The Weeaboo

"The world is finally starting to ‘wake up’ to what Japan has to offer."

-The Weeaboo

Japan sure does love their lasers. Oh yeah, and women. Them, too.

Truer words about the relation of the Western world with Japan have never been spoken. After many centuries of isolationism, preferring the Japanese culture so delicately cultivated by shoguns and emperors, samurai and daimyo, relations and eventually trade with the country opened up to the rest of humanity with the mission of the United States to Japan. Since then, it has been an ongoing exchange of culture that has inundated the market with goods from both countries.



As Japan gained a lot of political and economic structure from the United States, especially following World War II and defeat by the U.S.-involved Allies, the U.S. has also gained quite a bit in the way of culture. From anime to manga, Pocky to sushi, many of the wealthy American staples come directly from Japan. So why is there still a stigma to being in love with Japanese culture?



The Weeaboo blog has taken the eponymous pejorative, and turned it into a boon, a label that condones happily this sort of behavior, much as similar groups like the "brights" of New Atheism fame or their influencing predecessor "gays" of homosexual fame have done. Now, with more gusto and power thanks to sites like The Weeaboo, the Japanese culture is retaking the American world by storm!

Here's a snippet of one post about the capital city of Tokyo, in Japan:

"Yesterday, at an award ceremony at the Tobu Hotel Levant Tokyo, the Guinness World Records officially recognized the Tokyo Sky Tree as the tallest free-standing tower in the world.

Surpassing the previous record holder, the 600-meter Can[t]on Tower in China’s Guangzhou, the Tokyo Sky Tree reached it’s final height of 634 meters back in March of this year.

“One of the purposes of the construction of the tower is to let the world know about Japanese culture and technology, as well as the allure of this area of Tokyo,” said Michiaki Suzuki, president of Tobu Tower Sky Tree Company.

Suzuki told reporters after accepting the certificate confirming the Sky Tree as the new record holder, “This recognition gives us great strength as we strive to meet that goal."

Tokyo's Sky Tree, which was once known as New Tokyo Tower, actually combines three businesses in one: broadcast, restaurant, and observation tower. The observation tower is currently under construction in Sumida, Tokyo, but has been completed enough to be the officially tallest free-standing tower in the Guinness World Records archives.

For the sake of a thorough site review (and for being a mild fan of Japan, myself), I will go through each section of the blog to give a general idea about its functions, as well as to critique how well it adds up to my expectations.

Anime

I beg to differ.

• Expectation: Reviews of anime series, new releases, and events
• Reality: Reviews of anime series and events
• Score: 66%

Culture

• Expectation: Japanese cuisine, interests in Japan, religious/spiritual
• Reality: Interests in Japan
• Score: 33%

Dramas

• Expectation: Reviews of TV series, new releases, actors and actresses
• Reality: New releases, actors and actresses
• Score: 66%

Idols

• Expectation: Popular Japanese people
• Reality: Lots of gorgeous Japanese girls
• Score: 9001%

Music

• Expectation: Labels, artists, and songs
• Reality: Labels, artists, songs, and videos
• Score: 125%

News 

• Expectation: Current events
• Reality: Current events
• Score: 100%

Technology

"I can't stop looking at the QUALITY of this fucking bridge!"

• Expectation: Gundams, artificial intelligence (not the Republican kind), GitS-esque cyborg body parts
• Reality: People get to watch the Olympics in HD
• Score: Whoopty-freakin'-doo

Top Ten

• Expectation: Japanese culture at its finest
• Reality: Sexy voices, sexy faces, sexy videos... a.k.a. Japanese at its finest
• Score: 100%

Uncategorized

• Expectation: Weird Japanese shit
• Reality: Shameless Japanese shit
• Score: Eh. 100% (I was anticipating weird shit, man)

That's it for the sections of the site, and hopefully you can walk away from this review not feeling entirely like you wasted your time with this gargantuan post (though, trust me, it was worth it!). Perhaps even in the future, when you sit down and tell yourself, "I could use some Japanese stuff right now," you'll be well-equipped to nerd out on The Weeaboo.

BEST PART ABOUT THE WHOLE THING: This isn't even a paid advertisement. I'm totally legit about it. Scout's Honor!

You can trust me.