Guide to Otaku Types

Definition of Otaku: In the West, Otaku is a culture of interest that has its interest primarily in Japanese style drawings and animation, characterized by large eyes, stylistic art, some Japan themes, youth-oriented stories, and colorful designs. Otaku culture has served as a cultural ambassador of Japan and social movements leading subcultures including Fujoshi, Rekijo, Japanophiles, and Cosplayers. It is also an intangible feeling, philosophy, belief, and/or identity relating to Japan animation and has been associated with awareness towards: artists, animators, musicians, vtubers, and Japan business practices. It can also be pop culture slang for someone specializing in interest in Japan and an expression of youth interest in storytelling and creativity, while pointing out accusations of “franchise milking” with lackluster filler.

In Japan, Geeks who have something they are really passionate about are called “Otaku”, but in many places around the world being absorbed into any sort of hobby too much can make some people have their own negative judgements on it. Geeks in Japan are both male and female and everything in between, however the image in Japan is that a long time ago they were seen as sick individuals who could not properly conform to Japan society expectations of etiquette and lifestyle that people in Japan are told to follow. With the coming of the internet though many people in Japan have found their own sense of internal freedom enlightening by embracing that they could be passionate about something as well and not only geeks.

To be ordinary is part of the goal of Japan from the rule of “Derukugi wa utareru” or the nail that sticks out gets hammered down and any sort of non-monolithic approach will be met with extreme resistance. The next thing to consider is the social rule of “Omoiyari” that has the word “Omoi” - to think, and “Yari” comes from yaru to do, so it means to think and to do and showing compassion through one's actions and is apart of standard etiquette in Japan.

So What exactly is an Otaku in Japan? In Japan, Otaku is similar to “geek” with the definition to specialize in a specific passion of interest that has a few general categories that are listed. It is different from the western loan word as they can be perceived as two completely different words altogether and some people make this difference known by saying Western Otaku (aka. Wotaku) and Japan Otaku (aka. Japan version). Animanga in Japan is normalized and someone who enjoys it will not be self-proclaiming an identity as an otaku, but just someone who watches animation (anime) and reads manga (graphic novels).

In Media Otaku are often brought on to shows for self-mockery, live-interview mockumentaries, and poked fun at as a way to make fun of in a playful manner to the Japan otaku scene. The Stereotype is from how they were assumed to be in the past as being known to: have innocent and un-informed fashion choices that are made of bad taste, smelly from unwashed clothes or body, and they enjoy looking at half naked or naked people. They are said in the media that they own a distasteful amount of character figurines that appear as a cluttered mess with no focal point and the room of said otaku is non clean with a lack of cleanliness in appearance. Body shape is fat and is shamed for it, has a low relationship count, and has a hard time communicating to others with limitations exclusively about their interest.

In Anime there have been a few series where they have their own highlights of the culture. With shows like Genshiken explaining Animanga Clubs (Anime Circles, Manga Circles), Comic Party showing Convention appeal (ex.Comiket), and Welcome to the NHK showing differences of Hikikomori and NEETS there are many ways to see differences amongst different groups. In many cliche storylines it will follow a otaku character who is on one side of the coin or the other, for example: A unattractive unsociable protagonist of a story will somehow have a elevated attraction from the interested group of attractive and sociable characters (or) A attractive sociable protagonist of the story will try to hide their love of Animanga and attract many attractive and unsociable characters.

In Popular Culture, a Otaku is someone who is very broadly stated as someone interested in Japan animation style with nostalgic series referencing and lived through experiences of the serieses that they grew up with during their childhood and adulthood. It also suggests a sense of pride that is behind being appreciative of asian culture and the amount of culture a person possesses about animanga in general from development, series specifics, and the otaku lifestyle. It still has stereotypes, negative and positive connotations, as well as most well known series known as the “Most Watched”, “Largest Following”, and “Most Spent On” lists of series.

Otaku Etymology

Word History: The name Otaku was coined by Akio Nakamori (1983) as the otakuzoku (tribe of otaku) in his research in Otaku no Kenkyū. It was shown in Manga Burikko, in which the Japanese journalist would go on to also start the “Otaku Stereotype” In Japan by describing them as strange, unkept, obsessive, and identified as the word “Otaku”. It would be later researched by Morikawa Kaichirō (Meiji University) who was a lecturer who would go on to explain its contemporary usage in Japan.

Word Origin Theories: There are several theories that range from: Large circles of acquaintance level social contacts for information and trading goods (1), the second is that the word itself means one who rarely leaves home with it literally meaning “O- ones, -taku home”, and the third being a word to show respect to another through a cultural word.

The Western Word: The Japanese History of the word “Otaku” is often used to dismiss Western fans who are self-proclaimed as “Otaku” and were deemed ignorant for their English-Made Japanese that was at odds with the Japanese definition. In Japan, the lone term “otaku” in the native tongue of Japanese is sometimes called “Japan Otaku” when it is necessary to separate itself from “Western Otaku” that has an expression of its own. While the controversy rolls on, the global use of “Otaku” is used when talking about the quickly growing Otaku Culture and has included both terms as a: Definition numeral 1 and Definition numeral 2 based on popularity of use, rather than country of origin.

The Otakus and The Weebs: To Understand what Weeb is will bring you back to its origins on Group Chats, Social Media, and most prevalently 4chan when posters would create insults of “Wapanese- Wannabe Japanese”, “Wotaku- Western Otaku”, and lastly “Weaboo”. The story goes that the term “Weeb” originated from a nonsensical word from the webcomic The Perry Bible Fellowship (by Nicholas Gurewitch) and had become an insult with its own sort of stigma attached to it with its insults pointing at the interest of Japanese things. It became so popular that people would use the insult of Weeb instead of where they would insert the insult of calling someone an “Otaku”.

As the popularity of Weeb as an insult grew less people were interested in the Western History of the lone word term of Otaku and more interested in the Japan History of the term Otaku that has more similarities to the English word “Geek”.

Scholar Ana Matilde Sousa, has written a simplistic explanation of a good and bad connotations of “Weaboo” and “Otaku” without going into much detail. In statements and interviews she has suggested that the words have a usage of Self-Deprecation and while she is right it is one of the many ways to use such terms. For example a weeb could be seen by those who don’t embrace its interest in Japan as a disgusting version of an otaku or it can be embraced as being solely interested in Japan Culture as a whole. However some people use the words interchangeably, which can further confuse the similarities of and differences of both individual terms.

In the 2010’s, the term “Weeb” was used in full swing with its popularity soaring with wide usage across the animanga community in casual discussions, conventions, and by bloggers. The term “Otaku” has drastically lessened in that time and has been understood more for its Japanese definition and labeled as cringe worthy with the western definition being rejected and projected as a term of cultural appropriation rather than accept more than a single definition of the term itself. Those who continue to push for awareness of the loan word of otaku in the west are those who try to preserve much of the history of the term during the 1990’s and 2000’s.

The origins of the word Weeaboo has no connection to Japanese Language and is seen to be born of western internet “Meme Culture” of English speakers. The word Weeb has far surpassed its negative term usage of insulting those who like Japan culture and has been adapted as a word that has other groups of interests, such as: Freeaboo (Freebs), Koreaboo (Keebs), Vieboo (Veebs), and Chinaboo (Cheebs).

Projections of the term Otaku

Culturally speaking about otaku, it's a word that has stigma throughout generations as a sort of collective understanding that someone who is Otaku is into a lot of animanga and/or Japan and could be at a convention and collecting and that sort of thing is seen as obsessive. While each generation of people in the otaku community may have their own way of using the term which created many sorts of categorized otaku as to not dismiss peoples way of using the term itself with it growing additional sub-meanings overtime. The negative connotations to otaku would prevent families talking about the interest at all and that is also part of the problem as it may even prevent the topic of the word "anime, manga, or Japan".

If they are part of the stereotype then they do, but making a catch-all term that defines an entire group of individuals overlooks what makes them different. Many people have hygiene issues, depression and social anxiety shouldn't be ignored, as many of the mental neurological conditions can be interconnected to one another. Examples of this can be seen in other groups as well like some nation's homeless populations that suffer from serious mental illness and are left undiagnosed and unmedicated without having the support to find care and recovery options.

When someone is projected as an otaku - an interest in Otaku culture, Japanese-style animation, manga, and they often experience fear and anxiety. The social expectation is someone who is perverted with an obsession and a unsocialized as well as other things when discussing what it's like living with the negative stigma of unaware people's perceptions of the person and altered by the label of the word itself. Over time the word has been associated with being a loser who is always isolated and has periodic episodes of erratic behavior. It interferes with people ever wanting to get care to begin with because the strength of the stigma around them is so strong from it being so commonly misused in terms of language and how it's portrayed in the media. People will casually use the term "He's so Japanese Otaku, or that's so Weeb or worse Otaku, What an Otaku thing to do gross".

The positives of what the term projected in the past is: In the 1980s, a western otaku was someone who was heavy into gaming, a computer user, analyzed and celebrated animation by drawing and holding events. But would end up to be: travelers to Japan, English teachers in Japan, or developers in the field related to their interest. In the 1990s the term was widely described for someone who attended conventions, collected animanga goods, ate things that were Japanese, and would have an interest in cosplay or being a cosplayer. In the 2000’s the term referred to the Otaku culture of the west with being someone who likes Anime Music Videos, Fansub Translation, Karaoke, and would plan to go to Japan as a student or Traveler. So the title's definition slowly changed over time with positives and negatives associated with it.

Changing Titles, some who have been projected as otaku when they were tennagers wanted to change the name of "otaku" to something less stigmatizing, because when people hear it they tend to think "obsessed, ugly, unhealthy, cringe, unhygienic" as some say. The name actually has changed over the years from: Japanimation Enthusiast, Anime Collector, Anime Fan. Changing the name had not changed the perception with different names taking over old meaning with the new term and the ones that had been introduced had instead created variations of: categorizing level, specialized group, general term, and did not generate social progress in the specific ways those titles were originally thought to have done and confused a number of people as well as to what Otaku means in the West.

Merriam Webster uses the Japanese definition “In Japanese, otaku may function as a formal second person pronoun, and also has the meaning of “house.” When it added the meaning of “obsessive enthusiast” and began to be applied to the subcultures of anime, manga, and computer technology, the word had a strongly negative meaning in Japan.”

As a Japanese term, Otaku is not likely to officially change as it is up to the Japanese Government and in the West it is up to the Oxford English Dictionary to properly recognize it with its advisors that are in charge of updating the terms in the dictionary itself. Nevertheless there are several subcultures that have arisen that stem from "otaku" like the term weeb is a subcategory of a sort of otaku and new category in of itself being a word with its own meanings and sub meanings. With those who identify as Weebs shift from being similar with otaku to two separate efforts the terms themself are understood by the same animanga community. Because of that understanding it is part of the Otaku Lexicon.

A Guide to Otaku Identity Terms

Otaku terms are a way to set one another apart through interests and how someone can be mentioned through a conversation while speaking to other people. Communication has been an issue for a long time and the issues of bullying and acceptance of Otaku and Weebs has become a long standing issue. The challenges to their life choices, their interest in foreign countries such as Japan, such things can cause headlines on certain blogs. Many of these involve words that might represent ideas, personal identities, and specializations of interest or sub communities.

Proper use of otaku identity terms, including specialization, is a simple courtesy of showing awareness and respect in referring to them from what they are passionate about. The Glossary was created with the help of otaku groups and referenced resources from Shoko Nakagawa, Otaku blogs, Animanga Developer Tweets, and Anonymous submitted statements. It is based on Western perspectives merged with Japanese perspectives for a wider range of terminology for broader understanding, but other cultures may have their own labels and concepts of otaku.

Otaku is often defined as a social category of interest in Japanese Animation, Comics, and roles that vary between communities and genre groups. Otaku is often categorized as Japan-centric, Anime-centric, or Culture-centric. Otaku is non-gender and non-sexual orientation related, but defaults for male, however those who choose to separate gender group identity use a separate term.

Fujoshi came about due to many in the community being overwhelmingly male and those who were female looked for a term that could signal to other girls they were interested in specific titles. In Japan it is a self-mocking term meaning “rotten girl”, but in the west it has taken on a loan word definition of its own that separates it from its In Japan meaning.

Japanophile is one’s interest in Japan and its parts: fashion, language, traditions, culture, and food, but there are a variety of sub specialists in the group as well. It is not seen as Animanga Otaku, however it still falls under the lone word Otaku in western countries. For the most part people align Japanophiles to Weebs with otaku categories of: Weeabu Otaku, Nippon Otaku, and Japanocist Otaku.

Otaku involvement refers to a person's time spent status and is typically assigned by the person, usually on the basis of their involvement and interest. Involvement typically is categorized as: Casual Otaku (1), tend to collect a few nick nacks that are not too noticeable. Otaku icons may display an interest, but commitment of time is minimal, so that daily responsibility takes priority. ​Core Otaku (2), who have taken pride in their stance, have an unlocked passion. Time has been spent picking top serieses with only the best being paid any attention. There is a balance of fantasy and reality in this form. Hardcore Otaku (3) researching, watching, calculating, and critiquing all stories. A careful collection decorates their living quarters. Large displays of their Otaku life are always at the forefront. ​​​

Non-otaku is a term that can be used by people who do not have a passion for animation or Japan and casually graze through things curiously looking for something interesting. They do not identify or spend time talking in the anime community and is one of many terms used to refer to experiences that are applicable to a wider range of people and an alternative to the term Normie.

Normie is an adjective that can describe a person who is not as invested in a particular community under the otaku umbrella and is judged as having no self identity. It is common for Elitists to classify and discriminate against groups judged in such a manner. This came about due to those who were socially accepted discriminating against otaku and weebs and was used as a counter measure term.

Otaku dysphoria refers to psychological distress that results from a self-evaluation that does not match up with societal expectations of meeting life's expectations and one’s expected hierarchy of social identity. While not all otaku experience dysphoria there are those who do so at varying levels with some even using animanga as a coping mechanism to temperary escape from reality.

Otaku Classification refers to the discussions, analysis, passionate interest, and fun with other members of a similar community of specialty. People do not need a classification as their skill set to know what groups they are interested in and they do not need to have experience in their interest either, but they will know what they like. While some may gate keep as validators there is no such validation needed for anyone to have an interest in a specialized skill group like a cosplayer, artist, vocalist, dancer, writer, etc.

Rekijo is an umbrella term used to describe people who have a large interest in fictional and non-fiction history based series. While it doesn’t fit typical definitions of otaku or japanophile it can refer to a number of historical tales and myths. Being Rekijo is not the same as being a normie or non-otaku, which are terms typically related to otaku involvement.

Hikikomori is an extreme version (hermit) of what the west knows as a Shut-in and prefer staying in their rooms and no other part of the home. The term was coined by psychologist Tamaki Saito and is seen as a result of the ease of seclusion in Japan with person-less: extreme monoculture taught in schools, etiquette to be emotionally distant, vending machines, food delivery services, and the internet. While many have interests in animanga they are not necessarily otaku. Accusations of: loners, hermits, and not being a part of society in general is usually associated with hikikomori and not necessarily a trait of otaku according to Japan.

Otaku Types Around the Globe

The General Types of Otaku are those who pass by generational separation and have an appreciation for Animanga no matter what time period it has come from. With Japanese style animation being around for so long fans have connected to the series of their choice and personal interest in some way or another. There is so much content for fans that there are different sorts of groups that have similar interests to one another. The list of general types was based on the typical types list in Japan, but are not identical.

In Japan the typical types of Otaku or Ota for short are: [1] Anime Ota, [2] Manga Ota, [3] Seiyu Ota (Voice Actor Otaku), [4] Cosplay Ota, [5] Figure Ota, [6] Maid Ota, [7] Idol Ota, [8] Game Ota, [9] Gunji Ota (Military Otaku), [10] Eroge Ota (Erotic Games Otaku), [11] Tetsudou Ota (Train Otaku), [12] History Ota, [13] Pasocon Ota (Computer Otaku).

-Cinema Otaku- ​a specialist of Japanese Cinematics of live action and anime: television, movies, script notes, cast listings, cultural references, and criticisms. Those who are casual watch for enjoyment while core otaku watch with reason and hard core otaku watch for every detail.

​-Japanophile Otaku- ​a specialist of Japan and its parts: fashion, language, traditions, culture, and food, but there are a variety of sub specialists in the group as well. It is not seen as Animanga Otaku, however still falls under the lone word Otaku in western countries.

⬤ Weeabu Otaku: ​a newbie practitioner of interest in Japan. Derogatory implications.

⬤ ​Nippon Otaku: ​a core practitioner of interest in Japan.

⬤ Japanocist Otaku: ​a specialist of Japanese history, language, and culture.

-Japan Language Otaku- a specialist of Japan literacy and its speech: hiragana, katakana, and kanji characters. There are varieties that work on different word related projects depending on their interest. Often times those studying to be English teachers or to live in Japan are Japanese language Otaku.

⬤ ​ Translation Otaku: a specialist in Japanese translation of reading Japanese, writing subtitles, title projects, translates lyrics.

⬤ ​ Subber Otaku: a specialist of translation for subtitling animanga before its release. Skilled in video editing, interpretation, and knowledge base.

⬤ ​ Linguist Otaku ​: a specialist in Japanese ettiquette and mannerisms. Speaks slang, business, and casual Japanese.

-Manga Otaku-

⬤ ​Manga Otaku: Manga reading specialist in reading Manga (Japan), Manhwa (Korea), and Manhua (China).

⬤ ​Manga Artist: a artist who works on making their own manga.

⬤ ​Mangaka Illustrator: a artist who worked on doujin manga or commercial manga.

-Voice Otaku-

⬤ ​​Seiyu Otaku: a fan specializing in anime seiyu, seiyu autographs, and wotagei cheering.

⬤ ​​Karaoke Otaku: a fan specialized in voice, cover songs, and karaoke entertainment.

⬤ ​​Seikashu Otaku: a musician specialized in voice, voice acting, and streamcasting.

-Pilgrimage Otaku-

⬤ ​Pilgrimage Otaku: a ​fan of going to places in the real world that are real spots in animanga.

⬤ ​Temple Otaku: a ​otaku who travels to temples

⬤ ​Dento Otaku: a ​specialist in old tradition

-Gunji Otaku-

⬤ ​Gunji Otaku: a otaku specialized in military, weapons, model kits, and prop making.

⬤ ​Gunpla Otaku: ​a gunji otaku specialized in model kit assembly, painting, and molding.

-Cosplay Otaku- ​a specialist in cosplay costume who sometimes has a multitude of sub variation specialties. They are usually "independent cosplayer" a performing participant in dressing up as a character. If they are known they can be a Cosplay Model through the practice of beauty and posing for photography. If they are lucky a Cosplay Super Model, which is a nationally or internationally recognized top rated cosplayer.​

⬤ ​Otagrapher: a otaku specialized photographer with videography and photo FX skills.

⬤ Cospla Cosmetologist: ​a cosplayer specialized in beauty and asia skin treatments

⬤ ​Cosplay Propsmith: a prop maker who specializes in power tools, assembly, materials.

-Otamanor Otaku-

⬤ Cafe Otaku: a otaku who seeks the butler and/or maid experience.

⬤ Manor Otaku: ​a maid specialist in otaku hospitality targeting men and/or women.

⬤ Hospitality Otaku: a researcher and practitioner of omotenashi hospitality service.

-Lolita Otaku- ​

⬤ Gothic Lolita Otaku: a specialist of gothic lolita fashion styles, brands and tea.

⬤ ​Walolita Otaku: a fashion variation of gothic lolita that uses classic Japanese clothes.

⬤ Sweet Lolita Otaku: a fashion variation of gothic lolita to light colors, big frilly dresses.

-Train Otaku- ​

⬤ ​Train Otaku: a specialist of trains, model trains, station uniforms, and station navigation.

⬤ ​Noritetsu Otaku: a specialist in traveling by train riding.

⬤ ​Toritetsu Otaku: ​a specialist in trains, model trains, and geographic travel by trains.

-Computer Otaku- a specialist in electronics and computers and how they work in the various specialties. It was based from Akibakei "akiba-type" from Akihabara subculture and that of other electronics towns. It has created a completely off shoot of culture called Arcas based on the anime-style comic called "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World". ​

⬤ ​​Idol Otaku: a specialist in idols, pc games, erogames, figmas, who frequently hangout at electric towns.

⬤ ​​Electric Town Otaku: a specialist in gadgets, computers, electronics, parts, modification, and customization.

⬤ ​​Persocon Otaku: ​a specialist of computers and optimization, digital, networking, and programming.