- Updated on: July 27, 2022
- by Ernie
Do you like watching Japanese shows where the strongest ability of the main character is the power of friendship, where the physics for anime tid*ies are totally different than ours, where the best quality animation is served, then my friend you’re a weeb!
Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
What Being A Weeb Is Like
Watching anime alone isn’t enough to become a weeb though. You need to engage in weeb activities with your weeb friends on the internet, most prominently on the Instagram platform. Apart from that, you have to cosplay every year at comic con as your favourite anime character. Just don’t go as a trap character, it is a thing of the past now.
If you think you have a hard time connecting with other people, then don’t worry, almost 1 in every 10 weeb has gone through this. So you will have plenty of friends to discuss why Astolfo is your waifu and not your husbando. Apart from that, all weebs start from the same line. They all watch some shonen anime first, so everyone has a common interest.
But wait! don’t get too carried away, because once you start going too deep into this spiral, you’d start getting infected by the weeaboo virus. Once this virus enters your body you become this anime-obsessed weeaboo who doesn’t care about anything. It’ll force you to watch every anime to fill the void that was left after your favourite anime ended.
No matter how many shows you watch, you would never get that same experience. But this won’t stop the weeaboo in you from trying. Watching anime alone won’t be enough for you, you’d crave Japanese food, Japanese culture and would want to become Japanese. In some extreme cases, the person starts using Japanese words in the middle of English conversations like bakka or dattebayo.
Also, remember no one can call you a weeaboo without meaning it is an insult. If he/she does, she’d be contradicting the meaning of the word itself. The most simple definition of a weaboo is as follows –
A weeaboo is a person who is obsessed with everything Japanese, it starts with the love for watching anime then gradually transitioning into watching all the anime and at last, they become so obsessed with anime and Japanese culture that they try imitating them!
Urban Dictionary
Weeaboo as an insult was used in the early 2000s on the most cringe website on earth, 4Chan. On this website, many anime enthusiasts found refuge to discuss the various Japanese shows they’d been watching. They were mostly discussing popular shows at the time and the community was growing slowly.
As anime started going mainstream, many new anime lovers started boarding the 4Chan hype train. 4Chan was on top at that time. As anime became even more accessible many started turning into anime-obsessed weeaboos! The 4Chan community used to call such obsessed kids weeaboos, but only the westerners though. That’s how you use the term weeaboo. But what’s this got to do with the word weeb? is it just a short form of weeaboo? and what the hell is an otaku?
Who is a weeb?
Anyone who watches, or loves anime is a weeb. These are normal people who watch a show just because it is good and the ratings are decent. They like anime like the Japanese culture and a poster of some favourite character might be hung up In their room. This is pretty normal behaviour.
Who is an Otaku?
Now that we know what a weeaboo is and what a weeb is. It’s time to clear the air around another misleading term, Otaku!
You’ve seen people who are obsessed with video games, they read comics and play pokemon cards the whole day. In our country, we call such people Geeks or Nerds. In Japan, they call them Otaku but in a more disrespectful way. An otaku is a person who leads an introverted life where he only plays games, watches anime, and doesn’t care about work or his life goals. Otakus are not good at social skills and hence they often are alone.
No one wants to be such a person, but still in the anime community, many use this term without knowing what it means. So remember, Otaku is a Japanese term, so if you say you’re not a weeb but an Otaku it’d be like saying that you’re a geek and, not a nerd.
The Elitists - Who Are They?
Apart from these three types there also a new subset of anime fans who have started to emerge from the dark shadows of their mother’s basements. These anime fans have achieved enlightenment in the anime sense of course. They hate watching anime that are popular or to put it in their terms, they hate watching normie anime.
They feel like these shows are for entry-level fans, the subhumans in the anime community. These toxic anime fans are called Elitists!
As the name suggests, these fans think they are superior to other anime fans just because they have watched some 1980 classic anime. and now it is their duty to let people know about how bad all the current anime are. Everyone else apart from their group has shit taste in anime according to them so having a conversation with such a person isn’t the best thing to do. Like just a few minutes into the conversation, you’d realize how far this superiority complex has invaded their minds.
Conclusion
Anime isn’t something yous study about or get the knowledge from some book. It is a form of entertainment and should be treated like any other form of entertainment. Toxic fandoms exist and will continue to exist, this a plague that affects all other genres as well. Just look at how toxic the BTS community can get on the internet.
So in the end watch whatever you like, wear whatever you like and collect whatever figure you like. It is your life, you shouldn’t feel obligated to fit into some group, be yourself you’ll find a circle that appreciates you for who you are.
