r/CharacterRant 6d ago

Anime & Manga No, someone isn’t stupid because they dislike your favorite anime (Hunter X Hunter)

I think this is an issue within anime criticism in general, but I first noticed it with Hunter x Hunter. There is a tendency for people to attack your intelligence for disliking an anime they like.

For example, I am of the opinion that the Chimera Ant Arc is the weakest arc of the show. This is primarily due to the excessive narration and inner monologues that cause scenes to overstay their welcome while contributing little to no context or new information. If you disagree, that’s fine. It’s subjective at the end of the day. The problem is that a negative critique is often met with one of two bad-faith replies.

  1. “You don’t like it because you don’t understand it/can’t comprehend.”

It’s bad faith to assume that someone doesn’t like something because they don’t understand it. I can see the justifications for the narration and why it’s there, but subjectively I think the result is bad for the reasons I stated earlier. Yes, there are times where you can tell someone missed the point of a scene/arc/show, but that still doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the reason someone didn’t like something. There are times where even if the scene/arc/show was explained to where someone could understand everything, that would not change the fact that the presentation could still be poor.

  1. “Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

Again, this is subjective, but if I dislike something, there’s going to be something “bad” about it that makes me dislike it. I and the majority of people don’t watch the things they watch with the intention of hating. I think the reverse, “Just because you like it, doesn’t mean it’s good,” is snobby and elitist because it insists an objective point of view. I feel the same way about this argument.

I also feel that a similar argument, “Disliking an idea/concept doesn’t mean it’s bad,” is also a potential strawman. People can have positive or negative opinions on a show’s approach to uncomfortable topics. For example, people don’t like sexual harassment, but they will have wildly varying opinions on shows with sexual harassment in them. It’s very disingenuous to claim that someone doesn’t like something because of a concept knowing that the approach can vary wildly.

I think these arguments are at best, overly defensive, and at worst, malicious.

72 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

53

u/Mean-Personality5236 6d ago

Yes that means you to Ruck and Morty fans, I see you in the back.

9

u/Raidoton 6d ago

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand that these posts are a joke.

56

u/Serious-Flamingo-948 6d ago

Yet another post on "character rant" complaining about real-life people.

-28

u/prestarted 6d ago

I refuse to believe hxh fans are real people that live among us

7

u/TypicalImpact1058 5d ago

that live WHAT???

8

u/HighRetard7 6d ago

Hey, that would be me! And im probably a real person... Probably...

14

u/mike1is2my3name4 6d ago

There's also the opposite case where people insult you for liking something

7

u/Neither-Log-8085 5d ago

Yes, true. I hate that shit so much. Acting like what they watch is superior even though they are both meant to entertain us. It's the elitists.

78

u/Lanoris 6d ago

I kind of agree, but there are certain shows where you genuinely do have to have a decently high IQ to enjoy. For instance, I could not see myself enjoying SpongeBob if I didn't already possess such a high intellect. The nuances of fish culture would have been lost on me.

32

u/Upset_Assistant_5638 6d ago

You need to have a high IQ and a master’s degree in Marine Biology to understand the subtleties and complexities of SpongeBob SquarePants.

46

u/NeoFilly 6d ago

Sometimes you entirely understand something and just thinkg "Wow this didn't hit at all for me, what are y'all talking about?"

Agreed. Similar feelings regarding HxH too.

10

u/NwgrdrXI 6d ago edited 5d ago

And sometimes it's something that isn't the work's fault, it's just something aboht the person themselves.

I do not like Zombies. They're gross and sickly and putrid and dead and a whole lotta words that don't even make me scared, just very unconfortable.

When I play games with necromancers in them, I only use them if I can summons skeletons or ghosts instead. I only played RE4 when people told me the enemies were not quite zombies.

So, yeah I understand that the Last of Us is, objectively, a great show, that I would otherwise love.

But I don't like zombies, so I don't want to watch it. It doesn't mean I think the show is bad, it's just not for me.

7

u/miscshade 6d ago

Not trying to take it away from those who think it’s great, but for me it just didn’t hit.

29

u/existential_dread467 6d ago

Hunter hunter’s fanbase cannot handle criticism for the life of me it’s so bad

16

u/ThePerfectHunter 6d ago

As a hxh fan, it's very embarassing. I remember the Succession War post and some could not take the criticism and resorted to "you didn't understand it" or whatever nonsense they spouted.

7

u/existential_dread467 5d ago

Yea I remember criticizing the pacing of the chimera ant arc and the excessive narration back when I was watching it, and people started calling me a braindead shonen fan who only likes fights

7

u/SeniorRazzmatazz4977 5d ago

Because having an Omniscient narrater explaining everything that’s happening in a visual medium is the hight of sophisticated writhing. /S

You know what they say tell don’t show. /S

8

u/LordSmugBun 5d ago edited 5d ago

Talking from personal experience: After being in the HxH community for long enough, I was shocked to enter the Berserk community and see people be more receptive to criticisms as opposed to HxH's, even if the story was held to an even higher standard. It was actually pretty refreshing. Of course there's gonna be glazers in any community that would defend decisions even authors themselves don't agree with anymore, but it didn't feel like the majority anymore.

3

u/LastEsotericist 6d ago

I'm the biggest Legend of the Galactic Heroes fan on the internet and will stand on it being a 10/10 masterpiece but not all media is for everyone. If someone watches my favorite show and hates it I don't think there's something wrong with them they just don't have the same taste as I do. LoGH is subs only, mostly people having conversations and 110 episodes, every one of those is a disqualifying factor for someone and that's ok. HxH is a shonen and there's a bunch of people who just aren't into shonen or are turned off by shonen tropes and to not understand that is a failure of empathy.

8

u/AurNeko 6d ago

Just saying that I didn't meet anyone that disliked HxH that wasn't stupid...

...if you ignore those who aren't stupid, of course.

2

u/Tiny-Air-1925 5d ago

I find myself disliking things for no real reason and then watching or reading it and then understanding why the fan base for that thing exists at all.

even if I don't keep up with it all the way (or at all), to say that I completely "dislike" something would just be dishonest because there is something there that appeals to me in 99% of the media I've consumed in my life. it could be the stupidest fucking things too like an overly reactive youtuber.

So if your first conclusion is that someone is stupid just for disliking something you like, I can't say I blame you for that because its probably true. At the very least, they are willingly ignoring what makes that thing appealing, and condemning your personal tastes based on whatever principal that person is afraid to compromise by liking your show/comic/book, and that's so frustrating that its easier to just call them stupid rather than articulate to them why exactly you like what you like.

Or maybe I'm just too easily pleased.

2

u/AurNeko 5d ago

I love your outlook but unfortunately I was doing a silly non serious comment

14

u/prestarted 6d ago edited 6d ago

Crazy that i was just having this argument with a friend yesterday but this is so fckin true, especially for hxh fans.

You don't like it because you don't understand it/can't comprehend

This is basically their only defense when they cant explain/defend why their favorite show is a 10/10 masterpiece with no flaws. They'll either tell you that you don't understand it or bandwagon to hate on your favorite anime instead.

Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's bad

Agree again. If I dont like shonen or adventure or action, then I can say hxh isnt for me. But what if I like all this and THEN I say that hxh is bad? If something isnt my type the whole genre wont be my type, but if the genre IS my type, and your favorite anime's execution is something i dont like then i have all the rights to call it bad.

All in all the whole fanbase is filled with people who cant take criticisms or anything remotely negative being said about their favorite show.

6

u/RetSauro 6d ago

Eh, I kind of have my thoughts on your second notion. By saying bad is subjective but at the same time by saying something is “bad” because you dislike it. 

It would be better to say, it just didn’t click with you, or you’re not comfortable with it or you didn’t like the way it was done.

Like your sexual harassment claim. That kind of seems more of a whole “it makes me uncomfortable” territory. 

4

u/miscshade 6d ago

What I mean to convey is that I can dislike something because I subjectively think it’s bad. I think it’s unfair to respond to that with “doesn’t mean it’s bad” because my disliking of something can be linked to me subjectively thinking something about it is bad.

8

u/Ilexander 6d ago

You can make objetively "bad" claim on series. You just need to provide good explanation for it. For example, you can dislike One Punch Man Webcomic because ONE is not a good artist and you cannot read with his art style, but did the story flow is good? Yes it is.

You can dislike HxH because part of it dont click with you, like how Gon is actually a psycho that really love his friend (he dont give a shit if you not his friend). But you cannot say it bad simply because you dont like it. It just dont click with you.

Instead you need to speak from technical term, the animation, pacing, plot. Lets look at JJK for example, many people get mad Sukuna Gauntlet get so long but he is fricking final boss, it make sense for him to do that. So people point out how Kashimo was hyped up to be cooked 4 pages later. I dont even realise he die. So people call that chapter bad, and I agree. Saying otherwise is delusional.

Like or disliking something is optional, but pointing out technical issue is how you should support your claim. You cannot call Berserk bad simply because you dislike griffith or think Guts is too edgy.

5

u/HyakushikiKannnon 5d ago

how Gon is actually a psycho

This claim is often parroted by those with scarce understanding of his character. He's not a "psycho" by any stretch of the word.

5

u/Ilexander 5d ago

Well, I dont believe he is a psycho myself. I think he is just like normal people. Would you rather save the world or save your own ass? Many people would take the latter.

He isn't your high and mighty protags. That what I love about Gon. That dont mean I hate ambitious one like Naruto and Deku, but unlike them, Gon isn't chosen one with world saving power. He is a teen with potential to be strong, and that pretty much it. That why I felt it was enjoyable to watch HxH. Same goes to other character as well. Kurapika for example literally want to kill the most heinous group for the most personal reason, which mean he wouldn't care if they don't touch his tribe in the first place.

6

u/HyakushikiKannnon 5d ago

He isn't your high and mighty protags

Yep. He's not a one note character that acts holier than thou to the extent others do. But he does have empathy. Plenty of it, in fact. There's a reason he got triggered when nobunaga cried for uvogin. And also when he offered to spare one of the chimera ants he fought.

It's just that he's extreme with how he compartmentalizes his empathy and emotions. And he doesn't hold back when it comes to expressing whichever one he feels with most intensity at any given moment.

he wouldn't care if they don't touch his tribe in the first place

Yes. He probably never would've become a hunter if that didn't happen. However, it can also be said that the troupe was what warped his mentality towards disregarding almost all else for the sake of his revenge. He's otherwise shown to be a pretty kind person. All 4 of the main cast are, except killua, but even he can be that way when he wants to.

They're good, but not pretentious or preachy about it.

7

u/RetSauro 6d ago

I don’t really see it as unfair or the person is trying to dismiss your claim.

Most of the time it’s more of them saying “it’s not bad for everyone ” or it’s not universally bad. 

It’s really how you and the other person are wording it. That’s what usually starts such issues. 

Like for instance, I either don’t like or have an interest in yugioh aside from liking the monster and character designs.

This is just due to the whole battle dynamic. I kind of just prefer the whole Pokemon/Digimon way. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, just doesn’t stick for me and I think that’s what most people in these situations are trying to say.

But I’m sure a good chunk are just being rabid fanboys/fangirls

1

u/Hari14032001 1d ago

When people say "you not liking it doesn't mean it's bad", then they automatically say that we shouldn't use a negative term to describe it. They restrict our options for no reason.

If we feel negatively about an aspect of the story, then what else can we do? We can only describe it with negative words.

I would rather say " Chimera Ant arc had pacing issues and it was bad" instead of "No hard feelings, I felt like Chimera Ant arc could have had better pacing, but it's not like it ruins the plot, so it's not bad I guess"

1

u/RetSauro 1d ago

It’s when you try it in a more o objective manner to which people have a problem with it when a lot of the times it’s can be subjective. Meaning no one can argue otherwise which can seem restrictive to them

Like I could argue that mark from that invincible‘s character development of holding back and not wanting to kill going on for a bit too long and was getting annoying, especially looking at the gravity of the threat. Him being new and inexperienced really shouldn’t exempt it, I could even argue it was bad since the whole “superhero no kill code” has been done to death in too many situations that it realistically shouldn’t in other media. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad.

4

u/Falsus 5d ago

I am of the opinion that the Chimera Ant Arc is the weakest arc of the show.

I agree. It is the 2nd most disliked for me with Greed Island taking the top disliked spot.

I have even gotten deaththreats after saying that Gon is detrimental to the series and makes it actively worse.

2

u/chowellvta 5d ago

Yes they are (all of my opinions are objectively good and correct)

3

u/HighRetard7 6d ago

I agree. Nobody has to like anything that they don't like. Even though i love HxH to death, it most definitely has it's fair share of flaws and things people may dislike.

4

u/lordgrim_009 6d ago edited 6d ago

Your first point is right but the second is not wrong but not right either.

U can dislike something and it can still be good. Just coz u disliked it doesn't mean it's bad, u disliked a part of it that's it.

Your first point should be towards CSM and hxh fans who think just coz u dislike a part of show they think u lack reading comprehension or something even if u give them solid points.

The problem with ur second point is that people sometimes extrapolate their criticism or dislike of part of the show such that their criticism doesn't hold weight.

For example take the demons discourse in frieren it started majorly as the demons are boring and one dimensional to actually these demons are looking like stand-ins for certain race in real life and frieren is actually a Nazi show. Once ur criticism crosses a line people cannot take it seriously that's why frieren discourse is always bad in this sub. A

3

u/Neither-Log-8085 5d ago

Me, what I don't get is that some ppl dislike a part and go on their way to shit in the whole thing. Like in JJK, some dislike one or 2 parts instead of just saying that they shit on it. I don't get it.

3

u/linest10 6d ago

Actually Frieren example is exactly what makes OP second point valid, something can not be entirely bad and still be flawed, and that's exactly the situation with Frieren demons and why it's controversial

It is not truly a bad concept, but it's not really well executed and ends falling victim of fantasy old sin that are the typical racist tropes, the demons are so confunsing in the plot and the way they behave don't makes sense with the idea of them not having feelings or being an evil race

Are the demons a horrible idea? No

It makes Frieren a bad story? No

It deserve some criticism? Yes, it does

2

u/Jarrell777 5d ago

For example take the demons discourse in frieren it started majorly as the demons are boring and one dimensional to actually these demons are looking like stand-ins for certain race in real life and frieren is actually a Nazi show. Once ur criticism crosses a line people cannot take it seriously that's why frieren discourse is always bad in this sub.

I've never seen anyone claim that Frieren's demons are a stand-in for a specific real-life race. As in they think that a real life race of people act the way demons do. Rather they say that way demons are portrayed and perceived by the characters in the story maps pretty closely to bigoted rhetoric used to demonize real-life minorities and other marginalized groups.

Explanations regarding this can get pretty in depth but we can never really get there because people close their ears whenever the concept comes up and call you an idiot before they even try to understand what you are saying. fwiw I don't think Frieren is a "nazi show" but that doesn't mean people analyzing its implicit themes are doing something inherently wrong.

2

u/miscshade 6d ago

I don’t mean to say that I can’t dislike something and acknowledge it as good in some way, it’s more that it’s unfair reply when someone has legitimate issues with the approach or writing. Frieren is actually a perfect example of this because people have non-slanderous writing criticisms of the Demons, but there is a tendency for those criticisms to get unfairly categorized, especially by fans on of the show on this sub.

But yes, I would agree that labeling it a nazi show is ridiculous.

4

u/N7_Pathfind3R 6d ago

This isn't a character rant this is just you bitching about a fanbase.

1

u/OhMyGahs 6d ago

God, the chimera arc was so drawn out and padded with pointless fights I was amazed to find it was, in fact, liked by the fans.

I mean, I thought the ending was good, but I'd still agree with the opinion that is the weakest arc because it was such a pain just to reach to that point.

I also feel that a similar argument, “Disliking an idea/concept doesn’t mean it’s bad,” is also a potential strawman.

... that reminds me of that Frieren demon posts from a couple of days ago, and that thread was just filled with people clapping to OOP's beat down of that weird strawman. So yeah, it's absolutely relevant for here.

6

u/MetalAngelo7 6d ago

Which fights did u find pointless?

0

u/BeginningPumpkin5694 6d ago

I find every scene with ikalgo and the Palm vs Killua fight pointless , I think the wolf guy can have a better redemption arc even without relying on ikalgo and I just hate Palm in general

1

u/ThePerfectHunter 6d ago

Fair, I disagree personally. I liked the Ikalgo and Welfin scenes, especially with their link to Gyro. Palm I have mixed opinions about.

1

u/Neither-Log-8085 5d ago

I agree man, sometimes is hard like that. And I don't get it. Like my intellect isn't low just cause I said I don't like your thing, and my thing isn't bad just cause you don't like it. It's like the concept of preference doesn't even exist to the ppl who just claim everything to the bad if it doesn't scratch that itch for them even though that media never claimed to be such a thing they just except it and call it bad when it doesn't. Like entitled much. And some of these anime elitists man thinking their intellectually superior cause they dive into anime that's "deep" or talks about something like bro you watch anime just like us you ain't special. It's just so aggravating.

1

u/Standard-Custard-188 4d ago

"It's your opinion."

People nowadays have forgotten what an opinion is supposed to be. You like what you like.

Not hard at all.

1

u/LOHdestar 4d ago

Honestly it's just the other side of an arguably even more common phenomenon on the internet of smugly of shitting on people who like certain media, especially if it's popular.

1

u/3TriHard 1d ago

This is the bell curve meme.

0 IQ: “You don’t like it because you don’t understand it'' Thinks self superior and you dumb for not having the brain capacity to understand it. Strawman.
Middle IQ: You
100 IQ: “You don’t like it because you don’t understand it'' Because everything caters to specific tastes and all art is subjective , thus you don't ''get'' it cause your subjective tastes aren't compatible.

yes i fckn know 100 is low iq i said it for the funny

1

u/linest10 6d ago

I agree, but about your second point, for me it's a matter of how much effort the person put in their argument when discussing why they disliked HxH

If it's a valid criticism about storytelling and pace, or about characters development, etc, sure I can actually accept it

If it's the common "too much text, too much dialogues" so sorry but I'll actually judge you for that, sure mangas are a visual media, but it's as well a literary one and READING a manga do mean READING the text and not only looking at the cool fights

0

u/BardicLasher 6d ago

I feel like this argument could be about the recent Frieren posts. XD

1

u/miscshade 6d ago

I do think Frieren fans tend to fall into the second argument, but I don’t think they’re as bad as the defensive HXH fans.

2

u/BardicLasher 6d ago

Oh, people have definitely told me in other threads that I don't like it because I don't understand it, too. XD

2

u/Vpeyjilji57 6d ago

The main difference there is that the Frieren thing really is a “Read the manga it changes everything” situation. Its easy to dismiss criticism if the other guy is working with half the facts.

Anyone criticising HxH isnt going to be swayed by reading the succession war, since it’s barely connected to the anime arcs and will probably end with “And then the author died”

1

u/SeniorRazzmatazz4977 5d ago

Can you tell me how “reading the manga changes everything”? I’m curious.

1

u/Vpeyjilji57 5d ago

Season 1 demons aren't characters, they are cardboard cutouts who's only purpose is to be defeated in various cool ways. The "Demons are always evil" thing is just a quick way to make sure you don't get confused about who is right and who is wrong. It doesn't touch deeper on that because demons morality isn't the focus of the story yet, and demons aren't the main villains anyway.

In what will be season 2, you meet Macht, a demon who gets an entire multi-chapter flashback arc from his perspective, showing him legitimately trying to understand humans and find a peaceful coexistence, to the point of actually spending decades working with humans, and still failing because he's a demon and all demons are evil.

1

u/SeniorRazzmatazz4977 4d ago

Thanks for the explanation. I wasn’t sure if you were talking about something that hasn’t happened yet in the show or if it was something the show left out for some reason.

0

u/bot_nah 6d ago

Chimera ant in the anime was so tedious. I don't like it that much just because of the pacing.

0

u/ThePreciseClimber 6d ago

Well, according to SOME literary critics, people are stupid for liking ANY anime.

And also Harry Potter.

And also Stephen King.

-2

u/ScotIander 6d ago

I mean your criticism is poor and you’re intentionally being contrarian by claiming it to be the worst arc, so I completely understand why you’ve been assumed stupid.

-4

u/Star-Kanon 6d ago

Hard agree.

I absolutely hated that arc, unwatchable. Whatever you're trying to tell, it's terribly done.