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Some people seem to think that watching anime is weaboo-ish.

Is that a general perception, or is that perception incorrect?

Aki Tanaka
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kerafill
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    Why should you care? Be proud about what you're enthusiastic in! – Unihedron Sep 27 '15 at 14:42
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    Humans make fun of others for [a variety of reasons](http://eschooltoday.com/bullying/Why-do-people-bully.html) (eg: peer- or social pressure, traumas, inferiority complex, etc). Is making fun of others correct? No it isn't, but they might need this to cope with life. Does that mean you should lie about your preferences? Of course not. In the long run, you will be much better of being confident about what you do. As a wise man once said: "I don't care what the society says. I've regretted doing anything. I will survive and do what I want to." - Roronoa Zoro – Peter Raeves Sep 27 '15 at 16:22
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not primarily about anime in the context of questions relating directly to anime, but rather relating to social intereactions that may be influenced by consumption of anime, which is IMO out of scope. – Vogel612 Sep 27 '15 at 18:53
  • @Vogel612 We do accept some questions about fandom, e.g. convention questions, so IMO this would be in a grey area, except that it's very much opinion-based / discussion oriented. As such I've voted to close on that basis. – Torisuda Sep 27 '15 at 19:28
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    @Unihedron Personally, I don't really care. I watch a lot of anime and from where I'm from, nobody really gives a damn. But when travelling to other countries, especially the US, and living there for some time, this perception seems to come up. I'm probably just cautious so as not to attract unwanted annoying undesirable attention. – kerafill Sep 28 '15 at 00:40

1 Answers1

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I wrote about this in more detail on my blog - Weeab.eu, here's a summary version.

A weeaboo is generally an insulting term, a weeaboo is someone who love anime and annoys others with their enjoyment. Generally things like yelling as if you're powering up, screaming when you see your anime-fan friends, etc. You can probably understand why people don't appreciate that.

As insulting terms go, it's pretty standard in that those who usually use it, don't know much about the medium - Just like how you might be labelled as as a goth if you just like shirts with skulls on them, or as a nerd if you like Star Wars - subcultures have a lot more to them than meets the eye.

And if you want to be technical, it literally means nothing - The original term was supposedly coined from the comic from the Perry Fellowship, with no context:

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But you can own that term just as much as geeks and nerds can own their labels and make it a positive thing. Just like I've done by taking that blog name :P

Some people like labels, some don't - do whatever you prefer. If you enjoy something, don't let others tell you not to enjoy it! :)

To answer the question you actually asked: Sure they're related - but just as how football hooligans are related to football.

Toshinou Kyouko
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  • The impression I've gotten is that the term is used more for non-Japanese (or possibly non-East Asians, to some degree) who are sufficiently old and invested into non-"mainstream" titles. (e.g. I somehow doubt someone would describe a primary school student in East Asia obsessed with the Pretty Cure / etc. franchise as a weaboo.) – Maroon Sep 27 '15 at 18:16
  • It's definitely only a term in the English speaking world, usually when you refer to the Japanese you'll use 'otaku'. It's a fairly loose term, but I usually see it associated with people who haven't watched many non-mainstream titles. I see non-mainstream users refer to themselves as 'otaku' also – Toshinou Kyouko Sep 27 '15 at 21:21
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    Thanks for the thoughts guys. I guess I'm immune to this label as I'm primarily Asian. lol. I dislike labels, I don't use them on others, (maybe I do, but in a very subconscious and very discreet manner--I don't impress it on them), and I certainly don't want it used on me, too. Like I said above, I'm probably just cautious so as not to attract unwanted annoying undesirable attention when travelling to western countries that makes use of this label. – kerafill Sep 28 '15 at 00:45