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While typical media fandoms will divide people based on what they enjoy, usually via genre or franchise, anime has a few extra labels that have become fairly common around forums and discussion boards lately: Casual and Elitist. Though it’s certainly not a new concept to distinguish fans by filing them into a ranking system, anime fans have been hammering pretty hard on these two particular categories for the last few years, especially with the emergence of easily accessible anime, including older out of print shows that were previously difficult to attain and view. While the definitions can change based on who is using the term and whom they are referring to, these labels have been used frequently enough in a decent variation of context for them to be easily definable, as well as showing the effects they have on the community as a whole.

Although a scale of how one person enjoys a hobby in comparison to another is not new, especially in certain ones that particularly garner forms of comradery or competition (see video games,) and considering anime is a medium with a thriving niche community to boot, it’s not entirely surprising that these kinds of labels would sprout sooner or later. What anime brings to the table in a unique way, that is really only comparable to video games, is the intermingling of taste, genre, and personal threshold for certain writing tropes that can be used to score a person against their peers.

When it comes to the interactions of individuals in a group, it is fairly common for the members of that group to compulsively give each other terms to establish a sort of ranking. This can include creating leadership roles, helper roles, or divvying tasks to people based on their skills. In regards to the anime community, it’s not typically structured this way, but rather based on individual taste, attitude towards other’s opinions and opinions about themselves and their own voice amongst other fans. While it may be fairly common for someone to give themselves a label based on their preferred genre, style, or show (Eva-fan, moe-fan, SOL-fan, shounen-fan, etc.) the labels we will be discussing here are rarely taken on by someone with a since of pride or for identification amongst other people.

What is typically considered a Casual anime viewer is fairly self-explanatory, but it’s not necessarily in reference to how frequent anime is watched per day. Casual anime viewers will typically watch shows that are very popular or easy to digest, and are typically understood to avoid particularly challenging anime or shows that are out of their general comfort zone. Typically, those with a sense of what an anime “casual” would watch normally denotes a limited range, pertaining mostly to battle shounen (Dragon Ball franchise, HunterxHunter, Hitman Reborn,) long-running shounen (“The Big 3” or One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach,) ecchi/harem anime (Sword Art Online, Highschool of the Dead, Highschool DxD,) and very well known and discussed shows/films that don’t fit into those categories (Cowboy Bebop, Mirai Nikki, Ghibli films, etc.) While it’s completely fine to like shows under these categories and rarely stray from them, others within the anime community may be pessimistic to what they perceive as a forcibly limited experience and not allowing oneself to really delve into what anime is capable of presenting. In other words, they are only willing to try what they are confident they will enjoy instead of taking a risk on shows they aren’t sure of due to aesthetic, thematic, or stylistic reasons.

It’s fairly easy to label newbies as casuals considering they are just getting into anime and will normally watch the most popular shows, like the slew of new anime fans that poured in at the height of the first season of Attack on Titan. While it might be funny for those who have been into the medium for a few years to pick on these fan, there are a number of people who take these labels seriously, whether they are giving or receiving them. Depending on a new fan’s first impressions with a larger, normally online community, the attitudes and actions of older more experienced fans can push them away from anime as a whole, which isn’t something a community that desires to be inclusive should condone, no matter the taste difference. Normally those who are most guilty of these actions have somewhat of a superiority complex, and that persona has a stereotype of its own: Elitist.

Elitism has two particular definitions that are necessary in order to understand the label properly. An elite group of people would be a selected group that has power or influence, or are meant to represent the best of the best of a community.[1] Elitism represents not only a belief in an elite of a community, but also pride and privilege for those that are a part of that select group.[2] In this case, an elite group for the anime community would probably be those that have seen the largest amount of anime (in terms of show count or time spent watching) as well as having a wide variety of anime that they have tried, depending on the priorities of the fans considering the ranking. Despite the positivity that this kind of term would normally bring when bestowed on another person, the label in the anime community refers to an attitude of being superior to others in terms of anime preferences and taste that is not necessarily well founded. This includes snubbing popular shows only for their popularity and mass appeal, and the rejection of other fans’ ideas or critiques mainly based on their show preference rather than the quality of their arguments. There are some fans who wear the label of elitist ironically in order to make fun of those that carry a superiority complex, though many of them would fall under the unironic usage of the label despite their persistence to the contrary.

In order to accuse someone of being an elitist, they normally will be derogatory towards others and gravitate towards certain shows that they deem to be unique, deep, underrated, and/or thematically unique/having an aesthetic that makes them stand out from most of the anime library. This can include shows that are generally considered to be good in quality, like The Tatami Galaxy, Ping Pong The Animation, and Katanagatari, but it can also refer to shows that have left the community more divided in regards to the show’s merits, like Kara no Kyoukai, the Monogatari series, and Aku no Hana.

The stereotypical go-to show for an elitist to praise is that of Legend of the Galactic Heroes which is a long, multi-season space opera that was originally released during the late 80’s to the late 90’s. It oozes what appeals to the modern anime elitist stereotype: multiple interwoven plot-lines, complex characters, well written drama, its age, and a lot of these qualities making the show typically overlooked by the fan population at large. While this should not reflect poorly on a good show, it is always worth recognizing the kinds of people that an anime will attract. While an anime elitist will praise certain kinds of shows, however, it is typical for them to shit on shows that they dislike, either for their quality or depth in writing, popularity, fanbase, release date, and other qualities. To phrase it another way, elitists tend to be much more critical of shows in terms of their technical qualities, and will most likely go out of their way to both critique shows and post their ideas online. They may also find challenging shows in order to be able to put another feather in their cap in regards to “experience” for the sake of it rather than attempting to broaden their horizons.

What exactly breeds this kind of animosity, though? Why would people in what has traditionally been a niche hobby want to alienate others based on their taste? What can really be gained from it? Well “traditionally” is a decent indicator as to why this might be. While the first breed of anime fans grew up with the likes of Astro Boy and Neo Human Casshan, the difficulty in acquiring other anime that had been licensed by companies in the West, let alone translated into English, was slim to none. Anime would receive its first boom in the early 90’s with the likes of films like Akira becoming popular world wide in the late 80’s and Ghost in the Shell releasing in the mid 90’s, which left a heavy influence on much of Western pop culture, with Akira being primarily responsible for the cyberpunk genre that saturated much of anime at the time. While it’s arguable that the most vocal and common anime fans on the internet are those that grew up in the late 90’s/early 00’s with Toonami and Adult Swim, these spaced out groups of people can easily be attributed to this rise in feelings of superiority. Those that have been familiar with anime longer and have experienced more of the trends and changes that the media has gone through may feel distanced from the newer ones coming in on the backs of Attack on Titan or Sword Art Online, shows that someone who grew up with Voltron or Yu Yu Hakusho might consider beneath their own tastes for various reasons, be it style, writing, setting, or even how it’s animated.

With the rise of the internet came anime that was more easily accessible, and in the age of streaming and pirating, there’s little to wonder why the fanbase is so large. Being an outcast or special for enjoying anime is no longer really something that occurs, and older fans might be bitter about this since not too long ago admitting you liked anime to some people translated to you admitting to liking tentacle porn. Although that ignorant mindset still exists, it’s a lot more difficult to come by nowadays, and the amount of anime being released has also increased exponentially in order to take advantage of this boom in fan population. Older fans may feel ostracized by the anime coming out now not holding the same kinds of themes, styles, or influences that the ones they love the most did, it reflects poorly on them when they lash out at those that enjoy what is currently being released. Sure, not all that tote the elitist mindset love old anime necessarily, but they do have a similar mindset towards the newer fans that cosplay as Kirito or the Scouting Regimen soldiers at cons and seem to be noncritical about what they love. On the flip side, casual fans might criticize others on taking anime too seriously and not letting themselves enjoy anything without pointing out flaws and inconsistencies, or being just as narrow-minded as they accuse casuals of being while seeking out things they dislike just to have the ability to make fun of it.

The in-fighting in the community is inevitable, though it’s unfortunate that it misses the point of enjoying a hobby in the first place: people enjoying things in their own way. Their values in regards to that hobby is based on what they personally consider to be the most important aspects of that hobby, and their tastes and decisions will be molded by it. If someone enjoys escapism anime or shows that allow them to be immersed in a big world with lots of characters like One Piece, what’s the problem? If someone else enjoys watching poor quality shows every now and then in order to appreciate their favorites more highly, is there anything wrong with that? Someone loving Love Live! and Code Geass isn’t necessarily going to hate G Gundam or Tenchi Muyo! just because they’re older as long as they’re willing to be open-minded. An older fan’s love for traditional animation and the feeling of older anime shouldn’t be used as an excuse to shut themselves off and berate new-comers; it is an opportunity for them to show what they grew up with and, in time, be willing to watch new shows that they can find appealing for the same reasons the shows they loved growing up did. Anime fans have such a great wealth of shows to choose from and explore, as well as peers that they already have something in common with, that they’re only hurting themselves when they try to categorize some being better or worse than others.

While it’s likely that we will never really be rid of labels like these in anime (or video games, for that matter) it’s important not to let yourself be ruled by them. These kinds of categories don’t mean anything beyond the person using them, and while it’s generally important to understand why they are being used, refraining from using them greatly benefits not only individuals, but the community as a whole. All of anime should be explored and enjoyed, and the discussions generated from differing opinions makes the community better and open, which reflects positively on all of us.

Banner source from here.

Sources:

[1] – Elite definition – Dictionary.com

[2] – Elitism definition – Dictionary.com

Thanks to my friend Ntaig for helping me edit this article.