Intro

This is mostly a summarization of Chika's rather long and complete rant on why she hates otakus, but since she has rather strong opinions on linking (and her rant is rather long) I thought I'd summarize it, since I feel it's something all anime "otakus" should know. (If you want to find Chika's page, I'm sure that you have enough internet experience to find it. Of course I know nothing of her, but anyone with such strong opinions is pretty cool to me, and to be respected if nothing else.)

Anyway, if you ever chance upon Chika's page, there's a lot of anger in her writing that might turn off the reader before he/she finishes getting the important points. And I think that American "otakus" should know exactly what the history is behind what they label themselves. (I mean, I hardly want "otakus" going over to Japan and getting laughed at when they label themselves "otakus", I want them to be laughed at because they're gaijin devils and ignorant of Japanese tradition, hahaha.) 

Ok, you look up "otaku" in a Japanese dictionary, it means "house". Hmmm, that's not how Americans use it, is it? Of course the formal meaning is related to the meaning that is used today. (In America, "otaku" seems to have been redefined as "fan" or at worst "fanboy".)

Basically the slang use of otaku is a person who is completely obsessed on one thing. So much so that this obsession interferes with the person's ability to function in a "normal" life. That said, it's easy to see how a "home person" can be derived from the word "house". (It's especially easy to show that an anime fan is a "house person", because most anime fans that I know are people who dabble in video games {especially rpgs}, computers, sci-fi, and anime). But anime is not the only thing that people obsess over. Example: Kensuke from Eva is a war/weapons/tech otaku.

Anyway, you don't want to be called an otaku and my impression is that most Japanese people would not be either. I doubt many people would fit the Japanese definition of a "true otaku", because those people have to be really out of it. For instance, I recall one of Megumi Hayashibara's character's describing a "typical otaku" as "smelly, obsessive, fat, and ugly". 

Ah, here's the disturbing part. The tale behind the coining of the term "otaku" in Japan. It's like the worst possible thing that can happen in the world, and to have it happen in Japan is rather unthinkable. Anyway, this heavily based on Chika's account of it, so if it's wrong (shrug). Here's the story:

There was a case where a serial killer sexually molested and raped little girls aged 6-12 years old. There were more than 10 children found chopped up, and the worst part was there were pieces missing.

Finally a 28 year old man was arrested. Interestingly enough, people described him as a quiet and timid man. Funny, isn't that what they always say? Shows what little people really know about each other.

When the police later searched the man's small apartment (it's Japan), they found it was unkept and filled with nothing but anime tapes. On three of the walls were "book shelves filled with anime videos from floor to ceiling, and there were piles of more tapes in the corner." -Chika (What I would have said would have been exactly the same as Chika's statement so, eh, whatever, it is her story.) Of course this guy was so obsessive that there was nothing else (no furniture).

Anyway, the rest of the flesh of the victims was found in the refrigerator. Chika didn't know what it was used for, but she doesn't think that it was used for anything. (By the way, I didn't interview her or anything, this info is conveinently on her page)

The Scary Part

So know you must be asking, "What the hell does this have to do with anime and otakus?" Chika puts it rather well:

"The man later confessed that he raped, took porn pictures of , and killed the girls. He also said that he watched so much anime and was so in tuned with the smooth bodies of anime girls that he's never lusted over real adult women."

So anyway, because of the media's focus on the freakish anime aspect of the guy, of course otakus were thought of as complete monsters and freaks. According to Chika, otakus were actually considered social outcasts even before the crime, but, of course, the image of otaku just became worse because of this incident. 

Remember to not confuse "otaku" with the American definition "fan".

Ok, from what I gathered, an otaku is usually male (eh, makes sense). Usually an otaku is a person so out of synch in the world that he does not cleanse himself, is malnutritioned, obsessive, and shallow. Again, a normal fan or a borderline hardcore fan probably has a couple overlaps. What I usually do to test for "otakuness" is just ask the simple question, "Does this person have a life?" 

I thought that this question would be fun to answer since I'm definitely a really hardcore anime fan. I mean I have an anime fan site, a bunch of anime merchandise, and friends who like anime, so am I out of synch with the world?

Heh, no, I don't think that I'm an otaku. While I do spend a majority of my money on anime, and anime is one of my largest interests, and when I do talk to people, it is usually anime, it's not the only thing in my life.

For one thing, with college crushing me, do I have time or energy to do anything except pop videos in my vcr and get my laughs before doing my hw. Video games, too long. Dogs, ok, I spend at least an hour or two playing with my dogs, they deserve it. And then there is homework and studying. Pretty busy, that's my excuse anyway.

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