ETERNAL’s latest entry on The Impact of Gateway Anime
pokes some regions which have likely crossed minds before. The premise lies somewhere in the general question, “what spin does a gateway experience have on the overall growth of a participant?” which would be answered more accurately by case studies of sample groups; it’s scientific1. Perhaps indirectly related to the article, I found a spark of interest:
If I mention the term “oldfag”, you’ll probably know where I’m headed with this. Many of the older anime fans who went to high school in the 90s have a completely different perspective of anime than the younger fans do, and a lot of this is due to the early experiences of both parties.
The term “oldfag” is quite accurate for this framework stub, but something about it doesn’t sit right; it needs more analysis. From the notion, it seems that these individuals are stuck in a certain time frame, possibly as a defense mechanism, though that is probably a rare extent. Generally, people will progress and move with the times even if they do not enjoy the present offerings. Some may even go beyond what’s current and speculate on the future. Adaptation and growth yield a special correlation, and with regards to experiences, I believe a sort of duality (or more parallel) arises with the passing of time.
We are nostalgic about our first experiences, but at the same time enjoy current ones, yet what is the trend of comparison. Regardless of age, an oldfag might be one who holds notable bias for nostalgic experiences over those freshly baked. Conversely, newfags would do the opposite, while just plain fags would do neither…. there might also exist futurefags who are even further ahead than newfags, but in the context of experiencing media, that is pointless.
While some might argue that balancing your gateway experiences with current ones is impossible, I find it more useful to embrace the duality parallelality in which an individual understands/recalls both the context of past and current experiences. This realization allows one to consider that perhaps during their gateway period, today’s works may not have appealed in the same manner or at all, and vice-versa, works of yesterday may not reach the same level of significance if they were created today.
Enabling the duality of these circumstances, the participant should be able to construct perspectives which cater to both nostalgia and trend. This is optimal, in my opinion, as the participant can detach and/or activate various snapshots of their experience in order to identify with new and oldfags alike, yet there is something more to this concept than identification.
As the focus and momentum of any sphere transform and grow, there are often non-trivial flux points which serve as trend indicators and may reveal the direction of the system. Disregarding past experience, we should realize that any individuals in a moment of flux are in fact experiencing the same creations. The implication here is that all participants are typically on the same playing field, regardless of how long they have been involved2.
Going back to the role of gateway experiences, I cannot say that their influence is something universal. I feel there are many who allow their first steps to control the way they experience the present, but I also believe there are those who are beyond that point. Life and experiences are after all existential and momentary. Sometimes, we simply have to be there in order understand, and in the same light, we may not understand without detachment.
On a side note, perhaps we should ask what produces a better-rounded critic, being well-experienced or being able to examine works in a present context rather than that of the past3.
Notes
- 1 - Tangent.
- 2 - Given, material related to previous works are the oddities; ie. sequels.
- 3 - The answer is of course all 3: having the experiences, and knowing both past and present contexts.
“what spin does a gateway experience have on the overall growth of a participant?”
Define growth.
It is important not to confuse nostalgia with quality and account for recency bias.
The choice of words to describe such categories is quite poor…
Growth as an increase in the quantity of experiences or history of experiences, I suppose. Growth may occur by encountering new works, but isn’t necessarily limited that influence alone.
Yes, recency bias I failed to mention. Though I only touched on past/current, I wanted this to fit two arbitrary periods say year 2003 and year 2006. As for the quality/rating issue, I’m not applying it. This isn’t about rating individual series, but the perception of how strong current trends within a medium appear overall; e.g. h-adaptations, harem, moe.
Nostalgia-factor is somewhat of a drug-high, in which a viewer may think back on the “good times” they had with their first 5-10 works experienced. In that, it doesn’t translate to quality or better rating. The issue is that single works are left out of the comparison when a viewers say general statements like, “anime was better when I started watching in 2002.”
As far as categories go, I’m not sure what categories there are here. There’s no grouping method unless an individual makes the groups and labels them.
That definition of growth seem to be related to the Openness (one of Big Five).
To assess how strong a trend is, one might consciously or unconsciously make comparisons. Those who’ve been watching anime for a while and watched it in a respective socio-cultural context, may perceive current situation differently compared to the relatively new spectators.
“anime was better when I started watching in 2002.”
This is the so-called Rosy Retrospection bias that applies to many other things in life in general.
I am sure there can be a better term than an “oldfag”
You have the awesome TM names for these things.
*looks up Big Five*
Hmm, I also might say that Agreeableness could play into it in certain situations, especially with Internet communication and the e-Ego.
Rosy Retrospection eh, nice! And I think that makes quite a bit of sense, very accurate, though I can’t say it works for every situation. My own personal example would be School Rumble, which I would have rated higher back in 2004, yet I am now more fond of the title; solid positive nostalgia.
I think recency bias can override Rosy Retrospect in various cases. Interesting.
I am sure there can be a better term than an “oldfag”
Oh god, totally! I dislike the urban term, and I think it’s dismantled easily; the definition is fine, but it’s lame terminology. (One of those paragraphs was on the sarcastic side.)
My gateway anime isn’t as influential as most would think. I didn’t distinguish my first shows as anime. They were all just cartoons, only that I enjoyed the very violent ones with very large robots.
Macross was not a gateway show for me. I had seen a number of Japanese cartoons at the time.
I would only encounter the word anime in the 90s (I’ve been watching since maybe ‘79).
Longer than I’ve been alive
I wouldn’t figure that your early experiences still have a large influence on the way you enjoy things today. I think most grow out of it (the effect ETERNAL mentions flattens out imo).
Suppose it’s like having a fear from watching a scary movie [that shouldn't be watched] in childhood. That one fear might linger until middle school when it is finally out-grown.
Only time.
I always try to look at anime based on present context while doing a review on my blog but from time to time, I feel myself deeply and emotionally affected by certain elements that links to my past experience. I think gateway anime is always there with each of us anime fans (or is it just me who needs more practice in anime review?)
A review is a review. The validity, I think, is in the review itself, rather than the experience of the reviewer. Review quality could be raised with more experience in writing reviews, but not necessarily more experience in the medium… that would raise relevance, I suppose.
What I mention here is the ability to switch back and forth between contexts near seamlessly; not that it’s an easy thing, nor can I reminisce so well. The uses could vary, though I think the main gist is that being able to detach from past feelings/highs in order to assess a general point in time; perhaps not a specific title, but assessing the point in time may aid in properly assessing the title.
I have to read more of your reviews
They is bookmarked.
No; professional art critics have the exact same problem - the first few sculptures they looked at, they are usually unable to criticize properly, even 40 years into their career.
I’m afraid I don’t understand; the first few sculpture criticisms happen 40 years into their career?
Criticism … as a science. D:
[...] inspiration for a special post from time to time. This post is largely inspired by Eternal’s and Ryan A’s theory and opinions on gateway anime. They make me reflect to myself and other fans I’ve met [...]