Is it wrong for me to like this?
 

I am a straight, male, seventeen year old, and some of the anime I've been watching makes me wonder, "is it wrong for me to like this?" I'm not questioning my sexuality in anyway, and its probably just stereotypes and public stigma talking but some series that I've watched and enjoyed just made me feal a little weird. Shows like Ouran High School Host Club, Shuffle!, Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~, even Aishiteru ze Baby and Honey & Clover to an extent.

yes, yes it is wrong. Look in your pants. Make sure its still there.

There's nothing wrong with liking any kind of show regardless of it's genre or style. Anyone who says otherwise is just ignorant.

Enjoy what you watch.No need to start feeling guilty ... (eventhough i do regret watching Kannazuki No Miko with that chikane **** scenes ^^; )

Shuffle? You're in Shuffle's intended age and gender demographic.

10+ years ago a lot of people were into gory and violent "mature" anime for the novelty factor... Everything else was "kiddy" or "girly."

Me, I have my Azumanga Daioh volumes on my shelf next to my books about war :heh:

Why do you have to tell us you're "straight" If you have to state it in the first place obviously you believe your sexuality is somewhat questionable. It makes me very sad that there are several forum goers who feel the need to hide their sexual identity.

I think we should have a special "Coming out forum" This way, similar threads to this can be placed there. Such a forum will lead to a more varied and exciting animesuki.

Not at all. Don't get caught up in target demographics. All of those shows are highly regarded. Well, with shuffle, it depends on who you ask... Anyway, those are quality shows, so the only people who would fault you for likeing them probably haven't seen them.;)

@ mit7059: The only thing "wrong" for you to like is anything that is illegal in your jurisdiction. Otherwise I have no idea what you're worried about because guys who can't appreciate romance, character development, entertainment that doesn't involve explosions, or shows with "heroes" strutting and shouting like assholes ... aren't mature anyway.

Every show you listed is good or excellent entertainment for people of either sex or whatever orientation. I don't even understand what "public stigma" there is to watching those shows unless you're surrounded by infantile jerks who are massively confused about what being an adult is.

I'm a father of two teenage sons and I'd be worried about them if they *didn't* appreciate these sorts of stories. If I had daughters, I'd rather they date guys who appreciate these sorts of stories .... who the hell wants their daughter to date someone who thinks "The Man Show" is the high end of entertainment?

Why exactly are you feeling weird about watching them? You haven shed much light onto that yet; making it hard to reply specifically to the problem. Social stigma against what?

Could it be because of the social stigma against adults watching cartoons?

Wha-!?? You're letting other people seriously affect your choice of interests? Of course, if they give you convincing reason to think that it was wrong and if you yourself made the decision that it was wrong based on their solid and correct reasoning, then I cant say anything. But feeling it is wrong to like something because not many others do it is just wrong imo. And if they are giving you trouble about it, hey watching anime is a private thing - what with headphones and doors and all.

Of course as Vexx says, laws apply. The only thing legally wrong with watching Anime is that you're (read: I'm) not paying for the Anime you watch.

The belief that cartoons are for kids is totally baseless, especially for anime. I find most anime(not including shonen and shoujo) actually have more mature themes or meaningful stories than life action dramas and such.

Also film and literature are not bounded by sex, you can read and watch anything you like. Even if you're a man you can read '101 Ways to Get a Boyfriend', just for the fun of it.

Sadly, I think many of us are... I often get the "What, you watch cartoons?!" response if I happen to mention anime to someone. And of the two people I know who also watch it, one of them told me that he's "not gay" when I asked him if he liked the series I'd recommended (Ouran High School Host Club). With the non-anime watchers it would be impossible to get to that point, but I have no doubt that most of the responses (from the males) would be the same. And these are the people I willingly hang out with... so there are a lot of people who are a lot worse. Although to be honest I'd be suprised to earn more than a confused grunt if I tried to talk about more complex series to the average resdent of my town. :|

(My other anime watching friend, however... he now loves Ouran, is looking forward to watching Air when he has the time, and is going to take my advice and try out Nana. And he started out watching only Naruto and Bleach. A success! ^^; )

With regards to the sexual orientation thing... I genuinely don't understand that. Unless the average person is even more boorish and closed-minded than they are in my already hugely cynical view, I just can't see how "I like this hilarious, moving, heart warming series" = "I am gay". It's almost like "I have emotions and intelligence" = "I am gay". (Alright, that was hyperbole, but still.) There's nothing wrong with being gay, but it's annoying to be called it when you're not... and the fact is that most of the people who'll call you gay don't share the view that there's nothing wrong with it.

*sigh* I hate people sometimes.

I watched Ouran High School Host Club, Honey & Clover and have read the manga of Mahoraba amd Aishitertzu baby. I enjoyed it, nothing wrong with liking it. Thats its targeted to girls doesnt mean a thing. I can enjoy all kinds of anime/manga. I like things like Ergo Proxy, but I like Ichigo Mashimaro(was a lil boring tho, but the cuteness is just adicting for some reason oO;;;; ) just as well.

The Classic Looney Toons were *designed* for adults.... not kids... adults.... they were shown as shorts prior to the main flick in movie houses in the 1930s-1970s (before those Damned Commercials took over).
Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Freakazoid.... have so many adult references its laughable to consider it as "kids only" fare. Never mind the Simpsons/Futurama and all the "adult" humor cartoons running amuck now.
About the *only* sort of show that hasn't hit the mainstream pop channels are animated replacements for sitcoms, dramas, science fiction, romance ... o wait, thats what anime does. :) (or Disney & Pixar for that matter).

I haven't been able to find this "social stigma about adults watching cartoons" for years.... so I surmise it must only exist in that part of the population too INSECURE about their maturity to tolerate someone in their age group watching it. :)

Just picked up the Animaniacs DVD volume 1 set from Target ... wheeee!

The big problem with anime is just exposure to what it is capable of. Five years ago, I thought it was all PokeDBZutoblargh .... and then someone showed me it could do romance, tragedy, and comedy. That it could express cultural values that I thought highly of (loyalty, teamwork, sacrifice, self-restraint) .... there are barely a handful of series on television in my region that do that.... and none of them are funny or thought-provoking.

What I find interesting is that while men are gay if they show that they have emotions and intelligence, women are expected to have those qualities regardless of being straight or gay. Okay, not everyone believes that women have intelligence to go along with their emotions, but I don't see anything wrong with denying the existence of such miscreants.

Maybe high testosterone = decreased intelligence? lol

And yea Looney Tunes are originally for adults, they also have large amounts of violence. Especially those produced during WWII, everyone's shooting and bombing each other lol

Funny you should say that, because those are usually the things shows like Pokemon, DBZ and Naruto focus on.

Well, if you watched and enjoyed Mahoraba I'll give you a medal. Not many people these days that enjoy something :sad:

I wonder if there's someone like me who can watch romance/comedy and action/violence and enjoy all at the same time regardless of story or path taken :heh: :uhoh:

I supposed he means do those things in a relevant-to-my-life setting; and do it very well (i.e. Honey and Clover). At least thats how I differentiate those three from some other Animes. :heh:

Interesting tho, that within the Anime class, there can be prejudiced subsets, certain personal stigmas against certain Animes :heh: I speak only for myself - I am unfairly biased against DBZ, Naruto and Bleach.

I can enjoy all at the same time, but only if the story (plot) is good and well paced.

And oh, while we're on the subject of adult cartoons, play: ♫♪ The Itchy and Scratchy Show! ♪♫

I'm a homosexual, male, 19 years old who enjoys mostly seinien stuff full of action, depth, atmosphere, and general "dark" themes. I like things like Texhnolyze, Speed Grapher, Black Lagoon, Noein, Bleach, Gankutsuou, Gundam. etc. etc. I generally stay away from things like
Not trying to flaunt anything, but I think a test of manliness long lost its place in the anime fandom. Especially in relation to sexuality. You generally dig what you dig, and don't dig further then that, no matter who you are. Practically anyone can say the same.
...usually.

although since you are questioning your sexual orientation, mit 7059, I recomme
nd you try being gay (or at least Bi), you might actually like it and are currently missing out of many great things!
Alternatively, consider a gender change.