Anime criticism

Anime criticism. How does the word make you feel when you hear it?

For me, the word anime criticism gives me a negative feeling since you will expect to hear every SINGLE bad things about the anime. And it doesn’t feel good to hear those things if that anime happens to be your favorite.

What’s even worst, the anime criticism spreads like a wildfire thanks to the Internet. Too bad that the anime criticism isn’t just coming from people who are close to you. Google your favorite anime review and you’ll see many of them who write nothing but criticizing the anime.

This is just like what has been depicted from the net manga posted on Pixiv. The net manga is about a girl who had lost her enthusiasm for her favorite anime only because her friend bashed it. ANN has written a post about it, so you can read it here if you want to know more about it.

Even though it’s only a work of fiction, I think it’s important for us to take a look at it because anime criticism can go way too far. If anime criticism can even make someone hates the anime that they used to love, we have a problem here.

My two cents about the anime criticism as depicted in the net manga

I admit that I’m the kind of person who brushes nasty comments as idiotic comments. That’s because if you’re on the other side of the fence (as in if you’re a creator or someone from the anime, manga, and video game industry), you will admit that there’s no such thing as perfect anime.

And if you dig deeper, you realize that some will criticize your work no matter how good it is. But who cares about these people anyway? If there are plenty of people who love your work, that should be sufficient. This is what matters the most from the creator’s point of view. And I’m sure people from the industry will feel the same way.

All I can say is that the main character itself should be realistic that not that many people will share the same opinion like her. After all, didn’t she say clearly that her friend wasn’t even that enthusiastic about the anime?

What do you expect about this sort of people who didn’t even share the same enthusiasm as you? Of course, these people will bash the anime even if the anime itself is good.

What I can say to her is that she shouldn’t hate the anime only because of her friend’s nasty comment. Anyone who is less enthusiastic about something tends to be critical about everything because they’re not interested. It’s just as simple as that.

If her friend is as enthusiastic as her, she will say things differently. She will still highlight the flaws and there’s no doubt about it. But the way she says it will be a lot different than those who have no interest at all.

Whatever it is, you shouldn’t get yourself bogged down by someone like this. If you love something, share it with someone who likes the same thing as you.

And just like what I always do, ignore the rest who don’t.

Will I stop liking the anime because of someone’s idiotic comment?

Okay, that seems harsh to say that their comments can be rather stupid. But then again, it’s always like that most of the time.

It doesn’t matter what people say about my favorite anime, their comments won’t stop me from loving that anime. I don’t care if they say my taste in anime is bullcrap because they think their taste is better than me. Or they’d like to think that they’re a lot wiser than I am.

I hate to say this, but people like this aren’t doing anything but to dominate your thought and action. They will only say that your taste is garbage because you and that person aren’t even on the same page about something. It’s okay for them to convince you what they think about something, but they tend to do it in the wrong way.

So, the answer to this question is absolute NO.

If people make a harsh comment about your favorite anime and it does hurt you, you should just brush it off. Or if you want to, criticize their favorite things and see their reaction. You can point it out that’s how you feel when that person is criticizing what you love.

Okay, that’s nasty. But hey, people can only learn their lesson when it’s given straight to their face.

My personal experience similar to the net manga

Maybe I consider myself lucky that so far, no one has ever bashed me or saying nasty comments about my favorite anime. If you’ve read my anime recommendation posts, you know that I watch many different kinds of anime. So, it’s hard to pinpoint my favorite since I watch whatever anime I find interesting, even if it’s not the kind of genre I watch.

But then again, I do have an idiot who criticizing me for liking anime. And thank goodness that it was a long time ago when I was in the college.

We were only friends who happened to take the same subject and the same time slot for the lab. And I only met him once a week for that subject only since me and this idiot were in the different course. But this idiot was bashing me like he knew me for ages, saying that it wasn’t a girly thing to watch the anime. Simply put, he wanted me to ditch anime because he felt that it was the best way for me.

Fortunately, I didn’t even have a crush on this guy. Even if I do, I wouldn’t listen to him, anyway. Anime, manga, and video games are the things that I love and it’s already become a part of me.

Telling me to ditch anime only because it won’t make me feminine enough. Or maybe, it makes me look like an immature brat is like throwing a part of me into the trash can.

So yes, I ditched him because of that. Not only that, he criticized everything about me, not just my love with anime. He questioned me months later why I ignored him all this time. And he was still oblivious to what he had done to me. What sort of idiot is this guy?

It’s not fun to walk away with something like this, but my sanity matters the most.

Luckily, the fact that he told me to ditch anime didn’t dampen my love towards the anime. When I think about it now, it seems hilarious to see a guy like him trying hard to make me conform to his standard.

There’s no such thing as the right answer to something so subjective

I wish there is a definitive answer to things like art, music, anime, manga and video games. But we all know that those things won’t have any definitive answer to the question because everyone has a different judgment about those things.

After all, everyone sees things from the different angle. As a result, we have our own way of interpretation. That is why we have a divided view about something that falls into the creative projects.

And that also explains why some people can see that opportunities are everywhere as opposed to someone who barely sees the opportunities right in front of them. That’s because we all perceive things in a different way.

So, it doesn’t matter what anime you like, you don’t have to conform to what majority of people like. It’s not that they know any better about anime to begin with.

We have different taste and interest anyway. We need to embrace and accept it.

Just be confident with the things you find interesting and the things you love. At least, you have something that defines who you are.

What to do if you’re in the same situation like the main character

I admit that it’s not easy when I tell you to ignore their comments. After all, their comments can be so nasty that you can never forget about it for the rest of your life. It’s certainly not fun when those harsh comments suddenly play in your head like a tape recorder.

But then again, there’s nothing much you can do other than to ignore what they say. The only time you have to pay attention to the comments is if there are comments from other creators or people from the industry.

These people usually do have something critical to say, but they don’t say in a way that they intend to bring someone else down. So, when it comes to giving feedback, they will always give reasons why they think this way. For me, I’d rather listen to people like them because they tend to comment things better than  the average person.

Sure, there are some creators and even people from the industry make a nasty remark, but they’re just being ignorant. They’re just like everyone else, you know.

Even if these people have something valid to say, at the end of the day, it still goes back to you. Whatever they say, admit it, embrace it and get on with your life. You feel much better that way.

Never ever let these people stop you from loving what you love.

Just keep on loving what you love

People will criticize what you like, whether they do it intentionally or not. If all they did is only to bring you down by criticizing what you love, then you just need to detach yourself from these sort of people and find new people who are more or less share the same interest as you.

I’m not kidding when I say that, though. Being these sort of people can be mentally and emotionally taxing. And for me, being with these sort of people can be a big no-no.

Sure, it feels odd when you keep a distant with people like this, especially they happen to be your close friend. But hey, we live in a borderless world, anyway.

Ditch your less enthusiastic friend, go online and connect with someone who shares the same interest as you. And I’m sure there are plenty of them.

You have to start from scratch, of course. But it’s worth it. Try it and see for yourself.