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

Since yesterday I also have a reason to post in this thread.
While I was out with the girls my boyfriend brought a good friend home which also brought a friend that I don't really know. Apparently this one saw my dolls and asked my boyfriend if I'm "into japanese stuff".

Well, no. Not really. And it DOES bother me that he made that connection.

I have some friend who proclaim that they're into japanese stuff. They got shelves full of manga, sometimes posters on the walls, some of them have anime figures and like to cosplay. They love Japan and try to slip in some japanese words in stuff they say, two of them even study japanese. I'm totally fine with it and comfortable with those people, but it's just not my hobby. I prefer to collect dolls, duh.

In my case, I too enjoy reading manga online, sometimes eat ramen and I'm utterly amazed what kind of sweets and food they eat there. But I don't get why a bunch of dolls in a "normal" room, most of them naked and blank, sitting/standing/laying on the desk next to my computer make it seem like I'm "into japanese stuff".
Heck, they don't even COME from Japan!

I think I wouldn't be "offended" if were anime dolls with stylized anime faces. In my opinion, this would be a clear connection between anime and dolls.
It's not that I dislike these kind of dolls, I think I would own one if I'd really adore a manga/anime character and would like to make a doll look as close as I can. (For example Rozen Maiden dolls look way better with anime faces than "normal" ones - at least that's what I think.)

Oh well, it still bothers me a bit. And if that person would have asked me directly if I am "into japanese stuff" just be seeing my dolls, I would just have asked "Why? Do you think they're plastic toys from Japan for $20?"
My dolls are quite expensive "collector's items" that I personally would never connect to "japanese stuff" that people usually think of. Which is, well, manga and anime.

 

Your own character & conception of what your doll will look like when you finish customizing them can be whatever - & seems many have nothing to do w/anime or Asian culture in general.
BUT
these are ASIAN ball-jointed dolls, most made somewhere in ASIA. They mostly DO have that aesthetic, even the realistic ones like Iplehouse. Anime has many different styles, BTW - what it shares w/these dolls, whether anyone likes it or not, is that same ASIAN aesthetic.
So I get a whiff of anti-anime prejudice when I hear of people getting upset at others who recognize the underlying aesthetics behind anime & BJDs. When someone comes up to ME & says, ooh, I like your anime doll - I smile & say, well its an Asian BJD but she's dressed as YN Rand (well that's what I was saying at the Star Trek convention LOL). Its an opportunity to educate. Plus they are not completely wrong. People in fact have a totally WRONG idea about ANIME...
& yes I'm a total otaku/cosplayer geek, but still.

 

I'm not a huge fan of anime, but I understand why the companies make them. However, I don't like how some people automatically associate BJD w/ anime.

 

Well, seeing as I came to BJD through Rozen Maiden.... Really, the anime connection doesn't bother me at all.

 

Ooh, I have a story that happened this weekend!

I was at MobiCon this weekend and registered first thing Friday morning. I was hanging around in the lobby of the hotel waiting for the merchant's room to open and a woman (the parent of an adolescent attendee) came up to me and said, in a deep South County drawl, "Is that one of them annie-may dolls?" and pointed at Chaeri (who was cradled in the crook of my arm).

I've recounted the whole conversation elsewhere on the board, but basically she believes anime fans are jobless leeches who sit around on the computer all day watching "annie-may" and talking to other "annie-may" addicts. From a later conversation with another con-goer who encountered her in the ladies room, she also believes that "annie-may" is a tool of Satan to enslave the minds of weak, lost souls. Or something.

So, while Chaeri is thrilled to be included in the ranks of "them annie-may dolls", she found this woman at the convention to be as repulsive as I did.

 

The first time I ever saw these kinds of dolls was at an anime convention, I did some research and a few years later I finally got one...and with in that year I have 3 XD. I have seen the one's with "sticker" eyes that make them look anime-like...i personally like the more realistic eyes. most people i run across just see them as dolls, i don't think anyone has ever told me they look anime-like..could be the way I have them dressed. I wouldn't be offended if someone said they looked anime.

 

aren't people funny?)

 

I personally don't get offended at all I see no reason why I should be when one of the reasons I am into bjd is because I discovered more about them through anime conventions and anime. I first stumbled upon them while looking at anime fanart on DA xD

 

Doesn't bother me. However, I *am* into a lot of Japanese stuff and technically my dolls are Japanese anyway (Volks). I might buy an Iplehouse guy one day, and those aren't Japanese. Those are so realistic, I'm not sure he'd get called an anime doll. But if he did get called that, again... wouldn't bother me. Doesn't matter what people say about my dolls. It won't make me like them less.

 

The appearance of BJDs does connote anime origins, in some cases. Dollfie Dreams, anyone? I personally do not watch anime; I read certain manga on occasion, and I do love to draw in the manga style. However, these interests are not in any way integrated with my BJDs. Though, my BJDs are all of Japanese origin, according to their characters... But I've been taking Japanese sporadically for over five years now, so I certainly possess far more knowledge pertaining to that culture than I do regarding my own! Would it bother me to be obfuscated and, at a cursory glance, stereotyped as "Otaku"? Um, to an extent. It doesn't actually bother me that one would assume I'm otaku--I'd actually find it more offensive that my BJDs resulted in me being stereotyped (though I feel that toting your BJDs in public will inexorably result in stereotypes and stigmas being assigned to the doll-bearer by non-BJD-interested people...). I've attended a few BJD meets, and no one ever assumed my BJDs were anime-themed--or they just kept their opinions to themselves. And no, it really doesn't bother me that people in the BJD hobby conglomerate BJDs and anime; just so long as I'm not lumped in with them.

 

doesnt bother me at all. so long as people keep making the connections beween dolls and anime, dealers will keep bringing doll stuff to the anime cons. and that's just fine by me.

 

It actually bothers me a little, but not to the point where I'll tell people off about it. I found out about BJD through deviantart, but I had a vague idea of what it was through anime. Some people mentioned Rozen Maiden which came to my mind as well. Actually, when I watched Rozen Maiden, I was completely uninterested in BJD's. It's one of my favourite animes, but even though the characters were dolls it didn't really click in my head that you could actually buy dolls like them.

I just get bothered because although many anime conventions have BJD booths and whatnot (I've been to a ton of conventions, I do like anime a lot), I find I get annoyed when people cannot separate them. Yes they are similar, but they're not the same. I'm happy anime helped BJD get popular, but I want people to see the difference too. And surprisingly, I don't mind when dolls cosplay. I actually find that adorable.

 

It doesn't bother me. I don't know if it's because of my age now or just because I don't care for people who insult things without properly investigating where they came from either. I do, however, correct them. Since one of mine is from China and the other is from Korea. So when someone with a snarky attitude comes by and says "Urgh those Japanese things." I turn around and say "Correction, those Chinese and Korean things. If you're going to call them things, do it right."
Though I have more trouble batting kids away from trying to act cool around my dolls as I take pictures around town with them around downtown Toronto. Especially so when I take the boys to the beach.

 

It doesn't bother me because dolls were also first made in Japan

 

I've posted in this thread before about my opinion on the matter. I just wanted to say that I actually do now own an "anime doll" now. She literally is a licensed doll volks made of an anime/game/manga character.

So again, no I am not bothered by this at all.

 

Every single one of my dolls has been bought to cosplay anime characters. INCLUDING my Iplehouse Dexter. Now they all are shelling characters supposed to be cosplayers from a little town in Georgia as well...
People have an incredible amount of ignorance about ANIME. I mentioned this before. There are MANY different styles. Not all anime girls look like Dollfie Dreams, for instance.
So this question bothers me more than somebody asking me about my anime dolls LOL Although, I LOVE the 'annie mae' anecdote! OMG....

 

"Otaku" actually doesn't just refer to anime or Japanese things. It just refers to someone who is very dedicated and passionate about something (although usually it's used as a pejorative...)

I personally don't mind, but maybe that's because I fit into other more usual otaku categories as well. I'd rather be associated with otaku than with people who collect creepy porcelain baby dolls.

 

Well, i found out about bjds from going to a japanese fashion show. they had two volks doll dressed up in japanese fashion right in front of the lolita section.
If i got called an otaku for having a doll, i'd be offended. If i saw someone who only had dolls as anime characters, i'd think they might be missing the point of bjds, but wouldn't really care. As long as people don't push that bjds are anime-only, it generally doesn't annoy me.

 

People connect BJD with anime because most of dolls have anime-like appearance.
Sometimes it bother me. But i just correct my interlocutor.

 

I don't mind if people model their doll after anime characters or anything of the sort. The thing that bothers me are the painted on anime eyes. I think that looks wrong in every kind of way. Just like when some people paint anime eyes on their eyelids so they look like anime characters. It looks just... So wrong to me.