>>280709749
Are modern anime fans interested in Japanese culture at all?

I'm just wondering, since anime is pretty much a widely available media for mass consumption nowadays.

Back then (pre-simulcast), you had to SEEK OUT anime to be able to watch them. Nowadays it's the opposite. anime is advertized literally everywhere through normal ads and social media. even if you don't like or care about anime, they will seek you out to lure you into watching. There's a significant difference in effort into being an anime fan

I think the biggest difference between old and new anime fans are the subtitle-reading experience. Subtitles pre-CR were mostly unlocalized where Japanese-exclusive JARGONS were left untranslated and TL NOTES were present to explain them in detail. These "foreign words" in subtitles made viewers interested in Japanese culture, learn about it, discuss it with each other and become obsessed with it, which led to the birth of a group of people called "weeaboo" (the true meaning)

Modern subtitles however, almost always completely localize them and when it didn't, there's never any TL note to explain them.Plenty official translation, especially CR still use honorifics, but that's just surface-level stuff. So many terms and references to japanese culture are lost in translation, unexplained, like ABC (1-3rd base), hatsumode, goukon, black company, sanzu river, "I can't get married anymore!", references to japanese history, pun-based names, unique japanese foods or even the most basic stuff like Eat A Duck We Must.

And don't forget all the anime "fans" who exclusively watch anime dubbed in English. everything is lost.

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