“You like anime? I bet you can’t name 5.” 

“You haven’t watched “One Piece” or “Dragon Ball Z?” Nah, you’re not a real anime fan.” 

“Oh, you like “Attack on Titan,” bet you only like it for Levi lol. You know Goku can beat him right?” 

These are only some examples of things male weebs say to girls who like anime that I have seen often on TikTok. 

Many of us grew up seeing anime in some way or another. I remember staying up on weekends as a little kid, seeing Cartoon Network turn into Toonami at night. I’m sure many also remember seeing shows like “Sailor Moon,” “Dragon Ball Z” and “Naruto” somewhere on TV.

Anime is everywhere, especially right now as the internet and social media has become much more prevalent. In the last two decades, anime has gotten much more popular in America.

A weeb is an “often derogatory term used for people who are obsessed with Japan and supposedly Japanese culture,” according to a FourthEstate article. But why are male weebs so suspicious when girls like talking about anime?

The problem is that these men believe that girls only watch anime because they’re attracted to the male characters. And in their minds, because we’re watching anime to thirst over animated men, that means girls are now ruining anime, like how they ruin everything else, right?

As someone who has loved anime since they were 14, it pisses me off that male anime fans think we are only able to like something because of our hormonal reactions to attractive men. 

We can’t like it for the plot, because you know, we only think with what’s between our legs, not our brains.  

It also pisses me off, because these male weebs have been thirsting after anime girls since anime first started to take off.

Many of these males complaining about women liking “Attack on Titan” because we think Levi is sexy, are the same men thirsting over anime women like Hinata from “Naruto.” These male weebs don’t like Hinata because of her fighting and Byakugan skills, but for her design and unconditional love for Naruto. 

One anime that male weebs on social media are particularly mad about is “Jujutsu Kaisen,” which premiered this winter. 

TikToker @kenmasstocks made a video addressing this issue, titled “Put a finger down: girl who is ruining JJK edition.” 

In it, she jokes, “Put a finger down if you like Gojo. Put a finger down if you’d eat any of Sakuna’s parts. Put a finger down if you’re not really sure why you’re getting so much flack just because of your gender when your literally just finding characters who are deliberately drawn to be attractive to you attractive and there exists a whole genre of anime tiddies which were created for and by the male gaze that no one seems to give a fuck about but you’re the problem. Put a finger down if you’d bang Megumi’s dad.”

Of course, I, along with all the others who are unfortunately attracted to men, am going to like attractive male characters. 

How can we not when the creator of JJK designed Gojo to be so pretty, with snow-white hair and beautiful blue eyes. Or Megumi’s dad to be built so huge. These anime creators want women to like these characters, so it only makes sense if an anime with hot men in it gains the attention of many women. 

But, along with sexy male characters, this show has everything that I and other girls look for in a show. There are lots of characters, supernatural powers, and a sick design.

Also, Jujutsu Kaisen isn’t just popular with girls because of the hot guys, but because the female characters are portrayed with a “similar depth” as their male counterparts.

I admit, a huge reason why I like these anime shows so much is because I fall for the characters. All the anime men I have liked, I didn’t like them because they were hot, but because I watched them grow. Currently, I’m crushing on Shigaraki from “My Hero Academia.”

I love Shigaraki, but I didn’t begin MHA liking him or even thinking I was going to like him. I began to love him as I found out more of his tragic backstory and how he became the villain he is now.

Girls aren’t just watching anime for the boys, like these male weebs think. Like anyone else who watches a tv show, we grow to love characters as we go through the story with them.

The thing is, these male weebs need to get through their thick skulls that we are only doing that they have been doing for so long. 

Women now openly sexualize, romanticize, and fantasize about these male characters, especially due to social media. We now have access to online content, like fanfiction. 

Male weebs have been doing this for as long as I can remember, gushing over their gigantic breasted “waifus”, which refers “to a fictional girl or woman (usually in Anime, Manga, or video-games) that you have sexual attraction to, and you would even marry” according to Urban Dictionary, and buying figurines of them in tiny bikinis. 

The huge difference between the way that girls crush and thirst over their favorite boys and the way male weebs do is the way these characters are written. 

Anime women often aren’t well written. As much as I love Naruto, it’s a huge example of this. Sakura, the main girl, is pretty but annoying. Her whole personality was being pretty, loving Sasuke and relying on the boys to save her. 

Sasuke and Naruto though had tragic backstories and had well-written rises to heroism. While Sakura was written a little better in “Naruto Shippuden,” she still was never written as in-depth as Naruto and Sasuke, despite being the main character. 

Male weebs want their waifus to be cute and strong, but not too strong so she’ll still depend on them. They also like lots of characters who are submissive and doting, hence why they love Hinata. 

Many  TikTokers have also addressed the issue of “Attack on Titan’s” new design for the leading lady, Mikasa, as the final season has premiered this past Winter as well. Many men are complaining about the new character design for the female lead of AOT, Mikasa. 

Mikasa is now muscular, with short hair. She is also dressed like her male counterparts and is no longer “cute”, causing lots of outrage among male weebs. Male weeb TikToker @nolanl0l, to complain, saying she looked like a man. Many even call her “Mankasa.”

All the main characters in AOT are trained to fight and kill titans. She’s a soldier. How else is she supposed to look? 

Mikasa isn’t here for fan service. She plays a vital part in the story. If these men were watching for the plot, they’d understand this. She’s now the opposite of a damsel in distress, which many anime girls represent. She’s even saved the male main character more than once throughout the show. 

You might have thought male weebs would be excited over girls being open about loving anime, but women are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. 

But, I believe this is because male weebs are just angry that they can’t compare to the likes of Levi and Gojo, like how we can’t compare to their devoted and docile waifus. 

It’s funny though, because if anyone is ruining anime, it’s these males. Male anime TikToker @doovnan, in a Jan. 19th TikTok said the vast majority of men are ruining anime. He explains that there were so many good animes in 2007, because they were made to sell more manga copies. 

Today, anime makes most money from figurines. New animes have many “waifu” characters that are made into figurines. He concludes this saying, “Your thirst is in the way of quality.”

I don’t care if you think I am “ruining” anime. Stop being misogynistic and leave girls alone. If this is how you treat real women, your waifu will never love you. 

This is why I’m going to continue to love anime as well as gush over my favorite characters. That reminds me, I have lots of Shigaraki fanfiction to read.