- Joined
- Mar 24, 2019
It's funny you bring that up, because right as we speak this very moment, some Western fan content people are basically bitching and self-soothing that other people don't like their stuff on Twitter.
Apparently they were triggered by a thread about fandom "irks," their word. Never seen that one before.
As for your exact question, you are asking about this:
www.rockman-corner.com
It took me a minute to understand what they're trying to say. They're basically saying that Japanese fans do the same stuff over and over. And that is true, but pretending that this isn't also true about fans in general is silly. Inafune said the same kind of things about Japanese development and we all saw where that leads.
This is referencing how a lot of Japanese fans are on Twitter and don't put their stuff anywhere else that resembles an archive site. They don't tag it so it's impossible for people who don't know them to find it, and I get a sense this is done on purpose, possibly to restrict it to Japanese fans.
Apparently they were triggered by a thread about fandom "irks," their word. Never seen that one before.
As for your exact question, you are asking about this:
An Interview With <i>Rockman</i> Artist Hi-GO!
For the most avid of Rockman fans, "Hi-GO!" needs no introduction. He is one of, if not the most popular and proficient artist within...
What would you say are the main differences between Rockman fans in Japan and overseas?
This will be a slightly complicated topic. This is but my personal impression, but I feel that Japan combines love and reliance for the works into a single thing. I felt that when talking to overseas fans.
The fans overseas feel like they’re independent in mental terms. And that they put effort into their activities. I don’t feel a bending in their minds. Like they grew up to be straightforward. Japan is the exact opposite. There’s a lot of ways to express it, but I feel like it’s little birds that open their mouths waiting for food, and they don’t grow up.
There’s many cases that their minds, when it comes to Rockman, are locked into their childhood. That can also apply to other contents that they’ve played when they were children. That they wish for it to be something constantly given to them.
On the other hand, overseas fans often take action themselves when they feel unsatisfied or there’s some new developments. A game company once told me that my style is very overseas-like. So it’d seem that a fan like me is a minority within Japan. But, I think that those who became fans when they were already adult behave a bit differently. There’s a lot of women who are spontaneously active, and leave behind some works of their own in one form or another.
They all have different contents so you can’t describe them in a single word, yet I feel you can feel some type of independence in parts of them. On the other hand, you can partly see their reliance on the characters, and the strongest aspect seems to be is that fiction is a way to escape reality. This is a trend of Japanese fiction and business by themselves, but I think there’s a trend to stop the mind from becoming an adult. Because that’s convenient for the businesses.
However, nowadays, that leads to things like selling away your memories, and I think that if your saved up memories run out, then it’s all over. At the very least, they’re not heading towards the future.
It took me a minute to understand what they're trying to say. They're basically saying that Japanese fans do the same stuff over and over. And that is true, but pretending that this isn't also true about fans in general is silly. Inafune said the same kind of things about Japanese development and we all saw where that leads.
To close the interview, do you have a message for overseas Rockman fans that you'd like to share?
I don’t think it’ll end in a single sentence so please excuse me for that. As you already assume, I appreciate you guys a lot. If the current Japanese status continues I’m afraid that the culture of Rockman in Japan will eventually decay. Why? Because they don’t think of making an archive of it, of the culture. They think that Capcom will eventually do that.
But, the reality is different. Apart from me, nowadays contents makers have the habit of reading Wikipedia too. So the precision in which the culture remains is up to the activities of the fans. The overseas fans have contributed a lot to achieving that, so I think that if this form keeps on, it will be preserved for the future.
However, the current state of Rockman in Japan is complicated. I fear that the Japanese Rockman culture will be lost, since the creator intent is what stands out at the utmost. I guess everyone thinks that “you only need to remember it for yourself”. That’s already stepped up to a stage in which that won’t suffice, and that a way to preserve the works for the future generations is needed.
I hope someone can provide advice on what could be done to achieve that.
This is referencing how a lot of Japanese fans are on Twitter and don't put their stuff anywhere else that resembles an archive site. They don't tag it so it's impossible for people who don't know them to find it, and I get a sense this is done on purpose, possibly to restrict it to Japanese fans.
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