What foreigners living in Japan think of Japanese animation

Japanese animation, which also called anime, has gotten an entirely unique subculture, not only in Japan, but also the entire world. With the Japanese government actively promoting it, the subculture has even affected some very unexpected areas of the world making many of them dream of visiting the country someday. But what about the foreigners who are already living in Japan? What do they think of anime?

Yahoo! Japan has asked 20 of them about their opinions on Japanese animation. Here is what some of them had to say:

A 30-year old Frenchman said that he likes the very human themes that some anime have shown, however, he also pointed out that he is seeing less and less original works as of late.  Meanwhile, an American man in his late 30′s said that he prefers the older titles than the newer ones while an Italian woman in her late 30′s said that anime has become less interesting in the past few years.

This may be because some series are considered carbon copies of older and more classic ones and would often borrow “themes” from other titles. This would be best explained by harem anime which many describe as “If you watch one, you have watched them all”. Basically, many foreigners say that there are only a few new ideas coming in and the majority are a bit too generic.

Others meanwhile have given a variety of responses from an Indonesian woman in her 30′s questioning the morality of several anime series. This may be because of several recurring themes like violence, gore, or some more sexual ones like homosexuality or incest which some who have lived in more conservative cultures find a bit too disturbing.

A Turkish Woman in her 20′s and a Sri Lankan man in his late 50′s meanwhile like that Japanese animation is also for adults. There are however a few foreigners who have said that they have no time for anime because they are just simply too busy with work.

Three of the respondents, a man from the UK, a man from Indonesia, and a man from Peru, who have said that they find anime to be quite interesting and cute.

However, there was one respondent, a Russian woman in her late 20′s who said that she has no interest in anime whatsoever. Well, let’s just say people have different opinions and we must respect them.

So, what do you non-Japanese people think of anime as a whole?

Read more anime news here on SGCafe! Also join in the community discussions going on in the forums at forums.sgcafe.com

Source: Yahoo! Japan

What foreigners living in Japan think of Japanese animation