Converting a Normal

[Clayton]

Have you ever intentionally tried to turn your "friend" into an anime fan? 

How many people have you converted or tried to?

The phrase "Check out this (insert Miyazaki movie) and tell me what you think" may have been used. 

Being an  anime fan is much like being a vampire. All day in the dark. An insatiable hunger for more. And of course the desire to turn someone else so  they can keep you company in tat eternal solitude... 

 

 

https://img.memecdn.com/before-i-became-otaku_o_1135304.jpg

 

 

 

 

21 Warning Signs That You’re An Otaku:
1. If you’ve ever had an anime night that’s lasted more than 2 hours
This means you’ve watched more than about four anime episodes…in one sitting.

If you’ve watched more than this, with no break…I suspect it may already be too late for you.

2. If you named your son or daughter after your favorite video game character
“Hi, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Robeast!”

3. If you own a giant robot that can only be controlled from a command center inside its head or chest
A la Voltron, the Power Rangers, Evangelion, etc.

4. If you live in Japan and voluntarily go to Akihabara (Electric Town) more than once a week.
Yep, even if you’re going just to pick up parts for you computer (every week?) that still counts. It probably counts even more if you’re out there building computers on a regular basis, Bill Gates.

5.If you’ve paid more than $100 for a Halloweeen costume or cosplay
I think paying more than one-hundred dollars to REALLY become that anime, manga, or video game character you want to be just for one day screams “OTAKU! Right here!”

 
6. If your Ipod or smart phone currently has more than five songs from an anime, video game, nerd-proven sources.
My guilty list of songs in my iTunes Library RIGHT NOW:
“Simple & Clean by Utada Hikaru”
“Megaman 2 Guitar Medley”
“Final Fantasy X – Piano Collections”
“Dragon Quest VIII Soundtrack,” “Yes the full soundtrack..” Donnie whispers as he hangs head in utter shame. LOL”
“All of the Samurai Champloo Music” (Those beats, though!)

7. If you exercise or go running to aforesaid video game music/anime music and imagine yourself being that video game or anime character…
When I’m running, I’m L’il Mac training for my match with Mike Tyson and there isn’t a damn thing you can say to tell me different

8. If you’ve ever cried during an anime or, even more extreme, got emotional during a video game cut scene
Let’s say like when —– dies in Final Fantasy VII. If you’re so into the story that it drives you to tears, it might be an indicator that perhaps you may have a one-way ticket to Otaku Land in your back pocket.

 
9. If you haven’t been to a social gathering of some form in 6 months or more
This means that you’re not leaving your house. You work, go home, and stay there…which potentially means more personal time for all things nerdy. Don’t feel bad if this is you…eye-twitch…I haven’t left my house in three days

10. If you pay more attention to your video games more than your girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband, or significant other.
Self-explanatory.

11. If someone makes you angry, and you glare at them really hard and say…”Sharingan.”
12. If you watch Japanese anime in the original, Japanese voices but have no intention of learning the language.
13. If you missed your friend’s wedding to watch Attack On Titan.
14. If you’ve ever had a cartoon crush, or fantasy about a cartoon or comic book character
I’m sure it’s more common that people think…ahem…not that I’ve done it or anything. But if you’ve “masticated” to a cartoon or comic, you are on a whole ‘nother level.

15. If you’ve ever written the name of a person you don’t like on an eery, black notepad in hopes that something very “unfortunate” would happen to them.
16. If you snort when you laugh.
17. If you’ve ever been to any form of convention or event related to video-game, comic book, manga, or anime.
YES, This includes Comic-Con! Don’t think you get a pass just because cool actors are there. You ain’t slipping through the cracks there, sister. Or, in my case, it was this: the PLAY! Video Game Symphony that I went to back in 2006 (and kinda want to go to again). Having a date at this event would’ve made me feel a lot less geeky.

18. If I say “One-Winged Angel” and you-know-who, pops in your head…
19. If you got an erection, or got hot-in-the-pants, from the excitement of a nerd-related movie or game.
We can run a test really quickly on this one. If you watch the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer below and at 0:53, some magic starts happening in your shorts, then you already know.

20. If you can name 5 Ghibli Films (particularly if you’re not Japanese) in under 10 seconds, without skipping a beat
Go ahead. You know you want to…I dare you.
21. If you’ve ever sung an AKB48 song
Yes, even if you’ve sung one in the privacy of your own home.
**You may be an otaku if you understood any of the references on this list**

 

you know you watch too much anime when...
...you can speak intelligently in Japanese about spirits, demons, war, death, tournaments, magic, and profoundly soppy love affairs, but the prospect of buying a movie ticket leaves you tongue-tied.

..."hai," "baka," and "hentai" come to your lips so easily that sometimes you have difficulty remembering what the English words are.

...none of your friends study Japanese, but thanks to you, they all have 50-word vocabularies.

...and if they used them in front of their moms, they'd get their mouths washed out with soap.

...you go native, to the point of buying Japanese rice in 20-pound bags and clearing all of the furniture out of your living room so you can sit on the floor.

...it's 3 am, and you and your best friend are on the brink of a fistfight over whether Ranma-chan or Ranma-kun is cuter.

...you have a Ranma outfit.

...and so does your significant other.

...you're keeping an eye on your little sister for signs of slacking off during school, making eyes at the school's only bishonen, and disappearing suspiciously often for "slumber parties," because if she becomes a magic girl, you want in on the action.

...your friends stage an intervention.

...but only because they want your tapes.

...some poor ex-mugger still hears the words "LEKKA SHINEN!" in his nightmares.

...you never bothered getting your new apartment hooked up to cable, and even Babylon 5 is a take-it-or-leave-it thing... but anyone who gets in the way of your mission to get the next Slayers volume is dead.

...only, if you'd written the last sentence, you would have worded it, ``Anyone who gets in my way isNakago.''

...you've contemplated growing your hair long so that you can put it up in dumplings.

...and you're a guy.

...you feel like less of a woman because you can't put away 5,000 calories in one sitting.

...you're despondent because your chances to become an anime heroine are completely shot--you can cook.

...you refer to 21 as "over the hill," and get more depressed the closer that day comes; you're not ready to join the forces of evil, dammit!

...it's not a bad hair day, it's a Zelgadis hair day.

...your parents draw you aside and ask you whether you're a Satanist, since all of those symbols you practice drawing in your notebooks look awfully suspicious to them.

...your kids think that cartoons are supposed to have writing at the bottom.
if i ever become an anime hero(ine)...
I will remember that sword beats gun and bikini beats armor; and if my enemies fall down giggling at the sight of a bikini-clad warrior rushing at them with a katana, so much the better for me.

I will cultivate a non-fighting-related skill so that when the war I've worked so hard to end is finally over, I won't be unemployed. Besides, women find it charming when a man can sew.

If I do find myself unemployed after the war, I won't go over to the side of evil just because they're the only ones who still need my skills. Vocational training is dull and embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as having to fight all my old allies.

One-on-one fights are for wusses who never learned to ignore schoolyard taunts. It takes a real man to ignore cries of, "Six-to-one odds aren't honorable!"

I will not attempt to operate any mecha until I have read the complete specs and have a signed affidavit that the self-destruct button works.

I will not fret about damages to my mecha. Unbeatable mecha can be trashed on a day-to-day basis, but the techie types are so good that it will always be repaired before I need it again.

If I am issued a suit of armor or fighting costume with high heels, I will get it altered immediately. Really, people, have you no sense of style?

If I can fly, I will bear this in mind at all times, and not waste time on chase scenes.

If I have a chance to pick a partner, I will not choose the cutest, most ineffectual kawaiiko in the cast. I will choose the villain.

I will bear in mind that a fight is the second most lasting form of contract known to the animeverse. If I lose, the jerk will show up and taunt me at every plot twist; if I win, he will follow me around demanding a rematch. Or worse, he will join me.

I will also bear in mind that a date is the most lasting form of contract known to the animeverse.

If an admirer refuses to understand that I don't want to date him, I will not fight him or engage in devious schemes to get away from him. I will go on a date with him and spend the evening demurely picking my nose.

If a too-cute-to-live girl refuses to understand that I don't want to date her, I will not hatch devious schemes to get away from her. I will go on a date with her and try at the first possible moment to get my hand down her blouse.

But before I do this, I will clear my plans with her brother, secret admirer, or anyone else likely to pound me for being hentai with her.

And if trying to cop a feel doesn't get her to run screaming from me, well, now I have a cute girlfriend who doesn't mind if I try to cop a feel. Things could be worse.

If my wise old jiichan or baasan tells me that the family shrine/forest/well/cave imprisons a demon, I will believe them. Tokyo has been blown up often enough already by kids who didn't believe their grandparents.

If my name is supposed to be in English, I will make certain that the English is grammatically sound and doesn't give English speakers fits of the giggles.

When faced with dripping, octopoid tentacles, I will not scream and wiggle. I will pour salt on them.

I will not be surprised when the person from the future turns out to be my kid. Of course they're my kid. If they weren't, they wouldn't be here. More importantly, who is the other parent?

I will spend some time learning my family history, since it's good to know in advance that I am an alien/descendant of a god/heir to the throne/part of a deal to the underworld... little things like that are sure to pop up, and its nice to know in advance.

In the same vein, I will keep track of anything my parents/sensei say and ferret out things like, "Did you marry me off when I was three?" "Do I have a secret weakness?" "Was I adopted?" "Is what that nice alien girl said about my lineage true?" and "Are you sure there isn't another ultimate technique I can learn?"

If I'm facing a particularly amusing or pathetic villain, I will resist the urge to kill him or let him join me. All that does is to clear the way for some new villain who is probably infinitely worse.

I will establish a plan to escape from those inevitable rampaging love triangles. It may save me some dimensional-hammer-related pain.

If annoying suitors are inevitable, I will arrange to attract only suitors who lack my strength or powers. If I do fall in love, my suitors won't be able to interfere with me or my love interest.

I will have an obnoxious personality quirk that makes others suffer. This will keep me out of the "unlucky" character bracket that nice people get stuck in.

I will hit on the villain of the opposite sex. This will distract him or her, and I may even score another ally. As for the second worst possible outcome, well, s/he was going to kill me anyway, right?

I will keep in mind that the worst possible outcome is that s/he will stay around and add another side to the love (geometric shape) I'm already in, so I should save it as a last resort. God knows that if it works, I'm probably swamped with suitors already.

I will not even bother with a laser gun. When was the last time someone didn't have an energy shield to deflect it?

I will remember to knock and loudly announce that I am entering the bathroom. There are no limits to how many times this would have simplified things.

I will duck and avoid the large, heavy object which is coming my way, then say, "Wait! I can explain!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Animedragon]

16 minutes ago, Clayton said:

Have you ever intentionally tried to turn your "friend" into an anime fan? 

Yes, I have. And I succeeded.

[Clayton]

1 hour ago, Animedragon said:

Yes, I have. And I succeeded.

Please, elaborate. 

[Soramee_]

9 hours ago, Clayton said:

Have you ever intentionally tried to turn your "friend" into an anime fan?

Yes. About 90% of my friends

[Animedragon]

7 hours ago, Clayton said:

Please, elaborate. 

Well, it's like this, the friend in question came to visit me and as it happened I had an anime soundtrack CD playing and he remarked on the music because the singing was not in English so I told him that it was a soundtrack from a Japanese animated series and as the PC was on I showed him some pictures I'd downloaded, this was before the days of DVDs and digital media, and he liked what he saw.  So I suggested that he come round one Saturday and he could watch some of this anime thing to which he agreed. In the end we ended up spending all Saturday afternoon and evening watching anime, after which he was hooked! For several years after that we met up about once a week to watch anime and went to anime conventions together for several years, where he was spending as much on anime stuff as I was!

Sadly, other commitments mean that we can now only meet up a couple of times a year, but he's still interested in anime. He's also the only other person I've been able interest in anime.

[MediaConsumesMe]

Have a friend, he watched Pokemon as a kid and so I decided to share with him some anime I'd been recently watching. In the end he sat down and watched Steins;Gate and he enjoyed it, we then watched Attack on Titan together and are currently chugging through Death Note at a snail's pace thanks to work commitments. I want to show him Fate/Zero but that'll have to wait till next year I reckon. 

[Soramee_]

13 hours ago, Animedragon said:

Well, it's like this, the friend in question came to visit me and as it happened I had an anime soundtrack CD playing and he remarked on the music because the singing was not in English so I told him that it was a soundtrack from a Japanese animated series and as the PC was on I showed him some pictures I'd downloaded, this was before the days of DVDs and digital media, and he liked what he saw.  So I suggested that he come round one Saturday and he could watch some of this anime thing to which he agreed. In the end we ended up spending all Saturday afternoon and evening watching anime, after which he was hooked! For several years after that we met up about once a week to watch anime and went to anime conventions together for several years, where he was spending as much on anime stuff as I was!

Sadly, other commitments mean that we can now only meet up a couple of times a year, but he's still interested in anime. He's also the only other person I've been able interest in anime.

I wish I would have a friend like that

[Animedragon]

1 hour ago, Soramee_ said:

I wish I would have a friend like that

They're really hard to find, I've only got one.

[Clayton]

On 12/6/2022 at 12:32 AM, Soramee_ said:

Yes. About 90% of my friends

Details! Not just one sentence. How did you do it? Why? How did it feel when you succeeded or failed? Which anime did you use?

[Soramee_]

On 12/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, Clayton said:

How did you do it?

genuinly don't know. probably word of mouth from the first friend I made into an otaku. Since he loved pokemon it was pretty easy to make him into an anime fan.

On 12/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, Clayton said:

Why?

to have people to talk about anime with since... I was a loner (im still)

On 12/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, Clayton said:

How did it feel when you succeeded or failed?

amazing

On 12/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, Clayton said:

Which anime did you use?

naruto, pokemon, dragon ball, sword art online. pretty much mainline show that are mostly available on Netflix. the problem is that they are now shonen fans and won't watch anything else lol.

[Clayton]

Do you feel any guilt for turning your friend?

[Soramee_]

31 minutes ago, Clayton said:

Do you feel any guilt for turning your friend?

not. at. all.

[Clayton]

Excellent. 

 

 

7 minutes ago, Soramee_ said:

not. at. all.

 

[Gonstroph]

Anime is something a lot of my friends were into already, there were never many people I needed to convert. The only converting I really needed to do were getting people off of big Shonen shows like AOT or DBZ. Mainly my male friends were into that, so I would suggest them stuff like Black Lagoon or Cowboy Bebop.

But someone I genuinely converted into anime recently is a friend from Guatemala who didn't know what anime was until she saw me watching it. We poked fun at each other for how often we saw our respective shows, it was me with my anime, and her with her Netflix school dramas. One day though, I suggested her Neon Genesis Evangelion in dub since she still couldn't stand not understanding what anyone was saying. And she actually loved Evangelion, we binged half the season in one sitting, and now she moved on to Death Note and binged the entire show over a weekend. She told me she likes anime now. Mission Accomplished. 

[Lone Lancer]

Quote

Soramee_ said: to have people to talk about anime with since... I was a loner (im still)

You basically converted the entire student body but still have nobody to talk to about the more mature titles?

Quote

naruto, pokemon, dragon ball, sword art online. pretty much mainline show that are mostly available on Netflix. the problem is that they are now shonen fans and won't watch anything else lol.

Surely the higher brow anime must resonate with somebody at your school? Then again, that doesn't necessarily mean that their parents subscribe to Crunchyroll either. I guess I can imagine what that would be like. Alas, there is always more work to be done. We are getting there though...slowly but surely.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Kōyamaki

[Clayton]

Do any of you remember when you were turned?

[Soramee_]

22 hours ago, Kōyamaki said:

You basically converted the entire student body but still have nobody to talk to about the more mature titles?

Surely the higher brow anime must resonate with somebody at your school? Then again, that doesn't necessarily mean that their parents subscribe to Crunchyroll either. I guess I can imagine what that would be like. Alas, there is always more work to be done. We are getting there though...slowly but surely.

yeah i wasn't lucky...

8 hours ago, Clayton said:

Do any of you remember when you were turned?

yeah my friend introduce me to anime through dragon ball xenoverse so I started searching on netflix for anime and found sao. that's pretty much a summary of what happened without talking about the dragon ball evolution experience or my love for romance anime.

[Clayton]

I'm more Dragon Ball than the sequel series. Journey to the West rather than ripping off Superman and Back to the Future.