The Great American Otaku Survey
The September 25th issue of Famitsu had a section on otaku from around the world this week. They sometimes write articles like this from foreign conventions to give Japanese a look at how foreign gamers and anime fans are.
There was a survey that polled 800 American otaku on their favorite things from the world of Japanese entertainment, so I thought it would be fun to take a look.
UPDATE: For those interested in who exactly was polled… the article states the original survey was posted on the OTAKU USA website.
Favorite Game
| 1st | Final Fantasy VII |
| 2nd | Kingdom Hearts |
| 3rd | Metal Gear Solid |
| 4th | Chrono Trigger |
| 5th | Final Fantasy |
| 5th | Final Fantasy IX |
| 7th | The Legend of Zelda |
| 7th | Shadow of the Colossus |
| 7th | Persona 4 |
| 10th | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
Additional comments:
“Chrono Trigger is an RPG that stands the test of time; I thoroughly enjoy playing it, even now!” ~ Nick Colucci, 27
“Disgaea is a weird and wild game that I really enjoyed playing. The replay value is so great with all the multiple endings and insane levels your characters can reach.” ~ Anonymous
“Xenogears was the first JRPG I ever played. I love it so much I even got a gear tattoo on my shoulder.” ~ Adam Dunphy, 26
—————
Favorite Anime
| 1st | Cowboy Bebop |
| 2nd | Gurren Lagann |
| 3rd | Code Geass |
| 4th | FLCL |
| 4th | Evangelion |
| 6th | Full Metal Alchemist |
| 7th | BLEACH |
| 7th | NARUTO |
| 9th | Rurouni Kenshin |
| 10th | ONE PIECE |
Additional comments:
“Naruto changed my life! I never used to stand out, or really have any friends, but now I’m different!” ~ Jennifer, 16
“Belldandy is my wife!” ~ Clay, 24
“OMAI WA MO SHINDERU!” ~ Brandon, 25
—————
Favorite Manga
| 1st | NARUTO |
| 2nd | Hellsing |
| 3rd | ONE PIECE |
| 4th | BLEACH |
| 5th | DEATH NOTE |
| 6th | Full Metal Alchemist |
| 6th | Negima! Magister Negi Magi |
| 8th | Dragonball |
| 9th | Genshiken |
| 9th | Rurouni Kenshin |
Additional Comments:
“Naniwa Kinyuudou really strikes a chord with me.” ~ Jake, 27
“When I read Fruits Basket, I instantly became a shoujo manga fan.” ~ AJR, 16
“Genshiken is something real that many people can identify with.” ~ Nicholas, 23
—————
Subtitles or Dubs?
Here, survey participants were asked whether they preferred to watch anime or play games with subtitles or have the dialogue dubbed into English.
Subtitles – 66.1%
Dubs – 21.8%
Whichever – 12.1%
Additional Comments:
“I like subtitles, because it keeps the anime closer to the original production. With dubbing you lose the original intention of the director and the voice artists.” ~ Anonymous, 53
“Subtitles! It lets me study my Japanese.” ~ Mari, 32
“I absolutely go with dubs. Subtitles get in the way of the beautiful artwork.” ~ Anonymous
“In anime like Cowboy Bebop, where the characters are western, I like dubs. Otherwise, subtitles are fine. For instance, Noa Izumi from Patlabor sounds really cartoony and childish dubbed.” ~ David, 20
—————
Favorite Game Creator or Company
| 1st | Square Enix |
| 2nd | Nintendo |
| 3rd | Capcom |
| 4th | Atlus |
| 5th | Hideo Kojima |
| 6th | KONAMI |
| 7th | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| 8th | Tetsuya Nomura |
| 9th | SEGA |
| 10th | Goichi Suda |
Additional Comments:
“I got ‘SNK’ and ‘Team Ninja’ tattoos on my body.” ~ B.N., 24
“BANDAI and Kadokawa Books have delivered many a blessing upon otaku around the world.” ~ Philip, age unknown
“Tomohiro Nishikado, the man who made Space Invaders.” ~ Anonymous, 24
“Katamari Damacy, made Keita Takahashi, is always my first choice when I want to play something really fun.” ~ Zac Bentz, 32
—————
What would you like to see sold in the US?
Here, survey participants were asked about unreleased games, anime, movies, novels or anything else that they would like to see made available in North America.
“Why… why won’t Nintendo release Mother 3 in America?!” ~ Ivan Yang, 16
“Eden of the East. I hear it’s the best quality anime on TV right now.” ~ Christian Valdez, 19
“Those characters from K-On! are just sooo cute!” ~ Mr. Waffle, 26
“Man, I just can’t wait for the new Full Metal Alchemist series to be released in America!” ~ Rachal, 19
“I want to play Ryuu ga Gotoku 3.” ~ Joshua Miller, 30
“Release Siren 2 in America!” ~ Zac Bentz, 32
“The work of Shigeru Mizuki should be shown in art houses.” ~ Ed Sizemore, 42
“Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon for the Wii has great atmosphere and music.” ~ Clay Leatherwood, 24
—————
Favorite Animator or Animation Studio
I thought some of these might be more difficult to recognize, so I included Wikipedia links.
| 1st | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 2nd | Shinichiro Watanabe |
| 3rd | Kyoto Animation |
| 4th | Gainax |
| 5th | Hideaki Anno |
| 6th | Satoshi Kon |
| 7th | bones |
| 8th | Sunrise |
| 9th | Studio Ghibli |
| 10th | Akiyuki Shinbo |
Additional Comments:
“The charm of Shinichiro Watanabe is his delicate balance of comedy and drama.” ~ Anonymous, 29
“Tomino and Gundam.” ~ Rob, 22
“I love Akiyuki Shinbo’s amazing visual style.” ~ Digital Boy, 18
—————
Favorite Manga Artist or Publisher
Likewise with manga artists, they may not be as universally recognized, so I included Wikipedia links.
| 1st | CLAMP |
| 2nd | Akira Toriyama |
| 3rd | Eiichiro Oda |
| 4th | Masashi Kishimoto |
| 5th | Ken Akamatsu |
| 6th | Rumiko Takahashi |
| 7th | Tite Kubo |
| 8th | Kentaro Miura |
| 9th | Kiyohiko Azuma |
| 10th | Osamu Tezuka |
Additional Comments:
“You can really feel the aura of the girls that Masakazu Kastura draws.” ~ Cameron, 25
“Junji Ito is just so amazing and produces deep, emotionally compelling illustrations.” ~ Zac Bentz, 32
“Masamune Shirow really opens up my mind to all new ideas and possibilities with his work.” ~ Mari, 32
Wow, who ever you surveyed has horrible tastes.
Yeah seriously, there are a lot of other greater titles missing on these lists, but it is called “The Great American Survey”. WTF do Americans know…
In this comments section: Weaboos whine about things that are popular, and thus bad.
Given the fact that you’re reading an article called “The Great American Otaku Survey” it’s funny hearing you, a “weaboo” yourself calling the the kettle black. Just saying.
My first comment section flame fest! I feel so legitimatized as a blogger.
It find it kind of annoying how you’re going to consider someone a weaboo just because they’re looking at an anime related article, both of you… none of the comments seem to scream “weaboo” at all.
However, the result of this are pretty much garbage to me… but then, it’s Americans, and it’s “otaku”… there’s a feeling that it’s terrible right from the title. (I do agree with a few of these though, FLCL is amazingly rad.)
The only thing that really surprised me about the results of this is the ‘game creator or company’ and ‘animator or animation studio’ sections, where there was a notable amount of overlap. Aside from that, the results were either expected or unsurprising… but then, I suppose they ought not be surprising to an American anime fan and manga dabbler.
[...] The Great American Otaku Survey [...]
It’s like they only surveyed retarded people.
hhh wow, Idolm@ster wasn’t on the list of things that need to be published in the States. I’m honestly a little surprised.
I hella filled this survey out and put im@s. I am shocked it didnt show up as well but apparently moe shit is still a bit underplayed here. Seeing code geass as number 3 is a shock, the thing was a train wreck. A very entertaining train wreck, but a train wreck none the less.
I’m tempted to pick it the upcoming Idolm@ster since it’s the first entry on a system I actually have. Not sure though, since I feel like I’d have to hide my DSi under a mattress like a porno mag
There’s a lady living here, after all.
[...] The Great American Otaku Survey [馬車] [...]
[...] The Great American Otaku Survey [馬車] Tagged:famitsuotaku usaresearchsurveys [...]
[...] and anime data in the link below. The Great American Otaku Survey [...]
[...] The Great American Otaku Survey [??] [...]
I stopped reading at FFVII.
Hahaha! I thought to do about the same, but I followed reading. I soon realized it’s an otaku survey. No wonder Kingdom Hearts is #2 game and Tetsuya Nomura is #8 GAME CREATOR! ‘-_-
There are far more interesting games and franchises out there. There’s no need to make a god out of one that the rest have to compare with. It’s pathetic.
Other than the super childish stuff like Naruto, Bleach, Dragonball, and One Piece, the results are all quite good.
Nice to see Shinbo on the list. Loving his work on Bakemonogatari right now.
Uziga Waita is my favorite manga artist, his art is so captivating and the amount of work he puts into details is simply amazing. Mai-chan’s Daily Life is a masterpiece that everyone should read.
Whoa….. People need to acquire some fucking taste…
I am surprised at some of the results like Evangelion being so high and no Miyazaki films in the top 10. I thought we were mainstream in anime fandom in this country. I could be 100% wrong.
American otaku clearly need to branch out a little and watch some non-mainstream stuff. I’m not knocking the mainstream at all, but there’s more to any given genre than the big names, and frequently the big names aren’t even the best stuff out there.
Also, Naruto? Better than Hellsing? *facepalm*
wtf man …
SONOFABITCCCHH
I find it odd that 2/3 the people prefer subtitled stuff…but their favorite shows are the dribble that is dubbed and aired on [as] (not that its all bad…but the dubs are mostly unbearable)
SJ comics, Adult Swim, and Square Enix are apparently the definition of Japanese culture in America. I’m glad I avoid going to conventions. I get enough of these companies’ fanboys at home, I don’t want to meet MORE of them.
800 people isn’t a big enough poll. Especially since every 16 year old girl who likes Naruto and has a wristband calls themselves an otaku.
There are those of us with much more refined tastes and a deeper appreciation of Japanese entertainment that I feel this poll missed.
I think results say more about the section of the population they polled. Not to mention the type of people that comment. I can understand the criticism but you have to understand that most of the viewers started out on television and then moved elsewhere. Plus you all could have taken the pool. Democracy is fair, but that doesn’t make it right. So deal with the results and quit your bitching about why your favorites are not on there.
As for my opinion on the results, meh. They’re typical for the time period. I mean about ten years back Dragonball Z (or what have you) and Pokemon would have been in the top 10 for anime. It just comes in waves. I don’t think people even bother watching older animes any more because the quality is so much higher now.
That’s my two cents on this crap.
Yeah, I’m surprised Toriyama didn’t get more love. It’s very possible that a large portion of American Otaku started out watching Cartoon Network and Dragon Ball.
I unfortunately feel compelled to question the rigor of these results – not necessarily because 800 people isn’t big enough, as Xio wrote above, but because the average American fan probably has not heard of Famitsu (or Newtype, or Otaku USA.) It is probably not a representative cross-section of American fandom.
Still, rigor aside, it is interesting. One could even argue that shows like Naruto and Bleach would be even more favored if casual fans were included.
Looking back over the Famitsu article, the original survey was posted on the OTAKU USA website. I’ve never heard of the magazine either, though admittedly, I was more into anime back in high school during the days of VHS tape exchanges
I really hope the japanese don’t end up thinking these are the american otaku’s actual tastes. I have a friend who is actually pretty damn otaku (gundam models, figurines, etc in his room) and when I linked him this he raged as much as I did, while we both also lol’d at some of the stupid people’s comments.
I bet 95% of the people who took this servey have never seen The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, Beck, Azumanga Diaoh, Kanon, etc, or even know what Touhou and the Vocaloids (and dare I say Nico Nico as a whole) are.
TBH I’m shocked some of the 7-10 choices are even on the lists at all (like genshiken).
/ragerant
you are all a bunch of tards…stfu
I’m not sure why people are surprised. Mainstream is mainstream because … duh, it’s popular. Most Japanese polls that I used to see in NewType USA when it still existed looked quite similar. Evangelion was almost always still #1, or at least really close to the top. Even though I watch a lot of niche anime, you’d have to be a full on retard to expect to see a whole bunch of trendy obscure anime and manga at the top. Anyway, there’s a nice mix of mainstream and unusual in this list.
And FFVII-haters can eat me. I don’t fucking care what you think, newfag, it was important to the people who played it when it first came out. I’d rather FFVI was on that list, too, but I’d probably replace FFIX, which has never been a big favorite of mine.
I have no issues with the large amount of mainstream stuff here but Code Geass is a just a bad anime…
Disappointed at how high Miyazaki is on the list. I have always founds his films way over rated.
[...] The Great American Otaku Survey [馬車] [...]
What they wanted: info from american otaku
What they got: info from people who saw the link on kotaku or any other site like that and thought “I watch Naruto and Bleach on toonami, im so otaku i should take the survey
DD ^^”
[...] in America, Japan, Germany, South Africa, or anywhere in the world. Recently, Famitsu revealed the results of a survey they conducted via the Otaku USA website which asked questions such as “Who is your favorite [...]
FUCKING STUPIDEST SHIT I’VE EVER READ, FUCK OFF.
I don’t like the results of the survey either but it’s incredibly honest as to what westerners like! Naruto is popular and people do love CLAMP.
But, the diverse comments truly make up for it pointing out the diversity of fans and tastes. I lol’d at the Belldandy is my wife comment and the Hokuto no Ken quote. Whoever picked out the comments did a damn good job.
I enjoy watching the pretentious snobbery you people exhibit over these “plebs” pathetic enjoyment of the mainstream filth those of you with such refined tastes would never lower yourselves to enjoy.
These are cartoons and games, people.