AnimeSuki Forums

synaesthetic · 2010-03-09, 13:20

Most of my hobbies are things done by myself. I wouldn't call any of them lonelier than the other.

Soldering circuits together and modding computers isn't exactly a team sport, either.

idiffer · 2010-03-18, 16:19

i heard this phrase somewhere...

"you can talk about anything in the world with a fellow otaku except anime"

while not the complete truth, i've found it to be close. every person i met at anime parties at clubs, i mentioned anime like twice during the whole conversation. to me anime is more about the experience, not talking about it IRL. the internet gives me plenty of information if i need it.

JaXter · 2010-03-19, 08:36

Not realy imo.
I have been watching anime for the last 13 years and during that time i have gotten quite a few girlfriends and currently i am engaged with my to-be wife

p.s. and yeah i do watch it with friends and discuss it with friends aswel some times

at university

gonzo562 · 2010-03-19, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnny46

Aside from having other fans you can talk to online, does being an anime fan sometimes feel a little lonely? Anime seems to be a very unpopular hobby among many people who aren't fans, and I was wondering how you guys felt about that.

I guess being a fan, it can get pretty lonely. I don't have friends that are fans, so it's impossible for me to talk them about the latest anime I'm watching (because to them, all anime is weird).

But I do visit message boards, so that helps wash away that feeling.

anime and a manga hobby is extremely lonely.

I have not met anyone who watches Japanese manga or anime

and it is wierd to bring up in a conversation with others

cyth · 2010-03-20, 02:08

I'll be damned if you can't find people who watch anime from your region. I've always been strung along the theory that members of small interest groups seek each other out, whether they live on the same block, the same city, the same state or the same continent. I've seen interstate miracles happen, like a fangirl from Sweden hooking up with a fanboy from Greece; it's only a matter of willingness. Sure, the internet oftentimes establishes these relationships, but lemme tell you, I've become really good friends with other anime fans from my area to the point where I can honestly say they're friends first, anime fans second. I've created a couple of genuine enemies as well, but with good comes the bad in life, right?

Anyway, the initial tangent of this thread is complete bullshit.

idiffer · 2010-03-20, 04:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyth

I'll be damned if you can't find people who watch anime from your region. I've always been strung along the theory that members of small interest groups seek each other out, whether they live on the same block, the same city, the same state or the same continent. I've seen interstate miracles happen, like a fangirl from Sweden hooking up with a fanboy from Greece; it's only a matter of willingness. Sure, the internet oftentimes establishes these relationships, but lemme tell you, I've become really good friends with other anime fans from my area to the point where I can honestly say they're friends first, anime fans second. I've created a couple of genuine enemies as well, but with good comes the bad in life, right?

Anyway, the initial tangent of this thread is complete bullshit.

wow, that was more rude than i usually am. anyway,
1) thats you. you got lucky or smth. we're talking statistics here probably.
2) small interest groups??? not everywhere. in Moscow there are tons of anime fans. the same with USA. no need to seek each other out.

cyth · 2010-03-20, 05:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by idiffer

2) small interest groups??? not everywhere. in Moscow there are tons of anime fans. the same with USA. no need to seek each other out.

So what exactly is the problem then?

idiffer · 2010-03-20, 05:51

the problem is that otakus tend to be autistic, tons of anime fans around or not. the hobby isnt the problem here, the person is. person - > hobby. not the othre way around.
+ i just felt that i had to say smth to start an argument, lol)

well ok. technically autistic ppl have a tendency to be an otaku, but you get the point...

synaesthetic · 2010-03-20, 17:00

That's an awfully broad blanket statement you're making there. Sure, the average otaku neckbeard buttertroll as portrayed by Something Awful forums is probably autistic or 'spergin, but those are strawmen and they don't really exist. Not to that extent, anyway.

zoin · 2010-03-21, 17:50

I don't think so, if it is I wouldn't be a fan of it for more than 10 yrs already, I'm already 28 but still much into it, specially if there's a great manga, I never failed to read it every week.

icecreamlover · 2010-03-22, 00:54

nope, it brings me and my other siblings actually close together, we can talk about anime specially if we watch it together, we can actually sync to each other

WanderingKnight · 2010-03-22, 15:34

Quote:

I'll be damned if you can't find people who watch anime from your region. I've always been strung along the theory that members of small interest groups seek each other out, whether they live on the same block, the same city, the same state or the same continent. I've seen interstate miracles happen, like a fangirl from Sweden hooking up with a fanboy from Greece; it's only a matter of willingness. Sure, the internet oftentimes establishes these relationships, but lemme tell you, I've become really good friends with other anime fans from my area to the point where I can honestly say they're friends first, anime fans second. I've created a couple of genuine enemies as well, but with good comes the bad in life, right?

I would agree with you (I've made friends through anime fandom, but was mostly because I used to work at a place where there were quite a few of them) if it weren't for the fact that 95% of the people I see in local conventions on posting in local forums make me want to punch them in the face.

Psycho 101 · 2010-03-22, 17:31

I think anime CAN BE a lonely hobby. I mean the honest truth is a lot of the people targeted by anime as fans are the more socially awkward. A lot of fans do not have....to quote Waterboy...they're lacking the people skills. Not all of course but a large percentage. I think there's also a stigma associated with anime as being just nerdy hobby and lonely single virgin fan hobby. Not fair stigmas at all but they are there.

I personally think anime can be quite the opposite. At least that's been my experience. In anime you have a series for virtually every kind of person out there. If you can get someone past the "anime are for kids/nerds/losers" idea there is virtually no one who cannot find a few titles that interest them. There are just so many kinds out there everyone is bound to find something they like. I used to watch it alone but I bought into the stigmas about anime. Once I decided not to and showed anime to my friends I was able to get virtually half of them into anime. Now many go to cons with me yearly. I've even managed to get 2 ex gf's, and my current gf, either into anime or bigger into anime. Plus back in the vhs days when I got into anime we didn't have online forums to talk to other fans in like now.

Firedfox · 2010-03-25, 08:00

several of my friends are now fans after i made them watch kino no tabi, not lonely anymore.

Aka_Tsuki · 2010-03-25, 16:36

No, many of my friends watch anime too. It also creates conversation.

bhl88 · 2010-03-26, 13:48

only ronery people make the hobby ronery.

babohtea · 2010-03-26, 14:22

Mm. I don't think so (that anime is a lonely hobby).

I have friends who watch it too, and we discuss it sometimes. However, we really don't watch it together, and we don't really talk about it all the time.

I think of anime as a rather... immature/commercial form of literature. In that sense anime is like the same as reading or watching movies. If you have a good/deep one, you can spend hours talking about it, but you usually don't. Also, you tend not to read together. And if your friends didn't read the same book, you don't discuss it with them. Not really a big deal for me if I don't get to talk about anime.

With the internet, I can talk pretty much anything.

I can understand why you would feel lonely if you only had anime as an interest, but that's true for any hobbies.

Miyumi-chan · 2010-08-28, 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnny46

Aside from having other fans you can talk to online, does being an anime fan sometimes feel a little lonely? Anime seems to be a very unpopular hobby among many people who aren't fans, and I was wondering how you guys felt about that.

I guess being a fan, it can get pretty lonely. I don't have friends that are fans, so it's impossible for me to talk them about the latest anime I'm watching (because to them, all anime is weird).

But I do visit message boards, so that helps wash away that feeling.

I agree. I am very lonely since most my friends are girls (who don't like cartoons or don't like the spikey hair), my brother only likes FMA and DBZ, and the boys likes football. I do go on and talk about shows, but I just get weird looks...like

or

...maybe it's just my location, ya know. Where I live, people are football fans and conventions never come near here. The forum sites and stuff help a little...and I met someone from Kentucky who's a good friend of mine, but nothing else. I'm so unsocial and don't talk much because I'm afraid I'll say something like "the same thing happened in Negima but instead..." and get labled as the weird kid nobody wants to talk to...so yeah, it's lonely! Sorry for the long explaination

bhl88 · 2010-08-29, 13:44

Sad but true

There is no such thing as both a desperate AND single female otaku.

Kaijo · 2010-08-29, 15:14

It all depends on if you want to make it lonely or not. For me, it all depends on the type of anime, and the group.

My former anime group watched a wide variety of stuff(Elfen Lied, Gundam, and one series I forget the name where an old guy fell in love with his very young sister and vice versa), but my current group tends to prefer the funny or downright awesome; although we have quite a few "moe" fans in the group, heh (and thus have watched some Azumanga, Lucky Star, Chobits, and that current popular series about the schoolgirl music group). Our most recent theme night was a "back to school, so let's watch schoolgirl anime" night, but we've had other theme nights.

For me personally, most things I tend to watch alone, just to see if I like them, and if I do, I tend to watch the whole thing. There hasn't been too much that I've watched for the first time in an anime group, and some things (like Nanoha) I probably wouldn't watch in a group, but still recommend people see. And there are quite a few series I've seen, that I'd love to watch in a group (and I try to introduce to my anime group).

But yeah, if it wasn't for the internet, I probably wouldn't have found my anime groups, nor found anyone else who liked anime. It can be hard to find fellow anime nerds, since it's not a subject that you can really discuss in a social setting, heh. It many ways, it's more taboo than admitting you're a video gamer, despite video gaming working its way into most people's lives.

Lastly, it all depends on fandom, too. A Star Wars convention recently had a cosplay themed speed dating session with a number of good looking women dressed as Leia (probably NSFW!).

But as the link above me pointed out, it is mostly male dominated; my last anime meetup had 3 women, as opposed to about 14 guys, heh (then again, there is a "women's only" anime meetup group around the same area as us, that takes most of the women, heh).

2010-03-09, 13:20	Link #161
synaesthetic blinded by blood Author Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Oakland, CA Age: 40	Most of my hobbies are things done by myself. I wouldn't call any of them lonelier than the other. Soldering circuits together and modding computers isn't exactly a team sport, either. __________________ Indie science fiction author and all-around weirdo: Check out my original fiction here! Read an excerpt from my sci-fi novel Binary System!

2010-03-18, 16:19	Link #162
idiffer Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Russia, Moscow Age: 35	i heard this phrase somewhere... "you can talk about anything in the world with a fellow otaku except anime" while not the complete truth, i've found it to be close. every person i met at anime parties at clubs, i mentioned anime like twice during the whole conversation. to me anime is more about the experience, not talking about it IRL. the internet gives me plenty of information if i need it. __________________ My posts seem retarted? I invoke the freedomof choice upon thee to choose one of the below. a) I’m batshit insane or mentally challenged. Nyan! b) Wasu~p?! brofist c) Your mind is too narrow to embrace my genius, de geso. d) I was accidentally dropped into a barrel of whiskey, so now I am constantly drunk. e) Go home and die! Dattebayo!

2010-03-20, 05:51	Link #168
idiffer Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Russia, Moscow Age: 35	the problem is that otakus tend to be autistic, tons of anime fans around or not. the hobby isnt the problem here, the person is. person - > hobby. not the othre way around. + i just felt that i had to say smth to start an argument, lol) well ok. technically autistic ppl have a tendency to be an otaku, but you get the point... __________________ My posts seem retarted? I invoke the freedomof choice upon thee to choose one of the below. a) I’m batshit insane or mentally challenged. Nyan! b) Wasu~p?! brofist c) Your mind is too narrow to embrace my genius, de geso. d) I was accidentally dropped into a barrel of whiskey, so now I am constantly drunk. e) Go home and die! Dattebayo!

2010-03-20, 17:00	Link #169
synaesthetic blinded by blood Author Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Oakland, CA Age: 40	That's an awfully broad blanket statement you're making there. Sure, the average otaku neckbeard buttertroll as portrayed by Something Awful forums is probably autistic or 'spergin, but those are strawmen and they don't really exist. Not to that extent, anyway. __________________ Indie science fiction author and all-around weirdo: Check out my original fiction here! Read an excerpt from my sci-fi novel Binary System!

2010-03-22, 17:31	Link #173
Psycho 101 ~Warrior Chef~ Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: East Coast USA Age: 41	I think anime CAN BE a lonely hobby. I mean the honest truth is a lot of the people targeted by anime as fans are the more socially awkward. A lot of fans do not have....to quote Waterboy...they're lacking the people skills. Not all of course but a large percentage. I think there's also a stigma associated with anime as being just nerdy hobby and lonely single virgin fan hobby. Not fair stigmas at all but they are there. I personally think anime can be quite the opposite. At least that's been my experience. In anime you have a series for virtually every kind of person out there. If you can get someone past the "anime are for kids/nerds/losers" idea there is virtually no one who cannot find a few titles that interest them. There are just so many kinds out there everyone is bound to find something they like. I used to watch it alone but I bought into the stigmas about anime. Once I decided not to and showed anime to my friends I was able to get virtually half of them into anime. Now many go to cons with me yearly. I've even managed to get 2 ex gf's, and my current gf, either into anime or bigger into anime. Plus back in the vhs days when I got into anime we didn't have online forums to talk to other fans in like now. __________________

2010-03-19, 08:36	Link #163
JaXter -=Anime Lover=- Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: the netherlands Age: 37	Not realy imo. I have been watching anime for the last 13 years and during that time i have gotten quite a few girlfriends and currently i am engaged with my to-be wife p.s. and yeah i do watch it with friends and discuss it with friends aswel some times at university

2010-03-20, 02:08	Link #165
cyth Banned Join Date: Dec 2006 Age: 38	I'll be damned if you can't find people who watch anime from your region. I've always been strung along the theory that members of small interest groups seek each other out, whether they live on the same block, the same city, the same state or the same continent. I've seen interstate miracles happen, like a fangirl from Sweden hooking up with a fanboy from Greece; it's only a matter of willingness. Sure, the internet oftentimes establishes these relationships, but lemme tell you, I've become really good friends with other anime fans from my area to the point where I can honestly say they're friends first, anime fans second. I've created a couple of genuine enemies as well, but with good comes the bad in life, right? Anyway, the initial tangent of this thread is complete bullshit.

2010-03-21, 17:50	Link #170
zoin Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010	I don't think so, if it is I wouldn't be a fan of it for more than 10 yrs already, I'm already 28 but still much into it, specially if there's a great manga, I never failed to read it every week.

2010-03-22, 00:54	Link #171
icecreamlover Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010	nope, it brings me and my other siblings actually close together, we can talk about anime specially if we watch it together, we can actually sync to each other

2010-03-25, 08:00	Link #174
Firedfox Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Australia	several of my friends are now fans after i made them watch kino no tabi, not lonely anymore.

2010-03-25, 16:36	Link #175
Aka_Tsuki NPC Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: AnimeSuki Age: 29	No, many of my friends watch anime too. It also creates conversation. __________________

2010-03-26, 13:48	Link #176
bhl88 Otaku Apprentice Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Unseen Horizon	only ronery people make the hobby ronery. __________________ OS-tan Collections (temporary): https://discord.gg/Hv2rBs3

2010-03-26, 14:22	Link #177
babohtea Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009	Mm. I don't think so (that anime is a lonely hobby). I have friends who watch it too, and we discuss it sometimes. However, we really don't watch it together, and we don't really talk about it all the time. I think of anime as a rather... immature/commercial form of literature. In that sense anime is like the same as reading or watching movies. If you have a good/deep one, you can spend hours talking about it, but you usually don't. Also, you tend not to read together. And if your friends didn't read the same book, you don't discuss it with them. Not really a big deal for me if I don't get to talk about anime. With the internet, I can talk pretty much anything. I can understand why you would feel lonely if you only had anime as an interest, but that's true for any hobbies.

2010-08-29, 13:44	Link #179
bhl88 Otaku Apprentice Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Unseen Horizon	Sad but true There is no such thing as both a desperate AND single female otaku. __________________ OS-tan Collections (temporary): https://discord.gg/Hv2rBs3

2010-08-29, 15:14	Link #180
Kaijo Banned Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.	It all depends on if you want to make it lonely or not. For me, it all depends on the type of anime, and the group. My former anime group watched a wide variety of stuff(Elfen Lied, Gundam, and one series I forget the name where an old guy fell in love with his very young sister and vice versa), but my current group tends to prefer the funny or downright awesome; although we have quite a few "moe" fans in the group, heh (and thus have watched some Azumanga, Lucky Star, Chobits, and that current popular series about the schoolgirl music group). Our most recent theme night was a "back to school, so let's watch schoolgirl anime" night, but we've had other theme nights. For me personally, most things I tend to watch alone, just to see if I like them, and if I do, I tend to watch the whole thing. There hasn't been too much that I've watched for the first time in an anime group, and some things (like Nanoha) I probably wouldn't watch in a group, but still recommend people see. And there are quite a few series I've seen, that I'd love to watch in a group (and I try to introduce to my anime group). But yeah, if it wasn't for the internet, I probably wouldn't have found my anime groups, nor found anyone else who liked anime. It can be hard to find fellow anime nerds, since it's not a subject that you can really discuss in a social setting, heh. It many ways, it's more taboo than admitting you're a video gamer, despite video gaming working its way into most people's lives. Lastly, it all depends on fandom, too. A Star Wars convention recently had a cosplay themed speed dating session with a number of good looking women dressed as Leia (probably NSFW!). But as the link above me pointed out, it is mostly male dominated; my last anime meetup had 3 women, as opposed to about 14 guys, heh (then again, there is a "women's only" anime meetup group around the same area as us, that takes most of the women, heh).