The Myopia of Fandom [UPDATED]

By now you’ve heard of Kodai Senkaku Genocider (古代戦殻ジェノサイダー) the independent anime short by “Defrost,” done in the style of a lost 1980s title, complete with visual artifacts and scratchy sound. Though it was made in modern times, it was done up to look like something broadcast 30+ years ago. It even includes commercials and an ending song.

However, this tweeter points out something very telling about fandom. He notes the surprisingly low amount of buzz the project got (it’s a whole tweet thread.)

Guy on twitter makes an anime tribute based on the anime of old. No mentions or not alot of retweets on twitter.

Redraw or revisoning famous anime characters by changing race hundreds of hundreds of retweets.

And this is why anime twitter sucks most of the time.

— OMEG∆92 Slacker by day Warrior at Night (@Gamahdude92) May 27, 2020

(Archive of the tweet thread here.)

This is something I’ve noticed quite a bit — content based on legacy brands and corporate product gets the most attention, while talented original work is largely ignored. Furthermore, this happens even when legacy brands drop the ball and many people online complain.

At first, I thought it was because original work wasn’t made with the same level of skill as corporate work, but this animation demonstrates a very high level of skill. The buzz just isn’t as big as it should be, with retweets only in the hundreds, while redraws of legacy brands are retweeted and shared to hell and back.

I have a guess as to why this occurs: the complainers don’t actually want something new. They just want their favorite old brand to come back.

A lot of these brands were around for the viewers’ childhoods, and these viewers have formed a strong attachment to the products. As they got older and their lives became busier, they long for the feeling of childhood once again, when everything seemed to be going great and things were set to get better and better, especially since things are not so great right now, even before coronavirus.

Instead of embracing the possibilities of today, they want to bring back a past that will never return. I suspect that the attachment to legacy corporate product stems not from the product’s actual qualities, but from the happy memories associated with it. It is important to remember that people generally do not sort things out rationally, but through their emotions. While rational thought is possible, it is not the human default.

So go out and give independent creators the boost they need. Share Defrost’s animation around and talk about it. Nothing new will be made if it all dies on the vine.

UPDATE: Here’s a clean version of the opening.

Here's the original version, which was specially released during the lockdown.
pic.twitter.com/h0yZX1LqF4

— サークル「デフロスト」自主制作アニメ (@defrost_no_kuma) May 27, 2020

UPDATE: Twitter user @GunplabroYT responds with a rebuttal.

As far as Anime goes we got new shit outpacing old stuff all the time KNY and MGA are prime examples of fans embracing the new.

— Gunplabro@YouTube! (@GunplabroYT) May 27, 2020