Jun
21
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NO! KNOW YOUR PLACE.

I was killing time at my local Borders a month or so ago-read: reading their stuff for free- and I decided to pick up an issue of Anime Insider. Before anime blogs, I would always read Anime Insider because NewType was always shinkwrapped and well, there were no other magazines. I even had a subscription at one point. But the more I got into anime blogs for my latest news, the more I looked down on ani-mags.

But… it can still have its perks. It was thanks to A.I. that I found out the Honey and Clover manga was coming out for example, and there are some interesting articles every once in a while. In this issue that I picked up, I read some interesting fan-letters. This one in particular, was trying to stick up for fellow Narutards.

It was some real pathetic stuff. This reader said something along the lines of: “Just because we love Naruto and we like to dress up every week does NOT make us weird. We love this stuff and we want to show it. If we feel comfortable, it’s okay!”. Stuff like that. And the reply from the guy took me by total surprise and even got some laffs out of me.

-Forgive me as I do not have the magazine in front of me so I cannot produce proper quotes-.

“YEAH! I spend $5 for pocky at cons!”… go to your local Super H Mart and get it for $.89

What he said in reply was something like: “Yes. You ARE freaks. No one dresses up at school. [High] School is a place where if you do that kind of stuff, people will DEFINITELY look at you weird and then you will ultimately give “anime fans” a bad name”… And he has a point. I was actually expecting him to be understanding and accepting for the sake of these Narutards but he smack some truth down on them. This weirdo in my grade last year wore to school that dress-jacket thing that Sasuke’s older brother wears and he is the epitome of weirdo/loser. I sound like an ass, but you would understand if you saw.

Today, I picked up an issue again, just for more time killing, and once again, people Narutards were getting riled up, saying things like “Our imagination is limitless. Dont look down on us!”.

“NO ONE MAKES ME BLEED MY OWN BLOOD! NODBODY!”

His reply? “Imagination and obsession are two different things. Go ahead and wear your headbands, but that does not change how you will be perceived in school for dressing up. Save it for cons where it’s OKAY”. I am starting to respect this guy. I may start reading A.I. again more often if only for this.

And this all ties back to a conversation I was having with my friend this afternoon. I was talking about our Otakon trip and it somehow lead to my uni’s anime club. She told me that even though she only went to one meeting, we should both join so we can get free rides to smaller cons in VA. I, of course, responded with a resounding “NO”.  I reasoned with her that those people are just too weird. I’ve seen how they operate. And well, in my mind they just look like Narutards.

Am I just being an elitist -I can accept a “yes” answer with no resistance-? I mean, in a previous post, I stated that I’ve seen about 57 days of anime. I like to think of myself better than the average fan, and definitely of a higher class than anime club kids. I generalize them all as Narutards, Bleachtards, etc. Did anime blogging make me that way? I mean, I cant say I live the healthiest of lifestyles but I hit up the gym at least 3 times a week, play tennis, basketball, golf, soccer, you name it -except baseball. I hate you so-. I CANT HELP BUT LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE AND JUST SCOFF. Not just me, right? Someone’s gotta smack some truth down. To me, Narutards are not just the “smart and nerdy kids” that happen to be weird and like anime, they’re the weird kids that are… well, they’re just weird and grimy.

KNOW YOUR PLACE. WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE.

21 comments to “It’s Finally Safe for Narutards?”

  1. Comment by TimNo Gravatar:

    Let me be the first to say that I agree these people need to get a smack down. I’m tired of seeing nartuo headbands when I go to boarders to pick up some books. To me these people give the anime that they support a bad name. I would feel disgusted if I told people I was into anime and get grouped with those “kind”.

  2. Comment by doubleNo Gravatar:

    Good thing I don’t see kids running around with their Naruto headbands here, or I might just do something words can’t describe.

  3. Comment by TenNo Gravatar:

    Heh. I had a similar conversation with Anna about this stuff. Not exactly pertaining to Naruto, but the whole weird kids in general.

    To sum up what I feel about this: I know I can be weird, but I don’t think I’m that kind of weird.

    BTW, pocky for five bucks? Damn, they don’t even taste that good.

  4. Comment by blissmoNo Gravatar:

    Haha, oh well, lols. I like to think that they like to do their own thing, then so be it but I suppose it’s kinda extreme too. And you hate basketball? I love it! I also love a range of sports, but basketball is one of my favs XD

  5. Comment by akaritoNo Gravatar:

    i agree with you here, in high school i liked anime but i had to keep quiet about it since i didn’t want to be lumped into the group of the “anime nerds” the kids who came to school in pokemon cosplay and shitty kimonos. the kids who would only speak in pikanese “pika pika, pikchuuuu.”
    They give a terrible name to anime fans, i mention to someone who doesn’t know much about anime that i like it and they assume that i’m like “those people.”

  6. Comment by lelangirNo Gravatar:

    Eh sorta. I mean they are weird, as I’ve seen several in my HS days, but despite the oddity of the narutard I can’t get past the “your place” part. So it’s a yes/no thing. Yes for the sake of hilarity and righteous elitism (to protect the ‘sanctity’ of the ‘normal’ anime fan) but no for the forced categorization/marginalization/etc.

  7. Comment by OsNo Gravatar:

    @double – a nice healthy slap always puts them in their place
    @Ten- maybe not as much as $5 but no less than $3
    @blissmo- i hate baseball. I love basketball
    @akarito – LOLOLOL I can only imagine the pain of pikanese
    @lelangir – all righteous elitism all the time

  8. Comment by EzNo Gravatar:

    I agree that wearing a headband around would be quite weird, but anyone call me weird when I’m wearing my Gurren Lagann T-shirt and I’ll beat them up so bad they won’t even realize they’re conscious. =D

  9. Comment by OGTNo Gravatar:

    I have actually very rarely run into any kind of “Narutard” anywhere. I have met, through a friend who doesn’t even really like anime, someone else who asserted to me, in what I can only presume as total seriousness, that I “had not seen anime until I had seen Kenshin”. And I work at multiple libraries, and I’ve run into the odd person who gets on a public computer and watches Naruto or Bleach on Youtube. I’ve actually seen an employee of one library reading Yakitate!! Japan during a lull at the circ desk. I’ve never actually spoken to these people, and avoid contact, simply because whenever I talk to a more mainstream anime fan, I feel like I am merely a “poser” anime fan, or that I come across as a “poser” anime fan because I’m not frothing at the mouth about Naruto. Or something weird like that.

    Still, as obnoxious and disarming as these people can sometimes get–and not everyone who watches Naruto or other extremely mainstream titles to exclusivity should be classified as a “Narutard”, as I’ve met people who have much less “credentials” in terms of volume of material watched who can hold my intellectual interest and make points that I might not have considered. I really can’t bring myself to hate them with a flaming passion, but it’s probably just due to my limited exposure to them. Part of this is the fact that Naruto/etc. is mainstream enough that they’ve totally escaped the domain of the anime fan as you or I would know anime fans, and, rather than being something special to have a focused interest and hobby in, it just becomes another TV program. I could talk about the concept of “cultural odor” and talk about how Naruto/etc. are “culturally odorless” in some bizarre arcane way that only makes sense to me in my head, but that’s probably putting too much thought into things.

    And, really, without the breakaway popularity of these series, I don’t think anime would have achieved the prominence it has in the West and non-Japan countries now. So I can’t quite hate them.

  10. Comment by AuthorNo Gravatar:

    I liked the classic Naruto. And seeing the ridiculous hate makes me want to wear a headband, just to piss off those who think they are better than me. My favourite tee is “Imagine: no liberals :-)”, for the same reason.

  11. Comment by OsNo Gravatar:

    @EZ- I only wear anime related shirts that dont blatantly show that they’re anime shirts. I have a NERV shirt that’s just “NERV” and that maple leaf thing of theirs. I also have a shirt with the SOS Dan shirt. If you recognize it, then I can tell you’re an ani-fan. If you cant, then you’ll just think my NERV shirt is about weed. I win either way.

    @OGT- You find many a Narutard at conventions, but I guess that’s sorta your fault cos it IS a convention. Now in real life, I dont see that many myself. But I’ve seen some. Oh, and I dont “hate” Naruto. I really dont. More on that next.

    @Author – check out my next post.

  12. Comment by Loner or group? « Fujoshi scribblings.:

    […] I know that the Round Robin discussed this in a round, but as I read my feed reader, I read this entry and some other entries on the past weekend’s Anime Next con – my question is being an Anime […]

  13. Comment by metatr0nNo Gravatar:

    I wear anime things (for example: anime-inspired necklaces, Death note bags, etc.) and my schoolmates(I’m a high-schooler btw) said to me its cool, stylish and other good stuff… But when it comes to wearing Naruto headbands around(especially when it’s NOT Halloween), or screaming “pika-pika” around, that would be very weird…really.

    Anyway, in school, I’m not hiding my otaku-ness to people but I’ll admit that many people look up to me as a “cool” person (really!), so I’ll say that anime didn’t made me a loner. Instead, it made me socialize with more people… I think what’s happening to me is the opposite, more people draws to me than find me as weird…

  14. Comment by ChristinaNo Gravatar:

    Well even though I kind of get nervous for these people, I feel sorry for them because I was almost one of them in middle school. I was about to add a -chan to the end of my friend’s name when I realized, this is not good. I still had about six years with my classmates and I didn’t want to be made fun of more than I already was. I learned to be humble and try to just limit my fandom. But unlike most of you guys, I’m stuck in Podunk, Oklahoma and I have nowhere to really channel my anime/manga nerd except in my room and it’s still not very private. I wish I could go to Cons but I can’t because I am broke. At my school, there are a few Narutards but they’re more like Toonami/Adult Swim-tards. One of the girls actually cosplayed as a character from the shows. A fellow but controlled anime fan pointed this out to me and I felt bad for the chick because people would laugh in front of her! Another time, there was this high school choir competition at a nearby university and I saw my first Narutard there. He had a greasy ponytail, a goattee-mustache looking thing, and on his pimpled brow, a Naruto headband. I felt bad and embarrassed for him but I couldn’t help but laugh at him. I am a self-admitted hypocrit.

  15. Comment by Naruto fan to the endNo Gravatar:

    Im a narutard and proud i dont wear the outfits but i say if u love naruto dont be ashamed about it oh if ur on castle age add me 468EDD

  16. Comment by Naruto fan to the endNo Gravatar:

    All u people who hate naruto can hate it but dont critisize the ones who love it !!!!

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