Forum - View topicNEWS: Washington Post on Akihabara Otaku Culture
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T0FFe3m@n
 Posts: 114 Location: Liverpool, England, UK |
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Strange question, but would you consider all Japanese people who watch anime "nerds"?
I dont really understand that. To them, watching anime is like their equivalent to us in the West watching "soap operas", but you dont consider those people "nerds" do you? Just found it a bit hypocritical.. it is part of their culture after all. |
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mangod
SPAMMER
Posts: 21 |
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I liked that article. I recommend someone else to read it.
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10461 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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(Who's you, the author of the article on ANN, or just general readers of your post?) Nah, not at all. With 25% of Japanese people watching Sazae-san every week, that would make for a lot of "nerds." I think the general concensus is that Otaku = Nerd, and most people (in Japan) who enjoy anime are not Otaku or nerds. -t |
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CorneredAngel
 Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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...except, of course, there are plenty of peole who are as obsessed with, say, soap operas, as the stereotypical 'otaku' are with anime. Something like Sazae-san is an extreme case, and merely *watching* anime (or reading manga) in of itself does not make you an otaku. |
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Erufu
 Posts: 191 |
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Well, I do consider them (soap opera) to be off their rocker, but that's just from a roommate I had a couple years back that would sleep during the lunch hour, tape her soaps, and then watch them at midnight when I was trying to go to sleep. As far as the article goes, I didn't like it. It was almost definitely written by somebody that wasn't an anime fan (and knew something about Japanese fandom) or it wasn't conveyed correctly. First off, what's
Are they talking about Gothic Lolita? And I have seen plenty of maid outfits in non adult manga, too.
To my knowledge, there have always been people that you wouldn't see in the states reading manga out in public. And, if you are considering material like Mahou Sensei Negima! adult because it's shrink wrapped over here, then, I'm sorry, but they aren't reading adult-themed manga. This article makes it sound like everybody on the trains is reading hentai. And they make it sound like everybody reading manga is an otaku, which couldn't be farther from the truth. Well, I guess it could, but you get the drift. Well, atleast they did mention that the term otaku just doesn't cover anime lovers. |
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Yoddha
Posts: 12 |
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Well..the article is about people who are are hynotically obsessed with anime, hentai, and video games, not the mainstream that just "watches" anime like any other TV shows. These "nerds" which the article is referring to, are so damn lost in their own worlds of French-maid fetishes and super-power mechas..that they don't pay attention to the world their living in. Its like human relationships are nothing to them and they lock them up in their rooms and play video games all day. "Hikikomori" is a well known phenomenon in Japan. And yes, it is true that a helluva lot of men, old and young, read adult-themed comics in the trains. And now they're obsessed with some children's brand. Make no mistake about it, thats damn freaky and abnormal right there. I think its kinda sad what happens to some people. I think its just sad what has happend to the anime industry as a whole. I swear, some of these anime makers and mangakas act like 40 yr old boys who have these freaky obsessions with creating these busty, uniform maids donnig every goddam hair color on earth. Man, I miss the days when I would actually have a worthwhile and wholesome experience watching those WMT anime shows. But all is not lost I guess, there ARE a few decent shows here and there and Ghibli is still around, so thats about all that has still kept me an anime fan....and a regular visitor of this site 
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chicogrande
 Posts: 190 Location: Huntsville, Alabama |
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When reading the article for the second time, I started getting the feeling that the tone is disparaging and contemptous towards the subjects written about.
The article mentions the allegedly growing incidence of "shut-ins" and of young men with no career ambitions, yet in the article there is a college student, a "portly" computer technician and a 34 year-old computer programmer, with a three-room apartment, who is "dating a woman steadily for the first time" this year. (Heck, he's even doing better than me! And I am 37!) Supposedly, even those in the "pocket-protector crowd" who walk among the businesses in the streets of Akihabara in the OPEN , have "an aversion to even being seen." That, apparently, is the reason why many new buildings in the district are windowless. Anyone who has been to Tokyo, or any major Japanese city, can attest that most buildings in the entertainment districts ARE windowless. I for one lived in Sapporo, Japan for almost a year on a student visa and most buildings in the entertainment district are mainly windowless or the existing windows are tinted so you can't see in. Finally, male fans, of any age I presume, who attend "Morning Daughter" concerts and read "often adult-themed manga" while riding subways are automatically pedophiles. If you look this female group up in the internet, they are better known as Morning Musume. I looked them up and boy, they ARE cute and sexy. Some may be in their early teens, but looking at some of the internet pictures I found of the apparently growing and ever-changing group of cuties I see short skirts, kimonos, black lace and sexy swimsuits! From a male point of view, they are adorable! The whole argument of the article is bogus and distorted, IMO. No self respecting male can resist them. If you want to see an example go to www.ochaka.to/idol/photobook/morning_musume.jpg Last edited by chicogrande on Wed Jun 08, 2005 5:46 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Shiki MSHTS
 Posts: 738 Location: NoVA |
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Really, the only main beef I have with the article is how it only really succeeds in further alienating these people. Yes. The concept that Otakus are generally not very verbal and into an unhealthy obsession is well known. But the article gets through this general concept in the first few paragraphs, and spends the rest of the space repeating these points, and basically making people dread them more.
It's basically the tone of "Look at these people. So lonely and obsessed with anime/manga/figures/etc. They're pretty much freaks. Aren't you glad you're not them?" The concept of Nerds/Otaku existance has never really been questioned or argued much at all. But there's not really much call to help them at all. It's like looking down at those with a problem as somehow a lesser person than the mainstream society, to make us feel better about ourselves. The thing I really don't like is how easily both sides accept this view point. Otaku's openly admit they're freaks, and other people aknowledge these statements. Even how the people were (for the lack of being able to think of a better word) interviewed, either unaware or aware of how their words would be used against them, kinda depresses me. Perhaps it's better to try to help these people, rather than step on, expose, and further alienate them? Maybe not reassure their feelings of self depereciation? And I apoligize if this post was worded annoyingly, or just really messily. I'm just kinda at a mixed state of mind right now. =/ Last edited by Shiki MSHTS on Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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MizunoL
Posts: 5 Location: Roanoke, VA |
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[quote="Erufu"]
To my knowledge, there have always been people that you wouldn't see in the states reading manga out in public. And, if you are considering material like Mahou Sensei Negima! adult because it's shrink wrapped over here, then, I'm sorry, but they aren't reading adult-themed manga. [quote] I realize this is only my experience, but on my trip to Japan about a year ago I remember being surrounded by five salarymen all very calmly reading varying levels of pornographic manga on the train during rush hour. When the reporter says "adult manga" I dont think they're talking about what censors in America quibble over what teenagers should and should not see. |
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Stueypark
Posts: 116 |
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It's like when Star Trek first came on TV in the US. A LOT of people watched it, but that didn't make them trekkies.
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Isaaru
 Posts: 375 Location: the oppressed colonies in outer space |
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ah star trek.. but those "trekkies" or "trekkers" are normal people too. There men, women, and people of all ages, and job occupations, both married and single. The people are don't understand them are those will always classify them like some strange species. Is knowing klingon, or Naruto jitsu any different than knowing the complete roster of a favorite football team, or a cast of a favorite soap opera? what got me is the stuff about the guy who collected pillows of female characters. After following a statement about child pornography. They uneccessaryily payed extra special attention to the guy's physical nature, and that he is dating for the first time (at 34 with an ANIME ARTIST- an otakus wet dream i guess). I get this feeling this guy was singled out to paint this picture better to the "average non nerdy american" and then .... ah screw it, yall know what im saying (gotta get back to my work) |
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tsurara
Posts: 4 Location: Albany, NY |
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Time for a reality check.
1) Japanese people don't watch cartoons on the level overseas anime fans think they do. Some, very old, long-running series have large prime-time audiences (Sazae-san, Chibi-Maruko-chan, Kochikame, etc), and it's true that just about everyone will go see a new Miyazaki film when it comes out BUT for the most part, the sort of anime we become obsessed with on television and video is primarily for Children or otaku-types with money to blow on merchandising and dvd releases of shows that are shown at 3am in the morning. If you are a 25 year-old man or woman, you should be starting your career and family, focusing on school and socializing with friends. You shouldn't be HOME at 6pm to watch Naruto every night... and if you ARE: you're a bit strange. You're even stranger if you're the sort who stays up all night watching maid shows or boys love. So watching anime ISN'T like watching soap operas (Japan has soap operas too)... it's more like watching Scooby Doo... yes, some adults do it and most of us did it as kids. We might have nostalgia for the characters... but the "average person" doesn't rush home every afternoon at 3 to catch it every day or collect action figures. Some people do... but to say watching Scooby Doo (or shows like it) is an integral part of everyday adult American culture is silly. Most Japanese people DO read manga... but anime is a step beyond in devotion. In a society so literally strapped for time, people generally don't have time to devote themselves to hobbies on such a level. My commute to school now is 2 hours each way... at least half of the people on the train go even farther than I do. I don't have time to watch anime... and I'm not home for it. Though I ~do~ have time to read manga for 2 hours every day on the train if I like (which many do). Those Japanese who become obsessed with anime are frequently un or under-employed, living parasitically off their parents and are so gung-ho about their hobby that they lack the ability to hold a decent conversation about anything else. THESE people are "anime otaku" and "akiba kei"... and yes, they ARE wierd. I like them. But they're still wierd. 2) As someone who lives about 10 minutes walk from Akihabara, and has for nearly a year, I think there's a definate lapse in tourist perception of the place as a mecca of "Trendy anime culture". I hang out in Akihabara... and when my "normal" Japanese friends hear this I get a laugh, "So you're Akiba-kei???" "Akiba-kei" is simultaneously a good and bad thing. It's POSSIBLE to be cool Akiba-Kei (especially to OTHER Akiba-kei people) and my friends think it's kind of cool how I bring my camera down there every weekend for "Cultural Study" (ie. snapping geeks). MILD geekiness is acceptable, it makes you quirky, a little childish and gives your friends SOMETHING to rag on you about when you tease them about their kareoke-mania or pricey sneaker fetish. My fullmetal alchemist cellphone strap and ringtone is cool... and the fact that I've played through every Final Fantasy game usually gets me an "of course... everyone did in high school and college." I still hide my doujinshi and gashapon whenever anyone I'm trying to impress comes over and only cease to hide them if my partner is outed as a geek before I am. There IS, in Japan, a sympathy for the underdog/outcast that pervades the culture as a whole. Akiba-kei might make a lot of people snicker or back away... but, especially in Tokyo, it's also a point of pride. These people have given us 2channel, "Densha Otoko", cheap resale video games... The popularity of the Trainman and his story betrays some mainstream interest and sympathy for Akiba-Kei types. And they're also a tourist attraction: both for foreigners and those of us who live in Japan every day and just want to see how "the other side" lives for a bit. Akiba-kei is different... it rejects mainstream... and so, it's become a genuine subculture with its own publications, shops, lingo and fashion. It's not much different from ganguro, ko-gyaru, gothic lolita, ikemen, etc... All subcultures seem foolish to those who aren't IN them: and all of them require insane amounts of money and devotion to immerse yourself in successfully. Still, the fact remains: Akihabara is a den of EXTREMELY graphic porno games, doujinshi featuring 6 year old girls splayed out naked covered in body fluids, hugging pillows, maid cafes, AV video stores, trashy cosplay promotions and some of the worst smelling people I've had the misfortune to sniff. The ratio of men to women on the street is about 8:1 and the local Mc Donalds shut down because too many people only bought sodas and sat and played CCGs for 4 hours at a time. Akiba is an experience... this article, for those who have experienced Akiba in the flesh: without their rose-colored anime-geek glasses on, seems pretty damn fair. Though, honestly, I've never noticed the glasses-repair kiosk 
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giantpinkrobots
 Posts: 4 Location: maine, u.s.a |
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Exactly. Was this an editorial? It doesn't indicate it as such, but it does come off as mighty one sided.
The fact that the author refered to Morning Musume as Morning Daughter is a bit weird. I don't recall ever seeing an article translate a foreign band's name. Wouldn't it be entirely more useful to just refer to them as Morning Musume, where it's much easier for a curious reader to find information than under Morning Daughter? Secondly older men showing up at concerts/sexualizing pop tarts is not uniquely Japanese. It may have higher visibilty/notoriety in Japan, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen elsewhere. It's something of a cliche here in the U.S. too. Young female pop stars whose appeal is not limited to their target teen/tween market. And why is that a surprise considering how they're marketed? I work at a music vendor, and an inordinate number of older guys came and bought Britney Spears' greatest hits cd, which came with a dvd of all her videos. They can't all be buying them for their daughters. I suppose talking about more normal/casual fans too would have made for an enitrely less gripping read. Just my thoughts on the subject. |
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Rukusho
Posts: 16 Location: Wouldn't you like to know? |
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Yes, it did sound very one sided, and very negative in my opinon. As for this...I dont really know. I mean 'To each his own' right? |
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The Xenos
 Posts: 1519 Location: Boston |
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ARGH! "anti-social "otaku" behavior" Does anyone in the media and public know what anti-social means?! Anti-social means that you are overly social and disrupting.
Otaku tend NOT to be, or at least from what it seems that was meant to me. It is because of this common misconception that they had to change "anti-social personality disorder" to "sociopathic personality disorder". I don't see Otaku getting into bar fights and things like that. If anything, I'd say most otaku exhibit avoidant personality disorder. Among others I'm sure though. -Xenos |
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