goochisdrunk t1_j8neh0r wrote on February 15, 2023 at 4:20 PM

Anime/hobbies/passions aren't the issue, but its self awareness and focus that need to be on point during job interviews.

ZhugeSimp t1_j8nfkqd wrote on February 15, 2023 at 4:27 PM

They are absolutely the issue. Watching anime is not considered a "normal" hobby in America and often gets you ostracized/bullied (in my childhood it was and those people are now your interviewers)

Same reason it was public suicide to be a scifi/dnd geek 30 years ago.

In general when people ask about hobbies you play it safe with the standard "movies and hiking" type approach. People want to hire other normal people and not those who might be different/not fit in with work culture.

Squigglepig52 t1_j8nhed8 wrote on February 15, 2023 at 4:40 PM

Speaking as an old school geek, no, it really wasn't social suicide to have those interests in the 90s.

Early 80s it was a bit of a status issue, but even then, it depended upon whether you had other interests and outlets.

ZhugeSimp t1_j8njjx9 wrote on February 15, 2023 at 4:54 PM

I'm a fellow 90s, I hid in a school classroom during lunch to avoid being bullied for being a fat kid who liked anime and mmos.

It didn't help that you had Naruto headband wearers around the school either.

Squigglepig52 t1_j8nkw5p wrote on February 15, 2023 at 5:02 PM

But, I'm a 70s and 80s kid.

No MMOs, no Naruto.

goochisdrunk t1_j8nk68p wrote on February 15, 2023 at 4:58 PM

Disagree flat out. When I got into it in middle school early mid 90s it was the domain of nerds only, to be sure.
But DBZ, Pokemon, and others were standard afterschool cartoons on broadcast tv stations by the late 90s. Manga was in Borders/Barns and Noble Bookskstores. Early 2000s saw late night CN/Adult Swim almost completely Anime or anime inspired programming at times.

Theres tons of 30-40 y olds out there now to whom Anime is completely normal TV entertainment. And with the tendencies towards more adult themes than traditional western animation, it's obviously not just for children to enjoy.

Now, there's a generational divide (I never saw Naruto for example) but I'd hardly flinch if a follow middle aged adult or younger told me they were into Anime as a hobby.

Though again to reiterate my previous point. Having the off-beat hobby is fine, generally, riffing on it for 10 minutes is the thing that would raise an interviewers alarm bells.

Alexexy t1_j8nkwn9 wrote on February 15, 2023 at 5:03 PM

I'm in my early 30s, I would consider myself somewhat nerdy but most of my friends have previously watched anime at least once in their lives. We grew up with toonami and shows like DBZ, Guran Lagaan, and Full Metal Alchemist.

I dont really obsessively follow new anime any more but my gf and I watched Akiba Maid War recently and she died laughing several times in that show. Girlfriend still somewhat follows the story of one piece and her sister which is in her early 20s watches some Yuri stuff.

I think anime watching is relatively common. Maybe as common as people who own xbox in terms of cultural prevalence.