Sunday, August 15, 2010

What's an Otaku?


I was talking to a friend not long ago about blogging and I found out he was also into anime and manga. I told him I was writing on this blog called Otaku Life. Then he looked at me in a weird way and asked, "what exactly does Otaku mean?"

That was actually a pretty good question. I've spoken to a lot of people before but nobody has ever asked me that question, especially from someone who's into anime himself. When I got home I went online and looked up good 'ole Wikipedia.

Basically, for Japanese "Otaku refers to a fan of any particular theme, topic, or hobby." In English "it is usually used to refer to an obsessive fan of anime/manga and/or Japanese culture generally, and to a lesser extent Japanese video games."


So using that as reference I can say that this blog uses the word Otaku in it's english context: anime, manga, video games, and japanese culture enthusiast. 


Being an Otaku is a hobby, sometimes a very expensive one. Well most hobbies are costly. There are collectors, cosplayers, media mongers, scanlators, fan dubbers, forum-ers, bloggers, fan club founders, fan artists, and the list goes on and on. 

Haha! Spanish!


Typical stereo type for Otakus are glasses, unkempt hair, and low profile clothing. Which is funny because most Otakus I know aren't like that at all. Alodia Gosiengfiao, probably the most popular Otaku and Cosplayer in the Philippines even made it to FHM's Sexiest!


A few months ago I stumbled upon a blog called "Otaku Elimination Game" where they diss out blogs and bloggers for claiming to be Otaku even though they aren't.   The biggest name they "Eliminated" was Danny Choo. They said he wasn't really an Otaku. *shrugs*


I love anime and I guess I'm an Otaku. I'm having trouble saying it out loud though. At the back of my mind the word still has a negative feel to it. Especially after watching Genshiken where you get to see how the Japanese Otaku Life really is and why they're looked at in a bad way. I even read in a news that there were Otaku Hunters in Akihabara. Thieves who prey on Otakus because "they have lots of cash, they're worthless, and  they smells like cockroach.." Well, that's what he said in an interview as to why they only target Otakus. 


So, am I proud to be an Otaku? Sure I am. I love anime so much I even postponed a date because there was an episode I didn't want to miss, so yeah. I can say I'm an Otaku and proud to be one. 



7 comments:

  1. Now that I read this, I'm beginning to think I'm not as much of an otaku as I thought I was. You put this together very well though. Now I won't have to write my own definition.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Troll Man. I got my brother thinking about it himself. He's beginning to doubt even though he's more Otaku than I am. Lol!

    ReplyDelete
  3. To be an otaku you need to watch at leest 150 titles!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think I'm starting to doubt my otaku-ness... Anontmous said you need to watch atleast 150 titles... Did I? I don't know... I know I watched alot, but still... 150 is, like, alot alot.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! TOO CONFUSING!!!!!!

    btw, i agree! most otakus do NOT dress like that!!! i have like ten or more otaku friends and only 2 wear glasses!! ands they all have well kept hair and nice clothes!!! >:C


    :3

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm no doubt an Otaku. I've seen more titles than i can count *cough*185*cough* I'm proud to be an otaku, though. God Bless Anime and all of it's anime glory!

    ReplyDelete
  6. go to the website k6l10c9y63 replica ysl handbags replica bags hong kong m4e43p6m03 replica bags by joy gucci replica handbags w8f72v0g65 replica prada nylon bags replica bags new york hermes replica m1l90p5o65 replica bags china

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...