Originally Posted by Michael Means Business
I agree largely with TSR here. If you get enough people who generally don't have a large niche in society at say, a convention, they're going to be riding pretty high and cutting loose after finally "being among their tribe."
I'd also point out, it really isn't Anime fans in particular, sure you'll probably find some similarities that seem distinct within that subculture, but none are universal. Back in the day I would judge a group entirely as "all" acting uniformly, now I've come to believe that we're all different by some degree, and similar in others.
It's generally the negative or undesirable activity which are noticed. Being an Otaku, which isn't as popular as say, sports fans, people would be more likely to look at the negatives they see within us, which, if applied to their own culture, would be looked upon as positive. While perhaps we'd be estranged by theirs, and be kind of thinking things like "wow those guys seem like idiots."
A lack of understanding can cause one to jump to a negative conclusion faster.
If we went to an Anime-con, sure we'd see many dressed up in Cosplay, and perhaps seemingly taking it way too serious, but most likely, they're just having a good time, not actually believing "Hey I'm Vash the Stampede, Cosplay is serious business and, by proxy, so am I." Some will obviously, but not all.
A sports fan may paint their body up in colors of their team, and scream "GO EAGLES," and while they obviously have a passion for the game, most of them aren't feeling like God.
Another example would be with say Star Trek fans, the documentary "Trekies" was hilarious, and while, as displayed in the film, there are some people who go to work wanting to be called "Captain of the Starship Enterprise." I'm sure most at the conventions are just having a good time finding others who share a passion for the same thing. And upon returning home to their everyday lives, will still enjoy Star Trek, and derive good times and inspiration from it, but won't be unnaturally obsessed with their interest.
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