Round Robin: Otaku - Stereotypes & Perception
Otaku
When I was starting my secondary school, a friend that was not so into anime introduced me theotaku (a forum). During that time, not much people watch Anime and you will be labelled weird for doing so (I experienced, I know)
Definition of Otaku
according to Naki
Anime/Manga fan
But the actual meaning according to wikipedia entry
Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime and manga.
As for the female fan that’s obsessive with Yaoi (boyxboy), it is called Fujoshi (rotten girl) and we can take animemiz is an example where she used “Fujoshi scribblings” as her title so she’s probably a Yaoi fan.
However, according to the real definition given by Wikipedia.
For elezend, she can be counted as an Otaku because she’s obsessed with
- Blogging
- Manga because it can kill time
- a lot more things here for you to add
- add here too
- and here
- Just incase there’s anything left… please add here too
Not only that,
- Deimos can also be rated as an Otaku because he is obsessed with Flash games.
- We can also say levian is an Otaku because she’s obsessed with taking pictures using her Motorola V3X (Or maybe she’s doing cell phone promotion?? I wonder how much she gets for commission)
- I’m not sure about ameo though because he’s not a blog Otaku unlike me, levian and deimos because we update everyday.
- My sifu(teacher/master) is a multi-tasker so I’m not sure if he’s obsessed with anything plus his tu di(apprentice)Â kept pestering him about how to use this and that.
- Pui is addicted to anime/manga fan but I’m not sure about obsessive because he’s new to the blog (Welcome =))
- Lastly, I guess katak is a borderline Anime fan like me so I won’t call him an Otaku XD!
By the way, Is there anyone that’s an elezend’s otaku?
Konata - She is every Anime/Manga/MMORPG Otaku’s dream
Anime Otaku
I figured this will be the more approriate title for this blog post.
Past perceptions on Anime Otaku
From my personal experience before the Naruto and Bleach boom (When all the narutards were born)
1. You guys are weirdo for watching Anime
I used to have a friend that watches Anime too and we used to discuss about Anime all the time in the classes. Because of that, some classmates of mine thought we were weird and isolated us but that does not really matter because I still have some good friends that will be there when I needed one ^^.
They were thinking how weird we were because it’s just lines and colors on the TV screen and the characters in the TV are not real. Chasing over boy band seemed better in their opinions.
2. Anime Otaku is cool to me
I should use was for the present perception but I will tell you why I think it was cool in the past and it is simply because I used to be a wapanese. Things to prove that I was a wapanese
- My dream place was Japan although the cost of living is high
- I wanted to buy Anime figurines because it’s so cool and probably the closest thing we can ever get to the Anime (I’m glad I didn’t)
- I spent hours watching Anime although some of the series are boring just because we Anime Otaku must watch more Anime.
- I spent hours listening to Japanese songs that I don’t know the meaning and other songs especially Chinese ones were mimicking Japanese songs!(According to elezend many years ago)
Present Perception
I’m going to be a philosopher like Deimos on this sub-post with a little levian style inside.
Clothes… a lot too
(Photograph taken using my Sony Ericsson w800i)
“Be moderate in everything, including moderationâ€
~Horace Porter
elezend Analyzes - For non-Anime Otaku
Let’s take clothes for an example. Some girls I know are overly obsessive with their clothes and willing to spend hundreds just on a cloth alone while you can get a normal cloth that can cover your body for less than RM 20. Moreover, petrol prices are rising so we should be moderate on our expenses
elezend Analyzes - For Anime Otaku
It is not a sin to watch Anime nor read Mangas or even collect collectibles but we need to be moderate about it. Try to watch it during free time and don’t neglect your daily lifestyle. Hang out with your friends more instead of with the computer too much.
Never overspend your money on collectibles or even in debt just because of it. It might be your interest but trust me; you can’t cook figurines for dinner.
elezend’s Thoughts
The RSS subscribe button is very attractive
elezend Asks
Whatdoyathink?!
Hikikomori
According to wikipedia cause we all know how hardworking elezend can get
Hikikomori (lit. “pulling away, being confined”, i.e. “acute social withdrawal”) is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive individuals who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement due to various personal and social factors in their lives. The term hikikomori refers to both the sociological phenomenon in general as well as to individuals belonging to this societal group.
In elezend’s words
An effect of Anime Otakuism
Misunderstanding & Generalization
Although some people might misunderstand Hikikomori as refusing to come out because that person is overly obsessed with Anime/Manga/MMORPG but Hikikomori is like a general “sickness” that Anime Otaku might get which eventually leads NEET ([N]ot currently engaged in [E]mployment, [E]ducation & [T]raining) or Freeter (Underemployed / freelance)
In my opinion, Here’s roughly the main idea of the whole thing
The others links might not be related
Are you clear now? I might not cover up the whole thing but do enjoy the wikipedia articles (I read them before a while ago)
Animes that cover Otakuism well:
Welcome to N.H.K. / Genshiken
Other bloggers that blogged about this topic
- Mei
- deathbymoe
- Hoshi
- Fang-tan
- Hynavian
- Hikikomori-chan
- animemiz
- Nya-chan
- Fuyu-maiden
- Susie Q
- A Day Without Me
- Rachel
- j1m0ne
- Meows
- haruda
- townberry
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Filed under: Anime, Technology
Nice article…especially 2nd part where u try to justify why u think Otaku is cool…lol…
i was an Otaku to the maxx back in my uni yrs too…too bad, cant watch anime as much as i wanted to nowadays
“people with obsessive interests”
ahaha !!
we are like a whole bunch of otakussss that hang together.
now this is Fun (yup, with a cap F) !! XD
the deimos style is impressively believing.
(of course, except for the fonts n sort)
he’s gonna be so proud of you. XD
@3five I can watch Anime all day long if I wanted to but it will be pointless other than to prove myself I’m an Anime Otaku. Anime is more like entertainment to me just like watching movies occasionally. And thanks for the compliment ^^
@levian I believe Deimos will be proud of me too LOL and yes, we are blog otaku XD!
So basically otaku is an obsession on something?
Some said that heavy anime watcher can’t be defined as otaku. I think an anime otaku is a person who’s willing to watch any kind of anime (not just Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, or s***s like that).
An anime otaku can not judged by their frequency of watching anime.
You’ve got a good enough point for me to find the meaning of obsession
1. Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety.
2. A compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion.
Frequency might not be the whole thing that leads to Anime Otakuism but it plays a part of it.
However, as you said It is also possible that someone probably watch anime for at least 12 hours a day just to pass some time.
It all depends on your own perception.
*surprised i’m also the one listed there*
promote da there thou…XD. actually i’m not so active in da.. ya, like you said, just try to do something to pass some time by doodling. I am not good in blogging, don’t know how to write a good blog, probably because not good in english. Unlike you, analyzed such details, and even came out with hikikomori-chart1…XD ~really impressive!!
ei………………..elezend with remote control is cute!!!=)
@pui I list everyone that recently commented on my blog and have a rough idea of what they are like o.O Thanks for the compliment ^^
@joshuaun I wish I was that cute but apparently I’m not >.<
at least can make your hair bcome blue=)
[(of course, except for the fonts n sort)]
What about the fonts and sort? -_-
[I believe Deimos will be proud of me]
Yes, I am proud.
Sorry for the short comment, will be back with a more comprehensive one.
Been a busy day for me. It was my darling’s big bro wedding day on 14 June 2008.
@joshuaun nah too unnatural plus black suits me better ^^
@Deimos the font styling because the font you used differs from mine
Congratulations to the wedding ^^
“It might be your interest but trust me; you can’t cook figurines for dinner.”
LOL. I definitely have to agree with that. Moderate is good. :]
@deimos
yup, because of the different fonts n styling, it’s impossible to be identical. am i wrong ??
@elezend
yay to us !! XD
I agree with moderation and I think that’s a huge key point in all of this. But I have to disagree with NEETs/freeters in your chart there…there are lots of people who are freeters who enjoy things in moderation but just live with their parents without paying rent.
@caitlin That’s why I said others might not be linked with each others =)
I don’t want to type another others because it’s messing with the chart lol
@Hoshi lol thanks for agreeing with me
@levian I can always change the font ^^”
Nice definition of “Otaku”. I can’t define it to save myself. Also, I LOL at the hundred dollars on a piece of cloth comment. It’s so true! I have seen many spending their money on a cloth that do not even cover half of their body. XD
I am trying to moderate my collection.. T_T.. but the temptation is so much…
@Hynavian Thanks \^o^/ it’s all about brands to them
@animemiz bring less money when you go out?
Ah, the pre-Naruto and Bleach boom brings back memories of my own awful, awful wapanese state back in the day. All of my thoughts were pretty much the same as yours (except I wanted plushies instead of figures…). Oh why are we all so ridiculous when we’re younger?
But you definitely brought up something I haven’t thought of before…clothes otaku. Now I can get my friend to shut her mouth about anime since she rarely wears the same outfit more than three times…ever.
@levian:
[yup, because of the different fonts n styling, it’s impossible to be identical. am i wrong ??]
No, no, you are not wrong.
I did not catch what you are tying to imply at first. I get it now. XD
Regarding elezend’s blog post:
Wah, I become an otaku pulak? Well, the main reason why I blog about flash games is that I receive good search engine traffic from them.
[The RSS subscribe button is very attractive]
Hookay, I subscribed via email! Now feed me blog posts everyday! MOAR!
[“Be moderate in everything, including moderation”]
I think this quote appears quite contradicting.
Well, at first glance it does appear contradicting though. I believe that what it is trying to teach is that it is okay to be “not moderate” sometimes, right?
@FuyuMaiden because we are easily influenced when we are younger. When we see some friends have this new cool watch, we will probably ask our parents to buy or CRY
Well, tell her this. The older the cloth get, the less it is worth since it’s worn for so many times
As for Anime collectibles, the older it gets, it PROBABLY will fetch a higher price especially limited edition ones.
Probably is always better than useless.
@Deimos
it’s okay Deimos, we all know you’re too busy with your darling’s bro’s wedding (When will it be yours or we missed it? since AirAsia is quite cheap now maybe we do BLOGGER CRASH on your wedding)
Smart SEO lol. I subscribed to your RSS too but through google reader ^^
Yea, it actually implies it is okay to be excessive sometimes
@deimos
uh-oh .. it has gotta do with my english !!
*panicked*
so that’s where all the stickman flash game origins.
yummy !!
@elezend
blogger crash !! *joining*
parrrtyyyy !! XD