Forum - View topicWhat the difference between an "Otaku" and a "
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Digital Dreamer
 Posts: 287 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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I am quite sure that we all pride outselves on being an Otaku. And I have noticed that there is a lot of payouts on Fan Boys?
But where do we draw the line between the two of them? |
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Vortextk
 Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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As I've heard, Otaku is a negative word used in Japan. Likewise, a fan boy is a mostly negative word in english. Well...phrase, I guess.
That being said, call yourself an Otaku if you want(in the US and other countries it carries a geeky kind of connotation, not a "bad" or negative one as it seems to in Japan). I don't think many people refer to themselves as fan boys. Rather, when someone goes off talking about how awesome DBZ or Naruto is(basically, things that are popular and get bashed often), they get called a fanboy. I.E., "nintendo fan boys" say xbox's suck cause they're computers and playstation is stupid cause it doesn't have the cool original games like zelda and mario. You can be a fan boy of anything; burnt toast perhaps, be my guest. It's just usually fan boys of big topics that get flamed, or especially things that carry such a negative aura like DBZ seems to nowadays. More often than not, a fan boy is called that because of their heavily flawed arguments and reasoning. XBox is better than ps2 cause it has Halo. Bleach is better than Naruto cause it has cooler fighting. Etc etc. They're usually chock full of worse examples than I've provided and equally good spelling and grammar(sometimes) which gives them such a negative image, rightfully so. |
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Ataru
 Posts: 2325 Location: Missouri (Strikeman) |
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PantsGoblin
 SubscriberEncyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Like the word "anime" has formed its own meaning outside of Japan, to my knowledge, so has the word "otaku". Outside of Japan "otaku" refers to a fan of anime, not someone who is obsessed with something. |
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Digital Dreamer
Posts: 287 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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As we got the simple "I-watch-anime" types going all the way to the scary types that will cos play in public when there is no anime con. And if being an Otaku is that bad, then what do we call ourselves then? And why is it that I still seeing the work Otaku around. BTW, I do not that Otaku's are look down on in Japan as I do have a story to tell on that one, but that is some thing from another time.
However, like anime fan base, there are many level to the fandome. Watch Trekkies (Star Trek Fan) or Fandom Menace (Star Wars Fans) for a good example of how scary fandom can become. |
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Ataru
Posts: 2325 Location: Missouri (Strikeman) |
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Azathrael
 Posts: 745 |
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I have three categories:
Fan Mania Otaku Fan is someone who watches anime. Mania would be someone who purchases merchandise such as posters, figurines, dolls, and whatnot every once in a while. An otaku would never be specified to "anime" as a genre, but more to a specific series. So a "DBZ otaku" would be someone who has every merchandise ever created related to DBZ, on top of every DVD/OST ever created. Just cause someone obsesses over anime by dreaming about it at night doesn't make the person an "otaku". A brief research into the history of Japanese otakudom will tell you exactly how obsessive a true Japanese otaku could be. Otakuness has a lot to do with how Japanese society influenced the mind of the Japanese people and doesn't stem from simply liking something to death. |
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DemonEyesLeo
 Posts: 844 Location: Japan |
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Otaku, at least in the West, is used to describe a fan of anime in general. The word has become associated with a general liking of anime. However, this is the case in America, in Japan the word is used to described hardcore fans who have a scary obsession with something, be it videogames, anime, or anything.
Fan boys/girls are almost, in a way, the same as the Japanese otakus in that they have an obsession (maybe too strong a word there) or a very great interest (little better word) in something. But I think the difference comes from how fan boys/girls tend to be very bias toward their interest and could have little interest in anything else that does not relate to it. I've met many HALO fan boys who never play anything else except HALO. Now granted, HALO is a great game, but there's other great games out there. Now, fanboyism in anime is a little harder to describe; but it would probably fall along the lines of a fan boy/girl of (insert anime title here) not having any interest in anything not related to (insert anime title here) and constantly arguing that (insert anime title here) is better than anything else, even though (insert anime title here) is the only series they've seen. The last part, I think, is what really separates an otaku from a fan boy/girl; though it's fully possible to both. An otaku, in America, is one who likes anime in general. A fan boy/girl is one who only likes a specific anime and is more of the Japanese otaku. |
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Bosque
 Posts: 102 Location: Chile (castillian-talker) |
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I think the line between an ocassional fan and an otaku is the extreme he is with his/ her hobbies.
A lot of people think (i'm not telling it's bad, the meaning of the word has been so changed here in America) that you're an otaku when you have nothing more to do than watch anime and that that's the only thing you like. Well, i think an otaku is an otaku when his/ her hobbies are an important part of his life, when hobbies become an important part of life is what we call here "the point of the no-return", and, well, you can't go back. I think an otaku can be an otaku even if he has 1 or even 2 friends, or even if he likes something appart from SF, anime or anything. Also, i think that thinking that being 8 hours a day on front of the TV is sad cause you don't have friends means that you'll never understand how an otaku feels when he watchs TV. Also, some people think (i insist, it's not really wrong, but it's not what the word is supossed to mean considering it's origin) that an otaku is a fan of something that comes from japan (VG, manga or anime), and a TV-extreme-nerd (¿someone called me?) can be also considered an otaku, as a SF-hyper-fan or a militar-weapons-lover. I think "Otaku no Video" is just the very best definition for what an otaku is, everyone that feels confusen about the word shoult watch it, it's also a great anime 
And yes, i'm proud of being a nerd/ otaku/ geek/ big lens guy/ how you want to call it, so, we're 2 
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18404 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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People posting here are muddling what should be a fairly clear issue.
In America, otaku is a title claimed by devoted fans of anime in general. (Yes, it is used more broadly and in a more negative sense in Japan, but that's beside the point.) Fanboy/fangirl refers to an obsessive fan of a particular title. So-called "Narutards" are just fanboys obsessed with Naruto, for instance. |
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DemonEyesLeo
Posts: 844 Location: Japan |
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Does "people" include me? Because I thought I said that.....Yeah, in the last part of my post I wrote:
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Fui
 Posts: 339 |
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Hmm I would hate to be called "Otaku." It just has a really bad stigma for me. Just the word in Japanese itself sounds bad. I think watching Densha Otoko (there I go citing Wikipedia
 ) made the word even worse for me, since I really don't want to have any similar traits with that guy. *shudders* My parents called me "otaku" once (they're more familiar with the old-school word otaku...which technically means just being obsessed over something) when I was watching an anime episode and I got pretty annoyed. In Japan, an otaku is usually someone who is socially incompetent, obsessed with anime/manga to a point where essentially his life revolves around it, and collects lots of anime paraphernalia. Also, he would most likely look really nerdy. I hope I'm not ruining the image for you guys but that's my perception of the Japanese form of it. I'm not really familiar with the American context of "otaku," since I've never really heard it used by an American person.
That being said, I'd much rather be an anime fan than an otaku. Apparently people who liked anime/manga in the past were more considered stupid than anything else. I asked my parents about how people who liked anime in Japan were viewed by the public and they said "baka dayo." I'm sure you're familiar with that phrase, meaning they're just stupid. However, I think recently the perception is changing as anime is changing and the viewing population is changing. There have been a lot of weirdo otakus lately (one guy murdered 4 little children in the most recent JP news) that are really just worsening the image. Sigh I wish they really wouldn't do such stupid things, honestly. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Am I the only person here who had read the definition of otaku by Toshio "Otaking" Okada?
Tsutomu Miyazaki got caught 16 years ago; I wouldn't call the news "recent." If it wasn't him, the word "otaku" would be on the same level of "nerds," "geek," or "Trekkies;" not as bad as it is. There's a gradual change of attitude towards otaku in Japan: Akiba-Ou contests on TV Champion, Tetsuya Chikushi touring maid cafe in Akiba (think Dan Rather or Larry King reporting a Star Trek con in person while cosplaying as a Klingon), Japanese EPA cooperating with maid cafe asking consumers to stop using plastic bags, etc., etc. It's simple economy: when the society praised working 80 hours a week, those who had been watching anime in his parents' basement were called "scums at the bottom of society;" when they become one of the few remaining consuming power in recent economic recession in Japan, they are being catered by businessmen. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18404 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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My apologies, I must have missed that. And, Fui, unless you're Japanese or live in Japan, I wouldn't be hesitant about it. The term just doesn't have the same connotation outside of Japan. Many American fans I know use the term with pride. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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He is Japanese. |
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