Japanophilia

[kyouki]

Yeah, only on the internet do you have to actually have to constantly add "in my opinion" and "in my experience" to everything. Someone might post, "How much should I expect to pay for Persona 2" and you'll reply, "Expect to pay around $50." And sure enough you'll get a reply, "Bzzt. Wrong! I got it for $7 sealed yesterday."

[Malroth]

I can't *stand* that. Considering that a person on a forum is talking about videogames, it should be automatically assumed that anything said is an opinion unless it is an obvious fact. IE, Super Mario Brothers 3 is the 3rd in the series.

Of course, there's always some ass that's lurking around that's bound and determined to derail a topic into a semantic pissing contest.

[MRSKELETON]

AS MUCH AS I HATE TO DO THIS
Considering you take the original Mario Bros in the series SMB3 is actually the 4th in the series

:V

What I hate the most is when you get into a serious discussion about something, Like anime or Street fighter and someone comes in and goes

"ITT ANIME SUCKS AMERICA IS SUPERIOR" or
"ITT STREET FIGHTER SUCKS TEKKEN IS SUPERIOR"

[Malroth]

*smirks* I was waiting for that. That's why I wrote "Super" in there.

But yeah, random jerks posting "FINAL PHANTASY IS TEH BESTEST SUXERS!!1" during serious conversations is aggrivating.

[YourAverageJoe]

[smartassitude]And that's not counting the Lost Levels[/smartassitude]

[Malroth]

*twitches* My point remains valid!

EDIT: Actually, I think it would really depend on when Japan recieved the "USA" version of Super Mario 2. If it came after 3, then USA would be fourth.


But using that logic, LL would be something like the...I dunno. Things get really complicated if you start adding the GB games to the series.

Okay, a better example is Mega Man 2 being the second in the series.

[Pitchfork]

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I can't seem to find this "cultural article" and would really like to check it out. Where can I find it?

[Gilder]

pitchfork said:

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I can't seem to find this "cultural article" and would really like to check it out. Where can I find it?

www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3155815

[Pitchfork]

Wow. Good article

I don't see how any of it could possibly be construed as Japanophilia. It's really on the mark.

[Shinigami]

That's because you're not narrow minded.

[Pitchfork]

Here's my take on the whole Japanophilia thing:

I am very staunchly anti-Otaku. And by Otaku I mean the type of person who's all like WAAAI ANIME MANGA COSPLY KAWAII DAISUKE JAPAN RULZ. That's silly.

Actually...let me put it a different way.

At my old school I knew two girls who were in the Japan Club. Both of them were heavily into stuff like anime and manga. One of them had a Japanese boyfriend, and I think it's a safe bet she's only attracted to him on the basis that he's a Japanese person around her age who has a thingy. The other dyes her hair black to look more Japanese and dresses like a Japanese teenager.

But there's an important difference between the two, I think.

I've been in Japan with both of them and spent a decent amount of time around them. One of them spent her whole time over there buying Manga, nearly pissing herself with excitement over the differences between American and Japanese McDonalds menus, making people take pictures of her while she stood beside a vending machine and flashed the peace sign, and shrieking KAWAII and DAISUKE like every five seconds. Her obsession with Japan stems entirely from the stuff it has.

The other one, on the other hand, actually seems to know some things about Japan. She's more into anime and manga than is probably healthy, but I had some pretty decent conversations with her about the Japanese cultural psyche, which we both agree is pretty screwy. And there's no denying that it is. Not that America isn't nuts (and really kinda backwards in quite a lot of ways), but the Japanese cultural neurosis is of a really particular brand. Centuries upon centuries of isolationism -- and then all of a sudden, BAM! Westernization. BAM! Industrialization. BAM! Atom bomb. BAM! Hey guys, you can't have an army anymore, your Emperor isn't a god, and you gotta change your government. Anyway -- this girl told me that what fascinates her most about Japan is the fact that it's the single most Postmodern spot on the planet. She likes Japanese pop culture and gizmos as much as her friend, but she digs Japan on a cultural level, and understands it well enough to appreciate that Japan has its own share of problems and isn't a magical Pacific Eden. (Its problems, by the way, are a big part of what makes Japan so damn interesting.)

I guess that's the kind of Japanophilia that bothers me. People who obsess over Japan because of its comics, cartoons, pop music, etc, and then become absolutely convinced that Japan is the greatest place on the planet and is superior to everywhere else. It'd be like a Japanese person reading a lot Superman comics and watching Star Trek DVD's and then deciding HOLY GOD I NEED TO LEARN ENGLISH, MOVE TO AMERICA, AND ATTEND STAR TREK CONVENTIONS AND AVRIL LAVIGNE CONCERTS! I'M GONNA BUY AN SUV AND WEAR COWBOY BOOTS! I'M GOING TO HAVE A GODDAMN BACKYARD! I LOVE AMERICA AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! AMERICAN CULTURE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN JAPANESE CULTURE!

Wow -- I didn't mean to go off on a rant like that

[ninjarygar]

pitchfork said:

At my old school I knew two girls who were in the Japan Club. Both of them were heavily into stuff like anime and manga. One of them had a Japanese boyfriend, and I think it's a safe bet she's only attracted to him on the basis that he's a Japanese person around her age who has a thingy. The other dyes her hair black to look more Japanese and dresses like a Japanese teenager.

I hope for your sake, at least one of them is hot.

You're one friend is in stage 2... while the other seems to be in stage 5. Here are the stages... from what I can see.

STAGE 1: Private passion
"Wow! The internet! This is a place where I can truely express my love for this stuff... without fear of being judged by those ignorant, closed minded people around me! Look out anime message boards... here comes my horrible anime inspired smileys... my incredibly small vocabulary of japanese... and my gigantic and obnoxious sig! Can't wait to think of what my screenname will be! This is going to be so much fun! I mean... sugoi!"

STAGE 2: Lonliness
"What's the point of only showing my passion online?! Who cares what strangers think? Who cares what anybody thinks! I'm going to go all out! Maybe I'll go to one of those depressing conventions dressed as Kagome or something. I'm going to eat my weight in poki, or whatever. If people don't understand me or MY NEW CULTURE... then I don't want to have anything to do with them!"

STAGE 3: Regret
"I can't belive I wasted years watching anime and reading manga when there's a whole culture right here that I haven't been paying attention to. All those anime people are insane. Those freaks. I never want to have anything to do with them again. Sickos. I hate Japan. I hate people who want to be japanese... I hate anime... I hate japanese games and I hate that stupid language."

STAGE 4: Denial
"Hmph. Even though there's some..... good..... stuff.... coming out.... I still hate it. I don't care how well it's animated, or how interesting the story is or how colorful. I don't care. I've been down that road... "

STAGE 5: Enlightenment
"You know what? It's possible to enjoy something from any culture and not lose your grip on reality! It's not weird to be a fan of something... as long as you don't take it too far! wow... that was easy!"

[Pitchfork]

ninjarygar said:

I hope for your sake, at least one of them is hot.

Um...the cool one is, but she's also the one with the Japanese boyfriend. The other one is not hot. Her face looks like a shoe.

[Isao Kronos (BANNED)]

I think you've forgotten the stage where one loves video game and anime but wants nothing to do with much of the rest of Japanese culture, but is mildly interested in Japanese history.

[MRSKELETON]

Hey, I like japan for it's stuff. It has lots of cool stuff, but on that same note I'm also into places like Germany (Berlins sony center is amazing looking) and the UK for about the same reason.

I'm interested in the culture of it all but I see no problem with liking a place for it's stuff, because through said "stuff" you can learn about it's culture as long as people aren't screamin Kawaii and whatnot.