Who are these fine people? These are Hange Zoe and Levi Ackerman, the most adorable couple from the most amazing anime ever, Attack on Titan. No, they’re not a canon couple, but no one can deny that they belong together. This is called shipping, my friends.
For those of you who don’t know, anime is a genre of Japanese animated productions, from movies to TV shows, that are hand-drawn or animated via computer. The word “anime” itself is simply a shortened form of “animation” in Japanese. While anime itself is, technically, a genre of shows and movies, that doesn't mean all anime is the same. Some are dramas, some are adventures, some are sci-fi… You get the picture. Anime can be about anything.
If there’s one word to describe anime culture, it’s without doubt “fandom”. “Fandom” describes the fan-base of anything, fact or fiction. Fandoms don’t just watch and talk about their given drug, however--they create fanart, fanfiction, cosplay characters, and the like. Above all, they ship. Think of “ship” as short for “relationship”. To ship something is to pair it with something else, usually in a romantic--and often canonically impossible--way. Not that Levi and Hanji are canonically impossible, just unlikely.
There’s another level of shipping: OTP. OTP stands for One True Pairing, denoting your favorite ship in a fandom. You can only have a single OTP per fandom--it’s the favorite, after all. It’s different for everyone. There’s no “official OTP”. There might be fanservice (official artists and animators playing to the desires of a section of the fandom) for a particular ship, but that doesn't make it the “official” ship.
Despite the passion and compassion inherent to many fandoms, there seems to be something of a social stigma against those who are most outgoing about their love for anime. The question is this: How did anime acquire such a label? Perhaps it is that, in the end, anime is taking over the media scene of the younger generation, and it is not of American origin. It’s different--its style, storytelling, and continuity. Anime is fast-paced, often violent, and unforgiving. It doesn’t hold back any emotion, and can get to you if you let it. That said, there are few things more inspiring and more amusing than anime, and everything that comes with it.
Totally true~ Anime is life.
ReplyDeleteI love anime! Attack of the Titan is really well done and I can't wait for season two. However, I disagree with you on one thing which is that anime is often violent and unforgiving. I watch a lot of shojo anime as well as various other genres but not all of them are violent.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's really just my personal experience, as usual. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and I probably shouldn't have made such a sweeping generalization, but there it is. Glad we both agree on something, though. Yay for SnK!
DeleteI like how you add humor and define things like "shipping" and "fandom" because I could still relate even though I don't watch anime.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! I'm pretty sure this is directed toward me as I am an anime novice and need help! haha great job explaining! I finally know a little more of what you talk about in class!
ReplyDeleteIt never occurred to me that 'anime' came from 'animation'... it all makes so much more sense now.
ReplyDeleteBeing a rabid fan girl and shipping OTPs is one of the only things I do with my free time. Thanks for writing this.
ReplyDeleteI finally understand the world of anime! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your concluding argument Ethan! I'm also a fan of anime and I loved Attack on Titan. Anime really does have much more depth than people give it credit for and it's a shame that it's somehow recieved an almost negative connotation in society in some parts of the world.
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