After reading an excerpt of G-Saviour–the B-rate live action Gundam movie–in an article about MS IGLOO in the December 2007 issue of Otaku USA, I thought about making this post on the most annoying fanbases of an anime series, because G-Saviour has gotten a lot of bad publicity because of what it is…A live action adaption of a animated series. The magazine did a good story of the movie and calmly noted that it shouldn’t be pursued by the biggest Gundam fan. I know how hard it is to pull off a live version of a animated franchise (*cough* Dragonball *cough*).

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The latest fandom to hit North America–or shall I say, the world? I’ve watched a few episodes of Haruhi Suzumiya since I wrote it and 4 other series a while back. Haruhi is a bossy girl who only cares about the success of the S.O.S. Brigade and ignores Kyon’s suggestions–or takes them to consideration and twists them a bit. This is just how Haruhi fans act. Whenever I see the eyes of Haruhi, I shudder in horror…

Naruto

I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a long time. Naruto is nothing but fanboys. Ask a fan (usually male) if they like the English dub of the anime. Their reply: “the English dub sucks a$$!” About 80% of the hardcore Naruto fans prefer the Japanese dub. When you ask a fan their favorite character, the likely response would be Sasuke or Gaara. Fans who have Sasuke or Gaara as their favorite character are likely to belittle fans of the “American version” of Naruto.

It seems “casual” fans who have Naruto, Kakashi or Sakura as a favorite prefer the English dub. My favorite character is Kakashi and I find the English dub to be “non-threatening”. However, if you go out to anime conventions and find Naruto cosplayers, they can be nice and honest about their preferences. Actually, I find 70% of convention attendees pretty cool. (I guess I should stop looking on the internet for signs of life…)

Dragonball Z

Just like with any other fandom, there’s heavy debate between the voice actors–but it’s different with the English dub. Many long time fans side with the Ocean Group dub, while newer fans favorite the FUNimation dub. I, for one, prefer the FUNi dub. It was weird hearing different voices from the Ocean dub, but I got used to it pretty fast. Many fans bash Christopher Sabat, the voice actor of Vegeta, for having giving him a “smoker’s voice”, while they prefer Brian Drummond, the original actor of Vegeta–who to me, sounded like a dying snake.

There’s also tons of bashing of Dragonball GT, including the admiration of Broly, the Legendary Super Saiya-jin and Gohan, during the Buu saga. They also don’t like comparing the events of the movies (non-cannon) to the original story (cannon)–with the exception of Broly, who is a movie character. Dragonball Z is actually the “safest” fandom to belong in. You don’t get sworn off as much for liking an “opposite” character, and often the arguments of which character is better can be fun and memorable.

Mobile Suit Gundam

Gundam Wing is the first Gundam series that brought me into the franchise. I own all of the DVDs, volumes 1-10, including Endless Waltz, which I finally purchased several months ago after a re-release under the Anime Classics label from Bandai. A year later, Cartoon Network showed the very first Gundam series in the United States. I fell in love with it, just as I did with Wing.

A couple of years later, I found myself browsing a couple of anime communities that included a Gundam discussion forum. I was open to the horrible truth of Gundam fanboys. They are nothing but a bunch of…well, the next word I’m going to use is obvious, if you read some of my posts of “Otakuism” in the US–and on forums, but you could say that the obsession of Gundam is just as bad as a conflict between a Star Trek and Star Wars fan. The majority of Gundam otaku I met are Zeon supporters. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

The Way of the World?

After writing this, I think that just about every fandom has their own reactions to certain things. The “safest” fandom I’ve ever been in is Bleach and Dragonball. But definitely the most annoying is Naruto and Gundam. Why I’m a fan of these shows is beyond me, but I guess with my composure, I make up the 1% of the sane fans…