I have been thinking about Otaku. and from i can understand, Otaku means in essence, "geek", but it has a lot of negative connotations attached.
At least i have read that in Japanese culture, otaku are regarded as social outcasts or low class because they focus on their hobbies more than being responsible, productive members of society.
can an otaku be worse than that? is it more akin to gambling, or some other addiction?

I look at the collections the Master collectors have, and i instantly think, "They have to be otaku material." and yet when i read their posts in other threads, they reveal things that contradict that assumption.

I read comments about having to part ways with some of their collection to replace a car part, or of moving into a house, of wife and kids...
this doesn't sound like a social outcast or irresponsible loser who has no idea what he wants in life.

in all my life, i have kinda enjoyed being a geek. And i think that by my paying bills and working and doing what i can in the community, it allows me to be that geek for as long as i want. and allows me to not give a damn about what someone else thinks about it.

I am just curious about when your hobby gets noticed by your friends or family and they start treating it like it is something that is harmful down the road.
or when people think that your hobby counts against you somehow.

or do any of you consider yourselves otaku in any way?
me, i can't consider myself otaku until i have an eviction notice in my hand and a tractor trailer truck loaded with my collection.
for the moment i just think i am a geek. At worst, a kid who never grew completely up.

just wondering.

 

I do, but that's probably because my i've owned a trailer and 3 cars. My anime and manga collections are worth more EACH than those things combined. My toys are limited to Transformers, TMNT, anime characters, and the occasional horror figure (like my set of Puppet Master figures)

 

I remember at a convention I went to once, someone proclaimed to a Japanese reporter that she was an "otaku" and he seemed quite wary of her. I think in Japan it actually means to be obsessed with something, but I can't quite remember.

Most people seem to assume that fans of Transformers, anime, etc deem those things to be the ONLY thing in their lives, which is where the negative connotations come from, even if it isn't actually true.

 

First off, Japanese people have different cultural traditions and expectations for societal behavior that don't apply to us simply because we import toys from that place in the world.

Second, most people with large collections (most, certainly not all...) are pretty well adjusted normal folks. You have to be in order to make the kind of money necessary to collect on that scale. People that are societal wack-jobs aren't usually able to succeed in the marketplace and find a job that will retain them.

Are there TF freaks out there? oh yea...spend too much time with "That person" in a BotCon TF panel who asks all the questions which make people pull their hair out and you'll see that easily.

Most TF collectors are pretty normal (if not a little weird for seeking constant validation that they are in fact 'normal').

 

Don't forget, many people in Japan associate Otaku with Tsutomu Miyazaki, the Otaku Killer, a pedophilic serial killer who was also an otaku. For more information, check out the wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku_Killer

 

The word "Otaku" in the U.S. is used more of a badge of honor by anime and manga geeks, I personally prefer the use the word "geek" to describe myself since more people understand what that word means.

Me, I collect as a hobby and even though i'm selling off 95% of my stuff, it's mainly to fund another hobby i'm about to start. I get my bills paid, I have no debt, I work AND go to school and don't see any harm in having a hobby that makes me happy. I haven't really gotten any crap from anybody, the girl i'm "seeing" right now is all cool with it and wouldn't think any differently of me if my collection was 10 pieces or 10,000 pieces.

 

It's a hobby. And there's nothing "weird" about it (except that there are some just plain weird fans out there). And we don't have to "validate" normality for being people who happen to like collecting toys, and we shouldn't have to defend it either.

If someone feels they have to be a douche and berate or degrade or question me for my hobby, I honestly don't give a crap. It's none of their business what I do with my life, and it just makes me think less of them as a person for being such a condescending, judgmental ass.

Collecting TFs is something that makes me happy. It reminds me of my childhood. And I also happen to be fascinated with the engineering that goes into the toys. If that makes me a geek, I don't give a crap.

What's amusing to me is when I hear women complaining that their man spends to much time and money on a car, or hunting/fishing/golf/etc, or watching sports. Just proves that everyone's a geek in one way or another.

 

My dad blows his money on motorcycles and snowmobiles. I buy Transformers. Meh.

At least Transformers can be played with year-round.  

 

You're doing exactly what I said people do.

 

I hate the word otaku, probably because people use it here all the time to cutely describe themselves. It makes me think of a big guy in a sailor moon outfit or something.  

I have some pretty dorky interests. I always have. A lot of people have bad things to say about them, though. Especially my relatives that come over to visit. They think it's weird for someone like me to not date or have a huge social life, and collect toys. They always criticize me. It's almost like they'd rather prefer me being barefoot and pregnant in someone's kitchen, rather than doing what I enjoy.

I am a productive member of society, too. I'm working and going to school to get a decent job. I do community service whenever I can. I don't think my toys and interests are keeping me from succeeding in life - it's just bothersome other people because it's not the norm. But then again I've never understood how fantasy football is okay and manly while any other kind of roleplaying is considered geeky.

 

I don't think I've ever heard someone say the word 'Otaku' off the internet. Seriously for the longest time I thought it was some character in an obsure anime. I never really give a crap about labels anyway.

A lot of my friends just recently found out I'm a TF nerd. I figgured they'd have some choice things to say but outside of a little bit of good-natured ribbing they were just in awe of my collection and hobby they don't really know anything about (or have childhoodmemories themselves of). People know I have a job, I own a house and a car and that my entire life revolves more around music than Transformers, so it's never been an issue for me to get negative remarks about my hobby.

Plus I'm a pretty big guy and they know I could knock the shit out of them if they pissed me off.

 

If you're referring to rambling, then yes.

But I don't "seek validation" for being normal.

I know I'm not normal. Just ask my wife.

 

No, you're right! From what I've seen from some Japanese shows, otaku have NO LIFE besides their hobby (mostly anime, right?). Then again, that starts getting into hikikomori territory.

 

I don't really think many transformers fans can be labeled as Otaku's... considering what the actual word references you'd have to have an obsession with this hobby that makes you bereft of reality. An Otaku (based on my limited Japanese knowledge) is seemingly someone who's hobby (or obsession) goes so far that they no longer separate it from their real life (reality check please). The closest English word to describe what it means to a Japanese person that I can think of (again, limited knowledge here) is fanatic.

I that states, based on three years working at Metrocon here in Florida, I've found that the word Otaku gets thrown around by anime/manga fans in place of the word fan most of the time. Most don't know that it's actual meaning goes deeper and those that do usually don't refer to themselves as such. Those that do refer to themselves as Otaku's are also usually the type whom like to pepper their speech with various Japanese words for no real reason (I guess to show how cool they are?) and use Japanese translations for things (for instance... Bleach Otaku's like to use the term Shinigami instead of the official English translation of Soul Reapers) instead of the English ones... which goes from kind of cute to down right psychotic if you get the right raving lunatic Otaku... think Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons and you know what I mean...

 

Hey man, cut us some slack  :

Using Shinigami instead of Soul Reaper isn't that bad, as far as I know that's the term the fansubs have been using for years, some people just get used to using one word. People can go to far when it comes to that stuff though, I for one have never used the word "kawaii" and never will  :

Even if the word Otaku has been lost in translation, it's still just something people here call themselves for fun.

 

I despise the otaku subculture primarily because I've been a serious student of the Japanese language for over five years, and every Japanese class I've ever taken has been polluted with those imbeciles.

We're there to learn about the language and the culture, but these douchebags waste time asking the professor what their favorite anime is or idiotic questions revolving around Inu Yasha or Naruto.

The good news is that they usually never pass the class, as they're too preoccupied with One Piece to actually study, but every year it seems a new breed of these little twerps worm their way into the classroom. And at the beginng of every class, before the professor arrives, they're always blasting their latest diabetis-inducing sugary J-pop garbage at max volume and it takes al my will-power not to chuck them and their CD player out the window.

And cripes, even worse is trying to have a serious discussion about Japanese language and culture on the internet. Last time I tried starting a thread on that it made it about 2 posts before the little otaku Japanofiles started in with "Baka means stupid!" "Kitsune means fox!" "OMG I'm so anime now!"

God dammit you little ******s, there's more to Japan than their stupid cartoons!

Otaku are a pet peev of mine, sorry.

 

 

I used to know a few people like that, they all had dreams of "teaching english in Japan". It is cool to see someone take learning the language seriously though, such as yourself.

 

LOL I understand. I took an introductory Japanese course, and you couldn't believe the douchenozzles we had that would show off ANYTHING they knew. And it was simple stuff, too. They'd also think they knew everything about Japan based on any mainstream show they sell merchandise for at Hot Topic.

Teacher: And you guys don't know the word for cat yet...
Douche: IT'S NEKO, SENSEI! NEKO! KAWAII DESU NE~~~???!!

 

...I can almost understand someone continueing with something just because they've been calling it such for however long. But the ones whom go nutter on you over using the English version in front of them are the ones whom I was really refering to.

As for people calling themselves Otaku for fun... forgive me, but I'm a little too jaded towards the Otaku subculture to be able to even consider calling myself one even if it was just for fun.

 

Here here!