The people I know who assossiate Japan to Anime is basically most of the entirety of my Japanese class. They all pour over the comic books and bring them to class and discuss them and even now a girl's bid to our teacher to watch some anime movie about a magical cat thing (by Miyazaki) won over my offer to my teacher to watch a movie that would actually be interesting and entertaining from Japan that's not anime (My two bids were the comedy "Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust" (Click here for trailer) and "The Sinking of Japan" (trailer here)) And I actually bought my movies, too. I didn't pirate them :|

And another example would be when I told my coach one day that I was going to go to Japan for a year and he was like "I didn't know you liked anime that much". Uhh, coach? I don't even like it to the smallest extent?

Or my parents will be like "Hey, Colin. Theres this new anime movie coming out are you getting excited for it?".

And no, I don't find anything specifically wrong about Anime/Manga, and it's not the actual shows themselves that bug me, its the craze over them.

Your Japanese class must be full of otaku's. Maybe where you live is aswell. Maybe just a bunch of anime fans. If someone like a coach would be saying something about you liking anime just because your going to Japan must mean that he knows or has a kid who has interests in Japan and anime. Just what I think. Personally, I do like anime and I seem to run into it in Japan more often than I expect. Of course that ain't the reason. I'm really amused by the life style in Japan. Their culture and festivals. The random happy faces you would see in like many instruction manuals. I myself don't get any weird reactions about people telling me I like anime just because I was in Japan. So I don't know, there was maybe a bunch of popular kids were you lived and they liked anime so others carried on that fandom.

I don't think it has anything to do with popular kids.

And my coach does not have kids.

I mean, it's happening all over the US/world. Cartoon network began playing some anime and then it sprang on over to, for example, Scifi network, and then there was it's own network for it (animax). And I know it's still spreading. I saw brand new bookstores when I was in France that sold only manga books and then I know that this year they had their first Anime convention in Norway and all sorts of other fun stuff like that.

And what is it that attracts so many to anime?

For one, anime is big in Japan. Most likely bigger than any other country out there. You see so much of it all over the internet and everyone knows of it. So I could see why people would automatically think "ANIME!" as soon as someone mentioned Japan.

Of course its biggest in Japan, I just wish it wasn't the FIRST thing they thought of when it came to Japan.

By the way, did anyone else notice the website description of this forum? "Japanforum: Pop culture, Anime, and life"?

It says anime in it to attract otaku. And I can understand what you mean. I lived in Okinawa for a bit, & Anime isn't the first thing I think of. I love japan because it's loud and fun, and an adventure!

For many people I suppose their only exposure to Japan might be anime, as it is shown on TV in the US. Where I live, on the West Coast of the US, we have Japanese supermarkets and bookstores and video rental shops and tons of restaurants, so maybe people here are a little more exposed to other aspects of the culture.

Any Japanese class is filled with Otakus, no matter the level of the course. Apparently, learning the language they're speaking in is considered cool in anime neard social circles.Not really. Cartoons over here is anime over there. Comics here is manga there. Striking up a conversation about anime with anyone won't land you on an awesome persons list anytime soon: you're talking about cartoons. Imagine people here talking about Spongebob, Blue's Clues, Dora, and lord knows what other cartoons are on television today as if it were a common conversation to have.

One of the many reasons why I facepalm myself when I see people wanting to become Mangakans, or whatever the hell they're called, because they think they'll be amazingly popular over there.

-_- First off, I've met plenty of people from Japan that are just as obsessed with cartoons and comics/anime and manga as a lot of the people in the rest of the world to whom you're referring. I think a large part of the reason that it seems like a lot of people in the US are obsessed with anime and manga is because they make up a good portion of the available cartoons and comics. People like cartoon series because they're not held by the same restrictions as live-action shows. Look at the popularity of Family Guy, The Simpsons, etc. Those aren't anime, but they're liked by a lot of the same people that like anime. For many, it's not that it's anime from Japan, it's that it's cartoons that have substance.

As for manga, comics have always been popular in the US, but most of the US-created ones are phasing out. People are bored with the same old superheroes and Archie comics. But wow, look at all those Japanese comics! There's so many!

As for people thinking that anime = Japan, I don't meet many of those people. And when I do, they're the same people that think The O.C. = California. They're idiots, and you'll find them within groups of people that like anything.

I have to agree with you there