“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” This saying also applies to anime fans. Just like any other fandom, we all have our likes and dislikes, however, when it comes to anime, fans of different series usually unite under one cause…the things we hate, and boy do we make it known!
The things that anime fans hate have two categories: anime fan perception and animes themselves. Anime fan perception is the things that other people think towards anime fans, may it be stereotypical or fact. As for the animes, it can be filler episodes and general mistreatment of animators.
Are you an anime fan who feels weird about having to hate some things about the community? Do not worry, you are not alone! Even though we are immersed in our love for anime, there are just those things that can tick us off. Keep on reading if your pet peeve is on this list!
1. “Anime Is Just Cartoons”
People who are not familiar with anime almost always dismiss it as cartoons. For us anime fans, we understand how far this is from the truth.
In fact, when we hear someone say, “Oh, you’re watching cartoons” when in fact we are watching anime, we cannot help but feel irritated.
Cartoons and animes are different. Not only do they have different origins and styles, but they also differ in genre and theme.
It can also make our blood boil when someone says that anime is just the Japanese version of any general animation, when in fact, we know that anime in itself is art developed by the Japanese.
2. “Anime Fans Are Childish”
Say, what? Until now, this stereotype surprises me. I watch anime for a considerable amount of time, and I am sure that I am a fully-functioning adult. In fact, people who know me personally know that I am cynical which is leagues away from being childish.
This perception also stems from the fact that uninformed people, simply think that what we are watching are cartoons. The reality is, here we are, watching blood-soaked katanas waving in the air.
To a certain degree, I can say that anime fans have a good sense of humor and that we see the fun in things.
Rather than being branded as childish which has a negative connotation, we are just exposed to different gags. Can’t we just have a good laugh while watching fan service and cheesy jokes?
3. “Anime Fans Are Nerds”
It is getting old at this point. People might just think that all we do is watch and talk about anime day and night.
Although there are some people who go to extreme lengths like that (which is dangerous as it is considered an addiction) majority of us, simply enjoy watching anime.
It is very easy to get lost in the stories within a certain anime as they are so interesting. But does this mean that we cannot handle any other conversations besides anime? Of course not.
People who do not watch anime simply build an image in their minds that we all have altars dedicated to our favorite characters.
Also, they think that we just gorge ourselves on ramen while binge-watching a series, never coming out of our rooms. The most popular stereotype? We cannot even maintain eye contact with other people and resulting in mimicking expressions we see in anime.
4. “Anime Fans Are Perverts”
This is yet under the stereotype of anime fans brought about by the misinformation of non-anime fans. Actually, we are very familiar with this especially when we are watching “that” type of anime that has a harem theme and there is a lot of fan service.
We might be even afraid to watch it publicly as people may misconstrue what we are watching for hentai. The thing is, we are already used to such designs of characters that we do not really think twice about them.
Oh, bulging boobs? Okay. Barely-there clothes? Sure. Sexual innuendos? Great, moving on. We understand that sometimes, those are just part of what we are watching. But are we sexual deviants? No, definitely not.
5. Anime Fans Hate Filler Episodes
In an ideal world, we will live without filler episodes. When we compare modern anime to classic anime, there are fewer filler episodes in modern anime.
People attribute it to the target market now whereas viewers would rather drop an anime instead of waiting for story progression.
On the other hand, classic anime has bad pacing as there is a mismatch between manga releases and anime releases. Modern anime nowadays has a set number of episodes already and they are adapted from short or light novels that are already finished.
Filler episodes are just a pain in the butt as most of the time, they are just trash. It is either, we watch full episodes of just recaps or flashbacks.
For others, they create original content for filler episodes that do not even enrich the story or add something to the character arc.
6. Animators Are Mistreated
Anime fans know that the status quo for animators and mangakas is to just drive them to the ground. No matter how great the story and graphics are in our favorite animes, the truth remains that the people behind them have an unforgiving job.
The pay of animators cannot even cover regular daily expenses. This problem in the anime industry is so serious that even their government had to step in where they need to provide housing to animators and mangakas or mangakas in training.
Even if there have been changes to deal with this problem, the majority of companies in Japan still mistreat their animators by not giving them the pay and recognition that they deserve, even if the anime is extremely successful.
7. Anime Fans Hate Live Action Remakes
“Why improve something that does not need improving?”
Sometimes, things are better left off in their raw and unadulterated form. For the majority of animes, they should have been left as animes.
We discussed earlier that anime has a distinct style that works best in its original art form. However, this style may vary in terms of reception when used in live-action. Usually, the result is a cheesy and cringe-worthy series.
The worst thing is that it somehow devalues the anime especially if some people just watch the live-action remake.
Usually, remakes are done via movies so of course, to fit the time frame of a movie, a lot of scenes are cut. Therefore, the content in anime is not the same content in movies.
Viewers just miss a lot of content with live-action movie remakes of anime. They simply do not get the full essence of what the anime is supposed to be.
Finally, do not get us started on western live-action remakes where they even do not cast Japanese actors to play Japanese characters. We are talking about you, Ghost in the Shell. No, just no.
8. Anime Fans Hate Bad Dubs
I wish I knew how to speak Japanese fluently so that I can just watch animes as is. But since I cannot, I result in reading English subtitles with the original Japanese audio on.
It can be a bit of a hassle when you are doing something else as you need to focus on reading the subtitles, but it gets better once you get used to it.
I think all of us may agree that animes (or even other forms of media) are best enjoyed in their original language.
The problem arises when there are bad dubs that change the essence of the script. A lot of people who struggle with reading subtitles, result in just using the dubs in their native language. However, these dubs are not entirely accurate.
Bad dubs can change how you view a character. Further, bad dubs lead to story deviation. Of course, dubs have their limits as they have to partner the dub on the actions on the screen, which leads to shortcuts with the lines of the characters.
More often than not, people who hate great animes did not really understand what the anime was about since they watched one with a bad dub.
9. Anime Fans Hate The Lack Of New Seasons
The lack of new seasons of beloved animes is like a plague in the anime industry. However, anime fans know the blood, sweat, and tears devoted to completing a season, so we really cannot blame it on the creators, but still, it can be so frustrating!
With thousands of animes out there, it is rare to resonate deeply with a specific anime, only to realize that the story is unfinished and the next season is nowhere to be found.
Unfortunately, this is common in anime, and most of the time, the anime series just end up being junked.
This is unfair to those who just watch anime or prefer anime over reading the manga as there is no closure. So beware!
Before you dive deep into the anime of your choosing, make sure that its next seasons are already lined up or you will find out the hard way (like I did)
10. Anime Fans Hate Animes With No Endings
There are good endings, and there are bad endings… then there are no endings in the world of anime.
This does not mean that there are no finale episodes (if the series manages to get to the final season) it just means that the ending is anti-climactic. Much worse, an ending that does not resolve questions in the anime.
The bad news is, this is a common trend in anime. The ending is left open-ended or even different from the ending in the manga, so viewers feel that they were cheated.
Imagine this, Luffy finally reaches Raftel only to find out that there is really no One Piece. I would rage, I tell you!
It is easy to just say to anime fans to just read the manga to find out what really happened, but not all anime fans are into manga. For them, they really cannot get the closure that they deserve as the end of the anime is half-baked.
Final Thoughts
Did the thing that you hate as an anime fan make it to the list? Whether it be about perceptions of being an anime fan or things that mess up the anime community, we know that even though we hate certain things, anime is still dear to us.
Just like what they say, different strokes for different folks. But hey, this is anime that we are talking about! Surely, there is that special anime that can erase all of the hate that you feel towards other anime. So carry on!