Aikatsu Stars! – 082

Cultural appropriation? No, it’s Hime Curry!

This was a fun and lovely episode. Also pretty cool since a long-time Aikatsu staffer wrote their very first script. Next week may or may not be late due to me being away for the holiday.

Episode 082: Torrent | Magnet

7 thoughts on “Aikatsu Stars! – 082

  1. What do you think about weeaboos?
    I don’t know why people hate weeaboo, mainly Americans since they invented this term. So many people even don’t know about weeaboo here in U.K.
    Individual can become fan of anything he/she want.
    Can we also say majority of Indians are weeaboos since they consider english is more superior as compare to their regional languages like Hindi, Tamil, Bengali etc.
    or girl who are obsessed with Justin Bieber.
    Or one of my classmate who love One Direction. Even she have a diary in which you can find images of One Direction band.
    I heard that if you go to conventions or do cosplay then you are a weeaboo.
    Some have enormous capacity to attract while others to distract.
    If Japanese culture make people obsessive then what’s people problem?
    I request Americans who are still under this thing that weeaboos and anime is trash. You brought hagemony on this world.
    I don’t hate Americans, but I do dislike those Americans who used to watch anime and after sometime they stopped watching too much because of the fear of being called a weeaboo by others.
    I respect you Akatsukin a lot and I hope you can explain this.
    Thank you

    • I don’t think “weeaboo” really has anything to do with necessarily being obsessed with anime and the culture, I think it has to do with the way they do it.

      Typically the example given would be the kind of person that goes “Hello my name is Neko desu nya . I am Kawaii =^_^=” something like that. You can speak Japanese and not…be like that lol You can be obsessed with anime and not be a weeaboo. In any sort of fandom it’s always the extremes that make the rest look bad, but it’s not the norm.

    • Hi there, I’d be happy to give my opinion. Full disclaimer: I’m American.

      Way back in the day, the word for people who idolized Japan was Japanophile. It was only due to the appropriation of a silly webcomic that the term was born and somehow applied to the same people. However, weeaboo does not simply mean someone who likes anime; it refers to a person who develops a skewed version of what real world Japan is and begins to idolize it. I don’t mean just in the samurai or ninja kind of way either, but the rooftop confessions, the fun life-changing afterschool clubs, the sense of wonder and adventure inherent to many anime. Weeaboos are the people who say “kawaii” and “desu” without knowing any other Japanese. And in some cases they’re the people wearing ninja headbands and running with their hands thrown back.

      Weeaboo is distinct from otaku, a Japanese word itself that has changed from its original meaning. Otaku over there basically just means “nerd”; there can be train otaku, historical drama otaku, stamp otaku… however, when said without a specifier it generally means anime/manga otaku by default. Although some English speakers feel that this is a term of derision, I have it on good authority (my Japanese teachers from Japan) that it is not. I prefer using otaku myself, partially because it sounds nicer and contains all the meaning it needs (note: using otaku may be seen as being weeaboo).

      So, basically, weeaboo is the insulting form of calling someone a Japanophile due to a love of anime without the requisite background in modern Japanese culture or language. Gaining this knowledge or visiting Japan dispels you of the term. There’s also a backwards version called westaboo, which is when a Japanese person idolizes America or England based on our movies or TV shows, but that’s a different story. I hope this helped.

      P.S. My time studying in Japan was exactly like an anime with me as the protagonist, but only because I made it that way. It was a very fulfilling experience. This may not hold true for everyone, but I still recommend it.

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