The Real Japan VS Anime Japan

[alex1_phang3]

=.= So . . . this actually sounded more like a fight lolz . . . ehem . . anyways.


The place Japan depicted on manga and animes are based on their country's REAL location, so you can see many common points with some alterations.

And those who believes what's shown in animes are actually what its really like in Japan are quite gullible. We have lazy gov. officers and workers everywhere, its because they are on the job ALMOST PERMANANTLY if they don't do anything wrong, they just need to spend the working time there so and make themselves look hard working (believe me, I've seen too much of this).

And yes, racism, almost all of them still have their pride and superiority feel in tact.

And about the treatment for foreign immigrants there, its actually quite similar to what WE MALAYSIAN BORN CITIZEN get here. ehem:

1. You insulted a Malay, jail.

2. A Malay hurts/kills you, they're innocent/fine of money/ treated as accident(being killed).

3. You can't get a merchant's license without using one of them scum's names to register no matter how good you are, and they can come and ask you for money ANYTIME, and if you cant give them the amount, you lose your merchant's permit and no work for you.

4. NO ONE OF THE ANY ORGANIZATION WILL HIRE NON-MALAYS IF ITS NOT FOR THE WORKER'S RACE'S RATIO (ratio: Malays 40%, Bumis 25%, Hindus 10% Chinese 20% others 5%)



And why do stuffs look so good in anime? Why are there stereotypes of japanese being hard working?

Reason : Upselling their image.

WHY would they want their country to be looked down? No one in Japan would(except me, I KNOW my country), and somehow I still believe they still have that "never lose to anyone" spirit in them.

Anyways, there's this factor that the creators makes the setting and/or the society's behavior in the anime to match the story. (From what I've seen so far)

e.g
Welcome To The NHK - Well, it is the nearest to reality . . . . . .

Kanon - nice little town where the people there are always polite and nice. NO WHERE NEAR REALITY unless being forced upon (Yeah, this is another stupid campaign of Malaysia gov, it was even being through the radios.)

Shakugan no Shanna - The setting illustrates the residential areas of Japan quite nicely, I believe it DOES look similar to that.


So anyways, a media depiction is MADE AND EDITED BY people it was and never will be 100% true or its even for entertainment purposes only.


P.S: I tell you if Annia were to come to Malaysia, those tail waging Malay dogs of the gov are gonna be a nuisance to her and FORCE the people to ACT to impress them, and showing Malaysia's weaknesses in the process ( yep, lazy and inefficient gov officials and staffs)

[crystalgazer]

Well, in my opinion anime is no barometer for judging how the Japanese live in real life. It's kinda like basing your perception of American culture on Rambo, Rocky, teen flicks, and Paris Hilton. It has almost no base in reality at all, and it horrifically simplifies something that's incredibly rich and complicated.

Anime is a niche market even in Japan, so what is produced is targeted to very specific audiences. Anime's also a very stylised art form, so it's probably less based on the realities of life in Japan than even the most oulandish horror films from there. And there's this weird phenomenon of anime seeming to down-play its Japaneseness; most of the Japanese characters look caucasian, even though other asians are portrayed as such.

And also, as has been mentioned, since anime is an escapist and fantastical medium, it seems to portray Japanese society in a way that is ideal, or where the problems are rather lightly touched upon. Bullying is a huge, huge problem from the stuff I've read, and though it's dealt with in lots of anime, it's almost potrayed as something that will go away by itself a lot of the time. The cripplingly stressful school system that most Japanese kids go through is also treated in jokey fashion, with loveable failures bumbling their way through harem anime for example, though Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world amongst young people, and it's believed that that the school system is definitely one of the contributing factors; it's certainly a contributing factor for the hikikomori phemomenon, where some people, usually young men, shut themselves in their rooms for years, refusing to interact with the outside world because they can't deal with it anymore.

It's also one of the most insular and homogenous societies around, with the vast majority of people from the same ethnic group and culture, and I think people from multicultural societies will have a huge amount of trouble understanding just how closed off it is to outsiders. I'm sure I came across a quote by some Japanese house member that said he believed that the trouble Americans have with their crime comes from them having a 'mixed' society. Migrants, especially ones that stand out like South American and Middle-Eastern ones that arrive as refugees and end up as cheap labour, have a really hard time of it. And then there's the prejudice towards the Burakumin (descendants of the lower caste hinin and eta groups from samurai times), the Ainu (the indigenous people of the Japanese islands, who have been pushed northwards over the years and can now largely be found only on Hokkaido), half-Japanese or mixed ethnicity children and the Koreans, all of which is hardly ever, if at all, addressed in anime or manga.

There's also the politeness system that governs every interaction, which is probably one aspect that we do get an insight in by watching anime, at least through the use of bowing and honourifics, though the underpinning cultural values, of collectivism and everyone having a place from where they can work from the common good is probably lost on us. And yes; slowness in business as Skull mentioned is a hallmark of Japanese business practice; it's been used in the past almost as an aggression tactic, with the Japanese businesses taking so long to work out every little detail of a deal with a foreign partner that they become desperate to just settle, and are thus more prone to accept the demands of the Japanese business. And speaking of business, there's still a marked discrepancy between the pay of men and women in the workplace, as well as the amount of higher-position jobs that men and women hold; again, something that you can't find out about by watching anime or reading manga.

Honestly, the drinking culture (and it *is* part of their culture) is one of the least worrying aspects; it's one of the only times when a Japanese person can 'cut loose' completely, and be forgiven for any social trangression he commits because, well, he's drunk. I've always found it understandable.

Now, I know I've brought up a lot of really negative aspects of Japanese society, but all societies have them. I don't for a second believe that Japanese culture is inferior to any other, and neither do I think it's superior. It is however incredibly unique and incredibly complex, and as much as love them, anime can't and for a lot of reasons won't deal with all of it. And we shouldn't expect it to; I imagine a lot of Japanese people who watch anime do so for the same reasons we do, for escapism and entertainment. You turn to other places if you want to deal with serious social issues. But I think trying to understand Japanese culture may enrich the experience of anime and manga somewhat.

[Barzillal]

Well, in my opinion anime is no barometer for judging how the Japanese live in real life. It's kinda like basing your perception of American culture on Rambo, Rocky, teen flicks, and Paris Hilton. It has almost no base in reality at all, and it horrifically simplifies something that's incredibly rich and complicated.

- Aye well said, not all american blondes are like Paris Hitlon not all commandos/Green Berets are like Rambo it is like saying all salmons can live through their migration.

the animes we have seen in Japan are but a glimpse of what they do, although most of the times exaggerated but nonetheless gives u some views on what they are like.

[wondering]

Wait a minute, are you telling me that those people can't turn into Super-Saiyans or have Gundams flying in the sky? Have I been lied to this entire time by anime?..........I'm joking. Personally, I think that some elements are incorporated but anime should in no way be used to see how the Japanese live.

[Barzillal]

Originally Posted by wondering

Wait a minute, are you telling me that those people can't turn into Super-Saiyans or have Gundams flying in the sky? Have I been lied to this entire time by anime?..........I'm joking...

lol I fell off the chair with this comment
yeah as you have said some elements are incorporated but it is not likely that they are what they are as they depict in the popular anime phenomena

[alex1_phang3]

Well . . . . . . Japanese are humans too . . . thus . . . it is not possible to wipe out the phenomenon of having bad people in their society. . . its just normal I guess.