do try and look at these things from a different perspective as well: mindless entertainment with no real message. Also, no one looks at anime for guidance into manhood.
As a completely unrelated side note: have you noticed how everyone starts an opinion with “i feel so and so” instead of “i think so and so” ? WTF is that all about?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
“. Also, no one looks at anime for guidance into manhood.”
Actually some ANIME should be looked at for guidance into manhood, especially in related to warrior ethic/stoicism, in fact many good bits of wisdom are in quotes of popular animes (specifically bleach, naruto and others), the last couple episodes of Bleach are all about how hot headed masculinity can get one in trouble without a cool head. Lets not forget a good number of parents are absentee parents both men and women, I’d rather have a kid take the good messages from anime then 99% of whatever he will be exposed to in his life.
Since even mainstream anime still has deeper themes (even if only for a moment) then 99% of anything you will ever see come out of western movie theater’s.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
And I’m in love with Jessica Valenti too, You forgot that. Oh well, what the hell, make that I’m Jessica Valenti :]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Jessica Valenti insults autists? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised. We already know she’s a bigot.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The most masculine anime I know of is Gurren Lagann it’s pretty much the polar opposite of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Actually, I forgot one anime I saw that painted a VERY different picture from the standard “boy as loser”. I believe it was called “Mouse”, and the gimmicks were:
- Mouse is a professional theif
- It’s the “family business”
- The current Mouse is about 12-15, I forget exactly.
- He has three (overly buxom) assistants
- His assitants are also his school teachers
He is a complete pussy during the school day – insecure, unaware, loser-ish. Beta to the core.
After school hours, when he’s “on the clock” – He is THE ALPHA and everyone and everything can be bent to his will. Complete personality change, think Clark Kent vs. Superman. (I was thinking Batman at first, but Superman’s persona change is far closer, and especially the black-and-white Clark Kent compared to the most-recent Superman incarnation, who, despite the obvious issues with his character, was far mroe assertive and aggressive than the old TV series Superman from the 50s or so.)
I’m guessing the story starts just when Mouse is to start his career, because although the women pick on him mercilessly during school, they all have an introspective moment when he shows up dressed for work that evening. Suddenly they all have a crush on him, they can’t believe it’s the same person, etc. I don’t know where it went, I rented it and never felt it worth buying; but maybe it’s online somewhere, and some masochist/hard-core fan (Funny how those go together) can do a review, or point us to an episode guide at least?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Anime is my favorite motion picture medium. I grew up with it starting in 88 with the BGC and similar. Probably influenced me more than american tv by many orders of magnitude.
The more I read these “Men’s Rights” group sites, the more I think you guys need to just get laid more and complain less. Now we have paranoia over anime? Jesus.
Wanting to be an anime-like badass is partly why I joined the Marine Corps at 17, got into sport fighting, etc. Anime is also why I got into motorcycles and car racing(bgc, akira clown scene, initial d, etc).
Anime did more to steer me into a masculine direction than anything else I know besides my father and step-grandfather.
It even helps me judge women, because I basically compare them to the anime heroines I would rather be with than the disgusting women I sometimes encounter. Same way we hold up iconic women from lit, I’ve done it with anime characters.
THe best sci fi ever made is either written or in anime. Hollywood sci fi is crap except for very few instances.
MRA = loser is getting truer by the second.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Sheez, haven’t watched anime since ‘Akira’ and at the time it was a new form of animation, state of the art like, never seen before. Back then I doubt my pussy self would have read anything more into it.
“*He treats her like any other of his conquests, but he tries to go too fast with her (true alphas don’t do that).”
True alphas don’t do that? I thought alpha characteristics were just that, they know how to ‘win’ and establish some form of relationship quick.
Agreeing totally with “Leave the TM BS…” . ‘Nice guy’ is labeling done by somebody else for their own advantage, ‘therapeutic criticism’ I call it (make yourself feel better, or cover up your inabilities by criticizing someone else). Truth is, a lot of people don’t know how to deal with genuine nice folk. Some can be awkard though and hence the stereotype.
Being simply polite, kind and respectful gets interpreted as weakness. I regarded myself as a ‘modern-day gentleman’. Still got trampled on. Had a couple of women call me that (gentleman) but you know what? They were shit-scared of me because they knew I had manners and respect which meant – > standards.
With that ‘alpha’s don’t move so fast’ stuff, I tried nice guy (kind of tentative) and was subjected to WWIII woman-style. Just tried to show ‘respect’ as I was serious. It came to be however that she didn’t want a relationship.
Well, a guy doesn’t approach a woman to be friend-zoned forever and somehow unwittingly I managed to avoid this, but as said, I experienced a nasty piece of work. I didn’t give her what she wanted, which turned her into a flame-thrower. It’s a more complex story but that was definitely one part.
Women I now like to connect with are ones you can have a laugh with or be cheeky to and just roll out the banter. This does not mean I can’t engage in serious conversation if needed.
But this brings about a question.
Which woman (or has a woman) really ever, ever, made you really, really laugh? I mean really laugh your socks off, make your stomach feel like you just did a 1000 sit-ups.
Women are always ‘he’s got to have a good sense of humour’ but rarely do you get something back. All take, take, take.
It’s been a long time sisters, get funny.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I reiterate my comment.
A post on how that weird Jap stuff rots your brain. Amazing
Said post filled mainly by fanboi replies
defending said weird jap shit
Priceless.
American men really are extinct.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
GOLBALMAN:
When my daughter would not go to bed, even as a 16 year old, she was fined, grounded, spanked, and then carried up to her bedroom and put to bed. Oh yeah, that was in 45 minutes…she was IN BED inside 45 minutes of ‘bed time’ and she was grounded for 2 weekends, out 2 months pocket money, and spanked. BY HER FATHER.
I know everyone ignores you but let me give you some attention.
I am glad your wife got your children away from you. I would not want my children, my parents, or my wife within 10 meters of you. You make the MRA movement look horrific and this site as most sites that you have posted should ban you as the person most in need of mental health work at the moment.
Good luck to you… please discuss your beliefs with your local health care practitioner.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Death Note lovers will enjoy Code Geass. GITS is a sci-fi classic. I’d say that the best of Japanese media often surpasses the depths of complexity you might desire in Western media. However, when it’s bad, it’s also really bad.
Overt/obsessive interest in Japanese media seems to be correlated with less interest in ideas of traditional masculinity. Roughly on the same level as being overtly obsessed with videogames, but slightly worse. However… cause and effect?
The key to avoiding rot, I believe, is to constantly change what you’re exposing yourself to: culture, media, fiction, non-fiction, opposing viewpoints. You’ll find pro-female empowerment messages in almost any form of entertainment in any culture; it’s a byproduct of the creative field and the types who gravitate towards it.
Kave: Out of everything there is to disagree with he might say, this is what makes you speak up? The man’s speaking sense in this instance. A spanking is by no means abuse in and of itself, nor depriving a kid of money they haven’t earned. Don’t be indiscriminately allergic to corporal punishment; as long as they’re in your house, it’s your rules. The key to it is to use force as a gesture with no intention to cause real pain or damage, an escalation after fair warnings. Then reassure by explaining exactly where their trespasses lie — best if they volunteer it themselves — and reasserting that you do care about them.
You know you’re doing it right when they gravitate towards you for affection and respect for you, but if in a hysterical, stubborn and unreasonable state that humans and particularly children sometimes enter, they can be quelled with a dark look. That is, you don’t have to do assert your authority very often; just create an air of threat.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I spotted this on a torrent site and it makes me sick:
“This episode is due to show at Christmas this year on the BBC. By chance I spotted this was on Comedy Central Extra UK and capped it for all you lovely people Enjoy it. Because it’s the last episode ever of this brilliant sitcom as the BBC axed it earlier in the year.
SITCOM: Not Going Out
Date: Friday 24th July 2009
Absent Father Christmas. Series 3, episode 8.
Lee’s father turns up at the flat unannounced. This is the man who walked out of the family home when Lee was four, never paid his maintenance and ate Lee’s goldfish. Lee wants him out of the flat but Lucy tells him that the only way forward is to forgive and forget. Unfortunately, Lee’s dad’s behaviour makes this virtually impossible for Lee to achieve.”
F*ck the BBC.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
A spanking is by no means abuse in and of itself.
If a women was on here bragging about spanking her 16 year old son I’d want to string her up, no difference here. Besides the obvious disgusting nature of taking an almost adult child over your knee the is no reason whatsoever for a 16 year old to be spanked.
I’m the proud father of four adult children. If my kids as teens stayed up late they would be tired in the morning, thus learning the natural consequence of their actions., thus learning to become rational and mature adults.
Many things this “man” (I’m assuming he’s a fembot showing just how crazy MRA’s are) says are disturbing, I tend to ignore his ramblings. No one though should ignore child abuse, spanking a teen IS child abuse.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
“If a women was on here bragging about spanking her 16 year old son I’d want to string her up, no difference here. Besides the obvious disgusting nature of taking an almost adult child over your knee the is no reason whatsoever for a 16 year old to be spanked. ”
You make a good point Kave.
“. No one though should ignore child abuse, spanking a teen IS child abuse.”
Totally agree Kave.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
There seems to be a sort paradox regarding this article. If consuming these kinds of Japanese media products really rots your brain, how can we trust an author who knows this much about them? (Har har.)
Japanese culture can still seem pretty weird to a westener (like, mind expanding), and it’s one way to separate from the masses and build an identity around. See: youth subcultures.
Personally I have enjoyed the few movies I’ve seen by Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, but if I ever need to alter my brain further in the future, I now know where to turn to.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
First, when I said “Alphas don’t move taht fast” I meant that these guys just went straight to inapropiate touching without building atmosphere. That¡s a sign of over-playing and true alphas don’t do that.
Second, maybe I missed something in the off-topic but spanking your own children is bad because??
GLOBALMAN said:
When my daughter would not go to bed, even as a 16 year old, she was fined, grounded, spanked, and then carried up to her bedroom and put to bed. Oh yeah, that was in 45 minutes…she was IN BED inside 45 minutes of ‘bed time’ and she was grounded for 2 weekends, out 2 months pocket money, and spanked. BY HER FATHER.
No problem posting this comment again, it should speak for itself. This is his idea of being a good parent. I get images of the movie Deliverance reading this.
It took him 45 minutes to ground, fine, spank his 16 year old daughter and then carry her to her bedroom because she didn’t go to bed when he told her to. How long did the spanking take? Grounding and fine might take me 5 minutes if I’m long-winded.
I have no idea why I would have to carry my child to their bedroom once they are past 6 or so. Is his daughter mentally challenged that she’s acting on a 6 year old level when she’s 16? If so then I’d bypass the spanking anyways simply because of the sexual connotations.
I believe GLOBALMAN is really a feminist troll (or at least I would like to) because his comments were to show how inept mothers were in raising children, yet his example of parenting as a “male” was at least as bad if not worse then the example of a women who is inept as a parent. If I was to use his reasoning then every man would be inept as a parent due to his illogical behavior. Luckily for my children I am not GLOBALMAN.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I would be far, far more concerned with the brain-rotting effects of American network television on American boys than with the effects of anime or manga.
Sitcoms show that the father is always a moron and the mother is always a saint. That is straight, 100% femmie brainwashing.
Fake cop-and-lawyer-and-forensic-scientist shows usually have clever women use “science” to catch murderers, who are 90% near-genius-level-IQ evil white men. Watch the news and the real-life perps are usually stupid, poor, and disproportionately minorities. Can you detect a political agenda there?
I’d be relieved if a teenage boy preferred to watch anime instead of this crap.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
And that marks everything. Maybe is child abuse from where you come, but is better spanking a child and be done than screaming at him and fuck with his head.
Another thing, I see a lot of throwing Cowboy Bebop and Akira, but those are series of the 80s-early 90s. It sounds a lot like wimmin throwing names like Marie Curie and Elizabeth Tatcher so they can say “Not all women are like that”.
So basically, what you are saying is:
Modern ones, yes they are. Can’t believe than an agressive, bossy and demanding woman punches a guy and then gets to play Damisel in Distress. That breeds White Knights, you know.
Schopenbecq: “LOL, there is one good reason you shouldn’t watch anime or hentai – because much of it is illegal in most countries outside of America (and I believe it’s a grey area there).”
Hentai, AKA porn, is only a genre of anime, and some of it may be illegal in countries outside Japan. But that has nothing to do with anime in general.
“From my ‘research’ of the anime genre, performed almost entirely in the Virgin Megastore in Paris, I would suggest that it does represent a confused and slightly masochistic playing out of (and escape from) male Japanese resentment at American imported feminism. It’s a world in which the unavoidable reality of girl power is recognised (represented by the comic book violence) and yet in which females still possess impossible cuteness and sex appeal.”
Maybe you shouldn’t be playing cultural anthropology when you apparently haven’t watched anime and don’t even know that it isn’t a genre (is live action a genre too? Of course not).
GX1080: “Another thing, I see a lot of throwing Cowboy Bebop and Akira, but those are series of the 80s-early 90s. It sounds a lot like wimmin throwing names like Marie Curie and Elizabeth Tatcher so they can say “Not all women are like that”. So basically, what you are saying is: “Not all anime are like that.” Modern ones, yes they are.”
Then let’s throw some names from this decade:
5 Centimeters per Second
Appleseed
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Genius Party
Genius Party Beyond
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Mezzo Forte
Paprika
Patlabor 3
Spirited Away
Tekkonkinkreet
Voices of a Distant Star
These are just some of the ones I’ve personally seen. An anime expert could easily cite even more films.
And a few more from the nineties (obviously many, many more could be mentioned):
Ghost in the Shell
Jin-Roh
Patlabor
Patlabor 2
Perfect Blue
Porco Rosso
I didn’t cover television shows at all because I know next to nothing about them. Stand Alone Complex is great, though.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This post got stuck in moderation purgatory (probably for good) because of excessive links, so this time there are no links.
—-
Schopenbecq: “LOL, there is one good reason you shouldn’t watch anime or hentai – because much of it is illegal in most countries outside of America (and I believe it’s a grey area there).”
Hentai, AKA porn, is only a genre of anime, and some of it may be illegal in countries outside Japan. But that has nothing to do with anime in general.
“From my ‘research’ of the anime genre, performed almost entirely in the Virgin Megastore in Paris, I would suggest that it does represent a confused and slightly masochistic playing out of (and escape from) male Japanese resentment at American imported feminism. It’s a world in which the unavoidable reality of girl power is recognised (represented by the comic book violence) and yet in which females still possess impossible cuteness and sex appeal.”
Maybe you shouldn’t be playing cultural anthropology when you apparently haven’t watched anime and don’t even know that it isn’t a genre (is live action a genre too? Of course not).
GX1080: “Another thing, I see a lot of throwing Cowboy Bebop and Akira, but those are series of the 80s-early 90s. It sounds a lot like wimmin throwing names like Marie Curie and Elizabeth Tatcher so they can say “Not all women are like that”. So basically, what you are saying is: “Not all anime are like that.” Modern ones, yes they are.”
Then let’s throw some names from this decade:
5 Centimeters per Second
Appleseed
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Genius Party
Genius Party Beyond
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Mezzo Forte
Paprika
Patlabor 3
Spirited Away
Tekkonkinkreet
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Voices of a Distant Star
These are just some of the ones I’ve personally seen. An anime expert could easily cite even more films.
And a few more from the nineties (obviously many, many more could be mentioned):
Ghost in the Shell
Jin-Roh
Patlabor
Patlabor 2
Perfect Blue
Porco Rosso
I didn’t cover television shows at all because I know next to nothing about them. Stand Alone Complex is great, though.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
There were alot of bullshit reasons here. I mean, genitals to big? If you could animate porn, would you make tem small?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
You sound like someone who’s only just perused a few anime and manga and only barely watched/read the ones you looked at. I agree with some of your points. It’s why I find the whole harem genre to be very tiresome. Although some of your points are valid for the relations b/w men and women in battle manga/anime (DBZ, Naruto) there are also very strong masculine ideas in there. A particular theme that stuck out in my mind as someone who grew up really into anime and manga is that you don’t win just because you have justice on your side. If you’re weaker than the bad guy, you will lose. Period. The only way to get stronger is through long, arduous training and preparation and even that might not be enough, but you HAVE to find a way to win because the buck stops with you. No one else is will be strong enough to stand against this evil.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the harem genre. Good lord. If they’re as popular as I’m thinking they are in Japan, no wonder they have a low birthrate. There are some manga/anime where a main character who’s really popular with the girls is popular because he’s very charismatic or cool (Cage of Eden, Shuya Nanahara in Battle Royale, Lupin III, Spike in Cowboy Bebop). They’re not Nice Guy (TM) losers at all, but the majority of harem manga? Can’t stand ‘em. It’s just the author masturbating with his pen. An unrealistic fantasy. Exactly how you described it. Still, devil’s advocate, you weren’t trying to find any good manga, were you? You hit the nail right on the head with shoujo and josei manga.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I think GX’s problem is that he’s been reading the wrong manga and watching the wrong anime. Try the following:
Berserk
Monster
20th Century Boys
Gantz
Blame!
Death Note
Hellsing
Basilisk
Samurai Champloo
Gungrave
Trigun
Cowboy Bebop
Code Geass
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Darker Than Black
Speed Grapher
GunXSword
If those aren’t manly enough for you, then I don’t know what is.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
{ 4 trackbacks }