Hey there guys, I'm looking for some answers to this question in reference to a YouTube video creating.
The question is as follows: What makes you an anime fan?
What I mean by this, is when you go up to someone, what requirements do they need to be a 'fan of anime'. Most people have seen Pokemon and Dragonball, but you wouldn't call them anime fans. At what level does someone become a fan. Please be as detailed as you like, this has been a topic I've wanted to discuss and get my foot in the door in this conversation.
EDIT: The reason I ask this is that multiple circles I've been within seem to have a more elitist view on being a fan of anime only if you've reached X amount of anime or requirements.
Literally just if you like it, u dont have to watch 5000 anime in order to be a fan. You couldve watched 5 anime and call yourself a fan bc u enjoyed those 5 anime.
If you like the media, and you enjoy it, you can consider yourself a fan. You dont have to base ur entire personality around it to be considered a fan lmfao.
100% agree. Curious though if anyone has a certain hot take of containing X amount of anime to be a fan.
Ofc there are people who believe that, only because they like to gate-keep even though gatekeeping anime is not something anyone can really do (though im not sure if asians can gatekeep it if they want? thats a whole other topic thats honestly none of my business as im not asian.).
But if there are people who will comment that type of stuff here, normally its because they think theyre superior or some shit which is honestly annoying, which goes into that elitist agenda.
I feel like an anime fan is someone who enjoys anime just as much or more than other forms of media.
To answer your question, it's quite simple: To be an anime fan, you gotta enjoy anime. Watch any you like, and become passionate with what you like
Got a specific genre you focus on? Great!
Watched all the mainstream franchises? Great!
Watched only smaller gems? Great!
Anything counts as to being an anime fan, as long as you enjoy doing so!
You have to have watched Naruto if not your not a real anime fan... u need to be exactly 5,9 and not be in shape, if u can lift more than 5 chairs you are not an anime fan. if you don't know that Goku solos your not an anime fan. if any hentai you watch is rated below a 10 ur not a anime fan. this is simple and widely known facts. you must also have a bare minimum of 20 waifus. thank you.
just in case I have to say this is a joke I left a serious reply a bit ago
Its kinda like with a gamer, if you play games that does not mean you are a gamer, same for anime, you can watch anime without being an anime fan. To me an anime fan is someone who:
I don't watch seasonal shows but I have seen hundreds of anime and watch it almost every day. ;oo
Never said you have to hit all the checkboxes, those are just something like a guideline to understand who i would call anime fan and who a casual watcher, but as said to me its like with a gamer and someone who just plays games. Would you yourself call someone a gamer just cause he plays some of those facebook mini games or some android apps like Candy Crush? Or someone who buys a Preorder Deluxe Edition of a AAA game that was hyped for a long time now. Would you consider a gamer someone who has no idea about gaming hardware and does not even knows whats inside his PC or someone who can tell you what exactly is inside.
Ahhhh okay, I thought you meant you had to do all 4 to be a fan xD
"Would you consider a gamer someone who has no idea about gaming hardware and does not even knows whats inside his PC or someone who can tell you what exactly is inside."
Also yes I would. I'm a computer science major and have thousands of hours in videogaming but I have NO idea what goes on inside a computer XD
But I get your point, I wouldn't consider someone who just plays facebook games etc a videogamer (although my COSC prof would)
Think the biggest factor is the overall mentality which cant be explained just by words, you just have to interact with that person for a while to be able to tell if you consider this person an anime fan/gamer or just a casual. And i think this applies to basically everything, even music, i like classic music but does not mean im a fan o Chopin.
Someone I know calls herself a "weeb" and an "anime fan". She has only watched one anime and refuses to watch any other anime, even if I know it's something she'll like. Most of the time I believe people when they say they're fans of anime, but this is one case where I don't simply because she has only watched one and hasn't since.
search up the word fan
and there u have it someone who likes anime
on the other hand not every anime fan is a weeb nor an Otaku
what I mean by this is yes I am a fan of movies, but its not like I watch movies 24/7 nor do I know a lot about more niche movies. I think anime fans are the people who only watch anime from time to time, they aren't people who would watch hentai nor vtubers or really go deep into the culture, they are the more casual fans
I was planning to ask a similar question at some point on this forum but you beat me to it. This is something I was thinking about as well for a while now ever since a stream I watched in which an anituber I follow along with his friends were watching and critiquing a game show in which people had to identify who was the fake anime fan among them. Because it has been a while since I have watched the stream I do not fully remember the requirements specifically but I do recall that I, as well as those who were critiquing the game show to be off. I do remember for instance that one of the requirements that made someone an anime fan was that if they possess anime related merchandise, which is something I disagree with because what if the person who enjoys anime does not have/make enough money to be able to purchase those merchandise to start a collection? Plus one of the participants possess merchandise that technically would not count as anime as they were based more on video game franchises (that just happen to have an anime aesthetic).
To your question, the conclusion I have come to at present is I think what makes someone a fan of anime is having an appreciation for this particular style of animation. They deeply enjoy consuming this stye of animation to the point they develop a desire to want to learn more about anime and it's workings. I think it's just like how people become interested particular topics to the point of diving into them instead of just experiencing them passively. For example, someone who is so into gaming to the point they light up whenever they talk about the medium and and therefore have a deep conversation about the topic.
I would like to know your thoughts to this conclusion as the reason I wanted to ask was to compare my opinion to others and see if this was a reasonable enough conclusion to arrive on.
Do your best on your video. I may watch it when it's finish.
well to echo what everyone else said, if you like anime, you're a fan. simple as that
The reason I ask this is that multiple circles I've been within seem to have a more elitist view on being a fan of anime only if you've reached X amount of anime or requirements.
to be fair, this isn't something exclusive to anime though. you'll see gatekeeping in pretty much any sort of media, especially in gaming, sports, and music. also the gatekeeping tends to be mostly directed towards women, but that's a whole other conversation lol.
Today I also started thinking about elitism in anime. I then started pondering this very topic: what makes an anime fan. My idea of an anime fan is as follow:
An anime fan will watch anime on a regular basis. If the person hasn't watched anime in the past 5 or 6 months, but has made time for other series/movies, then I don't really think of t person as a fan (then they just watch anime from time to time or don't mind watching anime). If the person keeps this up, they will eventually rack up an anime body count, but lower numbers do not mean that the person is not a fan of anime.
Time/period is another factor. I think the term fan also implies that the person is currently invested in anime. If the person used to watch anime a lot in the past and do not watch it anymore, then they are not a fan of anime but rather, they used to be a fan.
Lastly, if the person is excited to talk about anime it is an indicator that they are an anime fan. But if the person is excited to talk about anime, but do not meet the requirements above, I will start to think that they are faking it.
A lot of people stated "If you like anime, you are a fan". I disagree with this sentiment and for me there is a difference between a fan and someone who just likes something. If you are a fan, you tend to make more of an effort towards the thing you are a fan of. For example, I like certain Pop music, but I'm not a fan of it since I would rather listen to Rock or Classical music.