Okay, if you’re a weeaboo or otaku, you won’t like this post. I don’t care, but you can consider this a “trigger warning” if you want. I’m not going to pull many punches on this one.
Let me preface by saying one thing, before I get into my rant: I’m not too familiar with anime. I have seen some that impressed me with its attention to detail, intricate storyline, etc. Before you say “not all anime is like this”, spare me. I know that. But it doesn’t matter. What I’m going to talk about is anime, and if you want to defend it, frankly, it says more about you than me.
So I’ve mentioned that YouTube has gotten it into its algorithmic head that I like anime, and has started recommending anime to me. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because I occasionally click on vtuber clips, and it says “hey, if this person likes vtubers, let’s toss some anime and see what happens!”.
But it’s not recommending wholesome anime. It’s recommending stuff that makes makes me both laugh and say “what the hell is wrong with the Japanese folks?”Probably the worst example of this is an anime called “imouto paradise”. Imouto means “little sister”, and whatever you think this is about, well, you’re right. Thankfully the clip I watched only showed the intro, no “bad” parts, and that was just bad enough. The plot is pretty simple: clueless guy (as always seems to be the case) has five little sisters, and all of them are, shall we say, thirsty. Every single one decides to pursue him. The sisters demand a choice, and when one is not forthcoming, all the sisters just decide to share him, and the clip ends with said clueless guy getting jumped by all five sisters. At once.
There are so many, pardon my French, fucked up things about this that I don’t even know where to start. What is it about the anime fascination with, shall we say, siblings getting it on? In what world is this even a little appropriate? And the worst thing is, animation isn’t spontaneous. Someone didn’t just start doing a nice, fun anime and just somehow come out with this. There are voice actors and actresses, animators, writers… the works. This was entirely deliberate.
Before you say “But this is hentai! It’s not all like that!”, I would point you to some episodes of AKBingo, a pretty straightforward and popular variety show. They had this segment called “phrase museum” where two girls would say cute things that the viewers sent in. And in more than half the cases, the girls would have to say something like “onii-chan!“, after which would be something like “It’s scary out there. Can I sleep with you tonight?” onii-chan means older brother. It’s mainstream, at least amongst otaku. It’s not just restricted to hentai anime. And I feel a little dirty just thinking about those girls having to repeat those lines and act cute. It’s just disgusting.
So, I’m not really all that sure what to think. Japan has a rich and storied culture, with things such as rakugo, fairy tales, and other things that are well worth learning about learning about and exploring. But this – this just makes me want to swear off anything anime or otaku. And, considering the Tokyo metropolitan government branded “imouto paradise” an “unhealthy publication”, it would seem that at least some Japanese agree with me. I’m not going to, as there are some aspects I actually like, but for the most part, I think anything but the highest quality anime should probably just be studiously avoided, by me, at least. It’s not worth the effort and expanded mindbleach budget just to have some Japanese to listen to.
If you don’t like it, watch what you want. But consider me turned off. Bigtime.
Rant over. If you don’t agree, please feel to toss your complaints in that circular bin over there. I already said that not all anime is like that, and I already said that there are some good anime, and even things I could like. But I’m not going to excuse that filth. Ever. My limits are pretty liberal for the most part, but this crosses every single one of them and sticks its middle finger up as it crosses the line. Just too much.