This was genuinely heartwarming to watch for some reason, actually. Probably because of the nice message at the end of the video about how being cringe together collectively can be a good thing for people, contrary to popular belief on the internet. You've done it again, Sora. Great video.
Today I learned that Sora was so American and weeb that he truly thought he was Japanese, and brainwashed himself into believing the Japanese mindset of "Japan is a bad country." It then took another weeb being more weeb than him to reverse the Japanese mindset. Unfortunately, it looks like Sora is permanently brainwashed into thinking he's Japanese. In seriousness, I appreciate these types of videos, Sora. The fact that the perspectives of weebs have mostly been a positive influence on your perception of the value of your own country is probably one of the more uplifting stories I've seen on your channel. I'm glad that I can be among the sea of voices that teases and jokes, and yet still makes a positive impact in your community. Still, you're cringey.
@@niftyszn9469 cringing is for the insecure and pretentious. Embrace the cringe, and only know happiness. Better to laugh and live, then sit in anxiety over petty things.
I am a Japanese woman in my 30s who was born and raised in Japan. When I was a child (after the collapse of the bubble economy), there was a TV show titled "This is what's strange about Japanese people!", which pointed out the "strange" aspects of Japan from a foreign perspective. In addition, due to the masochistic view of history, the mass media back then was filled with anti-Japanese content. So naturally, like SORA, I didn't like Japan, and I genuinely believed that we were the ugliest race in the world. I even grew up feeling embarrassed about anime and other Japanese pop culture. In my early 20s, I met my current husband (he's from the US😊), and he changed my perspective and now I am proud of my country. I genuinely hope that everyone in the world can be proud of their origins!
You know how japanese people can really be proud? Call out the government that denied and changed ww2 history. We know the imperial army have nthg to do with current population but not taking responsibility to acknowledge the past is a spit on the graves of those who've died. Germans are "man" enough to own it and change. Japan is just a coward running from it and society been rather stagnant(people look at "different" in negativity).
Japan's problems are numerous. Same with any country out there. It's just that I find Japanese problems more tolerable than my own country's, hence it's a case of "I hate everything, but I hate this particular thing less"
A good reminder. Ironically I think the best way to gain an appreciation for where you live is to live in other countries. I don't think short term travel is really enough to get the same affect but 6m-1yr will definitely show you a lot of things you took for granted in your previous residence.
One thing I have always liked about Japan was the cars. Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, etc. Japanese cars were what got me into being a car guy in the first place
Japan also helps other countries a lot to make their own cars, for example Malaysia, which was once helped by Japan after Japan ended the Second World War and the Pacific War, they focused on building a large economy and industry, and Malaysia introduced a policy of looking east to see and study the good culture of East Asian countries, namely Japan, Korea, China and others
@@WhatIsThis-zq4hk they use almost 80% hybrid system to save more oil and maintain good atmosfera for healthy, japan is comfort and luxury country no wonder they price is expensive huh, but if they can down the price its good to living
“There are people living happy lives while being cringe”. This is 100% true. Self acceptance is miles more important than worrying about what others think. Just do what makes you happy. ❤ ✌️
I am a proud Taiwanese American weeb and I'm happy we've made a positive influence on your life, even though you're a 1 million+ subscribers youtube superstar and I'm just a single cringe youtube commenter. But you've inspired me to bring as many weeb friends as I can to Japan to -harass everyone until we get caught by the police- to inspire more Japanese people to know that Japan and its culture is loved by many. ❤❤❤
As a German person, while I like Germany as a country and i like living there, you could never catch me saying "i'm PROUD to be German". Being proud of where you come from or your home country is something very foreign to me. Having said that since i'm living in Japan atm, i've learnt to appreciate Germany in different ways ^^
Why you are not proud? germany is a great country with a rich history, interesting philosophy and people whith very open mind, there's a lot o places where you can do nudism without any problem and that in other places would not be allowed, well, that along with the mixed bathrooms.
@@robertcastel1565 in the german culture the concept of being proud of your country doesn't really exist (we got rid of it after the 2nd world war) We are not proud of germany as it's not something we ourselfs achieved, though most of us still really appreciate our country.
As an indian living in Germany, I think its a really great country! Germany has a sehr schöne sprache and voll viele sehenswürdigkeiten und auch richtig nette leute! (Ignorier bitte dass ich grad denglisch spreche aber es stimmt halt) und dirndls sind sooo schön❤ ich will die tragen aber erst bein oktoberfest hehe
@@OsamuDazaisOneAndOnlyPookie Da würden die meisten Deutschen auf jeden Fall zustimmen (auch wenn wir uns gerne mal beschweren). Es ist nur eine Sache davon dass wir nicht stolz sondern eher froh darüber sind ^^ Patriotismus gibt es hier so nicht so wirklich.
It’s really interesting how we can’t really see some of the so-called good things of our own country, until we encounter foreigners who somewhat love our own country so much; to the point that they can talk about it all day, and from there we start to appreciate our own country and identity. Thank you for the heartwarming backstory ☺️✨
I realised many people hate where they are from because they get to live with the bad parts of living in said place everyday and ots surprising how people in places that you heard great things about have bad oppinions about the place they are from
To be honest I disagree. I am dutch and cringe when people say they like this shite country 😂. To be fair the people who like it are either pissboys and billionaires. Honestly the Netherlands suck.
I think this is true about being able to see both the good and bad things about your own country. This is why I think everyone should travel somewhere far from where they live sometimes. Then you realize there really are lots of different ways of doing things around the world, and things you thought were right won't be so right, and things that you thought were wrong might actually make some sense. For example, as an American, I didn't realize that lots of people around the world really don't need a car to survive. In America, if you want to work, you most likely need to own a car. And in America, our public transportation tends to be slow, inconvenient, and expensive. My wife rode the subway in Washington D.C., (America's capital), and she almost threw up from carsickness. That was the first and last time she rode in a subway in America. Compare this to the subway they have in Taiwan, or Japan!
I get that. I grew up in the Philippines, and I was never really proud of that fact until I left the Philippines. I met people in the UK who were fascinated with that, who kept saying they would love to visit the Philippines one day and how beautiful it looks there. Honestly, it's not perfect, but once you see your home through an outsider's perspective, things really are more amazing than we think.
I remember being in high school and a Japanese family moved to the area and their son started coming to our school. I was in a Japanese culture club with a few friends but our club was small. I'm normally a very outgoing and bubbly person and I loved anime and had wanted to visit Japan since I was very young. But I also try to read peoples energy before approaching them so I don't come on too strong. He was very shy and even when we invited him to the club and got to know him he never really seemed comfortable talking with me. In my mind I thought, "maybe I'm still coming off too strong." So I pulled back more and more. Looking back now I think I should have tried to be more of myself instead of pulling away. The other students he became friends with were very warm and outgoing like I wanted to be with him. I regret how I handled the situation. T^T
i’ve been a weeb since i was 10, and for a long time was definitely cringe and later ashamed of it. but yknow what? your videos have encouraged me to embrace being a weeb. i fuckin love japan and that’s why i’ve been studying japanese for nearly 12 years (even if it was originally just to watch untranslated obscure anime lol)
Im from brazil and became interested in japanese culture since childhood, because in my town there are a lot of karate classes for free, so i always love asian martial arts. Today i am a professor of history, and a lot of studentes like anime and karate.
Bravo, this was a great story! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Thank you for sharing this with us. I’m so glad you like that you’re Japanese now. ☺️ I feel sorry for Weeb-kun tho. His dream is to be Japanese. Even though he loves JPN, lives here, likes anime, speaks Japanese, etc, he’ll never be seen as Japanese by other Japanese people. He’ll always be seen as a foreigner and/or an outsider. Weeb-kun’s prolly going to get discouraged one day. 😕
I relate a lot honestly. In Sweden there is an unwritten rule to never ever brag or think you are better than anyone else, and other countries can be proud of their country or flag but if you are patriotic or like the flag in Sweden people label you a r@cist so it never felt okay to like being Swedish. My other similarity was that when Pewdiepie started youtube I couldn't stand his content and at first I only met other Swedish people that liked him but eventually I met foreigners that liked him and had learned Swedish words from him (not always nice words lol) and it made me feel appreciative in a new way. Before that we were only ever famous for IKEA and ABBA which is fine, but it was nice to have something young and relevant at the time. I also learned to appreciate being Swedish in America as well and learned more about Swedish culture and such by being away from it. I relate with this video a lot!
It's also the case in France, when you have foreign origins it's normal to be proud of them but when you say you are proud to be French people associate it with the far right, who use the argument that leftists don't like France even though I'm more left-leaning, against racism but I also love France. People can't accept that you can both like your country and accept other people in it.
@@jujublue4426 its starting to be like that all over europe and it's so annoying. "how dare you like your country!" it's possible to like your country without hating others.
Every country is unique and beautiful. Sometimes we focus too much on the bad side and tend to neglect its good side. There is so much wonderful to appreciate if you go deeper towards the details rather than just seeing the big picture. Just like a painting, sometimes you may not understand how it is made by just plainly looking at it. It may even look boring and uninteresting. But when you get to know the artist behind it, and be able to unlock it's hidden meaning, you'll know it's not just an ordinary painting. It is an awesome masterpiece.
I think there's a certain appreciation of Japan that only we half-Japanese know intimately. To the natives, all the comforts are dismissively obvious but the flaws are glaring. To the foreigners, it is a cool country to visit from far away and experience all sorts of things at the surface. To us half-Japanese and Japanese who have lived abroad, we've seen the world and we've seen Japan, so we know firsthand what Japan does right that other countries couldn't achieve, but we also know a way around the flaws Japan does have that other countries handle better. One thing is for sure: for better or for worse, there isn't another country that is remotely similar to Japan, it is very unique.
@@iPlayOnSpicaI teach Karate and one of the pupils is half Japanese on his mother's side. He is looking forward to visiting his Japanese relatives, in Osaka this September. He is looking forward to seeing the high speed trains and lots of robots.
There are so many people here who move to foreign countries after college cause there is nothing really interesting to do here. I was like that too but when I saw how tourists enjoy coming here and like our culture it makes me realise that I'm lucky to be where I am today. Foreigners see the positive aspects of our country that us natives do not usually see 🤗💗
In college, I had a Japanese roommate. I was reading the “Megatokyo” webcomic (a weeb webcomic) and not understanding why she and her Japanese peer group hated their own country. Americans take pride their origins but generally think Japan is better run as a country, and that it produces better animation and video games than America does. Also, the culture and food are top notch in Japan in many ways.
@@KallusGarnet It's not entirely that it's what they've also done in many asian countries across Asia especially china during that war that nations apparently never noticed. I thins that's also what they are mostly ashamed of. But the past is the past so I think no one really cares all that much anymore outside of the older generation, i think.
@@KallusGarnet They hate it because older people said so , the older people who are victims hated their government for bringing chaos and destruction. It's also the reason why many hates their self defense force. It's not losing or winning , it's about the consequence. Common people have empathy while government rarely have which is true for most of the world
I had friends in Japan since the 90s. I thought living in Japan was more difficult than what they told me back then. The Japanese accepted me quickly as one of their own. Well, that also meant I got yelled at, laughed at and some evil stares. Not because I was a foreigner but I was a nuisance to some degree. Cheers! :)
If you don't have gaijin privilege anymore to the point where they'll criticize you (assuming you're not being purposely obnoxious like that guy who played skrillex on the metro), that means you've been truly accepted.
@@slook7094 I don't like the privilege to go away for me XD. I'd rather be seen as outsider since sure as hell I wouldn't survive their ways as Japanese.
I became interested in learning Japanese after watching anime in college and picking up on some of the language patterns. Now I've been working in the U.S. manga industry for 15 years! I love getting to bring Japanese stories to English readers, and the weebs make me happy to keep doing what I'm doing, too :)
A heart warming story about how a boy found pride in himself. I think I would cry tears of joy if a foreigner came to me as an American Weeb if there is such a thing. But for real, I think this was a great video. And appreciate that you took the time and revealed some Sora Lore for us.
Ameriboos are very much a thing. There's a picture out there of some military otakus at a convention dressed up as American soldiers with American flag patches and airsoft guns and I think it's adorable.
Not quite the same, but there's a pretty decent chunk of people in Japan that LOVE the Wild West! It's a pretty heavily romanticized verison of it, but it's similar to how Americans love Samurai. There are meet-ups in Japan for special wild west themed events, and they belive that cowboys had a "cowboy code", like a code of honor.
This is genuinely heartwarming. I'm glad you have already accepted yourself as a Japanese. To the weebs who helped you change your perspective in life, kudos.
I am Korean American. Born and grew up in America but I am Korean. I cant read or write Korean but I can speak it. I studied Japanese in high school all through and majored in Japanese in college. I joke about me being Japanese to my family cuz I know more about Japanese history and culture than Korean stuff lol
well after ww2 to help rebuild japan US said we'll give you money but you have to resink it back into us by letting US buy all the domestic product you produce. Thus the reason why Japanese is big since a big American generation grew up with Nintendo and such dragon ball z
Liking anime has also become a little more normal in the US over the last few years. There's some game stores that also sell anime figures. Last year I was walking through the mall and I saw a small shop selling body pillows and wall scrolls and feeling so surreal seeing that stuff out in the open. Manga is also sold in some book stores.
This is such a beautiful arc that nearly brings a tear to my eye. I remember when you posted a video talking about how Filthy Frank changed the perspective your students had on being Japanese, and I thought that was so amazing despite how 'filthy' it was. I think we all grow up in a place that we consider to be boring and not special, since it's just normal for us. I grew up learning bits an pieces about Japan before I even started watching anime. To me, the culture is so rich and fascinating and that's probably because it's so different from what I've experienced growing up. While I don't think the country is perfect by any means, I've always believed there's alot of good things about Japan that I wish would become cultural norms around the rest of the world. Maybe that will be the case one day, and it'll have most likely started from the roots of 'Weeb' obsession culture xD
I was always interested in Japan! Hurray! My dad introduced anime to my brother and I as little kids, and we both still love it in our adult lives. It was on adult swim, which usually had adult content, but he was cool enough to let us watch anyway. And, 4kids would censor Yugioh in wierd ways.
4kids would censor and localize Pokemon back in the day in weird ways too. Like onigiri would be called anything from jelly donuts to hamburgers. For years as a kid, I thought onigiri were donuts because of that.
Thank you Sora, I needed to see a video like this right now. I've been struggling with studying and living in Japan and this has given me a different perspective on what its like to be an American in Japan from a Japanese perspective. That what I feel like is cringey or failed attempts at communication can be appreciated by other people while living here makes me feel a little more confident about interacting with others.
I was gonna say something trolly about how people will watch this entire 8 minute video and still ask you if you like weebs but this was actually really sweet and wholesome
Aww this was such a cute story! personally, I've always loved my country. I live in new zealand. I love new zealand so much. I'm not Maori, and my parents aren't from new zealand, but I love how that doesn't make me any less kiwi. in new zealand, everybidy's from different places. we're a very mixed population! it's wonderful! the only complaint I've ever had about it was it's not too popular lol. my biggest complaints are shipping prices and job opportunities...
Japan to me, is an almost idyllic country. People there take care and pride in what they do. They learn their craft, no matter what it is. Hard working, respectful culture.
Happy to see you got some pride in your nation. Japan is pretty awesome and I hope to visit some day. Your videos have made me feel more comfortable with the idea of visiting. I was pretty scared to go since my japanese is rudimentary at best, but after everything you've talked about in your videos I'm starting to feel better about the idea. Japan is a beautiful and great country I would love to experience at some point. Thanks for making such great content over the years.
This was nice. Glad you're proud to be you. Honestly, lately with everything that's been happening in my country, I've kinda been depressed about being a U.S. citizen. This lifted my spirits a bit. So thank you.
It really has more to do where you live since US can be crappy if you happen to live in many big cities or great if you live in many of the nice small to medium towns, most national issues have very little effect on non tax payers or those making less than $12,950. Being depressed about being a US citizen is actually sad since so many people risk there life to get here and would be happy to trade with you in a heartbeat.
@@southcoastinventors6583I just hope healthcare can be made affordable for all citizens some day. The current state of things makes it so that an expensive hospital visit can leave some people homeless..
Sora, thank you for your wonderful channel! Prior to visiting Japan in 2019 I memorized a few essential Japanese words and phrases I thought I would need as a first time visitor. I will never forget stepping up to the Customs agent at Narita and hearing him say "Konnichiwa". I gathered all my courage and responded ""Konnichiwa!" and was so relieved when the agent didn't even raise an eyebrow! I did eventully use each of the phrases I had practiced such as "Eki wa doko deska?", "Toire wa doko deska?", and of course "Sumimasen".
This video was actually really cute lol I understand that there are a lot of frustrating things about Japan, and other countries too, but I'm glad that you're comfortable with yourself now. The part at 1:20, where you say that Japanese people don't get attention abroad, reminded me of the time 3 Japanese tourists (I didnt know they were tourists) came into the store that I worked in and I went over to them and asked if they needed any help. After they said no, I saw that one of them was wearing a Los Ingobernables de Japon jacket and I suddenly got REALLY excited. I started talking about New Japan and how cool Bushi was... but they all just stood there silently and stared at me like I was insane. They were glancing at me and turning away, trying to get away, so I apologized and left very quickly, pretending that nothing happened AT ALL... I was so embarrassed, I wanted to crawl under the counter and rot. I went back to stickering items for clearance and after 5ish minutes? I looked up and saw all 3 of them doing like Kamen Rider poses and doing the wide eye thing like Hiroshi Tanahashi and Naito behind some displays. It was so funny that I doubled over laughing and when they left, we were all waving and saying goodbye to each other, and my boss just stood there like "What?? was that???" Even though there was that huuuge language barrier, they were able to communicate with me just by doing silly poses because we knew something in common
This is honestly a very positive story with genuine feels. It means a lot to hear from me, who has grown up ashamed to be American even from a young age, and even now in my 30's I'm still ashamed. Funny enough it's the "America is the best" and "The rest of the world? What's that?" I've seen that keeps me down. I'm glad you've found your place. From a wise anime girl from the internet, "I may be cringe, but I am free"
so glad this happened to you in your life, sora! and now you're able to be more self-confident and proud to be japanese! there are ups and downs to everything, of course, but i'm glad you've been able to come to terms with being japanese!
Sora. Thanks for sharing and being so open and let's see what you and Nippon has as core. Dude. I think you're great. I laugh my ass of with you. Keep the amazing job. Please. All the love of a brazilian/italian living in The Netherlands.
Same happened to me as Colombian, as you may know; my country it's really known for bad things, like war and drugs; but, then i saw a lot of foreigners on YT speaking how much they love this country and lots of them actually living and saying really positive stuff about their experience living here, then i realize have to make my own opinion about everything and see both sides of the story. thanks for the video Sora!
I like that in the end, you were able to overcome something you couldn't do in the past. This pretty much reminds me of myself about few years ago when I had classmates that used to bully me. Now I overcame it and they can't bully me anymore.
this video is so cool. I'm glad there are so many youtubers kind enough to teach us Japanese and about your culture. thanks for all the fun too. glad you learned about all the hidden kimoujin out there. lol.
This was a really touching story. It’s cool to see how people all over the world can deal with similar things. I’m an American the same age as Sora, and to an extent I was raised to love my country, but I also heard a lot about why America sucks and came to believe that we are mostly hated in other countries. And in the ultimate irony given Sora’s story this video, I believed for much of my life that Japan was simply a better country than America, due to things like technology, crime, healthcare etc. But recently I’ve learned more about Japan as well as other countries thanks to RUclips, and it seems more like everyone around the world is doing the best they can, and all countries have their pros and cons. It’s cool that we can come together online to admire each other’s countries :)
Wow, I came here for the cringe and then I was moved to the core! Thank you for making this video, it's really touching! I feel like I understand more about a side of Japanese culture that isn't mentioned often, I feel a little less embarrassed and, I dare say, even a little happy about my dark past being an unapologetic weeb (キモい 😐🧍 ), and now we've unlocked a new part of your backstory. This video hit me right in the feels! Thanks for putting yourself out there, man. Σd(ಥ﹏ಥd)
I liked that show. *SCORE* -Plot _10_ -Character development _10_ -Plot twist _10_ -Ending _10_ The only mistake was about fidelity to the facts. Cuz we all know that Sora isn't Japanese but American.
There was a little girl in the US who loved a precious doll from Japan, precious people from Japan, helped her mom save kimono, and many other things.... All over the world people of all ages like anime, manga, art, music, nature, and so very much that is Japanese.... You should be proud of where you come from, who you are, and the people you are fortunate enough to love. You have many reasons to be proud of who you are. ★🐻🏖🌲 ❤ 🗾🌅🗻🌸
This was a good video! It was really inspiring and what it did is teach us weebs and just people who are cringe to embrace yourself. Thankyou Sora san! Thankyou! :)
As a Haitian-Dominican-American born in the USA, I wouldn't blame Japanese ppl for hating their own country seeing all of the shit that they have to go through. The "karoshi" culture, the pressure in office settings, the undeniably high suicide rates due to depression, etc.
Much of that can be fixed by public action, but as others (Shogo; Gaijin Goombah; etc.) have pointed out, the younger generations rarely vote so the older generations continue to dictate many of the country's policies.
@@Chibi1986 It's not that the young don't vote it's more that basically the old are the majority of people so any politician proposing anything that goes against the interest of the boomers just won't get elected. In Japan this demographic change is really extrem. It's like how in the west boomers don't give a shit about climate change and the only things considered are solutions that don't infringe on the lifestyle of the boomers.
Maybe an image from the 90s/00s as Japan in number 25 in "auto delete" and you'll find other "happiest countries on earth" to have higher levels of "uno reverse alive"
To be honest I was pretty surprised it was due to such a simple reason. I think Sora may have been in an international school with less strict than normal rules and doesn’t work at a crazy Japanese company, so I have to wonder if he didn’t experience much of that - it makes me wonder what percent of the population experiences that kind of thing vs how many live more “normal” lives
Hey Sora! I'm from Peru. As an Otaku (or you could say, weeb), I personally feel like we were never hated here, unlike in other Hispanic countries. I think one reason is that our country has a multifaceted, multicultural aspect to it. Even since the Colonial times, we've had a culture that tends to admire things that come from outside a lot. Not just because of the Spanish, but from all the people that started migrating since then. For example, native people would use Chinese mythical animals and Asian themes in their tapestries, or the modern Diablada masks are based on both Asian dragons and Pre-columbian dragons. We had plenty of immigrants from Asia in the past century too, and even a president of completely Japanese origin during the 90s. But one of the main reasons I think is that in the 90s we had several magazines that talked about anime and manga from Japan exclusively. The most famous one was a magazine called "Sugoi". Even the ecchi part isn't rare to me personally, because when I was a kid I traveled through several Peruvian highland towns in a school trip, and saw local ceramics that if you opened them, they literally had what you could call a H scene hidden in them xD (and my classmates and I were quite the rascals and went outside of the lodgings to see the shops around..) And that type of ceramics isn't very uncommon. People would just look at them and giggled... Nowadays it's even more open, such as a certain statue made in Trujillo inspired in the Moche culture... I'm pretty sure foreigners would find that strange and amusing, or even get angered by that stuff. But hey, one has to be able to understand other cultures because their values and social dynamics are different to our own. So I personally feel that thanks to that, Otaku / Weeb culture, while niche at the time, wasn't frowned upon, or not nearly as badly as elsewhere. Even when I was bored in the university, other classmates would come to see what I was drawing, and thoroughly enjoyed my Anime drawings. One of them (who was my brother's gf too btw) even asked me why I wasn't drawing more ecchi. She said I should draw more ecchi! XD Anyway, greetings from Peru! thank you for your amazing channel, man.
Oh, Sora... Japanese culture has been with the people around the world. Pokemon, Digimon, Doraemon, Dragonball, Naruto... The story and influence is so huge that we can't even explain it by words. Just look at how many people watched Pokemon OP music video on the F1RST TAKE.
It’s so interesting getting this from the other perspective. I grew up when anime was super uncool in America and I would get teased all the time for drawing anime and practicing hiragana. But my only dream was to live in Japan (which I did) and I sometimes wished I had been born Japanese. I teach elementary school now and I love how openly everyone loves anime and there isn’t the feeling to hid it like before. It’s truly amazing how much the world has changed in so short a time. And Sora, to me, you’ll always be cringe.
It’s really a nice thing that you get that perspective. Being free from that “hate” is really a hard one. Accepting ourselves is one of the steps that can bring peace. God bless.
I think everyone, at some point of their life, started to hate his own country. We have the tendency to see the bad things rather than good things. For example, I live in Italy, and I hate this country for a shitload of things, even tho people would pay to live here... but you know what? Every time i think about leaving Italy, I don't. Because I love it even when I hate it
Japanese people like any other country except Japan While the rest of the world like no other country but Japan That's how much we love you guys And i have a dream of visiting Japan after my graduation and also learn Japanese along the way
i used to really hate america and i still kinda do sometimes, but then i saw how a lot of people wish they were american and think american stuff is cool and it made me less ashamed of my country and more grateful for what i have
I love the Yakuza video game series. It's made me kinda interested in trying more Japanese food like ramen and takoyaki and stuff like that. Also, the humor in the Yakuza games is just so ridiculous but in a super funny way. I've even tried learning the chorus to songs like Baka Mitai and Machine Gun Kiss.
Great video Mr. Troll I have to say that the first part really hit home. I was born in Stockholm Sweden as the first son of two Polish migrants and lived there for about 13 years. During that time I didn't really feel shame about beign Polish, but I always felt like Poland was this backwards poor eastern european country where everything was crumbling, it also didn't help that my parents(especially my dad) were very patriotic(even over petty things like the fact that a Hollywood movie had a Polish surname in the credits). When my parents decided to move back to Poland I was staunchly against it as I saw it as basically moving to a jungle. But after I started to attend school in Poland I quickly started to appreciate Polish history and culture(especially literature) which has now led me to become equally(if not more) patriotic as my dad, and yes, I do get hyped seeing a Polish surname in American movies. I am glad that you found pride in your nation and I hope you will continue working hard. Polska GÓRĄ!!!
I always wanted to be Japanese as a kid so I could get presents on Children's Day. Seriously Japan has so much more than Australia and I wish our country borrowed more form your culture
Me too, the best part it's that they are so lucky of having shops open all the night where you can buy everything, that is the most great thing than a country can be have and the fact of have so many shops like that is a bless.
The only thing in my mind after watching this is: "oya yubi". There is no escape from random weeabooness. Thank you Sora for making me laugh when I had a rough day yesterday.
やっぱそらさんの動画大好き^^ 日本が嫌いになってしまう理由、かなり共感した… でもやっぱアメリカの中学校でweeb達に同学年なのにsenpai呼ばわりされて、なんか嬉しかった自分もいたんだよね。どうかこれからの日本人にもっと日本人であることに対して誇りを持って生きて欲しいな。Awesome video! I’m 17 and I kinda am in the “hate japan phase” still, but I hope I can grow out of it like you did. It really surprised me that you felt the same way too when you were around my age.
Yay! I’m dating a Chinese-American guy now, and I asked him why anyone would want to move to America. From my point of view, we have a lot of problems here. To him, he has freedom of speech, unlimited career opportunity, and he met me. ❤️ Awww. But anyway, I see what you mean. It’s sometimes easier to see the good things about your home country that you take for granted when you hear about it from a foreigner.
Well China is exceptionally low on the list of countries you'd want to live in in terms of civil liberties, so I don't think it says much as he could pick almost any country among the nations that don't police the behavior of it's citizens. You aren't in those other alternatives though. 🙂
I was born in ‘93 in California. My friends and I always talk about how Japanese media raised us - and as kids we didn’t even necessarily know it was Japanese. Pokémon, Yugioh, DBZ, Sailor Moon, etc. were the Saturday morning cartoons of our childhood. Video games too - Nintendo was all-powerful. My local library’s teen section was bursting at the seams with manga. Reading Ranma 1/2 was a pivotal experience for me as a queer teen with not much media to see myself in. I have always been fascinated by the way Japanese pop culture swept the US during my childhood. I highly recommend the book Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination by Anne Allison. Very insightful and fascinating.
Well japan has its highs and lows like any other contry(1st world contries still has problems), but you cant deny how crazy and sophisticated japan is, you can go to a rural prefecture too see kilometers of fields and nature and the next day take a bullet train to a major city that looks like straight from some cyberpunk.
I knew that you will make this video 🔥😂i really love your videos Every video I rewatch many times 😂It puts me in a good mood by the way..... I'm JAPANESE TOO
This is great! Go, Weebs! I grew up in Hawaii and it's highly Japanese-influenced in culture. I grew up using chop sticks and having tomoe ame once in a while as a great treat, loving nori, etc from when I was very little. There's also influences from all over Asia and of course the fundamental Hawaiian culture. Plus a surprisingly large British influence (hint: just look at our state flag) but when I became an adult I got very embarrassed about being from Hawaii, and it took years of work but I worked hard to be able to leave to go to the US mainland and I never told anyone, for years, that I'd grown up in Hawaii. I tried to be a "mainlander" 100%. It's only very recently I've lost my embarrassment about Hawaii and in fact I plan to retire there in less than 2 years because it's far cheaper and easier for someone like me to live there. (Mainlander: "Milk's $10 a gallon!!" Local: "Eh, who cares, we no drink milk, ah?") Honestly, I don't know why more weebs don't give Hawaii a try. It's the perfect intersection between the US and Japan. You can "dial up" or "dial down" how American or Japanese you want to be. You can always communicate in English and even "pidgin" will be pretty easy for mainlanders to understand because no one speaks the old-time pidgin any more. They speak a more English-ized version these days. And I know why weebs don't do this; just try living in Hawaii. Because in Hawaii, being white isn't anything special. If anything you lose points for being white. Weebs, sadly, seem to think they'll be treated super-well in Japan because they're white, so they want to go there. (In truth, I think 99% of it is because Japanese are basically decent and polite, and 1% because a white person might be a free-spender.) I don't look up or down on weebs, I think they're kind of fun. I love how enthusiastic they get about all the different flavors of Kit-Kat there are in my local little Japanese market. I love how they like to dress up. By the way, that shirt with the red and dark-blue stripes ... I have that exact same shirt lol.
Awesome video, it’s really interesting to see that point of view. I think when you are a native (from any country), it’s always hard to take a step back and see the value of your own country. I myself am from Reunion Island and only wanted to leave my birth place since I was young (which I did), but since I left it, I have learned to appreciate my island through the eyes and biases of foreign people :) I relate to that so much. Thanks for the very nice video!
Sora
What anime do you watch?
see
@@sorathetroll just remember that the internet loves to troll so don't believe everything they say "you are American" and such.
third let's go
@@lejsnarus
Sora no Otoshimono genuinely peak.
キモイ
holy smokes it's sora's legit backstory! this anime is getting really good
This was genuinely heartwarming to watch for some reason, actually. Probably because of the nice message at the end of the video about how being cringe together collectively can be a good thing for people, contrary to popular belief on the internet.
You've done it again, Sora. Great video.
Can't believe Sora wrote a fanfic about his Japanese tour guide from when he visited Japan right after watching Naruto.
なんか悩みごと有るならお遍路巡り、してみるか。
Today I learned that Sora was so American and weeb that he truly thought he was Japanese, and brainwashed himself into believing the Japanese mindset of "Japan is a bad country." It then took another weeb being more weeb than him to reverse the Japanese mindset. Unfortunately, it looks like Sora is permanently brainwashed into thinking he's Japanese.
In seriousness, I appreciate these types of videos, Sora. The fact that the perspectives of weebs have mostly been a positive influence on your perception of the value of your own country is probably one of the more uplifting stories I've seen on your channel.
I'm glad that I can be among the sea of voices that teases and jokes, and yet still makes a positive impact in your community. Still, you're cringey.
A wise man once said, “Don’t kill the part of you that is cringe. Kill the part that cringes.”
Too True
And who was this wise man exactly?
nah, some things are actually just fucking cringe and I take no shame in cringing at it
some things are not worth cringing over
@@niftyszn9469 cringing is for the insecure and pretentious. Embrace the cringe, and only know happiness. Better to laugh and live, then sit in anxiety over petty things.
"Let's be cringe together" felt like everything's alright in the world again
KONICHI WAR SORA SENPAI!!!!!
@@IlovedgamingCRINGE...
😂
❤
I am a Japanese woman in my 30s who was born and raised in Japan. When I was a child (after the collapse of the bubble economy), there was a TV show titled "This is what's strange about Japanese people!", which pointed out the "strange" aspects of Japan from a foreign perspective. In addition, due to the masochistic view of history, the mass media back then was filled with anti-Japanese content. So naturally, like SORA, I didn't like Japan, and I genuinely believed that we were the ugliest race in the world. I even grew up feeling embarrassed about anime and other Japanese pop culture. In my early 20s, I met my current husband (he's from the US😊), and he changed my perspective and now I am proud of my country. I genuinely hope that everyone in the world can be proud of their origins!
You know how japanese people can really be proud? Call out the government that denied and changed ww2 history. We know the imperial army have nthg to do with current population but not taking responsibility to acknowledge the past is a spit on the graves of those who've died.
Germans are "man" enough to own it and change. Japan is just a coward running from it and society been rather stagnant(people look at "different" in negativity).
You sound
just like my wife. I’m American and she is Japanese and 39. I’m so happy for both of you
So the Anti-japanese thing was because of the ww2 stuff or what?
@@lordjor96
The general anti jap sentiment in asia is dude to ww2.
@@RonLarhz the term "jap" just feels plain icky
Reminder that you can always like Japan and its people while still acknowledging the country has flaws
Japan's problems are numerous. Same with any country out there.
It's just that I find Japanese problems more tolerable than my own country's, hence it's a case of "I hate everything, but I hate this particular thing less"
A good reminder. Ironically I think the best way to gain an appreciation for where you live is to live in other countries. I don't think short term travel is really enough to get the same affect but 6m-1yr will definitely show you a lot of things you took for granted in your previous residence.
A lot of strange things and rules. But all this make Japan unique and interesting 😄
One thing I have always liked about Japan was the cars. Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, etc. Japanese cars were what got me into being a car guy in the first place
on god
same
Japan also helps other countries a lot to make their own cars, for example Malaysia, which was once helped by Japan after Japan ended the Second World War and the Pacific War, they focused on building a large economy and industry, and Malaysia introduced a policy of looking east to see and study the good culture of East Asian countries, namely Japan, Korea, China and others
Interesting. Japanese city design is what made me completely anti-car and I grew to hate american car-centric city design.
@@WhatIsThis-zq4hk they use almost 80% hybrid system to save more oil and maintain good atmosfera for healthy, japan is comfort and luxury country no wonder they price is expensive huh, but if they can down the price its good to living
“There are people living happy lives while being cringe”. This is 100% true. Self acceptance is miles more important than worrying about what others think. Just do what makes you happy. ❤ ✌️
I am a proud Taiwanese American weeb and I'm happy we've made a positive influence on your life, even though you're a 1 million+ subscribers youtube superstar and I'm just a single cringe youtube commenter. But you've inspired me to bring as many weeb friends as I can to Japan to -harass everyone until we get caught by the police- to inspire more Japanese people to know that Japan and its culture is loved by many. ❤❤❤
I'm Japanese and my ex was American and now I'm dating a Taiwanese girlfriend lol
Big love to both countries!
😂
Taiwanese weeb here, lol. 🇹🇼 we can appreciate the essence of social credit memes too.
As a German person, while I like Germany as a country and i like living there, you could never catch me saying "i'm PROUD to be German". Being proud of where you come from or your home country is something very foreign to me.
Having said that since i'm living in Japan atm, i've learnt to appreciate Germany in different ways ^^
japan and germany were both bad guys in WW2, thats why any national pride was discouraged, even healthy expressions.
Why you are not proud? germany is a great country with a rich history, interesting philosophy and people whith very open mind, there's a lot o places where you can do nudism without any problem and that in other places would not be allowed, well, that along with the mixed bathrooms.
@@robertcastel1565 in the german culture the concept of being proud of your country doesn't really exist (we got rid of it after the 2nd world war)
We are not proud of germany as it's not something we ourselfs achieved, though most of us still really appreciate our country.
As an indian living in Germany, I think its a really great country! Germany has a sehr schöne sprache and voll viele sehenswürdigkeiten und auch richtig nette leute! (Ignorier bitte dass ich grad denglisch spreche aber es stimmt halt) und dirndls sind sooo schön❤ ich will die tragen aber erst bein oktoberfest hehe
@@OsamuDazaisOneAndOnlyPookie Da würden die meisten Deutschen auf jeden Fall zustimmen (auch wenn wir uns gerne mal beschweren).
Es ist nur eine Sache davon dass wir nicht stolz sondern eher froh darüber sind ^^
Patriotismus gibt es hier so nicht so wirklich.
It’s really interesting how we can’t really see some of the so-called good things of our own country, until we encounter foreigners who somewhat love our own country so much; to the point that they can talk about it all day, and from there we start to appreciate our own country and identity. Thank you for the heartwarming backstory ☺️✨
This comment hit 💯💯
lolll agree to this, it's happen to me and my country too 10 years ago 😂😂
I realised many people hate where they are from because they get to live with the bad parts of living in said place everyday and ots surprising how people in places that you heard great things about have bad oppinions about the place they are from
To be honest I disagree. I am dutch and cringe when people say they like this shite country 😂. To be fair the people who like it are either pissboys and billionaires. Honestly the Netherlands suck.
I think this is true about being able to see both the good and bad things about your own country. This is why I think everyone should travel somewhere far from where they live sometimes. Then you realize there really are lots of different ways of doing things around the world, and things you thought were right won't be so right, and things that you thought were wrong might actually make some sense.
For example, as an American, I didn't realize that lots of people around the world really don't need a car to survive. In America, if you want to work, you most likely need to own a car. And in America, our public transportation tends to be slow, inconvenient, and expensive. My wife rode the subway in Washington D.C., (America's capital), and she almost threw up from carsickness. That was the first and last time she rode in a subway in America. Compare this to the subway they have in Taiwan, or Japan!
I get that. I grew up in the Philippines, and I was never really proud of that fact until I left the Philippines. I met people in the UK who were fascinated with that, who kept saying they would love to visit the Philippines one day and how beautiful it looks there. Honestly, it's not perfect, but once you see your home through an outsider's perspective, things really are more amazing than we think.
This self reflection arc is full of cringe and we need more.
💯
I remember being in high school and a Japanese family moved to the area and their son started coming to our school. I was in a Japanese culture club with a few friends but our club was small. I'm normally a very outgoing and bubbly person and I loved anime and had wanted to visit Japan since I was very young. But I also try to read peoples energy before approaching them so I don't come on too strong. He was very shy and even when we invited him to the club and got to know him he never really seemed comfortable talking with me. In my mind I thought, "maybe I'm still coming off too strong." So I pulled back more and more. Looking back now I think I should have tried to be more of myself instead of pulling away. The other students he became friends with were very warm and outgoing like I wanted to be with him. I regret how I handled the situation. T^T
I think maybe he thought you were Japanese obsessed and a weeb, like I was....
i’ve been a weeb since i was 10, and for a long time was definitely cringe and later ashamed of it. but yknow what? your videos have encouraged me to embrace being a weeb. i fuckin love japan and that’s why i’ve been studying japanese for nearly 12 years (even if it was originally just to watch untranslated obscure anime lol)
Im from brazil and became interested in japanese culture since childhood, because in my town there are a lot of karate classes for free, so i always love asian martial arts. Today i am a professor of history, and a lot of studentes like anime and karate.
Cringe br
I studied Nikkei history in North America and would love to go to Sao Paulo someday to Japantown there...
Pov, Sora trying to convince us he is not American
Beat me to it. 😅
haha
Sora have a lot of evidence that he is not an American but he is like an American
Right? I almost bought it til he said it at the end. Pretty good Japanese accento.
I saw only part of the comment before clicking in, and though you were going to say "POV, Sora trying to convince us he is not a weeb"😂
Sora: Homecoming
Anyways glad to see you move towards a positive view of things around you!
Sora saw the Anime-American character who wears the stars and stripes in their outfit and proudly exclaims his love of america and he wanted that.
In America!
You forgot to mention his shotgun and pet eagle
Bravo, this was a great story! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you for sharing this with us. I’m so glad you like that you’re Japanese now. ☺️
I feel sorry for Weeb-kun tho. His dream is to be Japanese. Even though he loves JPN, lives here, likes anime, speaks Japanese, etc, he’ll never be seen as Japanese by other Japanese people. He’ll always be seen as a foreigner and/or an outsider. Weeb-kun’s prolly going to get discouraged one day. 😕
I relate a lot honestly. In Sweden there is an unwritten rule to never ever brag or think you are better than anyone else, and other countries can be proud of their country or flag but if you are patriotic or like the flag in Sweden people label you a r@cist so it never felt okay to like being Swedish. My other similarity was that when Pewdiepie started youtube I couldn't stand his content and at first I only met other Swedish people that liked him but eventually I met foreigners that liked him and had learned Swedish words from him (not always nice words lol) and it made me feel appreciative in a new way. Before that we were only ever famous for IKEA and ABBA which is fine, but it was nice to have something young and relevant at the time. I also learned to appreciate being Swedish in America as well and learned more about Swedish culture and such by being away from it. I relate with this video a lot!
It's also the case in France, when you have foreign origins it's normal to be proud of them but when you say you are proud to be French people associate it with the far right, who use the argument that leftists don't like France even though I'm more left-leaning, against racism but I also love France. People can't accept that you can both like your country and accept other people in it.
@@jujublue4426 its starting to be like that all over europe and it's so annoying. "how dare you like your country!" it's possible to like your country without hating others.
Yes, same in England if you say you’re proud to be English or British.
It's the same in the UK. It's seen as unbecoming to brag about yourself or the UK.
I admit it... as a Canadian I really admire Scandinavia.
Every country is unique and beautiful. Sometimes we focus too much on the bad side and tend to neglect its good side. There is so much wonderful to appreciate if you go deeper towards the details rather than just seeing the big picture. Just like a painting, sometimes you may not understand how it is made by just plainly looking at it. It may even look boring and uninteresting. But when you get to know the artist behind it, and be able to unlock it's hidden meaning, you'll know it's not just an ordinary painting. It is an awesome masterpiece.
As a half-Japanese person, I personally love Japan but I think if I had been raised in Japan, I might've had the same mindset of Sora ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I think there's a certain appreciation of Japan that only we half-Japanese know intimately. To the natives, all the comforts are dismissively obvious but the flaws are glaring. To the foreigners, it is a cool country to visit from far away and experience all sorts of things at the surface. To us half-Japanese and Japanese who have lived abroad, we've seen the world and we've seen Japan, so we know firsthand what Japan does right that other countries couldn't achieve, but we also know a way around the flaws Japan does have that other countries handle better. One thing is for sure: for better or for worse, there isn't another country that is remotely similar to Japan, it is very unique.
@@iPlayOnSpicaI teach Karate and one of the pupils is half Japanese on his mother's side. He is looking forward to visiting his Japanese relatives, in Osaka this September.
He is looking forward to seeing the high speed trains and lots of robots.
@@keithmartin1328 I just had the pleasure of doing that this July. I bid your pupil a safe and pleasant trip!
There are so many people here who move to foreign countries after college cause there is nothing really interesting to do here. I was like that too but when I saw how tourists enjoy coming here and like our culture it makes me realise that I'm lucky to be where I am today. Foreigners see the positive aspects of our country that us natives do not usually see 🤗💗
In college, I had a Japanese roommate. I was reading the “Megatokyo” webcomic (a weeb webcomic) and not understanding why she and her Japanese peer group hated their own country. Americans take pride their origins but generally think Japan is better run as a country, and that it produces better animation and video games than America does. Also, the culture and food are top notch in Japan in many ways.
They hate it because they lost the war
@@KallusGarnet what war
@@martindrew3513 WW2
@@KallusGarnet It's not entirely that it's what they've also done in many asian countries across Asia especially china during that war that nations apparently never noticed. I thins that's also what they are mostly ashamed of. But the past is the past so I think no one really cares all that much anymore outside of the older generation, i think.
@@KallusGarnet They hate it because older people said so , the older people who are victims hated their government for bringing chaos and destruction. It's also the reason why many hates their self defense force. It's not losing or winning , it's about the consequence. Common people have empathy while government rarely have which is true for most of the world
This video is precious! 😊
Idk why but it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
動画を作ってくれてありがとう！
I had friends in Japan since the 90s. I thought living in Japan was more difficult than what they told me back then. The Japanese accepted me quickly as one of their own. Well, that also meant I got yelled at, laughed at and some evil stares. Not because I was a foreigner but I was a nuisance to some degree. Cheers! :)
If you don't have gaijin privilege anymore to the point where they'll criticize you (assuming you're not being purposely obnoxious like that guy who played skrillex on the metro), that means you've been truly accepted.
@@slook7094 I don't like the privilege to go away for me XD. I'd rather be seen as outsider since sure as hell I wouldn't survive their ways as Japanese.
I became interested in learning Japanese after watching anime in college and picking up on some of the language patterns. Now I've been working in the U.S. manga industry for 15 years! I love getting to bring Japanese stories to English readers, and the weebs make me happy to keep doing what I'm doing, too :)
A heart warming story about how a boy found pride in himself. I think I would cry tears of joy if a foreigner came to me as an American Weeb if there is such a thing. But for real, I think this was a great video. And appreciate that you took the time and revealed some Sora Lore for us.
There are plenty of 'America' weebs who believe the streets in the USA are paved with gold.
Ameriboos are very much a thing. There's a picture out there of some military otakus at a convention dressed up as American soldiers with American flag patches and airsoft guns and I think it's adorable.
@@noseboop4354 I don't think anyone's believed that since the turn of the century.
@@noseboop4354 Hollywood and Disney is all we got going
Not quite the same, but there's a pretty decent chunk of people in Japan that LOVE the Wild West! It's a pretty heavily romanticized verison of it, but it's similar to how Americans love Samurai. There are meet-ups in Japan for special wild west themed events, and they belive that cowboys had a "cowboy code", like a code of honor.
This is genuinely heartwarming. I'm glad you have already accepted yourself as a Japanese. To the weebs who helped you change your perspective in life, kudos.
Yes This Manga SLAPS hard. pretty good manga
I am Korean American. Born and grew up in America but I am Korean. I cant read or write Korean but I can speak it. I studied Japanese in high school all through and majored in Japanese in college. I joke about me being Japanese to my family cuz I know more about Japanese history and culture than Korean stuff lol
Shame to the family
You might be, my adopted Korean sister did a 23 and me, she's apparently 30% Japanese.
Korean parents who are okay with you claiming to be Japanese?
これめっちゃ分かります。最初に「日本人になりたい」って言ってる外国人を見たときの衝撃はけっこう凄いです。
あと個人的に驚きが大きかったのは、「日本語の響きの美しさに魅了されて日本語を勉強してる」って言う外国の方々です。日本では、日本語の響きはヨーロッパ諸言語の響きと比べてめちゃくちゃダサいと思ってる人が多いと思います。そもそもこんな極東の一小国でしか話されてないどマイナー言語を学んでる人が世界中にたくさんいるなんて思ってもなかった。
well after ww2 to help rebuild japan US said we'll give you money but you have to resink it back into us by letting US buy all the domestic product you produce. Thus the reason why Japanese is big since a big American generation grew up with Nintendo and such dragon ball z
I love the way Japanese sounds! Personally I think it's the most beautiful sounding language.
Liking anime has also become a little more normal in the US over the last few years. There's some game stores that also sell anime figures. Last year I was walking through the mall and I saw a small shop selling body pillows and wall scrolls and feeling so surreal seeing that stuff out in the open. Manga is also sold in some book stores.
This is such a beautiful arc that nearly brings a tear to my eye. I remember when you posted a video talking about how Filthy Frank changed the perspective your students had on being Japanese, and I thought that was so amazing despite how 'filthy' it was. I think we all grow up in a place that we consider to be boring and not special, since it's just normal for us.
I grew up learning bits an pieces about Japan before I even started watching anime. To me, the culture is so rich and fascinating and that's probably because it's so different from what I've experienced growing up. While I don't think the country is perfect by any means, I've always believed there's alot of good things about Japan that I wish would become cultural norms around the rest of the world. Maybe that will be the case one day, and it'll have most likely started from the roots of 'Weeb' obsession culture xD
I was always interested in Japan! Hurray! My dad introduced anime to my brother and I as little kids, and we both still love it in our adult lives. It was on adult swim, which usually had adult content, but he was cool enough to let us watch anyway. And, 4kids would censor Yugioh in wierd ways.
4kids would censor and localize Pokemon back in the day in weird ways too. Like onigiri would be called anything from jelly donuts to hamburgers. For years as a kid, I thought onigiri were donuts because of that.
ありがとう、weebs。
あなた方の愛が、我々日本人に勇気を与えます。あなた方が日本文化を楽しんでいる様を愛おしく思います
It is my dream to be called weeb trash by a Japanese person 🙏
Nah in Japan its would be more like ゴミのオタク
Kimo
Lol so basically in an ironic sort of way, it's like a compliment
@@littenfire3563 Kimow brooo 🤠
What a heartwarming story ❤🎉 I’m so happy that you are happier being more like yourself now💕💕💕✨ I love your channel! Thank you for the lolz lol 💕💕💕💕
From Sora the 18 to Sora the Troll, I learned much about his life back then to now for 8 mins!
Thank you Sora, I needed to see a video like this right now. I've been struggling with studying and living in Japan and this has given me a different perspective on what its like to be an American in Japan from a Japanese perspective. That what I feel like is cringey or failed attempts at communication can be appreciated by other people while living here makes me feel a little more confident about interacting with others.
I was gonna say something trolly about how people will watch this entire 8 minute video and still ask you if you like weebs but this was actually really sweet and wholesome
No wonder why the population recession and economic recession hit Japan so hard
Aww this was such a cute story! personally, I've always loved my country. I live in new zealand. I love new zealand so much. I'm not Maori, and my parents aren't from new zealand, but I love how that doesn't make me any less kiwi. in new zealand, everybidy's from different places. we're a very mixed population! it's wonderful! the only complaint I've ever had about it was it's not too popular lol. my biggest complaints are shipping prices and job opportunities...
Japan to me, is an almost idyllic country. People there take care and pride in what they do. They learn their craft, no matter what it is. Hard working, respectful culture.
i love the storytelling of this so much
Happy to see you got some pride in your nation. Japan is pretty awesome and I hope to visit some day. Your videos have made me feel more comfortable with the idea of visiting. I was pretty scared to go since my japanese is rudimentary at best, but after everything you've talked about in your videos I'm starting to feel better about the idea. Japan is a beautiful and great country I would love to experience at some point. Thanks for making such great content over the years.
それでソラさんがWeeb好きって言うわけですね。いい話です。つまり日本人にはWeebの「愛」が必要ですね！
世界中のWeebたちよ！さぁ、日本に愛を捧げよう！
(すみません。連休にアニメ見すぎてしまった。)
This was nice. Glad you're proud to be you. Honestly, lately with everything that's been happening in my country, I've kinda been depressed about being a U.S. citizen. This lifted my spirits a bit. So thank you.
It really has more to do where you live since US can be crappy if you happen to live in many big cities or great if you live in many of the nice small to medium towns, most national issues have very little effect on non tax payers or those making less than $12,950. Being depressed about being a US citizen is actually sad since so many people risk there life to get here and would be happy to trade with you in a heartbeat.
@Tanned Tomboy Connoisseur This guy gets it, there are plenty of places that are objectionable worse.
Same.❤
@tanned_tomboysMay I ask, where do you live?
@@southcoastinventors6583I just hope healthcare can be made affordable for all citizens some day. The current state of things makes it so that an expensive hospital visit can leave some people homeless..
Sora, thank you for your wonderful channel! Prior to visiting Japan in 2019 I memorized a few essential Japanese words and phrases I thought I would need as a first time visitor. I will never forget stepping up to the Customs agent at Narita and hearing him say "Konnichiwa". I gathered all my courage and responded ""Konnichiwa!" and was so relieved when the agent didn't even raise an eyebrow! I did eventully use each of the phrases I had practiced such as "Eki wa doko deska?", "Toire wa doko deska?", and of course "Sumimasen".
This video was actually really cute lol I understand that there are a lot of frustrating things about Japan, and other countries too, but I'm glad that you're comfortable with yourself now. The part at 1:20, where you say that Japanese people don't get attention abroad, reminded me of the time 3 Japanese tourists (I didnt know they were tourists) came into the store that I worked in and I went over to them and asked if they needed any help. After they said no, I saw that one of them was wearing a Los Ingobernables de Japon jacket and I suddenly got REALLY excited. I started talking about New Japan and how cool Bushi was... but they all just stood there silently and stared at me like I was insane. They were glancing at me and turning away, trying to get away, so I apologized and left very quickly, pretending that nothing happened AT ALL... I was so embarrassed, I wanted to crawl under the counter and rot. I went back to stickering items for clearance and after 5ish minutes? I looked up and saw all 3 of them doing like Kamen Rider poses and doing the wide eye thing like Hiroshi Tanahashi and Naito behind some displays. It was so funny that I doubled over laughing and when they left, we were all waving and saying goodbye to each other, and my boss just stood there like "What?? was that???" Even though there was that huuuge language barrier, they were able to communicate with me just by doing silly poses because we knew something in common
いいお話です！
Story time with Sora is always a good time. =)
sora anti-weeb arc
This is honestly a very positive story with genuine feels. It means a lot to hear from me, who has grown up ashamed to be American even from a young age, and even now in my 30's I'm still ashamed. Funny enough it's the "America is the best" and "The rest of the world? What's that?" I've seen that keeps me down. I'm glad you've found your place. From a wise anime girl from the internet, "I may be cringe, but I am free"
so glad this happened to you in your life, sora! and now you're able to be more self-confident and proud to be japanese! there are ups and downs to everything, of course, but i'm glad you've been able to come to terms with being japanese!
Sora.
Thanks for sharing and being so open and let's see what you and Nippon has as core. Dude. I think you're great.
I laugh my ass of with you.
Keep the amazing job. Please.
All the love of a brazilian/italian living in The Netherlands.
Same happened to me as Colombian, as you may know; my country it's really known for bad things, like war and drugs; but, then i saw a lot of foreigners on YT speaking how much they love this country and lots of them actually living and saying really positive stuff about their experience living here, then i realize have to make my own opinion about everything and see both sides of the story. thanks for the video Sora!
I like that in the end, you were able to overcome something you couldn't do in the past. This pretty much reminds me of myself about few years ago when I had classmates that used to bully me. Now I overcame it and they can't bully me anymore.
This is probably one of the rare times I'm not gonna call you a weeb, I heard you now
this video is so cool. I'm glad there are so many youtubers kind enough to teach us Japanese and about your culture. thanks for all the fun too. glad you learned about all the hidden kimoujin out there. lol.
“nobody was interested in japan”
nah man many people are interested
This was a really touching story. It’s cool to see how people all over the world can deal with similar things. I’m an American the same age as Sora, and to an extent I was raised to love my country, but I also heard a lot about why America sucks and came to believe that we are mostly hated in other countries. And in the ultimate irony given Sora’s story this video, I believed for much of my life that Japan was simply a better country than America, due to things like technology, crime, healthcare etc. But recently I’ve learned more about Japan as well as other countries thanks to RUclips, and it seems more like everyone around the world is doing the best they can, and all countries have their pros and cons. It’s cool that we can come together online to admire each other’s countries :)
I don't know if you will see this Sora, but it was awesome meeting you yesterday, it made my week.
i dont play vrchat
@@sorathetroll YOU JUST OUTED YOURSELF 😭
Wow, I came here for the cringe and then I was moved to the core! Thank you for making this video, it's really touching! I feel like I understand more about a side of Japanese culture that isn't mentioned often, I feel a little less embarrassed and, I dare say, even a little happy about my dark past being an unapologetic weeb (キモい 😐🧍 ), and now we've unlocked a new part of your backstory. This video hit me right in the feels! Thanks for putting yourself out there, man.
Σd(ಥ﹏ಥd)
I liked that show.
*SCORE*
-Plot
_10_
-Character
development
_10_
-Plot twist
_10_
-Ending
_10_
The only mistake was about fidelity to the facts. Cuz we all know that Sora isn't Japanese but American.
I wonder what Sora will post next since this is the end of Sora found his purpose in this character arc
There was a little girl in the US who loved a precious doll from Japan, precious people from Japan, helped her mom save kimono, and many other things.... All over the world people of all ages like anime, manga, art, music, nature, and so very much that is Japanese.... You should be proud of where you come from, who you are, and the people you are fortunate enough to love. You have many reasons to be proud of who you are.
★🐻🏖🌲 ❤ 🗾🌅🗻🌸
This was a good video! It was really inspiring and what it did is teach us weebs and just people who are cringe to embrace yourself. Thankyou Sora san! Thankyou! :)
As a Haitian-Dominican-American born in the USA, I wouldn't blame Japanese ppl for hating their own country seeing all of the shit that they have to go through. The "karoshi" culture, the pressure in office settings, the undeniably high suicide rates due to depression, etc.
Much of that can be fixed by public action, but as others (Shogo; Gaijin Goombah; etc.) have pointed out, the younger generations rarely vote so the older generations continue to dictate many of the country's policies.
@@Chibi1986 It's not that the young don't vote it's more that basically the old are the majority of people so any politician proposing anything that goes against the interest of the boomers just won't get elected. In Japan this demographic change is really extrem.
It's like how in the west boomers don't give a shit about climate change and the only things considered are solutions that don't infringe on the lifestyle of the boomers.
Maybe an image from the 90s/00s as Japan in number 25 in "auto delete" and you'll find other "happiest countries on earth" to have higher levels of "uno reverse alive"
To be honest I was pretty surprised it was due to such a simple reason. I think Sora may have been in an international school with less strict than normal rules and doesn’t work at a crazy Japanese company, so I have to wonder if he didn’t experience much of that - it makes me wonder what percent of the population experiences that kind of thing vs how many live more “normal” lives
富贵病而已,和中国的996比真的是小巫见大巫
Hey Sora! I'm from Peru. As an Otaku (or you could say, weeb), I personally feel like we were never hated here, unlike in other Hispanic countries. I think one reason is that our country has a multifaceted, multicultural aspect to it. Even since the Colonial times, we've had a culture that tends to admire things that come from outside a lot. Not just because of the Spanish, but from all the people that started migrating since then. For example, native people would use Chinese mythical animals and Asian themes in their tapestries, or the modern Diablada masks are based on both Asian dragons and Pre-columbian dragons.
We had plenty of immigrants from Asia in the past century too, and even a president of completely Japanese origin during the 90s.
But one of the main reasons I think is that in the 90s we had several magazines that talked about anime and manga from Japan exclusively. The most famous one was a magazine called "Sugoi".
Even the ecchi part isn't rare to me personally, because when I was a kid I traveled through several Peruvian highland towns in a school trip, and saw local ceramics that if you opened them, they literally had what you could call a H scene hidden in them xD (and my classmates and I were quite the rascals and went outside of the lodgings to see the shops around..) And that type of ceramics isn't very uncommon. People would just look at them and giggled... Nowadays it's even more open, such as a certain statue made in Trujillo inspired in the Moche culture... I'm pretty sure foreigners would find that strange and amusing, or even get angered by that stuff. But hey, one has to be able to understand other cultures because their values and social dynamics are different to our own.
So I personally feel that thanks to that, Otaku / Weeb culture, while niche at the time, wasn't frowned upon, or not nearly as badly as elsewhere. Even when I was bored in the university, other classmates would come to see what I was drawing, and thoroughly enjoyed my Anime drawings. One of them (who was my brother's gf too btw) even asked me why I wasn't drawing more ecchi. She said I should draw more ecchi! XD Anyway, greetings from Peru! thank you for your amazing channel, man.
Oh, Sora... Japanese culture has been with the people around the world.
Pokemon, Digimon, Doraemon, Dragonball, Naruto... The story and influence is so huge that we can't even explain it by words.
Just look at how many people watched Pokemon OP music video on the F1RST TAKE.
It’s so interesting getting this from the other perspective. I grew up when anime was super uncool in America and I would get teased all the time for drawing anime and practicing hiragana. But my only dream was to live in Japan (which I did) and I sometimes wished I had been born Japanese. I teach elementary school now and I love how openly everyone loves anime and there isn’t the feeling to hid it like before. It’s truly amazing how much the world has changed in so short a time.
And Sora, to me, you’ll always be cringe.
well lets be honest the orginal naruto was cringe but shippuden madara and obito talk about some deep ass stuff which got me to change my opinion
Wow the flashback episode hit hard
It’s really a nice thing that you get that perspective. Being free from that “hate” is really a hard one. Accepting ourselves is one of the steps that can bring peace. God bless.
This video was an emotional roller coaster 😥 .
This video is both funny and heartwarming at the same time, good job sora! ❤
I think everyone, at some point of their life, started to hate his own country. We have the tendency to see the bad things rather than good things.
For example, I live in Italy, and I hate this country for a shitload of things, even tho people would pay to live here... but you know what? Every time i think about leaving Italy, I don't.
Because I love it even when I hate it
I thought you would end it with 'Yes I am cringe" haha good work
Japanese people like any other country except Japan
While the rest of the world like no other country but Japan
That's how much we love you guys
And i have a dream of visiting Japan after my graduation and also learn Japanese along the way
Actually heartfelt and touching.
i used to really hate america and i still kinda do sometimes, but then i saw how a lot of people wish they were american and think american stuff is cool and it made me less ashamed of my country and more grateful for what i have
I love the Yakuza video game series. It's made me kinda interested in trying more Japanese food like ramen and takoyaki and stuff like that. Also, the humor in the Yakuza games is just so ridiculous but in a super funny way. I've even tried learning the chorus to songs like Baka Mitai and Machine Gun Kiss.
I mean it's true back then I don't usually tell people that I like anime-
Great video Mr. Troll
I have to say that the first part really hit home. I was born in Stockholm Sweden as the first son of two Polish migrants and lived there for about 13 years. During that time I didn't really feel shame about beign Polish, but I always felt like Poland was this backwards poor eastern european country where everything was crumbling, it also didn't help that my parents(especially my dad) were very patriotic(even over petty things like the fact that a Hollywood movie had a Polish surname in the credits). When my parents decided to move back to Poland I was staunchly against it as I saw it as basically moving to a jungle. But after I started to attend school in Poland I quickly started to appreciate Polish history and culture(especially literature) which has now led me to become equally(if not more) patriotic as my dad, and yes, I do get hyped seeing a Polish surname in American movies.
I am glad that you found pride in your nation and I hope you will continue working hard.
Polska GÓRĄ!!!
I always wanted to be Japanese as a kid so I could get presents on Children's Day. Seriously Japan has so much more than Australia and I wish our country borrowed more form your culture
Yeah its great until you have to work and never get to see your friends or significant other again.
Me too, the best part it's that they are so lucky of having shops open all the night where you can buy everything, that is the most great thing than a country can be have and the fact of have so many shops like that is a bless.
The only thing in my mind after watching this is: "oya yubi".
There is no escape from random weeabooness.
Thank you Sora for making me laugh when I had a rough day yesterday.
Sora just created a short movie lol😂
やっぱそらさんの動画大好き^^
日本が嫌いになってしまう理由、かなり共感した… でもやっぱアメリカの中学校でweeb達に同学年なのにsenpai呼ばわりされて、なんか嬉しかった自分もいたんだよね。どうかこれからの日本人にもっと日本人であることに対して誇りを持って生きて欲しいな。Awesome video! I’m 17 and I kinda am in the “hate japan phase” still, but I hope I can grow out of it like you did. It really surprised me that you felt the same way too when you were around my age.
Yay! I’m dating a Chinese-American guy now, and I asked him why anyone would want to move to America. From my point of view, we have a lot of problems here. To him, he has freedom of speech, unlimited career opportunity, and he met me. ❤️ Awww. But anyway, I see what you mean. It’s sometimes easier to see the good things about your home country that you take for granted when you hear about it from a foreigner.
Well China is exceptionally low on the list of countries you'd want to live in in terms of civil liberties, so I don't think it says much as he could pick almost any country among the nations that don't police the behavior of it's citizens.
You aren't in those other alternatives though. 🙂
I was born in ‘93 in California. My friends and I always talk about how Japanese media raised us - and as kids we didn’t even necessarily know it was Japanese. Pokémon, Yugioh, DBZ, Sailor Moon, etc. were the Saturday morning cartoons of our childhood. Video games too - Nintendo was all-powerful. My local library’s teen section was bursting at the seams with manga. Reading Ranma 1/2 was a pivotal experience for me as a queer teen with not much media to see myself in.
I have always been fascinated by the way Japanese pop culture swept the US during my childhood. I highly recommend the book Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination by Anne Allison. Very insightful and fascinating.
Well japan has its highs and lows like any other contry(1st world contries still has problems), but you cant deny how crazy and sophisticated japan is, you can go to a rural prefecture too see kilometers of fields and nature and the next day take a bullet train to a major city that looks like straight from some cyberpunk.
Yeah
I knew that you will make this video 🔥😂i really love your videos Every video I rewatch many times 😂It puts me in a good mood by the way.....
I'm JAPANESE TOO
Sora became the Weeb Ambassador. (rofl)
This is great! Go, Weebs! I grew up in Hawaii and it's highly Japanese-influenced in culture. I grew up using chop sticks and having tomoe ame once in a while as a great treat, loving nori, etc from when I was very little. There's also influences from all over Asia and of course the fundamental Hawaiian culture. Plus a surprisingly large British influence (hint: just look at our state flag) but when I became an adult I got very embarrassed about being from Hawaii, and it took years of work but I worked hard to be able to leave to go to the US mainland and I never told anyone, for years, that I'd grown up in Hawaii. I tried to be a "mainlander" 100%. It's only very recently I've lost my embarrassment about Hawaii and in fact I plan to retire there in less than 2 years because it's far cheaper and easier for someone like me to live there. (Mainlander: "Milk's $10 a gallon!!" Local: "Eh, who cares, we no drink milk, ah?")
Honestly, I don't know why more weebs don't give Hawaii a try. It's the perfect intersection between the US and Japan. You can "dial up" or "dial down" how American or Japanese you want to be. You can always communicate in English and even "pidgin" will be pretty easy for mainlanders to understand because no one speaks the old-time pidgin any more. They speak a more English-ized version these days.
And I know why weebs don't do this; just try living in Hawaii. Because in Hawaii, being white isn't anything special. If anything you lose points for being white. Weebs, sadly, seem to think they'll be treated super-well in Japan because they're white, so they want to go there. (In truth, I think 99% of it is because Japanese are basically decent and polite, and 1% because a white person might be a free-spender.)
I don't look up or down on weebs, I think they're kind of fun. I love how enthusiastic they get about all the different flavors of Kit-Kat there are in my local little Japanese market. I love how they like to dress up.
By the way, that shirt with the red and dark-blue stripes ... I have that exact same shirt lol.
We gotta help promote Japan! We love Japan! **Starts planning to change style to FULL ANIME IRL** ☀
タイトルだけ見て"The Worst Country? 日本人が日本下げの動画か？日本が嫌いなら出ていけよ！！！"とか言われそうw
あ、ソラさんは日本人じゃないか。
日本人なのになにもせず日本人以外になる事に成功した日本人
Awesome video, it’s really interesting to see that point of view.
I think when you are a native (from any country), it’s always hard to take a step back and see the value of your own country. I myself am from Reunion Island and only wanted to leave my birth place since I was young (which I did), but since I left it, I have learned to appreciate my island through the eyes and biases of foreign people :) I relate to that so much.
Thanks for the very nice video!
He’s still trying to convince us that he’s actually American and not Japanese.