Everything I Know About Asia I Learned From Anime

Konichiwa, everyone!

I want to talk a little bit about the stereotypes I came to Asia with. You know, most of what I learned about the Asian culture I got from Japanese anime (short for animation). Japanese anime includes shows like Sailor Moon (which every little girl watched when we were younger). And you all remember the Pokemon craze in the 90s, when we were all trading the Pokemon cards and watching the TV shows and playing the video games (I LOVED Pokemon Snap!). Dragonball Z, which was huge when we were kids, is also considered anime (I remember Dragonball Z mock fights were banned when my little sister was in elementary school).

Really, Americans don’t have many other sources of media that show what Asia is really like. Like so many others, my image of Asia before coming here was influenced heavily by anime, as well as a few badly-dubbed martial arts films from Blockbuster. Below I listed a “fact vs. fiction” list, so maybe we can quash some of these Asian stereotypes we all have.

Fact:

-Face masks: You know those greenish medical face masks that surgeons wear? Well, you often see them in anime when people are ill and don’t want to spread their germs OR so they don’t get affected by allergies from the spring air. Guess what? They really do wear them here! I see them all the time on the locals. I’ve especially seen them at the airports on almost all security personnel, especially since there is such a heightened security since the swine flu outbreak. Face masks are here to stay!

-Sailor suits: Not only do you see the Japanese school-girl outfits in Sailor Moon, but you also see them on school-aged girls in most other animes. This stereotype is true! All students from elementary through high school wear the Catholic uniform. However, they are less “sailor-style,” at least here in China, and they are worn very loosely on the body. They also all have track suits for gym class, or for when it is very cold outside.

-Rice: Yes, rice and/or noodles are eaten at every meal WITH chopsticks. That is, unless you go out to eat at a Western-style restaurant. But even at the McDonald’s here you can find a red bean-curd pastry and sweet-and-sour sauce for the chicken nuggets. (You can find rice cookers in every appliance store!)

-Peace Sign: Yeah, they make the peace sign with their fingers in all the photographs, even in real life. I'm still not really sure what it means. They also insult each other by pulling down one of their eyelids and sticking out their tongue, just like in anime. It's much more tasteful than flipping someone the finger.


Fiction:

-Studious Asians: Okay, you don’t even have to watch anime to have this stereotype. In the US, Asians are seen as super-geniuses that know everything about engineering and computer science and all that. If they’re not getting straight A’s in school, they couldn’t possibly be hard-working or smart enough to be Asian. THIS IS FALSE!!! Asian students are no different from American students. Some of them are hard-working, some are smart, some are lazy slackers, and some try really hard but just can’t seem to get it. Asian students come in all skill levels when it comes to academics.

-Gender Roles: In anime, girls are usually very girly (or sexy) and always need rescuing. Men are usually very masculine and are always saving the day with their muscles or awesome samurai sword-wielding skills. Even if you don’t watch anime, we have this idea that women aren’t treated as well in non-European/American cultures. This is FALSE. Women are just as respected here as in America. And you find all types of people that blur the gender roles, like feminine boys or tomboy girls. It’s not just one extreme or the other.

-Godzilla: He may have been storming Tokyo, but I have yet to see him here in Macau or Hong Kong. :)

Much love,
Kati

P.S. If you have any Asian stereotypes you’d like confirmed or invalidated, just shoot me a message! I’d love to answer your questions, and I’d also like to hear from everyone who’s keeping up with my blog!