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

It doesn't bother me in the least - in fact, I wish there was a male line like the Dollfie Dreams to go with them! To me, some of the more realistic dolls start to enter the uncanny valley. I don't have that problem with DD, they obviously aren't human. Of course, I've seen some lovely dolls with more realism too... but that's just my personal tastes.

 

It would bother me a little (I haven't actually been confronted with this before), but only because my dolls are based on characters that are REALLY NOT anime/manga-like AT ALL. I even prefer the more realistic sculpts compared to the pointy-chin-little-mouth-big-eyes sculpts.
I like anime/manga. Not a giant anime nerd, but I do like a few select mangas and anime shows. I also love Japanese culture, but in truth, I DESPISE being sterotyped. I consider myself a bit of everything; I have millions of hobbies and interests, and so I do not appreciate being categorised into a group.
But as I said, my dolls have never been called anime dolls (yet) so I have no experience yet. I think I'd just correct the person and explain why they are NOT anime dolls

 

If anyone thinks of my Kid Delf as an anime doll, I shall laugh.

However, I think the connection is there. I found out about BJD via a manga magazine and an otaku convention, so I'm not too bothered by it.

 

I think people make all sorts of connections (correct or otherwise) to different things all the time. I know some people who think, "Oh this is from Asia so it must be like anime." and "You have more than one cat so you must be a crazy cat person." Obviously the second one is way more out there, but I'm only mentioning it to prove a point. People make generalizations all the time. In essence, it doesn't bother me to have that connection between anime/manga and BJDs. I honestly found out about BJDs purely by accident while browsing DeviantArt and I really have no interest in anime/manga aside from a very select few.

So I guess it doesn't bother me. The whole "crazy cat lady" thing does, but that's off topic. XD (I know a lot of strange people who generalize like that.)

 

The people who know that this is my hobby call them the "Japanese manga doll things" all the time, and while it is quite irritating, it doesn't bother me as much as it would some people. A great majority of them are from Asian countries and the influence seems to be pretty obvious, but it does sort of get to me. I'm into anime and at times /can/ be a fangirl, but my love of anime and my love for the dolls seems to be two completely different things.
I didn't learn about these dolls from anime, I was just looking for 'customizable dolls' on Google one day because I wanted to turn my OCs into real things, you know? :P

 

It's like this^. All anime =/= spiky yugioh hair and pretty bishounen boys, BJDs =/= anime. It's just that people see something that has been/can be related to another thing and assume it's all the same. It's just because people simply don't know any better, it's how humans beings are taught to think. I personally can't get irritated when someone asks me about my "anime doll" when they are genuinely curious. I DO, however, get irritated when people say, "oh look shes got one of those anime dolls!" and persist with that because they have a disdain for anime/dolls/etc etc.

 

I don't see the negative in people associating BJD collecting and interest in anime together. Quite a few people have come in to doll collecting through exposure at conventions or through the anime community and there isn't anything wrong with that. Energy would be better spent embracing the common threads in these communities rather than being bothered by the notion of people coupling the two. You don't have to like anime to like BJDs and vice versa, but getting too tied up in the concept of them being related is just adding to the judgmental environmental both communities have to deal with already.

 

The connection doesn't bother me at all, it's very understanding to refer to them as anime dolls. Many people are exposed to them at anime conventions (because many of us owners are into anime) and a lot of BJDs have the exaggerated anime esque features - small nose, small mouth, big eyes. Plus they are Asian Ball Jointed Dolls.

DDs are completely different because well, they ARE anime dolls. Obviously xP.

I think the reason they are seen as anime dolls is because they get major exposure at anime conventions. It's rare to see people carrying them in public outside of the anime con scene.

 

I actually learned about bjd's from anime conventions, so they were kind of intertwined for me. I really don't think they are involved with anime/manga at all, however a lot of people do bring their dolls to conventions to show off their outfits. I like the people that match their cosplay with their dolls, it's hilarious looking (in a good way).

 

Not at all i always loved Speed Racer, as a kid I was in love with Racer X Speed Racers older mysterious brother I was always chasing off around the world after him
so I understand
wanting what I love to become 3D or is it 4 D........... whatever......tangable where I can interact with my imagination!

 

I see nothing wrong with someone referring to the dolls as anime dolls, or lolita dolls. Both are much better than say those freaky sex dolls. Yes that one has come up before, very awkward. I've had and seen my dolls both around anime conventions and doll shows and I actually see far more of them at anime conventions than at doll shows, so the reference really should seem so out there. And as previously stated, many of them have the same style and features as popular anime characters.

 

I'd get grumpy if someone made that link between my doll and anime, the same way that I get told I draw anime. It really bothers me, I don't draw anime, I have my own style >__< And Ein is not an anime character *grump grump grump*

 

I don't care at all. As a matter of fact, it's kind of nice that people recognize them instead of just staring blankly and wondering why you have a glorified posing mannequin. It's just how they associate them in their minds.

I like anime, personally, so it doesn't get under my skin when I bring it up and people reply, "oh, those Japanese/anime/Asian doll thingies?". At least then I know they have a mental visual, which tells me that they're at least somewhat familiar with what I'm talking about.
Something tells me I wouldn't be able to explain them to someone totally unfamiliar without hedging back on, "well, they look kind of like anime characters, at least in the face?"

 

I don't even have a doll yet heh (In process of trying to pick >.< grr so hard) & I've already got a few comments from family members who have seen me researching the dolls.
Worse was my mom saw a few comparison pics I was looking at on a thread here. With the dolls mostly being nude she got weirded out I guess & asked me if they were those "weird asian sex dolls"......
I couldn't help but be a bit bothered by that ha.. err..
I found bjds partly through a chance look at a doll mag at the Doctors office lol & anime.
I love both

 

I love anime - that's the way I found these dolls. And they look like the characters from anime. A lot of people think anime characters are all Sailor Moon/Dragon Ball Z. This is not true - there are mature anime out there & well-drawn characters as well. So I have no problem at all identifying BJD w/anime

 

No. I really like anime, but that's not my interest at all - I watch it from time to time. There's a connection... Volks DD is anime-oriented, and he was having the first dollfies ^^

 

When I got my first doll, my brother asked if it was supposed to "be" anyone in particular, ie a specific character from an anime (he knows some stuff about such things from his best friend) and that didn't bother me much. I voted that it bothers me a little though because I can imagine a situation where it would irritate me

 

I am one of those horrible people who actually fell in love with these dolls BECAUSE of anime :P Rozen Maiden is one of my favourite shows, and when I saw the whole doll-making episode and that gorgious doll shop and everything, I just wanted to have one, and do what they do (meaning the making and collecting, not the fighting part).
But actually, I don't really make the connection between anime and BJDs other than that I came to know about them because of an anime show... They don't look very anime-esque to me (unless they're meant to by the owner), at least no more than western (fashion) dolls. Of course they often have bigger eyes than the average human, but the only dolls looking like anime characters to me are Obitsus (the ones with painted eyes and super pointy small noses, not the open eye ones).

I would possibly be annoyed if someone would ask me what anime character my doll represented or something, but that hasn't occurred to me yet. I think it would be kind of weird to assume that just because something originated from Japan has something to do with anime. That's like seeing someone eating a croissant and immediately thinking "he must love the Eiffel tower". -.-' But I know there are people who reason think reason that way (aka narrow minded people).

 

Actually, I also really dislike it when people say that the dolls look like anime characters. Yes, there are dolls with the "huge eyes, little perfect nose, cute mouth" but that doesn't describe all of them! (besides the Dollfie Dream line. xD)

There are so many differences in the faces, because the companies want diversities of sculpts. Besides the big eyes, they can also have sleeping, dreamy, angry, or smaller ones. The "cute mouth"can have thicker lips, thinner lips. It can have a bit of an overbite or a pout. And the noses! I have seen many dollies with cute short noses, some flatter, and even some really hooked ones.

As a die-hard anime and manga fan (working on my 50th series at age 15), I am a bit bothered when people call my dollies "those anime dolls." (Just a bit.)

I'm not upset by the fact that they label me as an anime and manga otaku, because... I am. It's more the fact they assume that since I like anime and manga, everything I do must be related to it. I actually consider my dolls a diversion to get away from the drama of the anime/manga/cosplay community sometimes.

And I'm a sensible fan. I may read a lot of manga and watch anime often, but I don't go around constantly obsessing over the newest series, or fangirling all the time in public. I read my manga quietly and watch my anime at home and only discuss it with people who are also interested.

Many people get into the hobby by means of anime and manga, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the dolls actually are related to it.

 

I guess because I don't dress or style my dolls in Japanese or Asian costume, and because their face ups, eyes and wigs make it obvious they are meant to be Western characters, people usually seem surprised when I tell them that they are Asian dolls. I have been collecting BJD for a while now and obviously I first became aware of them in their native Asian/Lolita/Anime guise, and didn't see their potential at first. If I had never seen what Val Zeitler did with BJD, I doubt I would ever have started to want them. Her style isn't Asian inspired at all, and I imagine that has attracted a lot of people who have no real interest in Asian culture or that original background to the hobby. I guess you could call it a new phase?

I notice a lot of posts here are littered with references to Manga and Anime and use Japanese phrases, this indicates the commenter is well versed in that scene as would be anyone who would call them "Anime dolls" surely? Since being on DOA I have found myself looking up words such as "Otaku" and "Yaoiii" (if that's how you spell it?) and know that many people of my acquaintance would look similarly blank at the words "Anime" and "Manga". I don't know much about Japanese culture, and have never read/watched anime/manga and I doubt anyone I know has either with maybe the exception of a friend who went to see Howl's Moving castle (not even sure if it counts!).

I appreciate where they came from but it doesn't interest me or anyone I know really. It doesn't play any part in my enjoyment of my dolls. So I guess the "anime" tag is very unlikely ever to be alluded to and I imagine as BJDs continue to grow in popularity that assumption will be made less and less. Reading comments from those who have been in the hobby the longest it seems apparent that it is already happening and increased popularity will mean that BJDs are no longer solely a part of that niche culture. Whether everyone thinks that is progress - I guess it's not for me to say.

PS: voted that no, it doesn't bother me, make any assumptions you want... knock yourself out