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arekuru (![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} arekuru) wrote in ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/community.gif){kind=small} fandom_wank,@ 2006-06-09 20:21:00 |
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| Entry tags: | anime/manga, fandom: gravitation, yaoi |
But what are their thoughts on...? Oh, right.
Over on Anime News Network, the self-styled "Internet's Most Trusted News Source," there is an Answerman column written by Zac Bertschy. In addition to answering questions, Zac's been experimenting with adding new sections to his column. The latest is a weekly rant. However, Zac solicits these from his readers instead of writing them himself, cleverly absolving himself of all potential blame.
It's lasted a good month and a half or so now without sparking any major conflicts, so of course that had to change.
Clockwork Butterfly writes in to complain about yaoi fangirls, who are ruining his fandom. The catch? His fandom is Gravitation. Yes, that Gravitation. The yaoi gateway drug anime.
Oh noes! Some of these fans like to buy merchandise, write fanfiction, and learn every aspect of their fandoms! What horrible fans they are! Also, they all wish they were gay.
When I go to anime conventions, I find myself arguing with thirteen-year-old die-hard-Gravi-fangirls who only wish they could be gay and male and chasing someone cool like Yuki Eiri. And it's not just one or two girls. There's a legion of them. An entire legion of thousands of young girls who are fanatic about this stuff. And they are by no means fanatic in the good way. Fanatic as in, "I have to own every single Gravi thing there is! I have to write more Gravi fanfics than any other fan! I have to know the manga and anime inside-out!" And the average age of these girls is about thirteen or fourteen.
They also don't truly appreciate the work of art that is Gravitation, the show which dared to repeat "Rage Beat" every episode for eight episodes in a row.
Well, let me be the first to say that being a single person in the massive horde of crazy-yaoi-fangirls does NOT make you unique. That really irks me. I watch it over and over because I understand it deeply. They watch it over and over again because it's cool. And I don't even want to get into the whole sexual-orientation-of-the-viewer topic...
The forums start out with the usual, including "I don't get it," "it's hot, that's why," the difference between shounen-ai and yaoi, and, for some reason, prohibition.
Someone needs to explain yaoi fandom to me. Really. I don't find the point in yaoi, yuri, or even hentai. It's not necessary! I'm okay with good fanservice, though.
Somehow, slash gets dragged in.
Penguintruth kicks the fangirl bashing into high gear:
Rabid bishounen/shounen-ai/yaoi fangirls are nine and three-quarters times more annoying than furries, overweight Sailor Senshi, and Man-Faye combined.
Hanachan01 chimes in, claiming to be a fangirl who isn't like all those other fangirls because she doesn't read porn (except when she does), turns her comment into an anti-rape soapbox, and then finishes the whole thing off by declaring she's off to read Roy-Ed fic.
Kamon points out that yaoi isn't really for boys and includes a picture of real gay men.
Quite frankly, I think some of those girls may have a better understanding of what it is they're watching than you do. [...] So basically, I'm interested to hear what it is you so "deeply understand" about Gravitation...a show which is, quite clearly, a completely unrealistic cheesecake love story for girls.
TeaChan mentions the advantages to large fanbases:
But I figure as long as there is a large fan base for this type of manga I won't have to worry about hunting down titles on ebay, I can just go to the bookstore.
SalarymanJoe tells us why mecha fanboys are superior to yaoi fangirls:
Fights between mecha fans border on the boring and inane; never have I witnessed them ending in fists. I've never seen mecha fanboys pushing each other to the floors so they can get higher dibbs on Master Grade Zeta Gundam Ver. 2. I've never seen anyone in the mecha community brought to tears over someone trashing their favorite mecha series or robot. Mecha fanboys do not run screaming (yes, loud volume tones emitted from thier mouths) through bookstores (well, more like quiet hobby shops) and hotels, no matter thier BAC, about "Master Grade Gyan~!", the "significance of the Macross Valkyrie transformation", or their latest VOTOMS fanfic.
...And it just keeps going from there, including Brokeback Mountain comparisons, the word pretentious, and a discussion on the definition of masculinity. Extra bonus: Naruto vs Cowboy Bebop fight comparison gifs!
