From to , a man named Tsutomu Miyazaki murdered four young girls in Saitama. His crimes included cannibalism, necrophilia, and vampirism. He even went as far as to preserve body parts as trophies.
But despite the bizarre nature of these killings, the media focused on one thing: he had a large collection of anime and manga.
News reports on Miyazaki described him not just as a serial killer, but also as an otaku, and this was what really brought the term to the public and shaped perceptions of it. The media implied that Miyazaki committed the crime because he couldn't tell the difference between reality and fiction. But was Miyazaki a true otaku?
Otsuka contends that Miyazaki's media collection lacked the focus required to earn him the otaku name. But others felt his anime filled apartment justified the label. Furthermore, his participation in fanzines and conventions warranted the media's conclusion. True otaku or not, few sources mention Miyazaki's troubled past, nor the cannibalism, necrophilia, and mutilation that took place. To me, these disturbing details separate Miyazaki from other murder cases and suggest his mental health played a role in the crimes.
Still, the media spun the murder case into a social issue: otaku were the problem. Otaku historian Roland Kelts explains, "The Japanese media branded Miyazaki 'The Otaku Murderer' and people who had never before heard the term 'otaku' came to know its pejorative meaning very well.
The media frenzy surrounding the murders twisted "otaku," giving the term a dark connotation. The murder case became a social issue, and otaku were the problem.
This reaction reminds me of the way Western media blamed the Columbine High School massacre on video games and industrial music, painting the "goth" subculture as sinister. Even as the fervor over the Miyazaki case died down, otaku's negative stigma remained.
To the general public, the group came to represent men who preferred an imaginary world over reality and had trouble differentiating between the two. These fanatics abandoned marriage, family, and health to invest themselves in a "valueless" hobby. Miyazaki's lifestyle, including his dark "otaku room," antisocial tendencies, and "disturbing obsessions" came to embody the otaku stereotype.
Otaku became as synonymous with hikikomori shut-ins as they are with anime and manga. The subculture's reliance on television, computers, and the internet fueled this antisocial mythology. This was more along the lines of my perception of "otaku. But this commonly believed etymology is dead wrong. In reality, social interaction is the heart of otaku culture. Lawrence Eng writes,. Contrary to the stereotypical image of the otaku as socially isolated, anime fan communities are highly social and networked, relying on combinations of online and offline connections… Otaku knowledge requires immersion in not only information and media but also in ongoing social exchange about topics of interest.
Otaku gather as informal groups of friends, formal college clubs, on message boards, at game centers, and giant conventions. As Patrick Galbraith puts it, "Connections emerge, and spaces of interaction arise as people share the moment — as in matsuri festivals ".
For me anime has proved the ultimate ice-breaker. Once coworkers discover we share an interest in the same anime, inhibitions fall and conversations flow. Perhaps I am more otaku than I originally thought. As a subculture fueled by gathering and sharing information, otaku don't shun interaction. They depend on it. And sharing information is valued as much as acquiring it.
Otaku appreciate unofficial fan activity as much as, if not more than, official productions. Cosplayers don't just meet to show off. They exchange costume tips. Teams form to create doujinshi and sell them at conventions. Internet communities share custom art, home-made figures, and fan fiction. The ultimate embodiment of these efforts gathers twice a year at "Comic Market" or Comiket, a convention which deals in fan-made products.
The enormous event draws 35, creative "circles" and over half a million people. At least the convention-going element of my original otaku definition proved true. The subculture gained enough momentum to transform the city districts of Ikebukuro and Akihabara into so-called "otaku mecca," complete with social fixtures like maid cafes, game centers, live conventions, and events that contradict the antisocial image.
Now that I've dispelled some of the negative stereotype surrounding Japanese nerd culture, we need to figure out what it means to be otaku, the true meaning behind otaku. Obviously, being social and sharing information isn't all there is to it. But don't worry. I've narrowed "what being otaku means" down to a single word: possession. By this, I don't necessarily mean physical possession, like figures from someone's favorite anime. What I mean is otaku take ownership of their beloved series by examining every detail.
Then they take it a step beyond by creating costumes, fan fiction, music videos, figures, art, and even new series based on their favorite universes. According to Tamaki Saitou, "Being an otaku means being able to play around a little with the works you like; if you sanctify and worship them too much, you've fallen to the level of a mere maniac or fan. In my quest to discover my own otaku-ness, I had to ask myself, how sacred do I hold my favorite anime?
Do I have what it takes to "possess" my favorite series? In other words, am I a real otaku or just a run-of-the-mill maniac? Both subcultures focus on obsession and collecting. This has made the two words interchangeable in most people's minds. But small nuances differentiate the two. Maniac revel as spectators in their obsession.
They value tangible objects that have intrinsic value. Camera maniac, for example, research and covet cutting-edge cameras, or rare antique ones. Even ordinary people can see value in various cameras. As Tamaki Saitou puts it:. Maniac have a concrete materiality. By concrete materiality I mean simply that one can pick them up in one's hands and that they can be measured.
They create music pieces using her voice, do cosplays of her, draw illustrations of her, decorate shrines of her and even marry her. An obsessive fan called Akihiko Kondo literally held a wedding ceremony for Miku and himself in Dec The ceremony cost around 2 million yen, which is almost all the money he had. After the ceremony, Akihiko started to live with Miku every day. He posted photos of Miku doing everything: reading, eating, sleeping, chatting on the phone, and playing with the Switch.
A Gundam Otaku is a fan of Gundam. The Gundam series is seen as the representative of robot anime. Many said they had not expected their hobby for Gundam to be so expensive. They said once you started collecting the first model kit, it was much more likely that you would continue collecting more and more. The impact of Gundam can be seen in various other aspects. Fujoshi refers to female fans of yaoi, which focuses on homosexual male relationships. Fujoshi is sometimes used as a derogatory word for women who have Otaku hobbies.
Reki-jo are female history buffs. Initially, the term was used to describe women with Otaku tastes towards characterized Japanese historical figures, but now the meaning has been expanded to ordinary women who visit tourist spots and simply love history.
Of course, there are many other Otaku, like pasokon computer Otaku, voice actress seiyuu Otaku, military Otaku, robot Otaku, and so on. It depends on where you are. As previously mentioned, in Japan, Otaku is generally regarded as an offensive word for historical reasons.
But in the West, the word is used to refer to passionate consumers of anime and manga. It also varies according to different people. Even in Japan, the lifestyle of Otaku has gradually gained traction among Japanese youth and adolescents. The reason could be the intense work and academic culture in contemporary Japan.
An Otaku is someone who is obsessed with anime or manga, but a weeaboo is a westerner who wants to be Japanese. Some other words similar to weeaboo are wapanese wanna-be-Japanese and weeb. A person could be Otaku and weeaboo at the same time. This is because weeaboos usually love anime like Otaku do, which is why they want to act like anime characters.
Hikikomori refers to people who withdraw from society to seek extreme social isolation. They prefer staying alone rather than hold events like anime conventions as Otaku do.
However, the word has a harsher, more negative connotation in Japanese. It is a term that refers to the receiver of the description is a very reclusive , sociopathic person who has a severe addiction to any form of media and in some cases will rarely, if ever, leave his or her house to meet minimal living requirements or obtain more of said media hence the term otaku derived from its original meaning refering to a house 3.
It is a dire insult, especially to those who do not actually fit the category of otaku. Otaku plural are generally looked down upon in Japanese society, constantly derided for their passions.
These insults may or may not have a penny's worth of truth, but they base themselves in preconceived notions of how previous people of obsession have acted. The otaku do receive a lot of scorn from their fellow peers, and hate crimes against them are not all that uncommon 4. Nevertheless, the word is not completely negative. Several people worldwide have made attempts to remove its negative connotation, but have not been completely successful.
He's an otaku. I gotta lot of make-up work for 'being sick' during that last convention. My definition, which was correct was removed by biased peoples. Oh well. Here I go again. In Japan the word Otaku is a label that is quite bad.
Most Japanese people would not want to be considered an otaku. A big fan of them can be looked on as Idol Otaku. They have a passion for buying their CDs and DVDs and frequently going to the concerts and the events they hold. One of the most popular idols in Japan AKB48 and Nogizaka46, for example, offer their fans the chance to actually shake hands with their favorite idols at the events. Game lovers are called Game Otaku, Gamer, etc.
Video games are not only played in Japan but all over the world. Additionally, the number of players of e-sports electronic sports is increasing and it is getting popularized in the past few years. Do you fall into some categories of Otaku?
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