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 Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:23 am
And so I plunge into the writing forum with the only kind of writing I do of my own free will beyond casual conversing and the elusive debate: I geek off at full speed.
Now, this I wrote over the summer ('07) whilst bored and at a time when it felt like I was constantly bombarded with anti-comic book people or some such- I dunno what the hell was going on or what was in the water that month. All such encounters happened in Borders Bookstores too. I s**t you not.
Anywho, I was inspired. Or something? You tell me. Here we go.
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INTRODUCTION:
SO A GIRL WALKS OUTTA BORDERS WITH A MANGA UNDER ONE ARM AND A COMIC UNDER THE OTHER…
Well kiddys: Spiderman 3 is out and Batman: The Dark Knight is on his way; and what do I have to hear and see in my mist of happy comic book days when I just happen to go to Borders instead of my local comic book store? Naruto’Tards.
For those of you out of the geekdom loop a “Naruto’Tard” is an individual who obsesses over the Japanese comic and animated TV show called Naruto. In short, Naruto is about ninja’s. It is a very popular title and is a series that has now spawned one of the most biased, ignorant and just plain ********’ annoying sub-fandom in recent comic book culture history. For those wondering, a ‘sub-fandom’ is a group within a particular larger fandom group; with the Naruto’Tards falling under “Manga” (Japanese comic books) and “Anime” (Japanese animation) fans.
So, I go to Borders and the Naruto’Tards are flooding the comic book isle. Just to clarify; I am not unjustly assessing these people. There is a difference between a Naruto Fan and a Naruto’Tard. The people I speak of really were Naruto’Tards. They all have and proudly wear Naruto ninja bands and talked annoyingly loud about “Sensuke-kun,” and various other Naruto characters or various other manga/anime while unnecessarily taking up floor space and turning the comic section into a maze.
Having already seen and experienced their special kind of retardation once before I skimmed over the comic book section wanting to rid myself of their presence quickly. In the small time I was in ear shot I heard many silly things regarding various series and characters and even admired how much fun they where having (even at the expense of brain cells) when their conversation randomly, and very quickly, switched to X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men, Marvel and then American comic books.
I was not shocked at how these particular Naruto’Tards found American comics ‘dull’, ‘lame’, ‘stupid’, ‘ugly’ and ‘simple’. There is a very large rift in the US right now between “manga” fans and “comic” fans. When a bunch of Naruto’Tards start talkin’ trash on comics they personally don’t like I see no problem. Sure, I think they are ignorant and have most likely never even read an X-Men comic and as such their personal opinion is highly under-formed and not based on anything but their own assumptions and misconceptions; but I really couldn’t expect more from said individuals. One girl had on three Naruto bands and two minutes prior was wangsting off about how unfair it is that over the summer she is going to Nevada and will be missing episodes of some anime on TV. These are not individuals I expect to objectively look at anything.
But then I got to thinking. How many normal people hold this same view? How many perfectly sane anime and manga fans think American comics are inferior? How many comic book fans hate manga? How many ‘normal’ people just think comics are inferior to all other art forms and literary expressions period? The later, dear reader, is most likely you.
I feel that many a ‘normal’ person, anime/manga/comic/animation fan or not, holds the same assumptions and misconstrued view on sequential art as even the most moronic and biased Naruto’Tard.
Now; I’m a very particular and dying breed with in the sequential art fandom. I love comics of all shapes, sizes, styles, and prose regardless of their country of origin or who is selling it to me. These traits in themselves are not very particular, however; I don’t just read comics. I think about them. A lot. I am highly fascinated with sequential art and am continuously impressed and awed by various talents and titles. I like to do more then just read and think about comics, I love to discuss and write about them as well. A hobby that many have noticed. Being an anthropology minor I have begun to look at the comic book culture in a new light, adding ‘analysis’ to my geekdom.
The following is a very simple step by step comprehensive guide to still sequential art and its various cultures as spoon feed by a (hopefully) loveable geek: me.
[END INTRO]
Now you tell me how awesome I am or I ain't commin' back. mad
I kid. Sorta. I know it's just an introduction, but it's all I'm willing to share thus far. Because how many people actually find such writings interesting other then other people like me who don't "need" to read what I'm writing?
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:22 am
I am here to tell you how awesome you are.
This is an excellent work of creative nonfiction, and serves well as an introduction to your topic.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 1:29 am
You are awesome. One Hundred percent accurate and painfully correct and moving.
Yay for you.
(Minor rant on your subject matter)
It's people like that who make me ashamed to say I like manga...
crying DON'T LUMP ME WITH THEM. crying
emo
I don't even like to advertise the fact that I like japan in some places... Like borders. Naruto has ruined all the good in my life. Like ninjas. ninja
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:14 am
kerina You are awesome. One Hundred percent accurate and painfully correct and moving. Yay for you. (Minor rant on your subject matter) It's people like that who make me ashamed to say I like manga... crying DON'T LUMP ME WITH THEM. crying emo I don't even like to advertise the fact that I like japan in some places... Like borders. Naruto has ruined all the good in my life. Like ninjas. ninja
Its when I revel that I like to read me some comix and people make an assumption that I must love hump X-Men, Pokemon, and hentai do I get annoyed. I don't say to people who tell me they like cars "Oh, you must love Fords then," - I let them tell me what cars they like as it's their hobby and why would I take the assumption that I know what they like based just on the vague statement "I like cars"?
Although I do love me some Pokemon with a passion. TEAM ROCKET! scream
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:23 pm
surprised Can I take you home to meet the folks now? If I'm thinking straight ... if you started writing this around the summer time, it might have been around the same time I decided to create Anime Diablo and make my devil's advocate thread about Anime Superiority. An intriguing intro that I am most interested in reading further. :3 Anyway, I was digging around my old posts with AD and found a few quotes for you: Anime Diablo I wonder if it has ever occurred to anyone that, instead of being die-hard elitist fans, those often labeled the "die-hard" fans really don't have any connection with American animation what-so-ever. In times past I would have agreed that it is a bit irksome to see such disregard for one medium or another, but in recent times I can't say I'm so sure of this. I must admit that I've never felt shame towards this crowd you are referencing here. Outside of the internet I haven't really witnessed any of these kind of fans ... then again I believe most of these specific fans are of a much younger age, therefore their passion and zeal towards anything is going to be stronger, louder and, some would say, stupider. I hesitate to take the last of those options ... it's not really a mark of intellect to hold something on a higher pedestal than another something of the same type/medium/etc.
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