There are two different worlds out there; Real World, and Internet World. I've spent time in both.
Real World is pretty obvious. It's that space we all occupy on the planet Earth. In Real World, we eat, we sleep, we work, we play, we interact with people, and at least at one point, we die. Most people in the world are familiar with Real World, sometimes more than they want to be.
Internet World is that place that can be viewed only with a computer, cell phone, or Xbox Live. Internet World is electronic, and people on Internet World can hide their Real World identities if they so desire. As of right now, you are in Internet World, because you're reading this blog. The moment you veer your eyes away from your monitor, you go back into Real World.
However, I've noticed a bit of disconnect between Real World and Internet World, especially when it comes to my fields of expertise. Like the Final Fantasy games for example.
In Real World, nearly every FF fanatic loves FF7 the most. Every game after that one "sucks", simply in the virtue that they're not FF7. And the games that pre-date FF7? Most of them haven't played those either, because they're "old" games, and they're not FF7 anyways. Trying to find anyone other than myself who's even played FF1 thru 6 is a task in of itself.
In Internet World, however? Seems like everyone outside of GameFAQs hates FF7, and instead praises FF6 instead, because it's supposedly more "hardcore." And . . . then you have guys like me, who think both FF6 and FF7 are overrated, (though only slightly, thankfully) and throw their votes for something like FF9 or FF10 instead.
Now, let's look at anime (since I got Death Note vol. 2 on DVD now).
In Real World, if you bring up the subject of anime, you will likely get one of three reactions, "Huh? There are cartoons from Japan?" "You mean like Dragonball Z?" or "Those shows where everyone has huge round eyes and the English voices are out of sync with the lip movements?" (Luckily, I've never met anybody in person who assumed all anime was "Porn." Might have something to do with the fact that I wasn't a fan back in the early 90's.) If, by chance, you meet someone in Real World who knows that there's more anime in the world than Pokemon, Dragonball, and Spirited Away, chances are very good that person is either: a nerd/otaku, a scholar like myself, or just someone very informed about Japanese pop culture.
In Internet World? Not only does everyone seem to possess the knowledge of those select few in Real World who know a lot about anime, they are also very vicious about their opinions. Saying you like or dislike a series/movie/genre/author could generate a flamewar.
Actually, that's true of everything in Internet World, not just anime. Saying you don't like a certain game, or a certain kind of music, or whatever else could be just the spark to ignite a flamewar.
I read a great truth somewhere earlier this morning, "Merely posting your opinion will offend somebody, and on the internet, you may as well be lobbing grenades from the safety of your anonymity, as if it were your bunker."
Really? So everytime I say, "FUCK SLAYERS!" I'm lobbing an incendiary? Awesome!
And I'm just touching the tip of the iceberg right now. There's a lot more to this subject. I will cover it another day.
