WEEABOO

At a crossroads in their lives, three friends are bound together by their love of Japanese anime and manga.

Although their interest varies by degrees, all three use their fandom for escapism. Danielle Mitchell, who goes by Dan, is a young White person who balks at traditional gender roles and enjoys playing the prince. James Shibata is a biracial (Japanese and White) teen who is socially awkward, struggling in school, and looking for direction. Maya Thompson, who most closely lives up to the obsessive connotations of the term weeaboo, is a Black teen maintaining an online persona that is at odds with her reality. She is also a source of some unintentional microaggressions about Asians which James struggles with, while also facing anti-Blackness in her fandom community. As they finish out their senior year of high school and prepare for an anime convention, their relationships and futures are tested. The art style is reminiscent of 1970s manga, and though at times the character designs may be inconsistent, the penciling and watercolors deftly embody the fantasy scenes and intensity of characters’ facial expressions. An interwoven fictional storyline perhaps meant to mirror the real-world plot is just as dramatic as the reality.

Japanese pop culture buoys young people striving to fulfill their dreams.