CLAYMORE

I was so afraid of being put down for who I really was, that I pretended to not enjoy the things I do. Netflix brought me to Claymore and I've watched it every day since I've found it and you know what? I love it. I've realized that I'm an adult and I'm allowed to like what I like. Someone told me "You don't dress or act like you like Anime." And my response was "The way I dress has nothing to do with what I like, I like what I like, because I like it." I am me, whether they like it or not. <3

This sounds like me. Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaan. I’m really, extremely touched that you would share this with me ♥ And you’re absolutely right, whether you’re an adult or not, you’re allowed to like whatever you want and if you wish to display your interests through your attire (like band shirts!) so be it!

I admit I’ve always played down my interests in anything geeky while growing up. To wear a Dragon Ball Z or Pokemon shirt might be like social suicide. (I also think some of the t-shirt designs, at least back then, were a bit tacky so… but that’s besides the point.) And, at least in my case, if you enjoyed an anime or manga that was less popular, it didn’t matter. Everyone would always compare it to Pokemon or Sailor Moon. “You’re watching that googly-eyed shit again? Are you drawing Sailor Moon? That’s like that weird ‘Japanimation’ stuff. That isn’t real art.”

I still have issues with this, actually. I don’t follow any anime or manga like I used to, at all, but I know I don’t always ‘fess up to having liked/watched/played a certain manga/anime/game for fear of being judged. But that’s ridiculous because you’re going to be judged by others regardless. It’s better to be judged for something you are than to be accepted for something you’re not.

I had a (fairly young) design professor last year that held this undying adoration for Green Lantern and other western comics but would childishly argue that anime/manga was not art, in any way, as if Japanese culture had scorned him. I want to believe that he was once something of an otaku as well, with an undying love for some series from the 80’s, but had been mocked so harshly, and convinced that anime, save for numbers like Akira and Ghost in the Shell, was all hentai, that he set up a fort, completely armed, against it.

Let’s just say he wasn’t a nice man, in general. Never liked me anyway. But I wish I had defended one of my fellow students who was once being criticized for reading Naruto. He fought for himself very well, actually, but all the other students near him sided with the professor. That’s not even art. That’s cartoon shit. I’m pretty sure everyone here has heard what people, whom have never watched a single episode of an anime or read a single panel from a manga, have to say regarding this topic.

Again, thank you for sending me this lovely ask. I vow to change myself. I vow to be more open about my interests. No shame. And to all those who judge or disapprove, dare them to try something out. Maybe Claymore, maybe Ouran Highschool Host Club, maybe Cowboy Bebop, maybe a Ghibli film, or maybe something else more fitting to their interests. The magic of it is, there’s so much out there, of all genres, styles and storylines, they’re bound to like something. And hopefully that’ll be what changes their minds.