It does bother me how spineless the Japanese depict themselves in anime and movies when it comes to bullying. The target just takes it and takes it until they snap. That usually ends in a homicide or suicide (attempted or successful).

Maybe it's just an American (read: asshole) thing, but when boys get bullied, sooner or later they buck up and punch the bully in the face, or stay obstinately defiant until they get the shit beat out of them. I went to a fairly large middle school, so this happened often enough. Most high schools are all zero tolerance nowadays, so it doesn't happen there anymore. I can't say anything about how girls here tend to resolve these things, but I sure know how nasty they can get to each other.

I get that defiance isn't a very welcomed reaction in many Asian cultures (except maybe parts of the southeast), but if you're simply going to do what you're told, you deserve to be bullied.

You may not have to fight back, but you sure as hell don't have to do anything either.