Hot Take: It Sucks That OG Anime Fans Are Gatekept By Anime Tourists

There was a time when loving anime means hunting for 360p fansubs on forums that are too weird to be in. There was a time when loving anime means you can't say your favorite shows in middle school and/or high school without being made fun of or called names in your school. There was a time where you find your own spot to read the latest manga volume and hide it in your backpack when someone goes near you.

I remember the times where I watched Naruto and Pokémon when I was in elementary school, and I wanted to showcase my love for it in my elementary school classmates. It was even my first time trying to write in Japanese. It was an immediate bad idea on both ends... Getting roasted by the guys and the girls would distance themselves for me because I like anime.

That's why I can relate to a lot of OG anime fans that had to deal with being ostracized from their peers; however, they built the anime community out of pure passion when the Western world treated Japanese animation like a weird, obscure niche.

Back in the early and mid 2000s was a scarring sacrifice for them because they have to subsidize their love for anime just to be accepted in society.

Fast forward to today, and anime that was once a weird and obscure niche to be in turned into a dominant force in mainstream pop culture. Everyone cosplays as their favorite anime character, conventions beating records in attendance, and just anime in general became a popular pop culture thing people love to do.

However, the explosion of popularity comes to a cost where I somewhat expected: "anime tourists". If you don't know what anime tourists are, they are the people that just hopped on the anime train when people watched it when the COVID lockdowns happened in 2020.

My overall take of it is this: anime tourists who hopped one the trend during the lockdowns are now trying to dictate how the anime culture should operate, and here's why it sucks.

Reason #1: Sanitization of Anime Culture

One of the biggest issues anime tourists taking over the mainstream conversation is their obsession with sanitizing complex storytelling.

Which in translation means removing or softening up elements in anime and manga such as edgy humor, extreme violence and gore, sexual themes, etc.

The reason for that is it can make anime more digestible, family-friendly, or politically acceptable to broader (often Western) audiences.

There are tons of examples where anime tourists tend to boycott shows or harass fans on social media platforms (mostly on X) over fictional depictions of age-gaps, edgy themes, or morally messed up protagonists that ruined the stereotypes of protagonists are the ones that saved the day.

My best example is Kei Urana, the author of Gachiakuta, having to delete (or deactivate) her X account because of her accusations of being racist by not having some of the characters being voiced as a black person. Which it's borderline impossible because there are not a lot of black people that can speak fluent Japanese.

Now I know what you're thinking as well:

Well, Western broadcasting shows done the same thing. How is it different when they do it when those "anime tourists" do it?

Western broadcasting stations do sanitize anime as well, but there's a difference on how they do it and how the anime tourists do it. 

I remember when I was a kid on moments such as Pokémon that certain episodes were either being cut, altered, or just downright banned and shouldn't be aired again because of how it would portray to kids.

You know how awkward it'll be to show kids the Sailor Moon characters of Uranus and Neptune are not cousins but in a romantic relationship? Or when Ash from Pokémon having a gun pointed at his face?

The difference between how Western broadcasters do it and how anime tourists do it is broadcasters at least cut something off that would be weird for kids to learn, and they want something foreign to fit into American kids on Saturday morning television.

Whereas, for anime tourists, they want to blame the author directly on something they personally don't like rather than just not watch the TV show and move on to their lives.

New, casual viewers attempting to "cancel" or tone-police series that don't fit their narratives would hurt anime in the short-term and long-term.

Reason #2: Aesthetic Hopping Without Deep Respect

For many people that hop on trends, anime isn't really a passion for them--it's an aesthetic accessory. They'll wear a trendy character shirt because they've seen it on TikTok or it looks cool overall.

If that's the case, I don't really mind at all. If you like the character and you think it's a cool shirt, then I'm happy for you.

Yet, they're the same people that turn around and judge OG fans for knowing the deep lore, collecting huge amounts of manga books, or attending conventions. As a matter of fact, they don't want to have a good time in a convention unless it's something for their personal or financial gain.

For example, it reminds me of the people that would never touch a Pokémon trading card at Walmart or on GameStop back in the mid 2000s. All of a sudden, nowadays because the trading cards have monetary values, the same people that don't want to touch the cards are now trying to hoard and scalp the cards from OG fans and kids to get a small profit.

Or another example I would say is celebrities (traditional and internet) that only know the mainstream anime series such as Naruto, ONE PIECE, or Dragon Ball. Yet, if a die-hard anime fan recommends an anime series Baka and Test, then it's considered to being a try-hard to fit in.

 Remember how tons of celebrities trying to promote the live-action of ONE PIECE, and the moment they get caught by it, they try to list the mainstream anime series they've watched in their lives to "solidify" on them being anime fans?

This problem creates a hypocritical environment where casuals get to profit off the clout of "being into anime," while shaming the core fanbase who actually invested deeply in anime for decades of genuine love and financial support into keeping the industry afloat.

Reason #3: Reclaiming Gatekeeping vs Gatekeeping Toxicity

The word gatekeeping itself gets a bad reputation online, but there's a huge difference between normal gatekeeping and toxic gatekeeping.

Yes, I can understand that toxic gatekeeping can be a two way street from the OGs and the newbies, but at the same notion, there is a decent explanation as to why OGs tend to gatekeep anime.

Normal gatekeeping is used to preserve the soul of the subculture. They want to protect something they created for a long time and don't want it completely changed from someone that never understood their point-of-view. 

Anime tourists would gatekeep for three reasons:

1. Shame Campaigning: Being "morally superior" and police an anime series that many people like. 'If you like this particular anime, you're this and that and you shouldn't be allowed to be in our space.'
2. Purity Test: Japanese anime must conform to Western political standards to be valid. 'If you like this Japanese cultural context, you're being problematic'
3. Invader Gatekeeping: Redefining what anime community supposed to be and trying to erase tons of history and write them off as weird or cringe. 'Demanding the subculture to adapt to their needs.'

That's why OG anime fans needs a lot more respect from the average fan. They do welcome anyone that want to learn about anime, respecting the creators, and exploring new genres outside of mainstream.

However, they know who they are and want to stand their ground to preserve on what they have in their life. They shouldn't have to apologize for protecting the community they created and build before it gotten popular.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, anime's global expansion is a double-edged sword to deal with. Yes, the higher budgets and wider access are incredible to have, but the real ones shouldn't have to deal with trend-hoppers bending the rules and culture to fit their needs. 

If it does, then the core audience would be pushed out for them, and we'll miss something that gives us life.

If you're an OG fan who feels like you're being priced or talked out of your own subculture, remember this: trends fade, but genuine passion lasts forever.

What do you think? Has the anime tourists ruined community spaces, or gatekeeping is a bad thing to deal with? 

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