Where Do Waifus Come From? - A Taste of Database Animals by Hiroki Azuma

Рет қаралды 6,153

4 жыл бұрын

N.B.: Translating Japan made their own video on Otaku: Database Animals that approaches it from a much more "straight-on" perspective than me, and thus is probably better as an actual informative video distilling the ideas of the book-I highly recommend it. • Hiroki Azuma's Databas...
Contemporary artist Murakami Takashi is well known for using "otaku" imagery in his works. However, very rarely do they get high praise from otaku themselves. Taking a look at one of his projects, Second Mission Project Ko2 (NSFW: meowzas.typepad.com/meowzasco..., might let us know why. Here, inspired by otaku culture, Murakami is in essence creating a sort-of space ship out of an anime girl. But, most otaku can't help but immediately parse the individual elements rather than the whole that is a spaceship. We see the hair, the body-the girl first.
This tendency to see the surface parts rather than the underlying message of the whole has been described in Hiroki Azuma's Database Animals, where this example comes from. Here, I'd like to see if I can apply it to one of the most philosophical questions of our time... how waifu?
Thanks to Urban the Myth ( / urbanmythxxxx ) for editing this video, it wouldn't look anywhere as slick without them. I know some of you just said you prefer my usual style of editing, don't worry they won't all look like this from now on.
References and additional reading:
Human version of AI generator (thispersondoesnotexist.com/)
First waifu version (www.thiswaifudoesnotexist.net/), wall variant (www.obormot.net/demos/these-w...)
Waifu labs (waifulabs.com/)
Pause and select's channel ( / @pauseandselect )
Azuma, Hiroki. Otaku: Japan's database animals, translated by Jonathan E. Abel and Shion Kono, the University of Minnesota Press, 2001.
One of the articles quoting Hideaki Anno - kotaku.com/evangelion-creator...
Tezuka is Dead by Itō Gō. Some of the ideas specific to characters in the video can fall under his idea of kyara vs. kyarakuta. Need access for this link but I'm sure you could find it in full somewhere - muse.jhu.edu/article/454416
Ninouh's Anime Editorial: Anime Was a Mistake. Miyazaki's comments are very similar to the sentiment in Database Animals, the idea that anime is being created by otaku for otaku rather than creators with their own visions they wish to bring to it. Ninouh does a good job of explaining that viewpoint and supplementing with his own commentary - • Anime Editorial: Anime...
Pause and Select's Netoyome and Humanizing the Database. This video basically explains how Netoyome uses the concept of the database to its advantage, harnessing the mode of consumption many otaku subconsciously exhibit and turns it on its head. One of the first times I've seen discussion of Database Animals - • Netoyome and Humanizin...
Zeria's Is All Anime Postmodern? Pretty much goes over the ideas of Database Animals, but focusing more on the Lyotardian elements and comments on the grand narrative - • Is All Anime Postmodern?

Пікірлер: 76

@RogerSmith2004 4 жыл бұрын

I definitely would consider myself a database viewer, as I tend to understand things pretty much through the other things I have seen prior to it. I do often question myself what is the value of this repetition and seeing the same things over and over in different forms. It's still not something I understand very well, in fact I find it kind of overwhelming and maddening to think about how many times I've seen the same ideas in stories (not even in just anime itself, I think back to literature studies I did in school, too, and how many "coming-of-age" titles alone I had read). While I do respect Azuma's viewpoint considering I do think it worked as a good blueprint for what came after it, I can't see it as a negative. Mostly because the market has never proven itself as too small to fit all sorts of ideas within it, and in general most things are based upon something that came before it, nothing is completely original. Thinking back to the waifu in particular though, I think you can pretty much make anything moe. We can look at say, the train otaku, and how they are able to find moe in the idea of a steam engine trying its hardest. And it has gone so far: the Platelets in Hataraku Saibou, the whole premise of Akikan!, moe Afghanistan as described in The Moe Manifesto, etc. So I think the limit to something like that, is near unlimited in that regard. The feeling can still be fresh, and yet also familiar.

@Flugmorph 4 жыл бұрын

great comment, finding myself in these words.

@osemu1697 3 жыл бұрын

The thing about literature though is that it's enmeshed into a hierchical nod to other works of art, the "tropes" or similarities in stories and storytelling form a grand narrative, the story. Database consumption is different however, it lacks a grand narrative and it lives in a simulacrum, a self-sustained product with no original. By participating in database consumption, all you're doing is acknowledging that you are staring at a patchwork of arcs/tropes/character design for the sake of consumption, participating in a market of markets, "self-contained booru".

@HidinginPublic 4 жыл бұрын

Every time I see Urban edit it makes me mad that he doesn't post more. Good video

@Kamimashita 4 жыл бұрын

Hey everyone, we're about to hit 14K subscribers! As I've said before, we're doing subscriber milestones, and the first one is a Q and A! If you have any questions you'd like for me to answer, about my process, what I feel about certain shows, or really anything, leave a comment below this pinned comment.

@brokePC 4 жыл бұрын

Will you do more (favorite) scene analyses?

@Sasbekt 4 жыл бұрын

Racheal (tog) or myne (shield hero) who do you like more

@LGOKUL2303 4 жыл бұрын

What drew you into the world of anime? And, What's your favourite one so far? P.S Loving your vids, keep it up! ^_^

@monsoonofthememesofdestruc5449 4 жыл бұрын

Who's your favorite anime/manga villain, and why?

@BlueMatty 4 жыл бұрын

Firstly, congratulations :). Secondly, how important do you personally find atmosphere in anime? Mushishi and Haibane Renmei are some of my favourite anime for example, and atmosphere is a large part of why.

@takeruinae 4 жыл бұрын

Database, database, just living in the database... woaaaaah!!

@BacoLouco 4 жыл бұрын

Another great video my dude, I totally agree with what you said about EVA, it's also one of my favs, but I couldn't care less about the "plot". In the end art is about pressing your inner buttons, and yes anime has innovated, but it's still incredibly incestuous. Would love to see more Meta analysis of these concepts, particularly connect to certain genres, like cute girls doing cute things and Magical Girl shows

@efhi 4 жыл бұрын

I can't help but see this in a negative light. Anything that can break the impression of such database fishing would be perfection by such thinking. Also, great video. Added to favourites.

@baronvonbeandip 4 жыл бұрын

"What makes a waifu a waifu?" Man's out here asking the real questions.

@NothingToNipahAb0ut 4 жыл бұрын

Amazing video! The entire part about the "evolution of the waifu" in the context of creators refining them more and more to otaku's interests (sometimes at the expense of plot, going for a pure character appeal) makes me think of VTubers. They are basically still waifus, being a collection of character types and parts picked from the DB, who have stripped themselves from things like "plot" and just exist to perform for their otaku audience, with the added benefit of interactivity. They've been gaining so much popularity these years, and otaku being the DB animals they are, each and every one of them has a wiki article of their own, which catalogue their individual traits (tsundere, onee-san, catgirl, etc) as well as the type of content they tend to stream. It really feels like the next step of waifu evolution, especially in these streaming-leaning times

@shira_yone 4 жыл бұрын

_"creators refining them (waifus) more and more to otaku's interests"_ I think it's not that they're catering to other people's (otaku) interest, it's just that the creators are commonly otaku themselves and are creating things that they personally liked. Of course, influenced by existing works (the database) that have shaped their preference.

@madao7865 4 жыл бұрын

Appreciate the clip at 3:36 being in the video ;)

@RinInABin 4 жыл бұрын

This channel deserves way more love Love your shit my guy Always looking forward to your next upload

@Sasbekt 4 жыл бұрын

A vid on waifu *Clicks faster than the speed of light*

@Flugmorph 4 жыл бұрын

This video went places I never expected based on the premise layed out in the first few seconds, kept me on my toes and was constantly interesting. Also loved the use of music and editing here. Fantastic job! also kokona is love

@erejnion 4 жыл бұрын

Haven't seen the video yet, but well. Design language. The manga style has a really clear aesthetic that practically telegraphs things like gender and personality. You've learned how to identify the aesthetic hooks that the manga style uses, so even randomly generated image in that style will randomly generate hooks that you can use to built a character in your mind. This is just a function of the highly stylized and idealized art style.

@erejnion 4 жыл бұрын

Haruhi is a great example: most of the influence that created Haruhi is in fact Western fiction. It doesn't have much to do with the school slice of life genre in its inception. It actually uses the school life genre to ground the ideas and to gather them all in one place. It also does characters really well... but it was the ideas that were first. Isekai also is moved by ideas, not by characters. Every author uses isekai in a different manner. FUNA uses it to leave her characters go unhinged by the shackles of modern society. Stuff like Overlord or Maou-sama Retry use it to show your love for the characters you yourself have created. And then there's just the idea for making a comedy. It's the idea first, and only then devising a character to present this idea. Of course, there's also badly done isekai, like Honzuki (I still have no idea what the idea for that was). But there's badly done anything.

@daniellehowell4339 4 жыл бұрын

Love you content, but your outro is what I live for.

@Second_ace 4 жыл бұрын

This is a good video and I recommend it to anyone

@PrimoItoko 4 жыл бұрын

Kamimashita: I also can't count how many of those were FGO characters. Me: Gacha Hell flashbacks intensifies

@Wavyles Жыл бұрын

Super late haha but I really liked this video. I wish he spoke on school-live since there was a lot of shots with them in the video. I loved that anime. The concept of why we have waifus is pretty interesting to explore.

@SocraTetris 4 жыл бұрын

I think some aspect of this can be seen in any serialized, visual medium for telling stories. In American comics, the affect of a long history surrounding a single IP / Character acts as a short hand for themes and narrative that can be explored further in comica outside of any notion of "continuity." But without that foreknowledge, the stories arent meaningful to anyone outside of comic-fandom. In anime (manga too, but perhaps less so), the affect is split further between appealing character design traits, but only for the long standing "otaku" who is a high volume consumer. New fans and long-time fans will be more interested in setting, story, and character development over character design once they live the middle, high-volume consumption phase. I think we are seeing anime enter a phase that is beyond the Moe-Boom, as features of moe became mostly synonymous with anime as a whole. We are more in the early stages of a Cartoon-Boom, where, just as early anime was inspired by Disney, and modern cartoons are inspired by anime, anime is diversifying away from its norms to find new ways to re-adapt the fundamental principles of animation.

@animeking17 4 жыл бұрын

Great video!

@manuc.260 4 жыл бұрын

I'm here to tell you that this industry, under Haruhi, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that anime of the otaku, by the otaku, for the otaku, shall not perish from the earth But for real, great, profoundly interesting and thought-provoking video

@eugenefindit 4 жыл бұрын

For me, when it comes to waifu preferences, somehow hairstyle is an aspect that strikes me first and foremost. To put it bluntly, I tend to favour girls with straight hair rather than curly hair, which honestly doesn't account for much. But I guess the major determining factor is their personality. And I am a huge sucker for the shy but caring character trope. On the other hand, I found out that I kinda have a thing for girls with 2 extreme personalities (as long as they are not mindless killers that is). It's crazy how many times I have been so invested in an anime just because I want to see more of a girl that caught my attention. 😁

@eruu 3 жыл бұрын

Hey Kami, thought you'd want to know that this was actually used in my school's class on anime academia to explain Azuma's ideas. It was surreal to hear your voice in a college lecture. Keep up the awesome content!

@bdinh3130 2 жыл бұрын

Decent enough take. One important correction though. Azuma was very careful to distinguish "postmodernism" and "postmodernity". The former being a very specific line of thought based on structuralism and Marxism that you can argue, like many have, could have only emerged from the rupture of postmodernity. And the latter being as Azuma states it plainly, the cultural world since the 1960s/70s. The significance of this period in history which we broadly consider the start of postmodernity being that " the fundamental conditions that determined the constituents of culture changed within late -capitalist societies". To quote Azuma himself. So this notion of "popcornification" that you allude to isn't "a result of postmodernism". You can say it is a symptom of postmodernity which is what Azuma argues for. But it isn't because of the French ruining everything forever lol. Despite what youtube skeptic sphere like pajama Watson and the amazing ass bannana would want everyone to believe. Don't mean to "ackshually.png" you but it is an important distinction because of how it can be so misinterpreted like this. It's also important to understand that Azuma is from a line of Japanese philosophers that of course engages with western thought. One of those being Marxism so his dialectic on consumer behavior and the "animalization" of otaku within postmodernity is very much influenced by that. So it is useful to be somewhat familiar with Marx before reading database animals. I recommend you remove any hesitancy you have on engaging with Marxist thought until you read at least some secondary literature on it.

@TheSpeedlion 4 жыл бұрын

KZfaq gave me this video in my recommended section and, man... I think you're on your way to become a powerful force amongst the anime youtubers. This video was a strong one in a lot of aspects and if you're able to emulate in future videos, you'll only grow. Keep it up! I recommended you to a few of my friends and they seem to like your content too! Eagerly awaiting your next video in two weeks!

@zomfgroflmao1337 4 жыл бұрын

On one hand that is why these copycat studios that reuse character designs over and over are so annoying, but on the other there is still a lot of room for fresh styles and expression, even if you take those more formulaic designs. There are artists that create distinct but category fitting designs you will learn to associate with certain artists over the archetype even though they are a certain archetype.

@SecretIdentityStudio 4 жыл бұрын

I know that's not the point of the video, but WaifuLabs is so fun. I've been contemplating for ages doing a video just reconstructing actual characters in it. Seriously, though, great thesis! No one wants to be told the things they love are generic and meaningless, but I think that's the wrong message to take. Of course there's a collective of ideas forming stories, and that's fine.

@OtakuBox 4 жыл бұрын

Such an interesting idea and a really cool concept being explored here, didn't expect the questioning of our existence as anime consumers to be brought up on a Sunday afternoon. But I also agree that there's so much more that's not just scouring the database and especially because I think a lot of people are tired of being fed database archetypes which is why so many different and unique shows are garnering attention, though like you said, we can also just have both and enjoy it all in different ways which is the beauty of an expansive art form.

@jaggers-6220 4 жыл бұрын

So the title is simply Waifu Instrumentality Projekt

@fernandadp94 4 жыл бұрын

Thsi was indeed different. But interesting, thanks : )

@asianjesus9813 4 жыл бұрын

Lum is the mother of all waifus

@happyfushoku815 4 жыл бұрын

7:14 Now this is a true message of peace

@LuizFelipe-lk1hs 4 жыл бұрын

I thought you would be throwing broad elements of common waifus so most people would think "yeah, he is definitely talking about my waifu" I wonder how my waifus, which usually are more independent characters, would be fit with more common waifus.

@octosquid8.107 4 жыл бұрын

HOLY SHIT I ACTUALLY SAID "NOT REALLY" WHEN YOU RESPONDED

@yutakeda9979 4 жыл бұрын

woah.

@GilLiesHere 4 жыл бұрын

👀👀👀

@mcha226 2 жыл бұрын

I donno, I consume EVA for its grand narrative

@BlueMatty 4 жыл бұрын

"Evanfeet0" why

@Flugmorph 4 жыл бұрын

goteeeem

@animeking17 4 жыл бұрын

Lol

@Elitist 4 жыл бұрын

holy fuck that waifu site is terrifying i got one that looks like a fucked up psychotic nightmare version of an anime girl and it has triggered every flight or flight reaction in my body instantly. jfc.

@saintyoo 4 жыл бұрын

Database Animals brings up some interesting points but I always seem to miss the point when it's mentioned. The character design intro is exactly like describing someone's personality by thier "resting bitch face". Sharper eyebrows make someone seem more intimidating. A wide open stance can be profiled as confidence and outgoing-ness. It's just kind of obvious that a lot of it just boils down to natural biology. Pop music, kpop, western movies all have communities, tropes, archetypes and languages of thier own. A lot of the marketing is driven towards an audience's demand for popular archetypes and stories. So in the end, I just don't get it. Why is Database Animals so widley discussed and sited? Why make the term "database" when other similar terms already exist in other mediums? Was it so widely brought up because of the anti-moe counter movement in anime communities? I don't remember if I've talked to Joe or Roger about it but I've talked to others in the TA server but it still hasn't really helped me understand it much.

@Starwarp02 3 жыл бұрын

i think alot of it does have to do with the anti moe movement. but yea your right everything has tropes movies games whatever. Ex: Generic action movie or shooter.

@dynastystar5515 4 жыл бұрын

So does that mean since my waifu(Ikaros from Sora no Otoshimono for anime, Android from Harem Hotel for gaming) is shit, then all waifu dare shit?

@MegaRad666 4 жыл бұрын

MIO HONDA TOMBOY AAAAAAA

@wangminzhi9652 4 жыл бұрын

Waifu evolution

@unkindledasha7309 4 жыл бұрын

Kaiji best waifu

@npc6817 4 жыл бұрын

@baronvonbeandip 4 жыл бұрын

@wangminzhi9652 4 жыл бұрын

Waifu metamorphosis

@realkingofantarctica 3 жыл бұрын

Nah fam, my waifu's Senjougahara.

@Jackisboy 4 жыл бұрын

Evanfeet0

@CaseNumber00 4 жыл бұрын

I blame idol anime.

@suppeeps7492 4 жыл бұрын

Finding the waifu simulator was so... surreal. Like you can easily make a cute waifu; does that devalue mine? But when I thought about it, my waifu wasn’t necessarily dictated by her design, rather it helped extenuate her characteristics. CRISIS AVERTED.

@carlosanthony4972 4 жыл бұрын

I don't really understand the point of this video. How exactly are waifus born from the database different from characters in any other form of fiction? You say that they're different because they are made first and then the stories written around them but that's a thing that has been happening since before Anime has existed. You talk about how you can't trace a character's influences back to individual other character but you absolutely can if not the entire idea of character design signaling characterization wouldn't work. The only reason it is even possible to guess what a character is like off of their character design alone is because of their influences from previous characters. Also Evolution isn't inherently linear.

@FishSkeleton- 4 жыл бұрын

I don't think I agree with the argument of the video. Everyone has their type(s) when it comes to romantic partners or what we find attractive in other individuals, and given that it's hard to find genuinely unique people with wholly original personalities, yeah, when said personality types are portrayed in media there will be a lot of overlap in how they are written. Art mimics art, yes, so it's fair to say that many of these character archetypes have been lifted from older works, iterated upon, refined over time by the anime industry as a whole, and so on, but art also imitates life, and a real life happy-go-lucky person doesn't need to be inspired by an anime genki girl to act that way. That's how millions, if not billions of people have acted throughout history, and that's just one personality type. Any generation could have come up with that archetype by observing real life and making fiction based on it, whether we're talking about that genki girl, a 'tsundere' girl who's really just shy romantically and hides their affections with brusqueness, or some other one like the cold, analytical megane character. That's why these types of characters have always existed and always will exist so long as humans do, even if society collapses and we somehow lose all known media. People will just observe the quirky ways those around them behave and then we'll have the same characters sprouting up all the same. But, that's just my two cents. The video has a fair take, I just don't agree with the opinion presented.

@hitori3667 4 жыл бұрын

Woke

@theMoporter 4 жыл бұрын

I'm pretty baffled by that last comment on post-modernism. All anime is post-modern.

@megamcee 4 жыл бұрын

With all this talk about the *database* you have a critically low amount of Log Horizon OP.

@Vraelf 4 жыл бұрын

Seasonal waifu people: 02, Nezuko, Rem Real people of culture: Revy, Balalaika, Hanekawa Tsubasa, Noi, Holo What can i say, i love the kind of women that can kick my ass.

@npc6817 4 жыл бұрын

Senjougahara best girl fite me

@baronvonbeandip 4 жыл бұрын

If you think you can come into this snail-borhood and not give the 2x bow, 2x clap, bow and monetary offering, you are gonna provoke a gang war.