The Otaku Identity

The Otaku is always near the cultural front of looking for something which is beyond their real world and into the world of a storyteller's imagination. Having collectively brought together from events and get togethers they have become social within their circles to a wider group of like minded people who enjoy the interests by series. They play a part of the social world within the Otaku Culture that has become much more mainstream with many successful illustrators and musicians that fill artist alleys and online storefronts. Sometimes an independent business person, or a manager of a sort of specialized restaurant, or even fashion seamer who runs a boutique, a craftsperson and model builder, and develop themselves as creative artists with vision.

Individual Reasons on Becoming Otaku: The story of each person who finds themselves connecting to a show and watching the story with its characters in motion and music in the ear is a individual experience that they are having, and in that moment they may see something they enjoy, possibly even fall in love with in the message, or the emotion placed on a book or on screen. It is beautiful that there can be no experiences that can be exactly the same, but yet the passion that comes from the experience itself can radiate to all of those exposed to it. It remains something that had stopped time for the person at that certain age, or a secret memory had been unlocked and revisited. Whatever the case that triggered the feeling kept the person coming back for more.

The Experience of Passion: The Experience can cause a stir in the heart and have energy that comes from such memories. It in turn empowers the heart to have emotions being the inspiration and the source to continue on a path to contribute through expression. Such expressions can be to have discussions, contribute through the arts, or even bringing people together, to enjoy the series to its fullest extent, which even the original creator could not foresee. Even though it is just a drawing or just a story or just a glimpse into a creative mind of its creator...can we really leave it as something like that? for some there can be a bond to something that is greater then just ourselves in the other world shown in Anime and Manga and its all about the story and what it represents that keeps the person interested. 

The Gateway into the Unknown: The things that open the doors of a person's path can take many forms and sometimes even from a memory. Maybe it was a relative who had recordings of a show that they were watching and those around town might have known them for this interest. Seeing their eyes glow with warmth could be why they could have kept on coming back to dive deep into hobbies or possibly they could have been looking for a way to pass the time. Even as they get older those recordings may still exist and possibly be sitting there where they always have been in the cabinet waiting to be discovered again. It would only take that recording to be played once or that book to be opened for it to be enjoyed by the person who is thinking about getting into the same sort of thing. The Gateway would have opened to the world of animation and illustration and the sights and of the world of what it's like to see what an Otaku would from their first viewing experience.

A Formal Animanga Suggestions List: Well there are advantages to finding out the series that you like on your own there are also advantages to going the typical route of seeing what the majority of people find appealing. It will make it easier to have others suggest things that might be of interest without searching for it and it might make things more fun by socializing on a topic that its okay to get a little carried away with. When watching shows that might not be to your preferences there might be a surprise series or two that stands out that went far beyond your expectations, and by sticking it through it gives us a better way to use that information to make your own suggestions to someone and to carry on a conversation to make things more comfortable, more interesting, more respectful, and as a result less awkward by seeing things through someone else's view. Even if it isn't agreed on or not a discussion can still be found to be enjoyable.

Developing Sense of Animanga Taste: Localization being pretty commonplace in the online Realm there are plenty of opportunities to gain knowledge of a genre by taking the time to consume the media in our own language. Taking a little look online to self-educate doesn't hurt much either, not all who are well informed otakus started with a group of friends or someone to guide them. It is quite common for a person to find the series they're interested in when they are alone looking for something without pressure, amore therapeutic way of acquiring a serious, and learning what parts of a genre it is that draws them in. Many older otaku will suggest that a contrast of different series would be a worthwhile investment in self-educating yourself in the multitude of different serieses do you really find out what it is that is your preferences as well as this interest. Both will be important in forming a well-thought-out opinion as well as knowing what to know and what to look out for in the future.

What is the Definition of Otaku Identity: Looking around the internet and seeing pictures and ideas of what people define as Otaku primarily involves the authentic interest in a particular hobby to be known as an enthusiast and in the west it changes to Animanga & Japan. This ensures that the person can name the series or place they have taken interest with and make it safe to assume that others who identify to have a liking for similar interests can accept the same understanding from Otaku Culture and random Japanese Language terminology. The concept and practice of watching multiple series and balancing interest amongst them is fundamental to the socializing aspect of the “Otaku Community” and the other “Fandoms” that give people something to discuss, judge, and share as an interest.

Being involved in the Community: Being a contributing person is more than stalking a fandom community, it is also the recognition of being a presence in the community by vocalizing ideas and discussing creations of the original creators of the respective creative group or studio. Like in Sunrise Studios: Masahiko Minami, Hiroshi Ōsaka and Toshihiro Kawamoto, were freaking amazing staff members who had a vision for the animanga industry and set standards to their studio for a collective vision that would be followed by others in the next generation of animated works. Such can be seen in works like Cowboy bebop in which Masahiko Minami’s contributions as producer of planning and executing the story through frames and then animations to its digitization.

Community Belonging: Upon entering a community there is a feeling of Otaku-ness which can be almost instantly felt with the sense of belonging to the Otaku Culture of movies, television shows, music, comics, plot driven characters, unique otaku terms, and references for Otaku being used left and right. Expressions are picked by influencers or groups and are used as in house use or for jokes that can possibly catch on with enough groups to be a part of the mainstream cultural language. For example “Senpai” was often used in Anime in the 90s and is now widely recognized as apart of one of the many existing Otaku Terminologies. The sense of belonging had to be at some of its strongest when Anime and Manga in the west was relatively new and before the animanga phenomenon had swept the nations, because everything seemed secret and rare, since items were so hard to import or translate from Japan.

Fragmented by Fandom Communities by Series: Nowadays, Otaku culture is fragmented into its separated “Fandom” groups, since the west has a humongous range to choose from in genre, subgenre, soundtracks, alternate-worlds, tutorials, and content in general that is quickly made available to the viewers out there. At first people who just get into Anime and Manga will be quickly buying stickers, models, shows, and other sorts of collectibles, which is from the consumerist culture that is fueled by things that are: limited edition in product runs, rarity of an item by chance, and pure collectible amounts of who has the most of anything. But things are starting to change as the demand for quality has started to go up.

Exposure to Japanese Things: Later on though if the person involved sees that it is a addiction to purchase things and understand that it could be excess purchases they may come to be more selective of the things they want, so that their living area doesn’t become a warehouse, and more of a place of display and to make use of the room be actually livable.This is because the values are starting to feed into the idea of being an Otaku is becoming more Japanese in a sense, the constant exposure of slice-of-life or small things that characters do and act start to effect the audience. 

The Spread of Understanding Japanese Ideas: The things that they are exposed to start to actually allow them to think more about how it is a Japanese idea and understand cultural similarities as well as differences. It is good that it also helps people understand about the spirit of an era that honors the past while being in the present to develop, have them be Japanese or not. There always seems to be something in the back of people's minds that lets them understand the media they consume and knowing that the value system is definitely a part of it that is taught seemingly without being aware of it. Then they go off into their community and talk about it, so the thing that keeps consistent is that creators who use their backgrounds of being in Japan have a tendency to put a little bit of Japan in their work, even if it's unintentional, it sort of just slips and gets people more into Japan. People then have that particular thing in common in the Otaku community and keep on talking about it, because it's consistent no matter what series they are into.

Am I Otaku Enough?

An anonymous girl who was at a con was interviewed and she shared a story of herself, which started when she was 14 years old the first time she traveled to Akihabara in Japan with her grandfather. She was born and raised in California and grew up hearing stories about the historic studios her grandfather followed up with that had retro-style drafting tables, office chairs, and a very organized layout. She also grew up hearing stories about how her family had to work very hard to make payments on time, give up on animation as a whole to integrate more into society, and that would start the distancing of the passion that would be missing from the family that had a connection with moving images of animation.

Many years later she would take an annual visit to the Kawaii Kon in Hawaii, her dad had taken her to the convention and would stand in line, so they could go inside. Seeing the development of Wotaku she felt a sense of loss as things became increasingly about traditional Japan and less about the unique culture of Animanga that had separated itself slightly from its origins of being a part of Japan. It was hard to see many American comic styles and traditional Japan displays as it felt like there was a loss of connection to the fantasticalness of the many worlds in animation as it was more realistic and straight out of Japan popular culture.

Whenever she would talk about the uniqueness of the culture it would be met with a lot of pain and sadness as it drew a line and disconnection between the people who identified as Otaku and those who would proudly claim the title of Weeb, which was much more pro-Japan pop and Otaku shaming. There was a disconnect of the culture she had learned about and had to rediscover her connection to Animanga. So she immersed herself in the events and pop-ups in Japan to find out what it means to be Otaku in Japan, by asking Japanese otaku what their sense of identity was and what it meant to be Otaku abroad.

Majority of sales of Animanga and online readership is primarily those who live outside of Japan, so she wanted to talk to people and understand why they were coming into the interest, did they regret getting into it, and how they hold on to their culture abroad even though there is a much more prominent otaku culture of weeb. Chatting with people from California to New York and even Britain and Australe there were stories of those who struggle with their self-identifier of Otaku as a identity instead of choosing something else such as race, religion, or career, as the development of otaku has been scattered out all over the world and not simply defined from Japan itself. To no surprise many who identified as Otaku found that a lot of Otakus struggle to question their identity.

The journey of discovering who they were as Otaku was painful, traumatizing, and saddening, due to having so many questions about the topics of identity and culture that simply weren’t being talked about or denied altogether or even dismissed as the past. A common idea between people identifying as otaku was that they feel like they were all going through their own journey of figuring out where to fit into their fandom community and then into the greater community of generalized animanga fans.

A Fans Journey: She had a lot of questions about people who decided they grew out of, past the phase, or chose to leave the Animanga as an interest. What will the otaku community look like when as its fans age and where are all the otakus going and how do they hold on to their culture that is vanishing with overlooked stories and constant evolution that is life. Really deep questions had wrapped around the greater theme of those who also felt that way and brought the question of if even they were Otaku enough.

Going to Japan and abroad to other countries really allowed her to find out a personal connection of who she was as a Otaku. With words like moe (passion), bishie/bijin (beautifully fictional), and weeaboo (obsessed Japan fan) were really in thought bubbles around her head with really thinking about connection to Animanga and the connection to Japan as a historic interest that roots itself in history and lifestyle. Differences like being born in Japan and raised with Animanga events and establishments, going to Animanga convention events annually, and going in home-made Animanga cosplay outfits, did not make her feel confident in her Otaku identity. She always felt like she wasn’t enough and that she didn’t know enough and simply wasn’t enough in comparison to other Otaku friends she had. She said her friends who danced the caramelldansen or went to Japanese Language School and helped with Japanese cultural events made a gut-feeling of being disconnected and a sense of difference between an interest in Japan, interest in Animanga, and interest in both. She wondered if other people felt that way and how they reconciled it and many people actually did have to fight with this exact sort of feeling with about 200 people who were interviewed.

Far From Japan

The reasons why they left the interest and the reasons they stay away and everything in between were some of the answers of those who like Animanga. There was Otaku who left for college and became a fashion design major in New York and has tackled the hardship of leaving the established outfit designs in ways she doesn’t see in Otaku fashion. A singer who doesn’t think he will be going back to to do covers of Anison (anime songs) in english due to the small group of people interested. A video editor who really enjoys the community of exclusive ideas of Japan at clubs and meet ups at events that exclude anime in the Japanese-American awareness groups in the community. Most of those who were spoken to responded by saying that they were connected to the Otaku community by once in a while remembering it or looking back at nostalgic things of the culture and saying it was celebrating it in their own way.

There was a woman who started an Anime and Manga group online from California. Also a man in Britain who saves up his money to go to Annamillers in Hawaii and then off to Akihabara and other places of Otaku pilgrimage sites to explore Japan. And a woman who teaches her kids in homeschooling about Animanga History in America in South Carolina who was thinking up how to make a Otamanorial establishment in the form of a Maid Cafe. While each person did their own thing to stay connected in creative ways they also had in common the feeling of not being Otaku enough and how there was non stop guilt, shame, and bullying based around the question. One man was born in California, but moved to Japan when he was in high school. He went and visited his group of friends he hadn’t seen for years and they jokingly said he was a “weeaboo” and not really the definition of an otaku. At that moment in his life he felt that a stone was used to grind into his memory that memories affect identities.

A Girl named Kris who was born in the Philippines and raised in California often tells people she is Otaku, they usually question her because of her social treatment of other Otaku being positive and her own questioning that Weebs are separate. Even her parents have said that she is more of a geek now with using the computer and watching live streams, but what they didn’t know is that it hurt her in not fitting in and that she couldn’t help but be positive to other otaku without judging them as lesser people for the Japanese stereotype of toxicity that had been commonly known by next-gen animanga aficionados. She tried to learn nihongo Japanese and be more involved in the animanga community because she felt the need to prove to herself that she was otaku without needing to prove it to someone by fitting a re-branded definition of the western term.

A Boy named William was raised with a strong sense of her Otaku identity growing up with grandparents from Japan, even when he went away to college in Japan. He would still feel connected to her animanga interests and her families interest in some of the older shows. The questioning of his identity didn’t really cross his mind until he had come back to a local convention where animanga fans had told him that he had been away from the scene too long and that he was a “filthy weeb degenerate”. His confidence was shot with the ideas of his otaku identity, the otaku community that he was raised with when his parents were away at work, and his grandparents stories of their days watching and reading animanga. William now teaches students from Japan International exchange programs and those in the Animanga Community about having a sense of Western Otaku identity. A common response is that his students felt they weren’t into anime and manga enough to be called Otaku and that the Japan stereotype being thrown around in western crowds was demoralizing.

A Sense Of Belonging

The older Otaku often think of this sense of disconnection and point that it has to do with the disconnect to the losses of passion. The loss of Otaku passion over the generations of Otaku according to one of the older otaku is what caused cultural destruction through being called unauthentically “Japanese stereotype otaku” and that made people feel disconnected from their culture, history, and identity. Born and Raised in Japan, she moved to California during college and spent most of her life abroad and didn’t move back to Japan and relearn Japanese language until she was much older. These days she is writing about the differences of Otaku culture among Westerners and the Japanese and other parts of the world.

While still remaining very much anonymous she continues spending her time learning about Animanga, reading Japanese, and teaching the history she learned from her research with everyone who is willing to lend an ear to the positive contributions of knowledge that otaku have done from those who had come before. Learning Japanese and Otaku slang from friends connected her to other people and the culture by embracing the history of otaku, so she always suggests not waiting to be invited as it is a personal decision to identify with something. To not wait to join in on an animanga event or to go volunteer at an animanga related convention, go volunteer at a otamanorial group, or to go and join a otaku club and spread the culture with others. She said that claiming otaku culture or to reclaim it is only the choice of the individuals in finding their own otaku way (ref. Finding Your own Ninja way) to feel Otaku and not just think it.

​There was one group in San Antonio Texas who learned otaku terms - spoke Japanese - and met together at a friend's house to make Omurice, Fluffy Pancakes, and Parfaits. They said that one of the largest ironies of having to be in secret and celebrating animanga as a senpai (upper classmen) is that its thousands of miles away from the homeland of animanga Japan. Those who were the senpai had said that preserving their generation of otaku culture, creating an animanga otaku community, and living it without others knowing is a part of living a comfortable life and being comfortable with themselves which is important to mental health.

Bringing the Passion Back

One middle aged lady had said she felt that it was a part of her western otaku generation's responsibility to come to the Anime Expo in California in which she expected to go alone. But ,her friend and her husband came to join her. After having so many discussions with younger animanga fans all of them did not feel comfortable saying they were old time Otaku who hadn’t visited Japan.

So the group decided to lay low in the community that is suppose to embrace them. It wasn’t a good feeling at all as they wanted to feel like it is a unified community with no barriers, but indeed the line of difference still made barriers, and the group felt that was an unfortunate thing. It had been years since she had spent time with other like minded Animanga people at the convention and when she finally went back to the state that it was held she only then got to feel what it was like being in an otaku event environment.

Watching Anime streams and being huddled together or in lines with other animanga lovers gave her a sense of safety and reassurance of her otaku-ness and it had a sense of comfort. It was nerve racking to head over to a convention as an older otaku and after meeting a few others willing to have a vulnerable discussions about animanga at the con there was realization that many of the people there who had been silent were actually also struggling with their identity.

Every generation had created their own gateway standards for “Otaku-ness” and this had changed over to everyone creating their own standards of “Animanga-ness” and “Japanese-ness” that made things quite confusing. When those standards of those groups or individual people weren’t met, there was a lot of shame and self-doubt, as well as bullying and exclusion. But talking to other people with similar insecurities had brought them to peace with realizing that the otaku culture wasn’t just a thing of one person, but a thing for many.

​The connections and confidence in that particular definition of Otaku created internal resolve. No matter what other people thought the stories of other peoples pasts and how they celebrated animanga as an otaku in their own comfortable way was encouraging and eye opening. It led to the question of where do people go on from here on out with Animanga and where do Otaku go next and what is it that will create opportunities for others to find their path on their own journey?