Anime was, for me, an accidental thing. As a child, I just knew that there were some cartoons I greatly preferred over others, and I couldn’t say just why I liked them better. There was something about the way things looked, the way they moved, the way the story was told…there was just something there that caught and held my attention and set my imagination afire. It took me until I was twelve years old to realize that my preferred animated shows not only had something in common, but that there was actually a name for them as a group, and they were made in a specific country I’d barely heard of at the time. Japanese cartoons, who woulda thunk? Armed with this new knowledge of ‘anime’, I began to seek it out. This was back in the dark ages when you had to WORK AND SUFFER for your anime. (UPHILL IN THE SNOW, DAGNABBIT!!) It was scarce and obscure, one had to enunciate carefully to baffled store owners and come up with creative ways to describe what you were looking for or wanted them to order. Precious few stores carried it regularly, and what they did have was a very limited selection, and without the internet or any other source to rely on for information, one had to purchase these often bogglingly expensive tapes based solely on cover art, a hit and miss venture at best…and at worst, well…

…that is a sordid little tale of my youth for another time.

(I hear now that back in The Day, some people had actual anime groups who would get or make VHS fansubs, but I lived in a small town in a sparsely populated state, I think I was one of maybe three people for two hundred miles who knew what anime was, and the other two’s knowledge ended with Voltron anyway. No group for me, I was on my own.)

Nowadays, of course, anime is everywhere. It’s popular and easily available. Even Wal-Mart carries anime, yikes. This is a mixed blessing. I and my ilk no longer have to go on arduous treks through all the rings of Hell to get our hands on it, and the selection is something I myself at least never thought would ever be possible stateside. On the other hand, we have to put up with the hordes of trendmonkies who are into anime and manga only because it’s hot right now and because some of the shows/comics make their parents and teachers upset. Some of these kids will actually continue to love anime for the rest of their lives, as they are into it because they genuinely LIKE it. The bulk majority, however, will discard it as soon as it becomes labeled strictly a ‘nerd’ thing again, or something shinier just comes along. More power to ‘em.

It might be the aforementioned trendmonkies that are the root cause of the hostility I’ve been seeing towards anime-style artists here. Many of the people who decide to draw in this style are young and immature, and a depressing number of them are responsible for a very large chunk of policy violations involving copyright infringements, making them a headache for mods and true artists alike. I hate them as much as anyone else, I assure you.

HOWEVER.

Not everyone who likes and is influenced by anime and manga is an immature, uncreative, grammatically incompetent little jackass who only draws anime for the attention it gets them. This is the end point I’m trying to make. Some of us are just as inspired and creative about what we do as any other artist in any other style.

Before I joined DA, it’d never occurred to me that someone might not see anime or manga style artwork as…not artwork. It’s a strange concept that’s taken a little time to wrap my head around. I’ve seen it labeled as cheap and uninspired. Even before I knew what it was, anime influenced my art and writing. I am truly passionate about the style and the dramatic elements inherent in it, though I do try to maintain my own unique style within. (This should be true for everyone, whether your artwork is influenced by anime or the Renaissance Masters, I don’t care.)

Everyone who creates with true passion does so because they are moved, because something has influenced them on a personal and meaningful level. For some of us, this is anime. For others, it may have been something different. You others…lease don’t pass judgment so lightly and dismiss us for worthless. After all, someone may not think photography is art, or abstract is art, or digital works are art, or whatever your style or method happens to be. Respect other people’s work.

I’m not going to force you to defend your genre. Please don’t force me to defend mine.

Posted, appropriately, from my fan art account.

(This is my first news story, so I'm fumbling with the controls a little here. It won't let me post this in a category that makes sense, so I'll stick it wherever it'll let me put it.)