>

Yeah agreed! I didn’t even get into the age thing…i enjoy having younger protagonists every now and then , hell even my favorite movie right now has a child protagonist but do anime characters ALWAYS have to be high schoolers? I absolutely hated high school lmao so watching characters living it up during that time just makes me feel bad after awhile. I mean if it’s a good story I can move past it but when it’s this consistent it’s bleh
I get the escapism thing for sure..it’s the main reason I partake in fantasy. I just wish the settings and characters were less predictable and that it didn’t feel like every anime has the same basic direction/feel to it
I know Japan is less individualistic as a culture than the West.. but I really need more of a personal unique flair in my media
/r/fantasy
IMO, pre-anime boom nerdom was not diverse either. >

This is a fair point! Though I wasn’t alive then so who knows. I think I lament what could’ve been more than what was. Though I’d still take the sheer quantity of Tolkien obsessed book nerds from back then over…whatever this is now
I’d like to hear you expand on that thought if you don’t mind though! Just curious >

There wasn't a sheet quantity of book nerds obsessed over Tolkien. There was just most people hating and beating up nerds for being nerdy.
You'd be lucky if you found.one or two fellow nerds because you were so repressed no one talked about their nerdy hobbies or interests. >

If I had gotten bullied more maybe I’d have been more interesting :(
Instead I grew up bitter and surrounded by weebs lmao the struggle >

I hate that your generation invented the derogatory term weeb. Your generation is the type of bullies generation celebrate our liberation from. That's what anime/marvel/etc is to my generation, a celebration of what we used to be closet interested in, and got our asses kicked for liking. It's basically our gay pride parade... lol >

Weeb isn't really derogatory these days. Just means someone who is invested into anime. The offensive term would be weaboo. >

I find both offensive. >

I suppose weeb could be used in an offensive way but tends to be another term for anime fan. >

Agreed it’s something I’ll even use affectionately to certain people lol not really meant to be hurtful >

What are you guys on about?
Harry Potter, star wars, MCU, DC TV shows, all non anime games, MTG, Warhammer. There all have huge communities and are not anime.
and this is coming from an anime fan >

I think the larger issue is just nerds who latch onto the most popular media/brands and then simply never branching off to other things because said brand/media keeps mass producing, giving no inventive to move onto something more fresh >

They are the most popular because people like them, if whatever you're talking about was most popular would you be complaining about them jumping on that bandwagon too?   Are you the type of person who cannot be happy and enjoy something that's popular, just because it's popular? Do you just drop your hobbies everytime other people atart joining you? lol >

How convenient that the corporations and brands with most power/money to advertise and mass produce like a factory continue to keep pulling in large audiences!
There’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying what brings you joy…I just like a bit of variety is all. I assure you the most meaningful human art being made right now isn’t made by overworked Japanese men with one break a week or by directors being forced to follow excessive Disney mandates.
It’s independent artists, novelists and hell even great blockbuster movie directors like Guillermo del Toro and Taika Waititi! 
There are more niche things to enjoy out there and I don’t hate things when they become popular. That’s gate keeping and I hate it. I was beyond overjoyed when elden ring got Fromsoft a larger audience because it was DESERVED >

Interesting that you think Taika Watiti to be a good director.  Taika Watiti is a mess, and one of the directors Disney movies uses to ruin IP... Nothing more.
Also there's nothing that says people working long says can't also deliver quality. Some of those overworked Japanese people have delivered wonderful works of art, that would put Taika Watiti to shame >

Have you seen his other stuff besides Thor? Jojo Rabbit and What We Do in the Shadows are awesome >

Never heard of them >

You arent looking hard enough. >

Bro, people into anime are almost always into other nerd cultures, too. I don't know a single nerd that's into just one thing.
Also, anime is extremely accessible and easy to digest, so it shouldn't be a surprise that it's the most popular. >

I understand peoples’ experiences are very subjective!
I’m just mad I can’t find a single book friend 💀 >

Just for perspective as what my students call an "elder millennial" is that for a lot of us growing up in the late 90s or early 2000s, anime was the first cartoons we saw that were more or less to be taken seriously rather than written to sell toys or too childish like stuff on Nick or CN. Toonami was a huge mover for Cartoon Network and without the draw of the older kids, they might not have had the gas to get adult swim started. 
Also, what is suffering because anime is popular? There are thousands of animated shows and movies available for people. >

This is very true! And I LOVE animation being taken more seriously as a storytelling medium, and is actually something I wish Western animation could do more often, instead of it being a for-kids-by-default thing but SOMETIMES you’ll get something the whole family can like. 
I’m more of a champion of variety than any one way of doing things. Anime as it is would be more fine in my eyes if it just had felt like OTHER forms of nerd-dom took off at the same rate. I’ve personally just had struggles in my life making nerd friends because it feels like I always have to watch more anime than I usually would just to feel part of the conversation and if it was just some people that’d be ok! It’s just been…so constant. I like blockbuster movies like Everything Everywhere all at Once, and Jojo Rabbit. Why is it so hard to find people who can talk for hours about those the way I can in the way other people do about anime? I understand this probably isn’t everyone’s experience but it’s been mine. I always have to up my weeb-game around people my age lmao but no one’s ever once taken more of an interest in books or movies I like to get closer to me.
Good nerd content still gets made so I wouldn’t say it’s suffering as a result of anime, it’s more like…it’s not that I think anime is a net NEGATIVE. It’s more that there’s so many POSITIVES out there I feel like it’s such a waste that so many people won’t get to experience those positives if they keep obsessed with this one form of media without branching off and expanding their minds to the wonders humans can create :( >

I don't see there being any lack at all in the nerd culture. We have so, so many things outside of anime that are just as big and bigger like LOTR, Star Wars, Marvel/DCU, tons of other successful types of animation like Futurama, Simpsons, Rick and Morty, Family Guy, South Park, a multi-billion dollar video game industry, table top gaming, LARP, card games, art, music, novels and other writing. Anime is just one part of that culture. 
I think you should find a local geek or nerd convention in your closest city. There are tons all over and they cater to special interests, but for the most part the general conventions are all very generalized. >

Half that stuff is owned by Disney though 😭 which is a whole other corporate-owned can of worms 
Lord of the Rings IS definitely a mainstream nerd thing that deserves all the praise though 
Ehhh like I said all those western animated shows, even the adult ones don’t take storytelling seriously in my eyes(ironically the best thing anime does for me LOL)
There is definitely good nerd stuff getting made though! I guess I just need to find those fans bc they must be alive somewhere if this stuff is makin money >

I mean sure but it’s still there regardless haha. 
Branch out and find some like minded groups. >

Haha yup. I appreciate the talk :)
Definitely gonna try, I guess the isolation of the pandemic last few years made these thoughts a bit more pronounced than they usually are lmao >

I hardly watch anime anymore but I'd hazard a guess that other nerdy source material doesn't sell for one reason or another aside from DnD. Half the time I open a western show I'm either being shittily preached to or bored out of my mind. The weeb stuff that comes over internationally and gets marketed was already filtered out for being liked in Japan and unsurprisingly becomes successful in other countries. >

I’m 16 and I do agree somewhat that anime culture has become too prevalent, but delve deeper and there are a lot of interesting communities. They may be small, but they’re vocal. >

It's not even a matter of them being small, they're still big but anime itself is gargantuan. >

Kind of find it funny how popular and accepted it is now. 
If you watched anime in the 90s or early 2000s you'd pretty much get beat up in school. Had to always act like you never knew what it was. >

There is an anime called "Oreimo" about a popular girl who is also an Otaku and the strugle she went  through along with her brother as the only one who knows her secret. 
The message of the show is "Even if it is Taboo, you can't just stop loving it. So, It should be pursued without regret"
This is the anime I always recommend newer otaku/weeb to give context that being an otaku isn't so easy before and they should appriciate what they have now. >

I mean… Game of Thrones has very active communities, Star Trek is still going, DND, Ren Fest, Dragon Con, there’s tons of genres. You just have to look. >

I do resonate with this. Im 21 and although I dont hate it, anime does feel like it's everywhere and I don't even watch it. Now that you mention it, anime does "feel" like the only "geek" thing out there.
I understand its incredibly diverse but I keep seeing the same themes over and over. Every significant character has the average age of 17. Perhaps it's because people love having waifus or long for fantasy and escapism. 
The points you made regarding work conditions for animators was true but ultimately its a matter of supply and demand.
If you did grow up in a poorer area then the reason anime was so popular because its cheap entertainment.
There are still other communities out there though.