Channel Surfers: Cowboy Bebop’s Postnational Fans

Abstract

When asked the question “In general, what kinds of activities or personal qualities do you associate with ‘fans’?” many of the anime fans I surveyed in 2010 responded by telling me, not about their activities or personalities, but about what animation makes them feel. Terms such as “passion,” “enthusiasm,” and “enjoyment” recurred over and over again. So did terms such as “obsession” and “fanatical.” I bring this up not as a great discovery, but to highlight from the start the single most unavoidable, irreducible quality of fandom: fans like something. As to how much and in what way, your mileage may vary.

“A fan is someone who has a passionate relationship with a source, a kind of special engagement.”

“A fan is someone who loves to be lost in a world far from her own where sorrow and joy happen every day instead of mediocrity.”

“A fan is someone who likes something.”