Examining Anime
Theme Song Begins
I met Nafis in the Cohen Library on a weekday evening to conduct the interview. I was surprised as I entered the floor to immediately be met with his low voice behind me. We walked through the hum of chatter from the crowded tables exchanging pleasantries, his dark brown hair slightly hanging over his eyes, and glasses perched framing his face. He wore a black hoodie with headphones with black satin bomber paired with joggers. I noticed the number of dark items worn but, it was not at all different from what I had usually seen him wear in class. We settled on a wooden table away from the noisier crowd of students. He sat upright, with a relaxed posture, waiting as I prepared my materials to ask him about the subculture he had chosen to be interviewed about, being an anime fan.
I’ve only known Nafis a short time limited to speaking group settings in our Writing in the Social Sciences class before this interview. He leaned back on the chair, headphones still in while I fumbled with the audio recorder. Although I have watched several animes in the past, it had been a long while since I had watched one. In preparation for the interview, I reviewed some of the basics on the subject as well as had a conversation with a friend who introduced several individuals to anime, myself included.
Anime 101
I asked Nafis to describe his introduction to anime as I took notes on his physical appearance. He maintained eye contact throughout the interview in a manner that was unanticipated. I had relayed my assumption that if someone has hair slightly covering their eye, the conclusion drawn is that they are shy and therefore may struggle with eye contact. Nafis’ eye contact only wavered when thinking hard on an answer. He spoke in a slightly more expressive manner in describing his trips to the library in an elementary school in which he would take out anime DVDs. In his youth, he was unaware of the title of the shows he watched that he later came to know as anime, Japanese cartoons. His friend informed him of the name as he said “ one day one of my friends was like yeah… so the thing your watching? It’s anime and there are a bunch of genres”. I was surprised at the young age at which he began watching anime but he explained that he doesn’t consider his experience unique.
Eloquent Shows and The (Kinda) Legal Way to Watch Them
Nafis explained that shows such as Dragon Ball Z and Naruto often act as the introduction to many anime fans including himself and his friends. When asked about an anime that influenced him gravely, he describes his experience learning about determination in the face of strife through the coming of age story of an orphan, in Dragon Ball Z. He spoke with slightly more conviction, emphasizing the significance of the principles bestowed upon him in Dragon Ball Z. Although I grew up around cousins that watched Dragon Ball Z, I dismissed it as a show about aimless fighting. I nodded as he spoke, taking note of my surprise in having heard Nafis express the profound influence that the anime throughout childhood had on establishing the values. Although he began with these DVDs, he, like many anime fans, often uses streaming services such as Netflix as well as anime-only subscription services such as Crunchyroll. The legality of some of these sites that provide anime is complicated. Some of the subscription services are legal while others are not. Nafis recalls the irony of the habits of these sites in stating “ It’s actually like a funny story. This one illegal site, just that says, we’ll ban you if you start using ad blocker, even though their illegal sites.” He speaks with a slight accent, rolling certain syllables with a rhythm unique to New Yorkers. It takes a few listens to the audio file and checking my notes to determine certain words he says between his low voice and occasional mumbling.
Regarding Anime in 2019
When I inquired about the reception of him being an anime fan, he explained the sense of familiarity with anime in his small high school, New Vision Charter Highschool in the Bronx, which is an experience he acknowledges not all anime fans have had.
“ And even then with my… with my high school it’s like you would find a lot of people that know anime, are cool with anime and even watch anime. So it’s like they didn’t really judge. Especially like my high school was small, I think it was like a hundred people and everybody knew everybody. Everybody was cool with everybody. So there was no judgment between people.”. When he says it’s, the “t” is barely audible, sounding like “is” instead and “everybody” is pronounced with a muffled crescendo into the last syllable. I had previously heard individuals typically older than twenty, complain about being bullied for watching anime. Although Nafis mentions that his experience is not the universal one of all anime fans, the experience of acceptance is a narrative I believe will persist as anime continues to reach a diverse audience.
I asked Nafis to contrast the reception of anime in the United States in comparison to Japan and he emphasized that in Japan there was a stigma associated with it, that is not as prevalent in the U.S. This same sentiment is expressed when he clears up some of my misconceptions about the term okatu. An okatu is a fan of something, associated with the term “geek” in Japan yet, reclaimed in the U.S with a positive connotation. In generally pointing out the difference between American cartoons and anime, he highlights America’s consensus that cartoons are for children, with a few exceptions with popular series such as Family Guy. Anime is more diverse than American cartoons with hundreds of series dedicated to children whilst having a similar number in shows with adult themes.
He mentioned a specific show, Steinsgate, and described the experience of being utterly confused due to his age upon initially watching the show. “It’s like, um, it talks about a lot about time travel and if a kid saw it, he would be really confused. Ended up rewatching it cause when I watched it as a kid, I was like, what the fuck is going on?”. I laughed at his candid nature and noted the way he often spoke including a “right?” at the end of a statement to ensure I was engaged. The interview was able to seem less formal due to his sense of humor and friendly demeanor. In high school during ninth and tenth grade, he mainly watched action animes but as he grew older, he expanded his selection. Moving on to comedy, then romance upon his cousin’s suggestion, learning to admire mysteries and also enjoying a genre titled “slice of life” that concerns itself with everyday life that I had never heard of prior to the interview.
The Evolution
Curious about the future he hoped for anime, I asked Nafis if there were certain plots and themes he was interested to see addressed. He explained that newer animes have worked on creating positive representations of women as well as raising awareness around issues such as sexual assault. Nafis speaks highly of the experience of watching shows that address social issues while maintaining that the more mindless or childish shows remain valid content. We agree that the balance is needed in watching animes, especially due to the rather dark themes addressed in some dramas. He mentions a show that takes place in the 1960s in which a boy is bought by a gang leader. I was stunned when I heard the word “bought” and asked for clarification.
While we left the library, we continued our conversation about anime and its purpose. Nafis describes that all in all, he watches it for entertainment, that although analyzing plots can be interesting, it can be too much at times. Certain assumptions made about the reception in anime remains more nuanced than I had initially thought. In hearing Nafis speak eloquently about his experiences watching anime, my interest was peaked to dive back into the genre.
Reflection
I was acting as the informant before conducting my own interview. In being interviewed, I was able to see an example of the flow and structure required. I realized that I tend to answer a question in several ways that often get long winded. As I prepared to interview my own informant, I was a bit worried about taking notes and being engaged in the conversation. The organic flow of conversation was an aspect of the interview I was most grateful for while being an informant. In conducting the interview, I found that the questions I believed would spark more information did not always work as I imagined. Although I initially felt as though my notes were not as thorough as need be, the creation of a transcript provided certain details I was unable to jot down. Despite ethnography featuring styles of writing, I am familiar with, throughout my first draft I struggled in self-positioning as well as providing analysis. The narrative, analytic and descriptive writing present in ethnography allows it to act as a means of capturing the essence of an individual. This capturing of “essence” was an endeavor that I continued to lace throughout the paper after several edits.
In reviewing Jheanelle’s interview paper, I was able to discern the assignment’s goals and a shining exemplar of how to fulfill them. Jheanelle’s paper’s clear self-positioning, thorough analysis and ability to locate her informant in the midst of her subculture told in such a refreshingly engaging manner allowed me to devise an editing plan. The social aspect of editing my interview paper was an incredibly useful tool in reviewing my paper. In my meeting with Professor Yankwitt, I was able to gain clarification about discerning information worth including and was pointed to FieldWorking: Reading and Writing Research. The textbook provided a useful guide in recognizing the important topics addressed in the interview that should, therefore, be addressed in the paper.
Although ethnography as a genre with its own set of particular style was addressed in class repeatedly, I found it especially helpful to hear Sabrina prompt my group with the styles of writing present. In the final edits of my essay, it was useful to remember the narrative, descriptive and analytic writing style that must culminate to capture a portrait of your informant and their subculture. The process of drafting the interview essay was not as strenuous as I feared it would be due to my experience as being a City Tutor. I was able to better recognize issues in my own writing due to my experience editing other individual’s essays written in the social sciences. Passive voice misuse, improper grammar in compound-complex sentences, poor word choice and concision were issues I fixated on while editing. In spite of my qualms that there is not a clear thesis present throughout my interview essay, the story of my informant’s connection to his subculture is chronicled in accordance with the stylings of an ethnography.
Notes
Writing for the Social Sciences Final Portfolio 