“Weeaboo.” Was the first word I muttered out when reading “Ohisashiburidesu” by Alicia Marzolf. My nose scrunched up in distaste. I’ve had my experience with weeaboos, and they weren’t exactly pleasant. I found them offensive. I have always encountered a weeaboo attempting to act stereotypically Japanese and replace random parts of their speeches with Japanese words. However, as I continued reading, (which was very difficult for me at first) I began to grasp the fact that Alicia gave respect for a culture she admired. Even though I disliked how Marzolf and her friend attempted to use anime as a “genesis for many, many years of language learning,” it’s fascinating to see one heavily engage in a culture. Nevertheless, I wasn’t a big fan of how they replaced some phrases with Japanese words, it made me uncomfortable and the whole “weeaboo” concept suddenly flew back to me.

It motivational to see Marzolf’s how Japan’s culture had heavily impacted her, but overall, it wasn’t exactly an article that made me engaged, but instead made me uncomfortable and uneasy.