Anna Dunn (left), Becca Dunn (center) and Jillian Sopczak (right) cosplaying variants of Scout from the video game Team Fortress 2 in 2017
Over the years, we have witnessed kids or young adults doing cringe impersonations of strange characters on social media or known someone notorious for obsessing over certain characters to the extreme. With the rise in popularity that anime has had over the last decade or so, it’s not even surprising anymore to hear complaints when someone’s eyes had been damaged by the sight of characters with abhorrently large, sparkly eyes and unnaturally colored and gravity defying hair.
In these cases, you might just be dealing with a Weeaboo (weeb for short), and no, you will not be compensated for their transgressions.
I have a complex relationship with weeb culture. On one hand, I see the weird things that it brings, the odd trends and behaviors that come from watching excessive amounts of anime. On the other hand, I am also a weeb, and have been for over a decade, so I might be a little biased when I say that weeb culture isn’t as bad as it’s portrayed.
Anime was a huge part of growing up for me, with many of my friends and I watching shows together and going to anime conventions in cosplay. To this day I credit this community for impacting my life in beneficial ways. Weeb culture is daunting when viewed upon by the uninitiated, however, by taking a deeper look with an open mind to the initial strangeness, you can find some of the most accepting and fun people to have ever graced this earth.
Weeb culture centers around the love for Japanese animated media, and that extends into sharing that love through conventions. When you walk into one of these places, it’s like getting slapped in the face with glitter laced with LSD. Everyone is in a good mood, laughing and having fun, with many dressed up and acting as their favorite characters.
Many of these people, like me, were the weird kids. As a result, these can be some of the most accepting and welcoming places, especially to those who are looking for a place to belong. We just so happen to be a bit on the eccentric and cringe side when it comes to the way we present ourselves but we can’t be bothered to hide it.
This results in those goofy dances, impersonations of cringe characters and spending a ton of money on anime merch that we probably don’t need. But hey, if you want to use your money to buy overpriced Taylor Swift merch, then I can buy an overpriced life sized Pikachu plushie.
Like all communities, there are going to be a population of creeps, crazies and fanatics. It just so happens that with weeb culture already being weird, this population is often mistaken for the majority. Trust me, we watch these individuals like they’re in a nature documentary as well, it’s just a shame that these vocal minorities make the rest of us look more insane than we already are.
While I know that my people can be cringe, goofy and definitely weird, we’re only here to have a good time and appreciate an art form that can take any form imaginable, something that has introduced us to cultures and media from a different place in the world and allowed us to build a community that is uniquely us.