"Those Anime Dolls"- Does the connection bother you?

Never bothered me either, you can always correct someone an if theyre a decent person they shouldnt mind. Personaly I stubbled upon luts somehow, I know about anime at the time, but I didnt make any connection whatsoever, most of them ade by companies are not meant to be anime esque at all but real life an beautiful ^-^ which was my first thoughts Allthough companies do go anime style if collaberating. Its really the owners who make them anime esque for their own tastes and maybe because bjd owners have made many appearances at cons the association is made. But its not a problem at all. I just like people to know all of my dolls are from korea and non of them are anime characters, I worked hard to make them them :]

 

Short and sweet; i like anime and i have boys that have anime features (big eyes, angular chin, etc.). It does not bother me. What does bother me slightly is that people would has what HER name is when i have my BOY dressed in MILITARY mens clothing, there whould be no mistake in it being a boy, but those are the problems with the hobby. =S

 

Nope... it is your doll and do with it what you like. We all draw inspiration from different sources and so what if anime is a popular one for BJDs?

 

I am a old japananime fan, and my first BJD was a dollfie dream, so it does not bother me at all!
I have bought the DD because they look like animemanga character. I love this design, I love manga, I love videogames, ok I am perhaps a sort of "old" otaku girl ( as I really don't know a lot about new series).
SD are quite different for me. But I don't really care if someone would tell me Charlotte looks like animegirl ( but I disagree).
But things like " what do you do with a doll, you are too old" "another doll again? what a waste of money and place" are definitively boring me!

 

I guess there is no harm in it. It doesn’t bother me in the least. Theireyes, mouths and even proportions can resemble anime style characters onoccasion so it's an honest mistake. A lot of my anime watching friends even appreciatethe doll for its familiar looks. When they call it an 'anime doll' I supposeit's practically a compliment. (they don’t call it that by the way)

Once you get into BJDs though, you defiantly don't see them as the samething.

There are people however who say it in such a way that leads me to believethey find anime to be something dirty. There really isn’t any point in gettingupset though since if they don't respect one hobby/interest/style they probablywon't respect BJDs. Even if you did sit them down for a long winded explanation of what they were.

But wha'd ya gonna do about it, ya know?

 

It only would bother me if a person, after corrected, KEPT calling them "that anime doll".

I don't really like anime. I was into it when I was in grade school but it's just not my thing. I don't have a problem with it at all (my husband is a big anime fan) but it just doesn't speak to me. BJDs, while some really are molded to reflect the anime style, aren't the same thing. It seems to me that while most BJDs share, well, an Asian aesthetic, that is not necessarily the same thing as an anime look.

So I'd probably tell someone my doll wasn't based on anything to do with anime, but I'm not going to freak out about it. Anime is an obviously Asian art form, and so are most of the dolls you see - certainly all the ones you see in booths at anime conventions! And all of the dolls on my wish list are from Asian companies. So the comparison is obviously going to be made.

I will say, though, that I first saw BJDs while accompanying my husband to an anime convention. There were a couple of DDs there but for the most part, they were the standard Asian-styled but not specifically anime molds, and they didn't remind me of anime at all. I also would probably be less likely to get a doll like DD which is so obviously modeled as to evoke anime/manga.

 

The only reason it bugs me is because in middle school kids would pick on me for watching anime. If you were to ask them they'd say that I only like anime and everything else I like had to deal with anime. My doll hobby has nothing to do with watching japanese animation, and yet my parents said "You just want to get one because it's japanese, like anime" That's not true at all and my girl isn't even from japan... I guess I'm just easily upset due to all the harassment I received in school

But, I wouldn't say anything if someone randomly off the street called it an "anime doll"
I mean, I do love anime after all

 

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea on what I'm going to say. I have otaku friends who are incredible people and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them, but when people associate dolls with anime things, they automatically associate them with otaku stuff - and many people think otakus are all the type of people to obsess over anything remotely Japanese and throw the 3 Japanese words they know in every sentence. While I have nothing against these people, it's still a bit... uncomfortable for me to know people who are not well informed on this would consider me that type. I've had many people who I just met that weren't in the BJD hobby instantly change their views on me when I told them that I collect Asian ball jointed dolls. S'all.

 

My mum thought BJD all look like the are from an anime when I told her I was going to get into the hobby. I was bothered more with the fact that she thinks it's very childish to get into dolls as an adult, I'm just glad she didn't think BJD were barbies or something similar.

 

If it wasn't for an Anime con in 2003 I would have never seen a dollfie. And i got the 1st one so that I could make matching dresses,

 

I can understand why people are annoyed by the connection, but for example at anime conventions, dolls also play a part which can help spread the hobby. Since I am an anime fan, I'm not too bothered by it, but it's not true. Though bjd do sometimes work together with anime.

 

I don't particularly care if people associate my dolls with anime, i understand the roots of my hobby are deep-seated in anime and i don't see the point in getting upset about a valid connection. to non-abjd people they are most likely grasping for something to compare to, "asian aesthetic" "stylized features" and the such mean nothing to people who have no idea about the hobby but someone who has seen anime or manga might say "anime doll" to try and make a connection between what the doll is to something they know of. it isn't something to get upset about i feel if your patient and explain what it is most people will generally accept your explanation and either ask follow up questions or walk off, if they stand around and insist their right then you should just walk off, they have no intention of understanding and only want to annoy you. i personally do like anime and i tend to buy dolls somewhere in the middle of stylized and realistic, but even though i like anime that wasn't how i got into the hobby i got into it watching a Kerli music video (Walking on Air) and thought "i have to have a doll like that" which goes to show not all anime lovers get into it through anime but think about how many people first got into the hobby through (and take their dolls to) an anime con or something similar and it really isn't that crazy that they are accidentally associated with anime in general. abjd's might not be strongly connected to anime anymore but it does still have an affectionate place with it in modern society ^-^

so kind of a sum up: abjd's have their origin in anime which has had a lot of influence on artists through the years creating a valid connection, people will always try to compare unfamiliar things with something they know about, anime and being an anime fan is not by its nature a bad thing, and try not to let the world get to you

 

If I were sensitive to what people think, then I wouldn't be in this hobby >w<

Now, you must realize, I am an odd person. An odd person. I have my eccentricities, and throughout my life I've had to deal with people who don't share my view, or my love for something. The best way I've found to deal with it is to say "hang the sense of it," and tell people to take it or leave it. If someone wants to lose out on friendship with me because of my dolls, or because they don't respect me enough to respect my love for them, then they can shove it. I'm happy with who I am, and if someone else doesn't like who I am, then that's fine too. I just won't let it bother me (tottaly not worth it, anyway).

 

It does kind of bother me. I would understand if all they said was that the doll *looked* anime-like, since they do (and I don't mind that part), but to say that they are anime dolls kind of implies that they are an object for obsessive collecting or collected for a fetish reason or to compensate for something they lack. Though I'm not saying all bjd collectors are like that, nor am I saying all otaku collect things to fuel a fetish or to subconsciously make up for what they lack, but being associated with "otaku" is obviously, a bad thing. And especially the people who don't know anything about anime or bjds, would think of you as an otaku even if you only had one doll, which is why it bothers me.

 

I don't mind at all! Without anime I would never have found BJDs. I saw my very first BJD's at an anime con on Raliegh NC 5 years ago. I was immediately in love! I started researching what I could. I did not even know what they were called.Then I found Haute Doll Mag. The next year at the same con I sought out the panel that discussed these lovely dolls. The next year at the same con I bought my first doll, a ResinSoul Lian, dresses, wigs, and shoes. She is a mess and all wobbly but I love her because she is my first. Each year since then I have added one or two who make the journey with me. It was hard this year lugging around my big DikaDoll Finn Swordsman while dressed as Toroto (and it was HOT) but worth every bit of pain to show him to everyone. Next year I plan on taking my Soom Kivi if she ever arrives. To me, anime and bjds are as interlinked as popcorn and butter!

 

Oh and I never did mind being called an Otaku....Fan Boy ...even though I am female. I have been into anime since 1981, long before anyone on my backwater town knew what it was thanks to a great friend who had connections for laser discs from Japan. He would make copies for me since it was almost impossible to get any anime in America then, translate it on paper so I could read along with the video, and tokk me to my first con. I am 57 and think of Otaku as ANYTHING but bad! It is a badge of honor and it is a discredit to fans like me that also love our bjds to call it "bad".

 

I was introduced to BJDs AT an anime convention, and im a bit anime fan myself, but unless they're DDs, somthing similar, or Intentionally-made-to-look-like-*character from game or book*, i really dont like it when they're called "anime dolls".... because they arent.

Very few people know of my BJD hobby, unless i brought a picture in, and no one seems to ask alot of question about Ciel when i bring her places, so generally it isnt much of a problem.

I did have a situation where my grandmother was trying to explain it and kept connecting it with anime and went as far as to say "Yeah... it's like, like a cult kinda", which was kinda funny and amazingly facepalmingly stupid at the same time.

 

It does not bother me really, and I guess you could say I found BJD's through Anime as well. One of my favorite anime artists on Deviant Art suddenly posted pictures of her new dolls and I was in love straight away. I suppose what really would bother me is people that generalize all BJD's as 'Japanese' or 'Chinese'. I know that its very common for people to see an Asian person and instead of saying he or she is Asian they will say he/she is 'Chinese'. People have done that will my dolls alot, and just as I correct someone who generalizes that about an actual person I correct them when it is said about my dolls.
Alot of things get mixed in with the Anime category as well, such as the DC and Marvel culture because the two both get exhibited at comic cons and comic book stores together alot. Marvel fans may not like being put in the same category as Anime just as some BJD fans don't! Generalization is going to displayed everywhere, and if one is a true fan of a specific hobby I would think them to defend it's specificity and uniqueness

 

since i am not really into anime anymore, it bothers me a bit. but not enough to throw a tantrum. i try to correct people and tell them i use them for artistic purposes, like posing and modeling. this usually gets a raised eyebrow, but seems to thwart other, usually derogatory, questioning. i don't think people should look down on anyone else's hobby unless its an unhealthy one like drugs or hoarding. i too have to deal with the price always entering a conversatoin. i was in paris last month for school and brought my MNF along. a parent was seated next to me with w young girl who obviously wanted to play with zoe. parent asks me about the doll, getting around eventually to where to buy and how much. conversation ended with my answer to that. she totally shut down and didn't even look at me. the family left shortly after, hopefully unrelated! i think some people have an issue with the prices of other's hobbies, but really, its so much less pricey than collecting cars! i like to think of it as collecting antiques sometimes, because usually, if kept in good condition, and this doesn't mean never touching or taking them out, the value could increase if it is a limited, or not decrease overmuch if there is no damage.

so despite my non-otaku or non-anime fan related status, i tend to appreciate my dolls in more of a aesthetic sense. however i can see the correlation and how people can arrive at that theory.

my usual irritation stems from some of my friends continuously referring to the dolls as "creepy, going to kill me in my sleep, make sure to lock that cabinet they're in, scary, etc etc." THIS becomes a bother, as i grow weary of hearing my posessions insulted. it's just silly. does anyone else have to deal with this issue?

 

That one bothers me a lot too! I have made dolls including OOAKs for decades opting for realism and usually old craggy faces instad of the staring "dolly faces" my mom wanted me to love as a child. I get that "they're creepy" talk all the time. It is annoying since there is nothing further from the truth with these lovely dolls. And oh yes the cost! My co-workers who ocean fish think nothing of spending $1700 a new fish finding gear but think I am crazy for spending $75 for a wig for my latest bjd (wish I could say who but they are banned for DoA). The excuse why $1700 for fishing is ok while my hobby is silly is "because fishing puts food on the table." Good grief, I could BUY a lot of fish for $1700 without havin gto have a boat, gas, and all the other gear! Don't think he appreciated my comparison!