sasuraiger

Dave

@sasuraiger

going your days grow up

Enthusiast and gamesofter. Writer. Creator of @Kawaiikochans.

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sasuraiger
@sasuraiger
sasuraiger
@sasuraiger
sasuraiger
@sasuraiger

Otaku Oppression in 2023

...sounds kind of absurd. Magical Destroyers is a new anime TV series whose first episode aired just hours ago. My eye was caught when I saw the experimental, slick, fuck-you opening animation on YT via a friend: whatever these people were making I needed to see.

So I'm a little disappointed it's a story about a dystopian future in which nerd activities and goods are outlawed and otaku are imprisoned in camps. I mean, otaku persecution? In this day and age? Is that even a subject anymore? Would the idea even enter a zoomer weeb's head?

*I know this is an American POV but like, did you hear about how the latest volume of SpyXFamily is the number one book in the country?!

Rumble Garandoll did this exact same storyline two years ago, and it felt a generation dated then. The idea of nerds as some oppressed underclass ignores the present situation: our domination of every corner of the culture. It's not something I've bought into for at least a decade now.

It's not that I think the oppression narrative is presented as plausible-- of course not, it's fantasy-- it's that it doesn't even feel representative. There's a shoujo manga right now where the hot guy is a pro gamer.

The art and animation are really cool, and I feel a certain passion from this production, but the episode itself was a chore. Maybe it'll become fun. But I said that about Rumble Garandoll.

sasuraiger
@sasuraiger

So with the second episode this has gone from "isn't this a little overdone?" to "this is the sleeper hit of the season". The promise of that bizarre opening has arrived.

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Hydra-Savior
@Hydra-Savior

Respectfully, I disagree with you.

There is a huge disconnect between pop culture and the concept of acceptance. Just because Star Wars movies make a bajillion dollars at theaters doesn't mean your generic quasi-autistic nerd doesn't still have nightmares about getting stuffed into lockers because they cared too much, and too openly, about their hobby.

I haven't seen the anime, as it is probably trash, but I believe what they're going for is symbolic. Symbolic of the fact that, yeah, otaku/geek/nerd culture is popular, but otaku/geeks/nerds themselves are not. In general society, "too much" intelligence and "too much" knowledge about a subject are still held in disdain.

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NotMiki
@NotMiki

I have a vague idea that the entire NFT/crypto debacle is based in the insecurity of people who would be gamers except that they think that successful people look down on gamers. So they get hooked on a kind of gaming that lets them feel like they are being productive and are the real successful people. That couldn't happen without some real deep-seated shame in the idea of wasting time on allegedly nerdy hobbies.

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Hydra-Savior
@Hydra-Savior

I'd never thought of NFT/crypto in that light before. I think your point is well-founded. I can absolutely see people still carrying the scars of childhood who want to engage in their passion for a nerdy hobby, but needing that excuse of "it's got real, financial value (citation needed)!" to stave off the feeling that what they're doing is Gaming, Actually.

I always remember a quote from Roger Ebert that went something like "you can play a video game as a hobby, but what do you gain from it?" I suppose he was comparing video games to, say, learning a musical instrument, where you have a skill that has recognized historical value. But there's a lot of kids pressured into music that don't appreciate the creation side of things, their parents just wanted them to play the piano, and they grow to loathe it. Meanwhile, Roger Ebert was enjoying movies, which isn't too dissimilar from enjoying video games. Ebert never asked himself "but what do you gain from watching Jurassic Park: The Lost World."

The longer I've been alive, the more I appreciate the idea that anything can be someone's obsession, and these hobbies give us meaning in an oft meaninglessly tragic world.

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sasuraiger
@sasuraiger

I've actually had this conversation irl with a guy who had gotten rich on a chance crypto investment and thus was all in on NFT. Once our nerd shields were all down it was "I love games too! I'm a FFVI kid! All I'm saying is why can't it work for us"-- but when you know games well enough you know that "have fun with video games" and "video games working for you to create value on cash investment" are mutually exclusive.

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