Attack on Weebs

Manga and anime, which is Japanese comics and cartoons, which is a popular aspect of

the modern Japanese culture. This popularity is seen internationally. These fans create and join

clubs, make fanart, and attend conventions. Some of these fans become labeled as weeaboos

because of their love of anime. This label is used in a derogatory way to shame others for their

interests. However, over time the exact meaning of the word is unclear and is generalized to the

community as a whole. This new use of the word is dulling the intended hateful meaning from

the label and making it transform into a more neutral connotation.

Chris Kincaid wrote a blog post called Am I a Weeaboo? What does Weeaboo Mean

Anyway? He argues that a weeaboo are people who misunderstand the Japanese culture by

overgeneralizing it from a small feature and become unhealthily obsessed with the Japan. He

does this by building his credibility by using reliable sources and experiential facts, uses and

cites facts, and through emotional appeals. His ability to remain passionate yet objective, Kincaid

avoided fallacies and strengthened his argument.

In his blog, Kincaid starts off making a brief statement of his experience of a friend that

joked about him turning Japanese leading him to the question of am I a weeaboo? He

continues by stating the official definition of weeaboo, and then he analyses each point of the

definition to his life.

Throughout his work, Kincaid uses many reliable sources and conveyed the extensive

research he did which strengthened his credibility and helped establish his argument. The sources

he used were 4chan, Discipline and Post: Foucault and "Weeaboo Horror Stories" on the
Internet by Jennifer McGee, Urban Dictionary, Know Your Meme, and Perry Bible

Fellowship comic strip. The author uses the sources to convey the factual information on the

creation of the weeaboo and the attributes of one in order to properly inform the readers of the

term from a series of reliable sources. By citing these sources it proves that Chris Kincaid had

researched and discovered facts about the origin of the word and how it functions in society. He

also provided his own personal experiences on if and how each aspect of what he discovered

about the word applies to his own life. This proves that he has had his own firsthand experience

with the word weeaboo and is involved in the community that it formed from, therefore

increasing credibility to talk about the topic.

In addition to ethos, Chris Kincaid also used logos appeals to further emphasize his

argument. The author uses logos to argue and clarify specific attributes and characteristics of an

individual that classify them as a weeaboo. He does this by pointing out the official definition of

the meaning of weeaboo stating that it can be reduced to a few characteristics:

1. Obsession with Japanese culture to the point that the person views Japanese culture as

superior to their own (and all other cultures).

2. Obsession with anime, manga, and other Japanese pop culture exports.

3. Interject Japanese words into their everyday speech. The words are often used

incorrectly.

4. Much of the persons knowledge of Japan and the language is based on pop culture

exports (anime and manga).

By stating the official definition of weeaboo, he clearly conveys the characteristics that make up

a weeaboos obsessive personality. This is because he claims that most people do not understand

the inconsiderate extremities that makes a weeaboo fan.

 The author uses logos to convey and argue that weeaboo should not be applied to all fans

because of the derogatory origins of the word. Kincaid does this by establishing a series of facts

that explain the origin of the word stating that weeaboo quickly replaced waponese to

negatively refer to people who had an extreme interest in anime and manga. Explaining the

origin of word conveys that weeaboo came from a term of hate emphasizing his argument that

the term is being misused to identify all fans of Japanese culture.

Following his appeals of logos, Kincaid also establishes appeals to pathos from the

middle to end of his blog. When he starts the section My Experiences with Weeaboos, he starts

to use more emotionally charged words to help emphasize the extremities of the attributes of

weeaboos. Kincaid uses powerful words such as diluted, ignorance, violations, off-

putting, unsettled, antics, and loud. These words he uses better convey the idea of the

overly obsessive and unhealthy nature of weeaboos. His goal was to evoke feelings of frustration

within the readers to emphasize the serious issue that weeaboos create. All these words evoke

negative emotions in order to emphasize the irrational and ignorant actions and thoughts of

weeaboos in hopes to convince others of the importance of valuing all cultures and learning all

aspects of a culture before you idolize it.

Chris Kincaid is able to avoid fallacies and strengthens his argument by avoiding them.

With his appeal to pathos, Kincaid was able to emphasize and support his opinions by using

powerful language. He understood when to pull back his emotions and was still able to approach

the topic very evidence-based. Kincaid also connected earlier statements and grows on them to

discuss the importance of respecting cultures.

At anime conventions, it is normal to hear the term weeaboo thrown around. I am a

frequent con attendee and I constantly hear and see the word in panel names or spoken in
conversations as I pass by other cosplayers and attendees. However, the way the term is being

used, it does seems that most people understand the actual definition of what a weeaboo is.

Weeaboo was a term used to shame people who were obsessive over Japanese culture. The

weeaboo label is incorrectly generalized to a whole community of people, however, this new use

is evolving this derogatory term into a neutral stereotype.

Weeaboo, as stated by urban dictionary, knowyourmeme, and dictionary.com, is defined

as a derogatory term for a western individual that is completely obsessed with the Japanese

culture and believe it to be superior to all other cultures. These individuals typically base their

knowledge and admiration of Japan on anime and manga; they also learn Japanese words and

phrases from these pop culture items and incorrectly, and unnecessarily, interject them into

conversations. This weeaboo label is applied to the extreme and obsessed fans of the anime

community, however, it has become applied to anyone of any level of interest in anime or

manga.

A major part of the definition of weeaboo is being obsessed with Japan to the point that

all other cultures are inferior. When people hear that you have an interest in anime they assume

that you are a weeaboo. This is an instance of metonymy, an attribute that is used as a name to

refer to the whole. Any attribute of an individual that is related to Japanese culture generalizes

the person as a weeb. For example, there was a boy at my high school that would wear anime

memorabilia. This boy would often wear a jacket from the anime Fullmetal Alchemist which is a

long red hooded coat that had a large black symbol across the back. People, most often were

other anime fans, had criticized him as weird for wearing the jacket to school and same had

labeled him a weeaboo for it. These people who labeled him so had not actually known him well

enough to justify their reasoning beyond his clothing. They saw that he watched anime and
assumed he was an extremist fan because he confidently wore his love of anime to school.

However, with this constant use of generalization to the anime community, weeaboo is becoming

a name for an identity label rather than remaining as a name for hate on one specific type of fan.

I encountered the word weeaboo in a conversation with my friends. These friends are

from my hometown in Texas that love anime and enjoy cosplaying with me at anime

conventions. It was mid-October when my phone rang, notifying that a Snapchat had just been

sent to me. My friend Kathy had sent a message to our group chat on the app. She was trying to

clarify our plans for Ikkicon when we all come back to Texas for the holidays. We had discussed

ticket prices, the number of days we will attend, panels, and cosplay plans. When she brought up

cosplay plans she asked if we all wanted to do a photoshoot. After we all had agreed, she said

that we have to take a picture with a cute pose with a peace sign or heart stating that we have to

do the typical weeaboo pose. The word was used to refer to a particular type of behavior. This

is because people interpret the term as a type of behavior rather than an obsession. The term was

used in as a pathos move because she was trying to invoke as sense of excitement for the

photoshoot by calling on a common enthusiasm in japanese culture. Kathy did not apply the

official, derogatory, definition of weeaboo in her comment. The way she used it implied that

weeaboo is an action or behavior that is typically found or popular in Japan. After she had stated

that, I asked Kathy how she perceives the word weeaboo to mean. With her consent to use in this

analysis, she stated that she defines weeaboo as someone who appreciates Japanese culture as

well as integrate parts of it into their daily lives and does not think that its necessarily a

derogatory term even though it has a negative connotation. People who dress in Japanese

inspired fashions, such as lolita and decora street fashions, listen to Japanese music, study the

language, pose with a peace sign or other cutesy poses, etc., they do not display any weeaboo
level of obsession but are called one because they are displaying Japanese culture inspired

actions or attributes. This emphasizes the changing use of the word weeaboo. Weeaboo is an

attribute of an individual that appreciates the Japanese culture, whether that be language, fashion,

or mannerisms. This word represents a common behavior and interest among people that unites

them rather than shames them.

When I was in high school, I had many friends who watched anime or read manga. They

ranged from major fans who watched it daily and stay updated on current shows to those who

had only watched one anime ever or who watched it occasionally. Many of them would be

incorrectly labeled and some even label themselves as a weeaboo. So many of these people, as I

have seen, would proudly call themselves a weeb when their personality is not close to the

obsessive and delusional behavior of one. This shift to a stereotype reduces the impact of the

word and any people use it as a way to define their identity. This is because people find comfort

in identifying with a label it gives a sense of belonging and community.

John McWhorter is an English professor that has studied linguistics and has written many

of his own books. In his book, Words on the Move, McWhorter wrote about the constant

evolution of the english language. He argues that over time the way people use and pronounce

the words have an effect on how the language evolves. This shifting of a words meaning is

explained in McWhorters book where he claims that words meanings change and that their

new meanings develop based on how it is now being used. For example, McWhorter says that

either the young people are strangely overusing the word like from the dictionary, or might it be

that like has birthed a child with a different function altogether. McWhorters argument and

philosophy on this evolution of words is similar to the process of how the word weeaboo has

evolved. By overusing a word in a new way, it starts to develop new functions. Just as weeaboo
had started as a term to insult and put down other fans who were too obsessive and eccentric,

now it is being used to refer to the larger anime fandom as a whole that some people proudly use

to identify with. This new use of the word is dulling the intended hateful meaning from the label

and making it transform into a more neutral connotation.

Works cited:

Kincaid, Chris. Am I a Weeaboo? What Does Weeaboo Mean Anyway? Japan Powered, 30

Aug. 2015, www.japanpowered.com/otaku-culture/am-i-a-weeaboo-what-does-weeaboo-mean-

anyway.

McWhorter, John H. Words on the Move: Why English Won't- and Can't- Sit Still (like,

Literally). Picador, Henry Holt and Company, 2017.