The Journal Star’s Take on Anime

By only focusing on anime’s more extreme and unusual facets, the article ultimately does more harm than good for Nebraskans’ views of anime.

This past weekend, UNL hosted the Nebraska Anime Convention (aka Anime NebrasKon). I was unable to attend due to family obligations, but the Lincoln Journal Star was there and wrote an article covering the fest. It’s not a bad article, though it’s more taken with the “wacky” costumes of the cosplayers than about anime itself. Then again, that’s to be expected, since it’s more about the convention than the artform.

What really bugs me, though, is a sidebar item accompanying the article. Titled “Commonly Used Words Found In Or Inspired By Anime,” the sidebar lists only four terms. And wouldn’t you know it, two of them are “hentai” and “ecchi.” That’s right: of all of the words in the anime lexicon, they had to use the two words that essentially sum up all that is dark, unsavory, and disturbing about the artform.

(For newbies out there, “hentai,” which translates as “pervert,” is often used to refer to extremely explicit pornography. “Ecchi” is a subcategory of hentai, and is often used to denote more softcore material, i.e., nudity without intercourse.)

Americans already have enough of a problem with anime. We have this strange idea that cartoons should only be for kids, and should only feature kid-appropriate themes and content. And so, when a cartoon comes along that moves outside the accepted themes and boundaries, we’re already more than happy to throw up red flags. (Remember the flap a few years back when FLCL first aired on The Cartoon Network?)

So why these two words? Did the author of the article wish to play up the outrageousness and wierdness of anime, to show how “out there” anime is because you can find “perverted” forms of it? From the quotes in the article, that’s definitely one of the angles the article seems to be taking.

It just seems to me that words like “shoujo,” “shounen” or “cosplay” would have been better choices. Heck, even “otaku,” which has fairly negative connotations in Japan, but has been widely adopted by American anime fans, would’ve been a better choice. And what about “mecha”? The giant robot is one of the most ubiquitous images associated with anime.

I’m afraid that, by only focusing on anime’s more extreme and unusual facets, the article ultimately does more harm than good for Nebraskans’ views of anime.

FYI, the other two terms listed in the sidebar were “kawaii” (“cute”) and “baka” (“fool, idiot”).

Enjoy reading Opus? Want to support my writing? Become a subscriber for just $5/month or $50/year.
Subscribe Today
Return to the Opus homepage