Gwed

Sociology Project Research:

Saturday morning cartoons used to be about orange cats or boys who couldn’t kick footballs. Now, the cartoons of American children are dubs of the shows being raved about in Tokyo. Hundreds of conventions take place every year across the United States. Conventions of teenagers in wild clothing with a language all their own. But one word resonates clearly on the cartoon channels and at the conventions: “Anime.” Once an obscure media of a country across the Pacific, anime, and its sister media, manga, have taken the United States by storm.
Since their introduction into American culture, anime and manga have infused themselves into the perspective of the average American youth. From the reading habits of young children, to the new connotation of certain words, to the video games that teenagers play, the popular Japanese art had plainly etched itself into American society.
· Otaku
1. variety of geek focused on anime and manga
2. negative connotations in Japan
3. flexible in English
4. modern Japanese slang - refers to an overly obsessive fan of any one particular theme, topic, or hobby
5. term otaku means fanatic
6. often used as self-description by anime fans with a minute and detailed knowledge. They use it to rally those who have recently begun to watch anime or read manga, and encourage questions on shows and Japanese culture in general.
7. used to refer specifically to a fan of anime and manga, though it can sometimes refer to any "geek," in general. (1-7 Wikipedia.org)
8. The original meaning of otaku is 'your home' and by association, 'you', 'yours' and 'home'. The slang term otaku is witty reference both to someone who is not accustomed to close friendships and therefore tries to communicate with this peers using this distant and over-formal form of address, and to someone who spends most of their time on their own at home. (http://www.kinsellaresearch.com/nerd.html)
9. Ueno Chizuko, the leading feminist theorist, pressed this theory that amateur manga genres reflect the infantilism of young people, asking "Do the yaoi girls and Lolicom boys really have a future?" Without social roles, otaku had no fixed identities, no fixed gender roles, and no fixed sexuality. Ultimately, otaku represented a youth who had become so literally anti-social they were unable to communicate or have social relationships with other people at all. (ibid.)
10. In 1983, the first published report appeared on the usage of "otaku" amongst fans. Akio Nakamori wrote a series of articles called "Otaku no Kenkyu" (Studies of Otaku) (http://www.cjas.org/~leng/otaku-p.htm)
11. otaku panic - Miyazaki (who was 26, and in no way to be confused with legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki) kidnapped and murdered 4 little girls. When he was arrested, the police found a huge collection of various anime and manga, some of it pornographic, in his apartment. The media picked up on this and repeatedly referred to Miyazaki as an otaku, thereby exposing the term to the public at large. As such, "otaku" became associated with sociopaths like Miyazaki, and in the panic, many in the media tried to blame Miyazaki's deviant behavior on anime and manga (which is not dissimilar to the American media blaming violent video games and movies for the tragedy at Columbine).
12. Gainax's Otaku no Video, which came out several years after the Miyazaki incident, portrayed otaku (and therefore themselves) in a humourous and self-mocking way, but with a healthy dose of pride as well. Although the otaku portrayed might have been shown to be a little eccentric at times, they were also harmless--a far cry from the frightening image of the child-killing sociopath the Japanese media had presented just a few years before. Interestingly enough, Otaku no Video also apparently made it a point to show the diversity of those called "otaku", demonstrating that otaku can't be so easily stereotyped. Due to such efforts to educate (and entertain) the public, the otaku lifestyle has achieved international fame, and perhaps more importantly, a little more acceptance domestically. I've heard reports from Japan that the term has become more neutral in its connotations. One article that makes me optimistic about the acceptance of otaku culture is one I recently saw on CNN Asia (Tokyo, Japan): Otaku: Japan's gadget geeks dictate tech future Otaku-ism may not be for everyone, but I think it has a lot of good to offer, and it certainly doesn't deserve the bad reputation so commonly associated with it. Even if the word "otaku" is lost forever to those who would use it to denigrate others, the otaku spirit--a spirit of exploration, innovation, curiosity, dedication, and individualism--will live on. (ibid)
13. The otaku live and breathe technology. They also dictate its future -- living proof that even the biggest geek can be a consumer force to be reckoned with.
14. http://www.animeinfo.org/animeu/socl102-l4.html
15. http://www.animeinfo.org/animeu/socl225-l3.html
16. http://www.oldcrows.net/~acen/forums/showthread.php?s=f1a610efb0e7d1affb3a196cb6004bed&p=198277#post198277
17.