The Other

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Fascinating post at Ogiue Maniax that touches on aspects of beauty, fashion, and enemies in Jellyfish Princess. (Isn't it awesome that our medium can inspire that?) A quote: Having been ridiculed in the past because of my clothing, "good fashion" and "good looks" became symbols of the enemy, the barriers which prevent people from seeing that it's the inside that counts, as taught by one Ugly Duckling. But when you think about it, if the inside is really what's important, then people should not be judged negatively simply because they're attractive and make an effort to be attractive.

...you can think of fashion as accentuating your better qualities, where you define "good-looking" on your own terms, and the difference between fashionable and unfashionable can be as simple as an anime t-shirt that fits versus one that doesn't. But this isn't what Tsukimi is doing. Rather than making a declaration that sweats and unkempt eyebrows are a sign of her own personal beauty, she has defined "being pretty" as a state that she can only achieve through deception and trickery, that whatever "beauty" is, she isn't. To look good is to be one with the enemy, and neither she nor her housemates at Amamizukan can accept that (or at least that's what Tsukimi believes). The concept of "the Other"--that which one defines as separate from our an enemy of one's self--crops up a lot in anime. Indeed, a core element of anime's maturation came about when the writers of Mobile Suit Gundam challenged the Other: instead of the enemy being Lizard Men or a Mad Scientist, the enemy consisted of space colonists rebelling against what they saw as an oppressive government. You could sympathize with the Other in Gundam.

(Granted, this sympathy wouldn't fully materialize in the show until the introduction of Ramba Ral; previous examples of Zeon soldiers were unsavory fellows.)

This intersects with fandom, too. During a live news show a few weeks ago, we wondered whether a massive rise in anime's popularity would destroy anime's "specialness."

"Anime fandom" has a specific definition. Change in that definition would traumatize many fans. We've already seen it in anime fans decrying the rise of moe.

Anime is comfortable. It satisfies some desire. We very much want that to continue.

So we set ourselves up in opposition to everyone else.

At what point does otakudom become an insular world, a thing worthwhile only in-and-of itself? At what point do we cease to enjoy anime/manga/etc. for what it is, and more for what it says about us? When do we watch anime mainly because we watch anime?

I see otaku watch anime that they dislike. Who groan about "making themselves" watch a show, or of how they had to force themselves to finish a show.

Why?

At that point, anime became a defining activity for that fan. He doesn't enjoy the anime; he enjoys the feeling he gets out of having finished an anime, of being able to say that he watched it (and to dismiss it, usually).

It's perverse. And it's so human.