Now? Its always had a bad reputation (especially in the western world), but mostly due to the fact that the people who like it the most were awkward nerds.
Yeah, I was gonna say, anime mostly has a bad reputation because of the people who watch anime. Like, if the average person were told “picture an anime fan”, they would imagine an overweight neckbeard wearing a tail and a Naruto headband, with a mall ninja samurai sword shoved in their sweatpants.
There are two categories of anime which have a good reputation.
First is anime directed at children with mass appeal, like Pokemon or Dragonball. You can talk about this with other adults with a level of respectability, assuming you are discussing kids watching it, or your own experience watching it as a kid. It is weird if you, personally, are interested in the new season of pokemon - this will put you in the same category as adult My Little Pony fans. You do not want this.
Second is anime which is good and classic enough that it has superceded the negative cultural associations of anime. I would put Akira, Bebop, and and Miyazaki in this category.
Outside of this, and you will need to have a reasonably respectable presence and good social skills to overcome the negative associations of watching anime. Which is unlikely, considering that the stereotype exists for a reason. So if you like anime, and are trying to make friends… keep that to yourself the first few times.
Now? Its always had a bad reputation (especially in the western world), but mostly due to the fact that the people who like it the most were awkward nerds.
Yeah, I was gonna say, anime mostly has a bad reputation because of the people who watch anime. Like, if the average person were told “picture an anime fan”, they would imagine an overweight neckbeard wearing a tail and a Naruto headband, with a mall ninja samurai sword shoved in their sweatpants.
There are two categories of anime which have a good reputation.
First is anime directed at children with mass appeal, like Pokemon or Dragonball. You can talk about this with other adults with a level of respectability, assuming you are discussing kids watching it, or your own experience watching it as a kid. It is weird if you, personally, are interested in the new season of pokemon - this will put you in the same category as adult My Little Pony fans. You do not want this.
Second is anime which is good and classic enough that it has superceded the negative cultural associations of anime. I would put Akira, Bebop, and and Miyazaki in this category.
Outside of this, and you will need to have a reasonably respectable presence and good social skills to overcome the negative associations of watching anime. Which is unlikely, considering that the stereotype exists for a reason. So if you like anime, and are trying to make friends… keep that to yourself the first few times.
Unless your trying to make anime friends, in which case, let your freak flag fly :)
I’d put attack on titan in the second category as well, seems like it had broader appeal.