By: Bhairavan Nadarajah, Nur Indriani Syahlini, Alyssa Joy Decafe
As a growing culture, gaming and anime aren’t just for geeks these days, they’re a community that's gradually becoming open to everybody.
It’s March 2020 in Singapore, and the world is in chaos, there’s a virus going around infecting people and we’re all stuck at home. You’re bored, you've exhausted every mainstream Netflix show and all the books in your collection. Your slightly geeky friend recommends some anime and video games, and with no other source of entertainment, you go for it.
At that moment, you enter what's called “geek” culture. While it is popular now, a few years ago, it was a small culture, with not many people really embracing it. Despite that, those small numbers of people grew up to pioneer a generation of anime academics like Professor Shamoon or create spaces for gaming discussions like Victoria Cheng.
Along with a generation that helped propel “geek” culture into the mainstream, the people and the world have been naturally changing around us. Things like the Internet and social media helped make two of geek culture’s biggest aspects, gaming and anime, resonate with many communities around the world.
The Revival of Gaming
In recent times, most people associate “geek” culture with gaming. From the rise of streaming and e-sports, gaming is now a big deal. However, this was considered “niche” for a while. Until Youtube started blowing up along with videos of people who played games called “playthroughs” and “Let’s Plays”. This sudden interest started to spark discussions on many other social media spaces.
Social Media & Gaming
The social media space on gaming has become a safe space for many who either want to get into gaming or just want to share their gaming opinions. There are even veterans in the space who specialize in gaming journalism just like Victoria Cheng, who recently got into the business.
Victoria is a host and presenter for gaming events like Gamescom and the Asia-Pacific PlayStation 5 Launch. Besides that, she is now also the founder of a new gaming and tech portal called Supnerd which she created with her friends.
A gamer’s dream is to have a perfect setup and Victoria’s lived up to the expectation of perfection. Her setup isn’t just for gaming and work but as a Twitch streamer, her setup helps her garner quite a few viewers. Photo: Victoria Cheng
“Instead of pitching to these people who don't understand, we can write or create whatever we want to and don't worry about sponsors or advertisements, we just do this for fun,” she said.
While they just started the portal, she believes that nowadays, with how much gaming has grown she can bring gaming conversations up with anyone openly, especially with how massive the Internet is.
“With the Internet? I mean, the people who really dominate the internet space, honestly, are the geeks. I mean, the geeks invented the internet, right? So this is our area,” she explained.
She isn’t off the mark as it would explain why in 2018, YouTube viewers watched over 50 billion hours of gaming content on the platform, with 48% of viewers reporting that they spend more time watching than they do playing. The ease of accessibility and interactions makes Youtube one of the biggest spaces for gaming discussion.
Like Supnerd, there are many online gaming portals and publications on social media that promote conversation and give their own opinions on games, consoles and everything geek-culture, making gaming more accessible than ever.
A Life in Geek Culture
With gaming being more accessible for newcomers, gaming veterans like Mohammad Syafiq Asyaf Bin Suhaimi, 20, appreciate this ease of access as he well knows how gaming can change lives.
An avid gamer since the age of 3, Syafiq got into gaming when he received his first-ever GameBoy. That was his first taste of gaming but it was when he started hanging out with his cousin and playing on their first-generation Xbox, Syafiq “immediately fell deeper into loving gaming”.
No gamer has the heart to throw their physical video game collection and Syafiq is no exception. Syafiq’s collection of games he has played over the years include classics such as Borderlands 2, Halo, and Titanfall. Photo: Syafiq Suhaimi
His love for gaming wasn't a passive hobby, but something that affected his personal life. “Over time, I realized my personality in gaming can actually be brought out to the real world. That's why now, in RP, I decided, I should just be myself,” he said.
“In the virtual world, I'm this crazy, extroverted person that likes to talk to everyone, but in the real world, I'm the opposite. So I should just bring myself into the real world. I think that really benefited me because I started gaining even more confidence and started to talk to a lot of people and make friends.”
He opened up about how he was bullied in school, and how gaming was an escape for him. “I picked up Halo but my cousin was better than me. I slowly got better and I was even beating him at it. So that gave me confidence and motivation,” he explained. As the “kid who was just there” gaming was more than an escape, it was a place where he actually felt like he belonged.
Gaming moving forward
Gaming has become a platform and space for everyone but not everyone has good intentions. “I just hope now for both eSports and gaming that the guys at the top, guys with the money. Don't ruin it for us,” she explained.
Again, Victoria isn't off the mark. In gaming culture, there are also negatives, like overworking game developers, Pay to Win games, Loot Boxes and more. These stem from a higher position of authority where publishers and people who aren’t personally invested in gaming make decisions.
“So I have concerns about this but I think Gaming is going through that weird like, you know, an adolescent stage where you get a lot of acne and like, gets a little pimply and stuff but it's gonna grow up into something everyone can finally access and find enjoyment in,” she said.
Anime Resurgence
Like gaming, anime is also in a weird period of adolescence. Despite existing for more than 50 years, it is only now gaining traction in its mainstream audience. While there was a mainstream audience in a generation of kids, these kids have now grown up and are guiding the anime culture into the mainstream.
Anime is a worldwide phenomenon, even taking over TikTok. The popularity of anime isn’t a passive fad but has brought rise to many new career opportunities and enterprises as it grows. Source: @justzamri on TikTok
There has been an incredible rise in anime production over Asia with 60% of the animated content coming from Japan. Anime events that are held yearly such as Anime Festival Asia (AFA) have also seen a surge in attendees with only 27,000 attendees in 2008 to 120,000 attendees in 2019. Having an interest in anime has also inspired people to take on professions related to this aspect and pursue a career in it.
Not Just a Hobby
One such individual is Professor Deborah Shamoon, an associate professor of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore. She specialises in Japanese popular culture and was inspired into this profession through her interest in both anime and manga.
Growing up in the United States as a fan of anime and manga, she was introduced to a dubbed version of the anime Space Battleship Yamato. From then on she grew up with not just an interest in anime but in Japanese culture as a whole. Eventually, she received her PhD in Shoujo Culture and Shoujo Manga.
She now educates the next generation of anime and manga “geeks” on the culture they are so passionate about. “Even students are now joining the course and have been fans since they were very young so there isn’t a disconnect between fans and academia the way it used to be”, said Professor Shamoon.
Anime for Everybody
The fact that anime and manga culture is taken seriously now can be attributed to just how accessible it is. “I think that the availability of these things on the internet has made a difference especially through the presence of more subtitles and dubs that are available to us now,” said the Professor.
Through the internet, accessibility for anime skyrocketed. Subtitled and dubbed episodes are much more easily accessible now through streaming services like Netflix. Where a few years ago, accessing subtitles and dubbed episodes were a hassle.
She mentioned that it also took about 10 years or so for subtitles to be legally translated and for people to have more access to streaming sites. Back in the 80s, professor Shamoon shared that the anime fan clubs were small and it was hard to get a lot of information on the different kinds of anime but with the internet present, it became more accessible.
In fact, of the mainstream streaming services, Netflix, on its own, have reported over 100 million households globally who watched at least one anime back in 2020. Netflix also intends to expand their production collaborations with more animation studios from Japan.
Besides streaming services, many enterprises have gotten in on the anime trend. Anime merchandise is now made more accessible to people and can be found in places like La Tendo which caters to all the different genres of anime available.
Newer enterprises like La Tendo were created to serve anime hobbyists in their quest for merchandise collection. La Tendo is a go-to place for hobbyists looking for rare and limited edition items. Picture: Alyssa Joy Decafe Gajeto
With anime rising in popularity, anime lovers have found their way to its written counterpart, manga, through mainstream stores like Kinokuniya. Manga is the umbrella term encompassing graphic novels or comics that originate from Japan. Many refer to this as the inspiration and foundation of anime.
Considered the go-to place for all things manga, Kinokuniya despite being opened in 1983, has only recently found a major audience for manga. Picture: Alyssa Joy Decafe Gajeto
The Anime Obsession turned Passion
An avid adopter of this anime counterpart of manga is Low Jun Li, an 18-year-old Nanyang Polytechnic student and a manga artist. Her love for her passion, which is manga art, stemmed from her emotional relationship with anime and manga.
Low Jun Li’s manga drawings, a hobby she has cultivated for over 12 years, stemmed from her love of a particular anime called Vampire Knight and Black Butler. Photo: Low Jun Li
”Back in secondary school, I really kind of lost touch of who I am. So watching certain types of anime and manga made me feel better about myself and realise that it’s okay to be yourself,” she explained
For her, anime and manga was her safe space and she believes that during COVID-19 many found this community as their escape stating, “Anime and manga was a way to cope with the COVID-19 situation.” She also points out that “they want a community as well.” As a widely shared sentiment, almost everyone craves to be in a community with mutual interests.
At a time like the global pandemic, finding a space that allows individuals to develop their interests and freely express themselves is a difficult feat. Forums and online spaces like discord servers allow those who share this desire to share their interest and speak their mind.
From Jun Li’s perspective, “geek culture” is not only a community but is also a medium to learn about oneself. To those who share this outlook, anime and manga are a safe space to get away from the daily stress and problems of the real world. During COVID-19, having stories like these bring comfort to individuals at a time where comfort is difficult to come by.
A Place to Belong
It is not just during COVID-19 where people are discriminated against, made fun of and even bullied for menial things. Despite all this, there are places where people find comfort. For some, it’s in the geek community.
This culture “gives people a place to escape to,” according to Syafiq, who himself got bullied. “It’s also a place where people can feel supported and have a sense of belonging.” For these people, without geek culture, they feel no belonging. Professor Shamoon, who found her academic calling in the anime field said, “Especially teenagers who weren't finding something they really connected with emotionally, through anime communities, they can find a sense of belonging”.
Sources:
Hernandez, P. (2019, August 16). The people who watch video games, but never play them. Polygon. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/16/20807731/youtube-twitch-fandom-video-games-cosplay-fan-art
Frater, P. (2020, October 27). Japanese anime is a growing success story for Netflix. Variety. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://variety.com/2020/streaming/asia/japanese-anime-is-growing-success-netflix-1234816488
About AFA. Anime Festival Asia. (2020, May 5). Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://animefestival.asia/
Comments