Self Deprecation (in anime)

There are five stages of grief, with the last one being acceptance. It’s when the patient no longer tries to deny it and accepts there is something wrong with him. Although this is the final stage when it comes to terminal ill patients, it’s not the final stage in any other case.

Let’s take anime for example. Lots of fans love self-aware series; that is, shows which are messing with stereotypes.

• They can be simple stuff, such as referential comedies which are constantly mentioning and showing elements from other series usually for the purpose of in-jokes.
• They can be satires, which are not simply in-jokes but also a humorous critique of stereotypes.
• Or they can be taking themselves more seriously and subvert or deconstruct stereotypes as means of looking at stereotypes from an unusual point of view.

If there is a trap in these categories, that would be to accept them for what they are. By embracing whatever they are doing with in-jokes or stereotypes, in a strange way becomes a stereotype on itself, which is counter intuitive to what these shows are trying to accomplish. In fact, a big portion of these series is about self deprecation. It’s when the characters accept that there is something wrong with them, feel bad about it, and the audience likes the honesty and sympathizes with them. Especially when it comes to otaku culture type of series, the viewer is essentially identifying with a bunch of weirdoes constantly feeling bad for themselves, because up to an extent they resemble him.

Although identifying or sympathizing with the characters is one of the most important things any series must strive to accomplish, doing that for the sake of doing that is pathetic. It’s good for otakus to accept the fact they are antisocial beta male introverts who are constantly indulging themselves in fantasies while staying away from social life. The problem is, they don’t do something about it, other than accepting it. They even feel proud about being all that instead of trying to fix them.

Listen, I fully understand that many modern societies suffer from an identity crisis. Tradition and religion are no longer able to define us in an era when information comes and goes at the speed of light and technology keeps advancing faster than many of us can keep up with. This is why we form sub-cultures where we are trying to find an identity through our hobbies. That is not a bad thing. Being social creatures, we all feel the need to be part of a group and if that is not going to be achieved through patriotism or faith, it might as well be achieved through our favorite occupations.

The problem with hobbies, occupations, sub-cultures, and habits of any kind, is that they very narrow in what they are all about. It’s like you are doing the same three things again and again. They are essentially a fascination that keeps you stuck in a very narrow range of actions. Very enjoyable actions but still narrow and not enough to sustain your whole life through a hobby.

The thing with otakus in particular, is that they don’t really feel good about themselves. It’s not like, let’s say, the gay community where you can feel proud about being homosexual and still have a normal social life. Pure blooded otakus do not feel proud for what they are doing and don’t have much of a social life. Self deprecation and accepting you are a creep through all that otaku culture anime, without actively trying to improve your life, is not right. If you are not terminally ill you can still move past the stage of acceptance and into the stage of advancement.

And I am not limiting this to just otakus by the way. I have the same things to say about other groups such as the MLP culture and the rape culture. You guys are celebrating your own cringe. Get a life.