As of late, I've been identified with the term "weeb," which is short for the word "weeaboo."

If you don't know what it is, a weeaboo is a tern to describe people who are obsessed with Japan / Japanese culture / anime that they deny their own culture and act as if they are Japanese. In addition, they will claim to be Japanese and speak Japanese words in their speech. Usually, they will use the words wrong and butcher the Japanese language. In addition, they will act as if Japan is the superior country, and anime is better than anything, and they will prefer anything Japanese over anything from a different culture.

Lately, I've noticed that people also identify weeaboos as people who simply love anime or the Japanese culture. Saying that because a few of my friends identify me as a weeb. They will also add that I try to act Japanese, even though I don't think I am. Thanks to my high collection of anime and vocaloid, though, I've been called a weeb.

Since people are seemingly identifying weebs as people who simply like anime, without trying to act Japanese, how would you identify a weeb? Do you have any experience with weebs? Can't say I really experience other weebs since I'm apparently am one, even when I'm not trying to be one :V 

Yes my sister is the biggest weeaboo I know and she's a terrible person because of it we should all shame her


SUX2BU : You watch sub par anime and you need to pick ones with a better art style and aesthetic

I think the term is applied in a semi-affectionate, playful way, like how people will apply very crude pejoratives to their friends in a joking manner. Really, I don't even think it's a term that means anything at all. You can like Japanese culture, music, food, etc. but to have so much of an obsession as to be unhealthy is an entirely different thing. A similar line of "logic" would define what is thought of as a "weeaboo" as a racist for committing cultural appropriation. It's all silly.

EDIT: Typo fix - manner, not manor.

I guess I'd probably be labeled a weeb. Not that I'd let anyone know enough to label me a weeb though. I'm super into anime and pretty much anything Japanese. I got into Transformers watching Transformers Cybertron (which isn't exactly an anime in the purest sense of the word, but it was practically a gateway drug for me).

I don't typically use Japanese words in my speech... Mainly because I don't know any. But I have been interested in trying to learn Japanese recently. Once I feel like  putting in the effort.

I don't really know anyone else who would really count as "weeaboo material" my brother's kind of into anime, but I don't think it's anywhere near the level I am. So, yeah, it's just me.

Spidey243 : If someone you don't want to talk to calls you, answer the phone with "moshi-moshi" and make sure your say it really fast. They'll hang up.

m0ssb3rg935 : That would be great advice..... If anybody actually called me, so, yeah, I'm just going to have to file that in my memory banks for future use.

I hardly think that weeb is ever used affectionately. 
I think its used in place of Otaku now that its become a more accepted term. Its used to denote the extreme Otaku that are beyond obsessed with Japanese culture.

Honestly, I really don't like the term at all and I think a lot of people use the term without any knowledge of what it means. There are people I knew in high school that watched anime casually yet idiots would always call them weeaboos because of the fact they watched anime. My advice to you is to simply ignore them and take their words with a grain of salt, chances are they probably watch something lame like the walking dead and listen to Iggy Azalea or Willow Smith in their free time, so don't give their uninformed words any power.

Really, all it comes down to is how you identify yourself. If you watch a lot of anime and have a genuine interest in Japanese culture but don't consider yourself to be a weeaboo, then you aren't one. If you are comfortable with the term and you don't mind being called one, then that's fine as long as you are okay with it. To me, I don't consider someone who casually watches anime, or even watches a lot of anime to be a weeaboo (maybe an otaku perhaps, but that is completely different). To me, a weeaboo is someone that puts Japan and Japanese culture/anime on a pedestal all while denouncing their own culture in the process. These are also the same people that try to squeeze in words like "kawaii", "baka", and "desu" into everyday speech. They also tend to get really defensive and aggressive when it comes to talking about their favorite anime. That's just a tad much in my opinion...I've gone to school with people that are weeaboos, the one thing they all have in common is that they identify themselves as weeaboos rather than letting other people label them. In other words, they are open or even proud of being a weeaboo. I don't identify as one because I watch anime on a very casual level. Whether or not you are one simply depends on how you identify yourself. Your perception of yourself is really the only one that matters in this case. Pay no mind to what anyone else thinks. 

Since people who use the term often have little to no experience with anime or other Japanese related things themselves, of course they're going to have a hard time identifying which people just enjoy Japanese culture and which are obsessed with it. They're going to use the term for anyone with an usual interest in Japan or products of its culture.

I don't consider myself a weeaboo, though to most people who fully know me I would probably seem like one. Ironically I got into Japanese culture watching anime but I don't watch it too often anymore (even if there are a few I want to catch up on). I do however play a ton of Japanese games, take Japanese class 3 times a week, have studied Japanese history and once I start university I plan on taking part of my courses at a Japanese university. So unsurprisingly, I've been called a weeaboo by people though not to an extreme point. I haven't ever seen anyone use it as a term of affection.

I will say that I do find the actual weeaboos annoying, those that put Japan and its culture on a pedestal almost likening it to some sort of paradise which simply isn't true. It's a country that has flaws both in its culture and in general like any else. They're the ones that try to act Japanese, come across as they know Japanese when every single word they know of has been through anime (which by the way isn't a good way to learn the language because many terms are used in anime that would make you look stupid in real life situations). The thing is, those people are fairly rare to come across outside of the internet at least from my experience. Like razor said they're usually proud if anything about being called a weeaboo seeing it as some sort of validation. Which is ironic considering they would probably be looked down upon if they went to Japan, due to how inaccurately they portray the culture. 

I don't think I would be one. Maybe in the past I would be, but not now. I still do watch some anime on a casual level, but I don't watch as much anime as I used too in the past really. That name....is very off it feels off for some reason and I haven't really come across this name or knowing about it until you have posted about it. I was hoping I wasn't really one of them until I read razors post which gave me a inside of what I was looking for. Which made me feel some what comfortable with how I am. No I wouldn't be one really.

As long as you do not try to think you are Japanese or try to claim you know Japanese culture,you should be okay. Most weeaboos watch a lot of anime and claim they know how the Japanese work or think they are experts in the culture. That is the insulting part. Now,it is perfectly okay to watch anime,play games in Japanese,learn about Japan through people that are qualified to teach it. That is called expanding your horizons.

Actually, a weeaboo is something completely different in Japan; Being someone who is a complete and utter shut in. The sorta stereotype where people spend all their time in their mothers basement or something along those lines.

Japanese usually hate the way western society has adopted the term.

People I know are either kidding or actually trying to insult by calling someone a weeaboo or weeb whenever anime is ever mentioned. I like some anime, but I am not denouncing my own culture qand trying to be Japanese, or anything like that. I am just a dope that watches anime. So I don't exactly think of myself as a weeaboo.

Over here you would be lucky to find someone that has heard the term weaboo unless you know people that are like it or are one themselves. I know a few that are obsessed with Japanese culture and they can be a bit irritating sometimes. It's great that you like the culture but I don't want to hear about it every conversation we have (I am exaggerating a bit but it sure feels like they do). They are pretty rare to come across at least over here.

Frodlex : So weeaboo, in it's original meaning, is synonymous with neckbeard? If that's the case, I'm a total weeb lol

I'm actually pretty much in complete agreement with Dylan. Where I live no one cares about anything Japanese or animé related except for hardcore gamers who all seem to be obsessed with animé. As for the term you used, I've never heard it and I'm fairly certain no one I know has either. Lol


As for it's application: if it's playful then meh. Heck I've been called a jerk, dumb, nerd, dork, goof, loser, chump, idiot, and probably a dozen other mean names by friends and we laughed about it because, as m0ss said, friends just do that playfully and no one takes it personally or even believes they mean it.

If it's being used in a mocking sense then that's never cool. Period.



As for how I feel about the type of people this is used to describe: as with any other label or group I don't feel a certain way about every one of them, it all comes down to them as people, though in most cases there will be similarities in most people (if not all) in a certain group, else they wouldn't be in that group.
I've known people who are obsessed with animé and Japanese culture, and some of them learn bits and pieces of Japanese. I don't understand it, but I don't have any problems with it. I do think denying one's own culture and identifying as Japanese would be a bit odd, but then so am I. Lol

But I do get a bit bugged when people think everything Japanese is awesome and they want to learn the language and customs and so on because Japan is Japan. Due to this and the fact that hardcore gamers - in my experience - seem to be one and the same as the overly obsessive with animé and Japanese material in general group, I actually fought against learning the language both because I didn't want to be seen as part of that stereotype and because I kind of resented the whole apparent connection that's undeniably there. Still I finally realized that I had a legitimate reason (I'm tempted to say "need") to learn it so I caved.


So basically I don't have a problem with the people that are identified as this or act this way. The term is fine when used playfully but otherwise not cool.

Well, I think I've seen the term maybe once or twice before this, and that was just randomly online. In retrospect, my best friend's sister growing up is a total weeb, and has been for probably a decade now haha ( I mean her face book name was literally "Shin-Chan" for the longest time, or some thing really close to that ). If Otaku is the more politically correct term, then let's go with that. She's a great person none the less, so it doesn't make any difference to me.

As for how I would identify one, I wouldn't really care if some one was. It's hard to avoid some times because it almost seems like human nature to group similar people together, but I try my best to not classify some one in any given stereotype. The sum of a person is greater than their parts, so classifying them in that way just seems to have more negative consequences than positive, since so many tend to associate a few bad apples with the entire group as a whole. I think Eirinn said it best about it "all comes down to them as a person."

Like most of the people here have already said, I'm far from falling in to the hardcore group of people who obsess over Japanese culture or Anime, but I do appreciate it for what value it has. I've always wanted to learn Japanese, but that was for nothing more than to be able to play Japanese video games ( and properly understand them ) since so many awesome games never make it to Western shores, and also to be able to watch Anime as it's released, instead of waiting an extra week for a sub / waiting a year for it to be dubbed.

I speak fluent japanese, and like anime a lot, but I don't consider myself a weeaboo. I like Japan a lot (In fact, I'm going to represent it at school for Nation Day) and like it's culture and language, but to a safe amount. I don't really go overboard with it.

Long story short, people will call others names for stuff they either have no interest or no clue about.... especially when people are in their teens. 

Like Dylan said Weeb isn't really a term used over here... mainly because we use traditional cusses and swear a lot anyways..


at the end of the day its only a name or a label... just move on and you'll be fine.

Frodlex :  


I think you are referring to something else...weeaboo is an English term...

Perhaps Otaku or NEET?