I Noticed the Dark Side of the Anime Fandom at Anime Expo This Year
Oh frickin boy
There’s no denying that, since the COVID pandemic shut down America in March 2020, there have been many changes on scales large and small. Our politics have become even more polarized and are often dominated by fringe groups and conspiracies. After worldwide protests against deadly police violence here, white people as a group have no excuse to not be aware of systemic racism, and no excuse not to work to help dismantle it. Women and the LGBTQ+ community have lost core rights. The then-President encouraged a violent failed coup and started a fast-growing (and false) tradition of denying the legitimacy of our elections. And that’s all just on the national stage, and it doesn’t even begin to cover everything. People have changed, too—many, like myself, as a byproduct of barely leaving our homes.
All of this is becomes blatantly apparent at events like Anime Expo, which just had its first in-person convention since 2019. In most ways, it was a rejuvenating, joyous event where people excitedly came together to celebrate this cultural phenomenon we all love deeply. It was the first time myself and many of the vendors, volunteers, and attendees have been in a crowded space since 2020. I chatted with a couple vendors about this—there was a consensus that it was both thrilling and joyful, but also a lot. A big shift. For me, personally, the highlight was a One Piece cosplay gathering, where, for a straight hour, over one hundred people gleefully flooded in and out of poses for photos, all while celebrating and commending everyone’s cosplays.
But as Anime Expo went on, I began to notice things which gave me pause. It seemed that what my partner quip-nicknamed “The Pepe The Frog Coalition” felt more emboldened to show themselves. I’ve only been to one other Anime Expo, as a fan, way back in 2017. I remember the joy and the exhaustion and the incredibly sore feet. Perhaps it’s my privilege speaking, but I do not remember anything presented matter-of-factly that made me uncomfortable. (I’ve learned to accept the inevitably of the booby mouse pads and sexy nudie body pillows. Who am I to kink shame?)
On yet, on Saturday, there it was: an Info Wars backpack. If you’re not familiar with Info Wars, lucky you. Suffice it to say, it’s headed by the guy who encouraged people to make the lives of the parents of the Sandy Hook victims even more of a living hell. It effuses the most eyebrow-raising right wing conspiracies as you can get. I peeked at the guy’s face—white guy, no mask (masks were supposedly required). It may seem like a small matter, but I mentally noted that someone wanting to show off—and feeling comfortable with showing off—an Info Wars backpack at Anime Expo felt like … a shift.
I assumed and hoped it was a one-off instance, but I had interactions and sightings in similar genres the next two days of the con. As I left the Expo for the last time on Monday, I saw a button which gave me even more of a double-take than the Info Wars backpack: a waifu with an ICE hat, saying, “Don’t speak English?! Get out motherfucker!!” The irony of referencing a Japanese art form in order to voice this particular sentiment would, I’m sure, be lost on the guy (again: white guy, no mask).
This was after I had a rather exhausting debate with three men while I was dressed up as the One Piece character Yamato, whose gender identity is in a gray area. (However, manga spoilers here, I’ve been told that Yamato recently opted to go into male side of a hot spring. So maybe that’s getting less gray, but I’m only caught up on the anime.) They did not understand why “she” would identify as a man and felt entitled enough to be very belligerent about it. They also felt their identity must be because of “her” dad’s wishes and not Yamato’s own choices.
Exchanges like that happen all the time, unfortunately—as a straight-seeming cis white woman, I’ve just had the privilege to put my blinders on. What struck me in all three cases was the comfort level. Yes, Anime Expo is huge. There’s bound to be a large population sampling. But I’ve been before, and I’ve been to similar cons in other cities. This comfort level was new. It struck me as yet another symptom of something shifting in our dumb, dumb country. Something I’ve been seeing elsewhere—in the fits of screeching over mask mandates, for one. It made me sad to see this emboldened brazenness and entitlement of the right wing creeping closer to the mainstream of the community I love.
The Pepe The Frog Coalition has always been loud, but they’ve stayed in the wings. I hope I’m wrong in thinking that could be changing. But, in hindsight, perhaps this has been building up for a second. There was the shitty Paul Gosar Attack on Titan drama, after all. They can’t steal my joy, but I’m beginning to wonder if I should be steeling myself.
Image credit: unknown
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