Why Bronies are The Otaku of the West

Comments · 257

• TA

  @TasnuArakun · 3 weeks ago

  When the first Japanese MLP fan subs started showing up on Niconico, there was a Tumblr blog that would translate the comments and explain them to a Western audience. That&apos;s where I first learned how the Japanese word for &quot;grass&quot; became slang for &quot;laughter&quot;. What stuck with me was their initial confusion. &quot;Why are they horses!? It must be a Western thing!&quot; Japanese viewers were identifying it as moe, but found the idea of &quot;animal moe&quot; bizarre. Talking animals were for young children.<br><br>&quot;When it comes to furry animes for children, we only have Jewelpets in Japan. But that one has humans in it too&quot;<br><br>&quot;Pretty Cure, but with Furries&quot;<br><br>&quot;Furry moe is the mainstream abroad, huh&quot;<br>&quot;Isn&apos;t the Furry-rate of Japan not so far behind America&apos;s though?&quot;<br><br>&quot;Americans can&apos;t grasp the concept of moe&quot;<br>&quot;Nah, it&apos;s just that Japan has different types of moe&quot;

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• MA

  @mambobebada · 2 weeks ago

  MLP is the only Western media that gives me that euphoria in every frame. It got cute.

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• AS

  @ashcashgamer5770 · 3 weeks ago

  I remember being an MLP fan ever since I was a young girl, I was obsessed with Gen three (I was younger then, I was the prime demographic for the &quot;kid mode&quot; gen that was disliked by bronies and then loved later) before I was introduced to the Hub channel. Boy, did I not foreshadow the 4th gen&apos;s success nor my fascination with older gens after I found out about Gen 1. I had a massive collection of dolls, merch, DVDs, I binged the series online and on TV, it was truly a hobby for my 8 year old self. Thankfully I barely touched the adults only side of the fandom, didn&apos;t go to cons, and did not go too deep into the dark and edgy fan content, it was just surprising to me grown men and boys also loved MLP, and I was still a child. Looking back, it truly was a glorious era before the Internet became a blursed realm of insanity.

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• KA

  @KarbolToldya · 3 weeks ago

  I&apos;ve been saying &quot;Snowpity is moe&quot; for years! FINALLY someone says it out loud!

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• RA

  @RageDasher_7751 · 3 weeks ago (edited)

  But... weebs... are already the weebs of the west.<br><br><br>Edit: You changed the title. But still.<br><br>Otaku... are the otaku of the west.<br><br><br>lol

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• BL

  @blockeontheleafeon · 2 weeks ago

  I definitely felt &quot;moe&quot; towards Fluttershy even if I wasn&apos;t a brony myself.<br><br>I prefer cute anime usamimi girls even if I&apos;m on the west side of history.

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• MY

  @MyLittlePipeBomb · 3 weeks ago

  Yes I’m a girl 🩷 yes I love Moe 🩷

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• DE

  @denko173 · 3 weeks ago

  I will argue that South Park is also moe; I have always seen it as the female version of My Little Pony. A lot of the characters can easily fit moe personality tropes and get flanderized into moe tropes in Japanese fanart, Kyle being a tsundere and Butters a deredere, for example. I always found it funny how the blood, farts, and swearing cartoon got reinvented into the cbdct with yaoibait show in Japan.

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• VE

  @VenomBunny94 · 11 days ago

  It&apos;s almost like if a piece of media is unique and well crafted, people will resonate with it regardless of demographic. <br><br>Put your whole heart into your creations.

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• JA

  @jackspedicy2711 · 3 weeks ago

  PINK FLUFFY UNICORNS DANCING ON RAINBOWS

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• AM

  @amoawesomeart · 2 weeks ago

  YEP, anyone saying that brony culture is just furries with different &nbsp;paint clearly do not understand the roots nor the evolution this whole internet community+culture went through.Specially with the early fandom being about creativity, whenever it was drawing, fan animating, music production or even just trying to create a connective issue with any and all other media &nbsp;either through crossover fanficion, modding the games with pony themed colors/characters or just singing the song from the shows in xbox chat room.

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• EV

  @evanrhildreth · 7 days ago (edited)

  There are some key differences: #1 Otaku want to be WITH the characters, but Bronies want to be LIKE the characters. Many Bronies have OCs (original characters) for this reason. Most strong or confident characters in American pop culture are muscular superheroes, and that presents a barrier - you need muscles to be strong or confident. But ponies make these desirable traits accessible outside of that stereotype. #2 The Brony fandom is focused on socializing, not idolizing. Bronies were a reaction to 4chan, and not just friendship as a reaction to toxicity. To be blunt, much of 4chan was living life through a computer, and the early days of the Brony fandom responded with an emphasis on real-life meetups. Early Brony conventions were mostly big parties/raves. Even now, the highlight of most Brony conventions is a concert of Brony bands. #3 The experience boosts peoples&apos; lives. There are countless testimonials how ponies &quot;saved&quot; people. With regards to #1, the characters inspired fans to become stronger and more confident in their own lives, and with regards to #2, the fandom helped people socialize and make lifelong friends.

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