The first anime I saw was Naruto Shippuuden, following that I watched other action and more action type anime but also military type but some involved girls like GuP, Strike Witches, Last Exile Fam the Silver wing and Upotte though it was not the girls I watched it for. I hated the Idea of SoL and never watched it, my anime taste in general was quite picky and there would be season where I would watch one anime or even none. I actually dropped Soul Eater NOT, Fate Prisma Illya and the SoL sequel of that anime with the pink haired twin tail girl with pistols. But as I watched more and more anime I started to accept SOL and other anime about girls doing not much and now I can't believe that I dropped Soul Eater NOT and Prisma Illya. I also used to mock people that owned Fumos yet now I have 12.

Post edited on 20th Feb 2021, 6:57pm

I started with mainstream shounen shit. Naruto, Bleach ect. I didn't have access to much else. I liked them at first as it was my first (limited) taste of the otaku world, but even then they got old fast. Even back then I craved SoL. It was the more enjoyable parts of the few anime I had access too via adultswim/toonami. They aired zatchbell and I found the battles a lot less interesting than the times when characters were just goofing off and having fun together. That much hasn't really changed. I still seek out cute wholesome bright cheerful anime. Like back then, I also don't shy away from other stuff when I feel like exploring a bit and getting in a bit of everything. I used to leave my VCR on recording adultswom so I could check out the late night anime the following morning. Doing this I discovered some of what are still my favorites today.

Once I had access to the internet, I started by watching anything I could find. From there I shifted focus to popular anime not aired on western TV. From there it went to seeking out media popular in japan instead of the west to get a better understanding of otaku culture. Then a bit of both while getting into imageboards to keep up with what other people were watching and talking about. After leaving 4chan and coming here I stopped caring about what was popular or being talked about in jp or NA, and just went with whatever was cute and fun looking. Didn't even mater if no one posted in the threads I made for these shows. At some point I even started actively seeking out garbage no one else cared about or watched, almost like I felt sorry for these things, but I also hoped to find some unique diamonds in the rough. Now when each season rolls around I just pick out whatever looks cute, is a sequel to something I enjoyed before, or at the least doesn't sound like the same cliche garbage I've seen a dozen times already. At least SoL doesn't get old even if it is the same thing over and over, I think that's what makes it work so well.

>>37742
I think I've grown so philosophically estranged from mainstream thought that I have a hard time enjoying anything that tries to propose a moralistic idea. I don't think I'm too good for it, I just fundamentally disagree with the entirety of the human collective thought in the last 300 or so years.

>>37748
Glad to know I'm not alone, I am the same. Incidentally, what do you enjoy and what are some of your favorite series? I think a lot of people naturally gravitate towards SoL due to its idyllic and nihilistic nature.

>>37748
>>37751
I guess you guys would prefer using night pots instead of toliets and have sworn off washing your hands.

I used to only watch older anime. What kindled my love for anime was the original Gundam, though I had started reading manga like FMA regularly a little bit before watching it. These days I like to watch things with cute girls mostly, but I enjoy anything that feels like a break from reality or that makes me feel nostalgic.

>>37751
I really can enjoy most things still, I guess, because there's a lot of SoL as you said, and avoiding shounen at all costs, every genre of it, helps a lot. For some reason shounen is really big on having these scenes where some character or other starts preaching the modern Japanese social philosophy or something. I guess it's cause it's for kids. Seinen does it too though, Japanese media and media in general really like to have characters tell each other that they're wrong with a capital W. It's just hard to take seriously when modern conceptions of "objective" right and wrong are 60 years old at best.
>>37755
Ah yes, everybody was stinky and dirty and stupid until the holy classical liberals appeared to show all the retarded peons the way.

>>37759
When you say the entirety of human thought from the last three centuries, that means 100% of all innovations, discoveries and creative output since then. You disagree with the idea that doctors should wash their hands and the entirety of computer science.

Post edited on 21st Feb 2021, 12:34pm

>>37759
Interesting, I suppose we might be more alike than I had thought. I, too, avoid shonen universally. I don't know if it's a recent thing but I feel like there is also a blurring between the shonen and seinen genres or rather a new category in between that some (ought to) fall under. There are more shonen series nowadays that have more sexual and violent depictions than what was traditional coupled with darker plots and then there are seinen series that are either badly written or should really just be written as a shounen. I don't think what you've said is necessarily something exclusive to Japanese media and I would think that considering the reserved nature of Japanese culture, they would be more reticent to be vocal about their opinion. Yet on the other hand it might be their reservedness that leads to a contrarian response. After all there is also a Japanese saying about hammering down a nail that sticks out. I don't have enough knowledge to make a conclusion but I do wonder if these are a more recent social development over there.

>It's just hard to take seriously when modern conceptions of "objective" right and wrong are 60 years old at best.
Probably shouldn't dive into this on /ot/ but I believe that ethics and morality belongs in the realm of philosophy and unfortunately philosophy as a discipline is "dead" as Stephen Hawking puts it. Social sciences and modern "humanities" are an inadequate substitute.

>>37760
That's not what I said and not really what I meant, as far as technology goes I tend to consider that any development is inevitable and cannot be contained. The idea that we can control technology, preventing its spread or proliferation, is fallacious in my opinion. I was talking more about what people think about social order, government, what the right form or purpose of government even is, and the entire concept of the "common brotherhood of man".

>>37764
Seems along the lines of what Kacyzinski said.

>>37764
I have some fairly old views as well but I still don't have a problem with Otaku media.

Sort of, I still enjoy what I did when I first got into it but my horizons have widened.
The most otaku-y stuff I am into, is probably that I enjoy toku and puro, which are considered worse than anime and manga. I also enjoy Japanese trains.
As for 2D, I can enjoy almost anything that's not legendary shit, except for isekai.

>>37771
Tokusatsu and puro? (pro-wrestling?). Train otaku are some of the most dedicated, they are a group that I respect despite not being one myself. How deep are you into the hobby?

>>37773
Tokatsu and Pro wrestling, yes. I follow the latter quite closely and I watch the former when I hear a series is good. Even in hentai, characters get razzed about liking tokatsu.
>How deep are you into the hobby?
I play train simulators new and old, and have models, and have gone on trainspotting tours there. I want to get electric sets when I have the money and space. So moderate.

>>37768
I don't have a problem with Otaku media, not most of it. There are just certain genres that really like to hammer in the value of the modern social order, and that just gets under my skin. If for example the moral preaching is just a way to pit two ideas against each other with genuine and honest comparison, then I can enjoy it a lot.

>>37774
>characters get razzed about liking tokatsu
Is that so? I get the impression that tokusatsu is relatively common considering the continued popularity and longevity of the super sentai and kamen rider series.

>I play train simulators new and old, and have models, and have gone on trainspotting tours there. I want to get electric sets when I have the money and space. So moderate.
That's nice, do you also have interest in announcements and station melodies? One aspect of the hobby I have an interest in are the secluded stations or hikyo eki although I've never actually been to any myself. I do enjoy sightseeing from trains and especially train lines that are more rural. Are there any specific rail lines that you are partial towards?

>>37779
>I get the impression that tokusatsu is relatively common
Among children. I think it's seen as inherently childish.

>>37779
For scenic routes, Hisatsu Line and the Tadami Line are personal favourites of mine, anything in Kyoto is also pretty good, the Nara line is very close to many temples. Harajuku station is also so beautiful and historic.
For western ones, Cape Town to Simon’s Town on the Metrorail is very good for a day trip. The Denali Star route on Alaska rail is very beautiful as well.

>>37775
>There are just certain genres that really like to hammer in the value of the modern social order, and that just gets under my skin.

What Generes?

>>37782
Thanks, nice scenery on those. You must travel around a lot!

>>37742
Absolutely. When I was a child/teenager I got into otaku culture because I was interested in your average snonen battle stuff that other children would be interested in. I was definitely part of the "Pokemon generation" created in the late 90s with the rise of anime in the west (Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Yugioh, ect.). By the late 00s I wasn't really relating to the newer wave of moe driven merchandise, and decided to quit anime out of disinterest, while still playing video games on and off.

Once 2019 rolled around, I was a professional with 5 years of experience under my belt, had a falling out with a group of friends, and didn't have much going on. Video games were starting to bore me so I started becoming disinterested in those, and stated to pick up anime again. I learned from this experience, that I really do not like shonen anymore (I tried), and actually really like the moe / slice of life stuff that drove me out of the fandom in the first place.

Now I really don't care for video games (have not purchased any in the past year) and I have watched a good deal of anime in its place. I feel like I will eventually die out of video games completely, like I have with western television (I have not picked up a new series in around ~4 years), but my new found interest in anime is surprising.

----------------------------

Post edited on 28th Feb 2021, 12:06pm

>>37818
Japanese people suck at categorizing their own media. Unless you have a more accurate word for what people think when they think "shonen", don't tell people to stop using what's convenient.

--------------------------

Post edited on 28th Feb 2021, 12:08pm

>>37818
No, they aren't genres, but due to their demographic targets they tend to have certain cliches regardless of genre. The whole "moral pep talk speech" tend to be a common cliche of shounen in particular regardless of the setting or genre. And it's fucking annoying after you've seen it a hundred times.

The shonen/seinen/josei/shoujo categorization might seem alien to non-Japanese but it works. Manga are generally released in magazines in chapters before eventually collected in tankobon. Publishers know their target audiences and mangaka work closely with editors to release their works, they don't always get full creative direction as people think unless they are highly successful. There are definitely distinct elements between each categories but they may be subtle and more obvious to the target demographics. Kirara is probably the most obvious publication, they have their own style and narrative that it is almost its own genre. Personally, I like the way the Japanese categorize things because its very specific to their target audiences. I've traced all my favorite manga to a few select magazines.

Post edited on 28th Feb 2021, 1:48am

>>37820
>I guess I should just learn to shut up.
It is quite liberating. And you'll be helping others, too. If you don't waste your time trying to prove you're cool and right and people are dumb and wrong, then people can't waste their time trying to do the same to you. It's a win-win situation really, more people should realize that, specially online.

Visual novel is a similar case. Japanese people didn't invent or really use that word, but it describes what it describes more conveniently and accurately than eroge since not all VNs have sex scenes in them. When you say visual novel, people know exactly what you're talking about. What's Steins Gate? A visual novel. A computer program with pictures, music and a long, text-based story. How would Japanese people call it? A non-ero eroge? That's stupid.

In shonen's case, I can understand being annoyed at a word which already existed having its meaning changed, but the solution is coming up with a better alternative word rather than abandoning categorization. Everything should be categorized so that things are obvious and there's no room for confusion or ambiguity.

Lucky Star is shonen. There is a category for that sort of series and its generally called battle shonen.

>>37823
I said something stupid and I regreet it, please forget about it.

>>37825
>How would Japanese people call it?
"ADV", or "adventure game", most likely. I don't think visual novel is entirely a western invention as I know Chunsoft invented the term 'sound novel' for their games in the early 80s.

>>37826
I'm talking about something I see in all shounen. I know what the distinction is and what the words Shounen and Seinen mean when referring to manga, and I'm directly referencing repeated themes that I see specifically in manga that run in Shounen magazines. After all, there are seinen that are very similar in format to a battle shounen, but because they aren't actually shounen they don't have some of the key traits of shounen that most likely are chosen by editors and not mangaka.

>>37828
Its kind of bizarre, because western "Adventure" is quite close in format to what we call VNs, maybe a bit more interactive.
Its semantics, I think.

>>37830
>>37828
>>37825
The term "Visual Novel" has its origin in Japan and is indeed probably derived from Chunsoft's "Sound Novel". Earlier Japanese Adventure games were similar to their western counterpart and Visual Novels only branched off from it after Leaf released their Visual Novel series and is considered distinct from Adventure games in Japan. Visual Novels weren't a thing in the west until post 2000s.

Perhaps the only change my interests have gone through is becoming smaller and more specific since so little can even hold my attention anymore. Despite this, most of the only anime I ever want to watch is slice of life as an escape, however brief and ineffective, from the knowledge of the blackpill. It doesn't work since hentai was very sure to make sure I don't even have that, but I guess it's like looking out the window from a jail cell. Sure, there's a bunch of animals probably ripping each other to pieces, but I can't see them at that point in time and at least the trees look nice, if that makes sense.
For VNs I play those dumb gimmicky VNs on steam and maybe obscure games I can manage to find somehow like Feathery Ears or the Null Peta game. I was never someone who played the popular normalfag games like Call of Duty or the newest Monster Hunter or whatever they're playing now. I never had the console or PC to play it on but now that I do I just don't have the interest. Plus I never cared for games with realistic brown and gray graphics. I might be too bored to lift my finger for much anyway but if I'm going to waste money and time on a video game I want some creativity. Manga follows those same trends I mentioned earlier.
But it's not like any of it matters because my attention span is shot and I barely do anything at all.

Post edited on 6th Mar 2021, 11:22am

>>37831
>Visual Novels weren't a thing in the west until post 2000s
I assume you mean WVNs. I remember a lot of people getting into otaku culture beyond the usual toonami shit through eroge back in the early 2000s.

Everything has changed. Bored and tired of anything now. *sigh*

I need a holiday.

As I've aged, I've come to realize that I don't like CGDCT all that much, which means I'm at odds with the tastes of most brohnos.

>>37742
as a kid, i was into whatever was airing on american television, so mostly shounen. i eventually figured out that the internet existed, though, and that's where my tastes started branching out wildly. unfortunately, this was the early/mid 2010s, and i was also in middle school around now, so i kind of got bullied into the ironic weeb mindset of certain things just being inherently "cringe" or "bad". there were a handful of genres and shows that i just stayed away from for the longest (Sword Art Online and Yosuga no Sora come to mind here), or went into with the expectation of it being bad because illiterate youtubers told me it was bad (Mirai Nikki and Tokyo Ghoul) because i was too afraid to form my own opinions.
i think over the course of the late 2010s...over the span of 2017-2019, i think, i came more to terms with myself and learned to be honest with what i do and don't like. it also nicely coincided with my tastes expanding once again, since i now had current gen consoles finally (i was stuck with a wii and a 3ds for the longest before getting a switch and a ps4/vita) and a laptop that i didn't have to share with anyone, so my exposure to games, anime, and even visual novels, light novels, and manga expanded wildly.
i guess over time, you could say that i've grown fond of media that's very unapologetic about what it is. there's stuff that's "tropey" or "cliche" that i don't really mind because it's not preemptively trying to subvert or be super on the nose that it's self-aware or anything. very recently, Magical Destroyers is probably the anime that made this realization click with me the most.
slight aside, but aside from comedy (i get burnt out on stuff that's purely comedic really quickly), fantasy/medieval (people complain about high school settings incessantly but seem to be fine with every high fantasy series ever--all 9000 of them--never evolving past DnD and Dragon Quest) and parody (can people just play something straight and have some self-confidence in themselves for five goddamn minutes), one thing i can't stand is stuff that's really grimdark or overly...macho(?), for lack of a better term (Berserk, Goblin Slayer, Madoka Magica, maybe Attack on Titan but i actually liked season 4 a lot, a lot of older anime like Fist of the North Star and maybe Cowboy Bebop). not even for any inherent fault that any of those series have, they're all probably fine, i'm just squeamish and don't like seeing characters suffer, but because fans of those kinds of series are consistently the most annoying people on the face of the earth; something being gritty and miserable doesn't inherently make it "mature", and something being "mature" doesn't inherently make it good or valuable. the way westerners interpret media consistently really bothers me, the only way we seem to be able to take something seriously is if it makes the average non-battle hardened person need therapy afterward. ironically, i was way less apprehensive about this kind of stuff when i was younger, i remember not getting very far into Elfen Lied because i thought it was boring, of all things.
i'm still relatively young, so i'm somewhat scared of becoming one of those really jaded people that seem to hate everything that releases after a certain point. i try to go out of my to find new things i might like, which has actually worked a lot, there're a lot of new games coming out that i'm really excited for, and i'm usually able to find at least one or two anime every season to follow.

No more shonen please

>>42459
I always watched anime sparsely, even when I was younger, and read manga even less. Magical Pokaan was the first I actually went out of my way to watch, back when it was all on YouTube. To me, it was the overall anime style that I found pleasant the most, so I mostly consumed art without much consideration of their source materials. That hasn't changed.

I consider this somewhat of a blessing though, because it makes whatever anime I do decide to sit down and watch stay with me a lot longer, even if it was fairly unmemorable and didn't change my life or worldview or leave me with much anything to fondly remember it by.

That being said, I find it funny that I still recognize most of the characters in >>42459. Something tells me if I watched anime on a regular basis I would be one of those people, honestly.

I don't think they've changed much. I've only had consistent issues with pre-mid-70s anime, and I also haven't to this day read a shoujo manga that I've actually enjoyed, not a problem with anime adaptations of the same titles. Some time ago I started listing and rating the anime I've watched on MAL, and it seemed to me that the mid-90s to early 00s are the times with higher ratings, and that's around when I started to get more into anime.

Now, for tokusatsu, I did watch some that I enjoyed as a child, but as an adult didn't like at all. Showa Kamen Rider have been very unenjoyable, haven't watched any Heisei or later yet, Super Sentai are hit or miss, and I've been delving into Metal Heroes now hoping for the better.

>>37742
I only really started getting into anime a few years ago, and at the time I would just watch random anime that are very "iconic" or that I've heard were good or that I found vaguely interesting.
I eventually stopped having interest in western media in general, including stuff that tried to mimic or parody Japanese stuff (stuff like DDLC).
I can watch/read various genres, but I now require there to be considerable moe value (and little to no anti-moe/ugliness), so I am more likely to be interested in CGDCT/SoL and romance.
I also now don't have interest in things that have attributes such as trying too hard to be "unique" or quirky, having western aesthetics, being pseudo-intellectual, being "subversive" or dishonest, being too "safe" (eg. no fanservice), etc (stuff like Cowboy Psyop, Evangelion, Lain, etc).
I also now have more interest in manga and visual novels, with the latter having a high concentration of works that would appeal to me.
Also, I didn't like lolicon and yuri because I associated those with the real world equivalents but I eventually realized that's silly and started liking them.
>>42424
I relate to some of the things you said. Other than the lack of correct capitalization.
>>37751
SoL is the opposite of nihilism.

I've been a touhou fan consistently for the last decade and then some. I've been listening to the same 5 doujin arranges (not literally, but it feels that way) for the past 8 years probably. I generally listen to the same artists now I did 10 years ago, but I've very slowly branched out in terms of piano arranges the last couple of years. It's less so new doujin circles but moreso individual artists. I've started listening to 2分の1 東方piano and Minthia. I've also discovered JAGMO, which isn't piano but moreso orchestra. They manage to do arranges that are faithful to the original themes. They especially do PC-98 stuff, which I especially like. I also have been listening to As/Hi Soundworks, which I want to listen to their actual albums.
In terms of anime, I used to like a lot more moe anime. Now, I can't stand moe anime. It's all gotten annoying as shit to me. But I remember what appealed to me was less any of the story or plot but the art and characters; especially the art. But I've been struggling to appreciate the art in anime because of anhedonia. I've been working on the same backlog gradually over the past decade due to procrastination and am almost done. For some reason, I struggle to watch anime because of its pacing. I think after I finish my backlog, I don't think I'll download any more series because watching them feels like a chore. This is the case with most visual media for me, even if it's western media. I tried seasonal anime for a while, but I didn't feel like keeping up with it.
As for other Japanese media, I've always liked the denpa genre, really, whether it be VNs, music, or anime. Denpa music especially makes me feel like I'm being brainwashed by the CIA.

I have been into otaku culture since roughly 2008, having largely gotten into it via lurking on /a/ and other websites, plus finding different shows that were uploaded straight onto YouTube in multiple parts per episode courtesy of the website's non-existent copyright rules at the time. I was aware of and really loved anime before then due to Shonen shit that was airing on TV, but did not become an otaku until that period. My tastes have largely remained the same after I started getting deeper into the culture: I immediately gravitated towards moe anime and visual novels particularly nakige. The only real change has been my newer love of mecha and tokusatsu, though I can pinpoint later enjoyment of certain series I used to dislike and vice versa. For example, when I was younger I thought Clannad was vastly inferior to Kanon and Air to the point of frustration towards its popularity, but these days I have come to quite enjoy it as much as those two, though I still think Kanon is the best. My waifu has also changed since then.
>Are there specific works that are influential in defining/changing your tastes?
Lucky Star. This was the first slice of life show I ever watched, and in hindsight it completely solidified my taste and the types of things I like. I enjoy things that have tons of characters and are more concerned with how each of those characters interact with each other. Kanon, Touhou, and Strike Witches are works I would point to as great examples of the types of things I like as well. Focusing a bit more on Lucky Star, Konata was the driving force for me to watch as much anime and read as many visual novels as I possibly could, her excitement towards otaku culture was immediately felt by me and never left me, I still feel it to this day even if I am not very interested in what is coming out seasonally anymore.
>Do you have specific quirks or patterns pertaining to how you enjoy otaku culture?
I try to stick to anime from the 2000's and earlier. There are exceptions to this of course, Bocchi the Rock immediately became a favorite anime of mine and there are a lot of gems within the early to mid 2010's, but I mostly try to stick to the period where I started getting heavily into it. I honestly really do not like how the majority of modern anime look and sound.

>>37742
I still like catgirls

I hardly consume any fiction at all anymore.
I kind of force myself to read some manga and watch some anime now and then just so I don't forget my Japanese.

Don't play video games anymore, except puzzle games on rare occasions.

I'm just bored with it all I guess.

>>42617
Out of curiosity, and if you're willing to share, how old are you?

>>42618
I'm in my 30s