Aug. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM
JEN GERSON
Say what you will about Stephen Harper, Canada will be spared the indignity of an anime-loving head of state.
The people of Taiwan were not so lucky. In 2004, former president Lee Teng-hui dressed up as the stubborn kendo master Heihachi Edajima from a popular Japanese comic book series Sakigake!! Otokojuku. With flowing martial arts robes, bamboo sword and sidekicks in tow, Lee strutted his stuff for publicity pictures.
At this year's Fan Expo Canada lovers of anime and manga, Japanese cartoons and comics respectively, will be out in force. And they'll be eliciting groans from the more established echelons of sci-fi and fantasy geekdom.
"To a lot of people, (anime fans) are on the lower rungs of the nerd ladder," says Dave Alexander, from Rue Morgue, a magazine that showcases the horrific and macabre and also hosts the Expo's Festival of Fear wing. "Closed quarters do not make a good arena for giant props ... when you're walking around in a crowded convention centre and you see a guy with a sword made out of papier-mâché twice the size of his body, it can be pretty annoying."
Full article is here.
Even in Malaysia, anime fans were tend to be viewed with derision and laughter from general public. You can say it is geek discrimination.
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