/jp/ - Otaku Culture

(cont.)

The fact is that the trap memes that were popular on /jp/ back in the day, AND the subsequent adoption of 2D as a motif by the reactionary right, were both natural and spontaneous occurrences. During the events of 2015-2016, so called "election tourists" happily adopted the 2D friendly culture of 4chan - these users may have been annoying redditor normies, but they were very much not against 2D. This was not an intentional move by the right wing's old guard, at least not to any meaningful degree - it was the natural progression of the anti-SJW sentiment that swelled on the internet post gamergate, in combination with the fact that 4chan, as a historically anti-establishment anime website, was naturally aligned against the SJW tendency to attack and try to censor or otherwise shutdown 2D, erotic anime, fan service in video games, etc., under the guise of it being misogynist.

In contrast to the above, recent attempts to associate trannies with 2D are driven by an explicitly political agenda. Rather than being a natural byproduct of folks who just so happen to both be queer and like anime (who do undoubtedly exist!), these attempts are instead a concentrated campaign by miscellaneous elements on "the left" to "take back anime" from "the right." The goal of this campaign is primarily divide and conquer - armchair political strategists of /leftypol/ and similar communities see the "anime right" as a huge threat. The haphazard alliance between otaku and racial/sexual realists leading up to 2016 is what birthed the so-called "alt right", breathing new life into a movement that was previously seen as largely defeated and made up only of cranky boring old white racists. Allying with 2D gave the right wing a much needed softer and more feminine side, undoubtedly introducing tons of new recruits to its causes who would never have discovered such ways of thinking otherwise. This fact was not lost on the right's enemies. There was a very sharp, calculated pivot post 2016 from painting 2D as misogynist and framing Trump supporters as "childless single men who masturbate to anime", to attempting to take "back" anime from the right and drive a wedge between them and 2D otaku. "Tranime", the oft repeated (and factually incorrect) sentiment that "4chan used to be left wing", and the characterization of new /pol/ users brought in by the Trump campaign as being largely anti-anime, are all major talking points of this D&C campaign.