Forum - View topicNEWS: Otaku Article at Asahi
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otakreg
 Posts: 5 Location: Maryland, USA |
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He's not criticizing capitalism and materialism as much as he's insulting the women who have succumbed to their effects. At least, that was my take on it: he really just doesn't like the women.
Which makes me think. How male-centric is otaku culture in Japan? I mean, here in America, if you're willing to be social, it's really not that hard to get an otaku girlfriend, but this guy is acting like 100% of women have no interests but cars and money. Maybe he just hasn't found the right kind of women yet? Or maybe in Japan, there really are no female otaku? I've heard that "otaku" is a much more negative term in Japan than it is here. Here, it means that you like anime. In Japan, maybe all "otaku" really are anti-social male weirdos who spend all their time playing H-games... |
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Ever heard of Tsutomu Miyazaki? An otaku who kidnapped, rape and murdered 3 little girl? His case brought great media attention which cause many people to question the lifestyle of otaku. He had messy hair, a pale face, geeky. He was also unemployeed and stilll live with his parents at 27. So yeah, most guy probably wouldn't want to be associated with the term otaku. |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7341 Location: Maine |
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Japanese men have "otaku" and Japanese women have "lolita goth", it all evens out in the end. Emerje |
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jfrog
 Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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Because not only buying tons and tons of anime stuff put out by all kinds of large corporations but basing your entire life around it TOTALLY isn't succumbing to the effects of capitalism. Otaku subculture (note here that I'm not just referring to anime fans, you can be an otaku about Star Trek, superhero comics, gaming, etc) is probably the most materialistic in the world, nowhere else are things more important than human interaction. At least in mainstream society materialism is more of a status thing, not defending that kind of thinking, but at least there mass consumption of corporate goods serves a purpose and isn't just an end in and of itself. |
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otakreg
Posts: 5 Location: Maryland, USA |
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I think my brain kind of died halfway through that paragraph and I didn't finish what I was trying to say. That is, that the women he is criticizing judge others almost solely on a material basis, whereas otaku only buy stupid merchandise for themselves. It's not about bashing capitalism and materalism; it's about bashing shallow standards.
However, the two groups (women and otaku) share a mutual fear of each other. The otaku are afraid of the women because the women only like cars, money, and good looks. The women are afraid of the otaku because they're otaku, which in turn causes the otaku to become more secluded. It seems like a doomed chain of misunderstanding and estrangement, and both sides probably need to keep a more open mind...
Otaku value things over human interaction, and the women that Toru criticizes judge others based on the things they have. The values held by both sides are equally sad.
I'd have to disagree here as well. When you say "mass consumption of corporate goods", what kind of goods are you talking about? Because I can't see why buying a new pair of $70 jeans is any different than buying a cheap pair of $20 jeans and spending the other $50 on otaku merchandise. Regardless, you're throwing away your hard-earned cash on unnecessary stuff. |
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jfrog
Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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Except most women I know DON'T care that much about cars and money and such, that's just a stupid stereotype. In fact, most women I know shop at thrift stores and would ramble on about sustainable energy and blood for oil or something along those lines if they caught a guy driving a flashy car. But I guess those are just the social circles I travel in...
Women, on the other hand, have very good reasons to be afraid of otaku, because otaku are known to say things along the lines of "I love Japanese women...they're so much more feminine than American women" and other such creepy things. And given my horrifying experiences in anime fandom (is it any wonder I choose to discuss the stuff online instead of real life?) that's not a stereotype at all. A generalization, sure, but there's more than enough truth to it. |
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otakreg
Posts: 5 Location: Maryland, USA |
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This is basically what I was trying to say when I said:
The guy probably had some bad luck in college but is definitely suffering under the assumption that ALL women are like that, which is false. (At least, it is here in America...)
DEFINITELY a generalization, maybe even a stereotype... I've never said or heard any such creepy thing from an otaku... |
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jfrog
Posts: 925 Location: Seattle |
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Really? NEVER?!? Consider yourself very, very lucky. There are reasons why I don't often admit that I enjoy anime. |
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W-General
Posts: 280 Location: Ithaca, NY, USA / Taichung, Taiwan |
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I think we've deviated here a little bit from the definition of 'otaku' which is in discussion. The otaku being discussed in this thread and article are the anti-social isolated-from-others Japanese otaku, not the American otaku...
(I'd think that to this Honda guy, a Japanese woman is just the same as other women) |
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Dejiko
 Posts: 276 Location: Holland (between Great Britain and Germany) |
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Well, even Hideaki Anno did marry eventually (with the manga artist of Flowers and Bees), so who knows. He might be in for a 'Train Man Moment' somewhere later on, despite what he is saying now 
There are, even if the most visible part is very much into MxM romance or -to a lesser degree- smitten with cosplay (visit any Comiket cosplay gallery to see some examples or go see the movie 'Koi no Mon'... it's funny  ).
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Starwind Amada
Posts: 981 Location: Easton, PA, USA |
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Screw hiding it; almost everyone I know knows I love anime. My professors know, my advisor knows and my friends know (obviously, since anime is what introduced me to them). I don't try to hide it, and neither should you. I don't give two craps what some blonde airhead or some football buff has to say about anime, I'll gladly spread my love of Japanese animation around. If people cared about what others thought, anime wouldn't be what it is today because people would be afraid to buy DVDs, thinking that everyone in the store will make fun of them (but I guess that's what the internet is for). Also, there wouldn't be any conventions because everyone who tried to start one would be turned down for some Star Trek convention or something. Here's an example of me defending anime: So one day I'm walking in the cafeteria at college, wearing my Stand Alone Complex t-shirt. I'm waiting in line at the food counter to get some lunch when all of a sudden, the girl behind me says "Is that a cartoon on your shirt?" I turn around and say "It's not a cartoon, it's an anime, which is Japanese animation." She points it out to her boyfriend and they both start laughing at it. I flip off the boyfriend and he gets up in my face about how "cool" football is and how the Eagles are "gods". I'm like "I never said anything about your damn sport! You started dissing something you don't even know about, and I happen to love it, so screw you!" He pushes me into a wall and goes "Get your hands off my girl, you fat douchebag!" I'm like "I never even touched your girlfriend that you probably don't even love, you freakin' football whore! And do I look fat to you? Funny you're the only one who thinks that. Why don't you get a life and stop making fun of anything that doesn't have to do with your "kick-the-pigskin fest"? People like you suck. You are a complete stereotype - a 300-pound queer who spends his time watching the Super Bowl and acting like an animal (headbutting your friends) when your team wins and shooting people when they lose. Then you go and get drunk at a post-game party and kill yourself when you ram into a truck on the way home. You probably think I watch Spongebob and Nickelodeon garbage. Well, anime is much better than that. Ever hear of Gundam or Ghost in the Shell? No, of course you haven't; all you know of is Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, because they're everywhere. There's much more to anime than that, and it's more interesting than any boring sport you play. I would explain it to you, but seeing as how I wouldn't be mentioning the words "Eagles", and "Troy Aikman" (or whoever) you won't understand. As for your idiot girlfriend, she can suck it. No, really, she can." And that's how I defended anime. (Not really.)
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space clam
Posts: 636 |
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Just so you know, that story does not exactly render itself believable, unless you chose to omit the part wherein the supposedly 300-pound football player kicks the crap out of you for making an ass of yourself. (The only thing saving this story is the possiblity that the "Not really" at the end means you made the whole thing up.) It's better, in my opinion, to simply not play their game, so to speak, and just say something (to utilize your example) like, "Yeah, it's Japanese cartoon...thanks for noticing...have a nice day." Honestly, why would you care what two random people thought about your T-shirt? You'll probably never see them again, anyway. The only reason I would feel that I "need" to "defend" anime would be if the same person made fun of it every day, and if said person happened to be under 200 lbs. |
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Starwind Amada
Posts: 981 Location: Easton, PA, USA |
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I did make that up. But how exactly does contradicting a loser football player make me an ass? And if some idiots laughed at my shirt for thinking it was some mindless Nickelodeon garbage (like Spongebob or Static Shock) I would get upset. |
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otakreg
Posts: 5 Location: Maryland, USA |
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Hmm... I cosplay... and I like shonen-ai... Loveless, anyone? I'm gonna go with what space clam said and agree that there's really no need to shove our sub-culture in random people's faces. If someone disses your shirt, walk away. I've never really had a problem with this, maybe because I don't display my otaku-ness very blatantly in public. I only talk about anime and stuff when I know I'm in the company of other otaku. Lashing out at anyone who disses anime can get you a really bad reputation. |
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fuchikoma
 Posts: 36 |
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There were some extreme views in that article, but consider that the next time any of you decides to call themselves an otaku... Honda is an otaku. There are many like him. Simply watching Naruto fansubs doth not an otaku make.
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