Forum - View topicPoll: What does "Otaku" mean to you?
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PantsGoblin
 SubscriberEncyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Really? So many of you guys think it's someone who has no life other then anime?
I always thought of it as someone who is just a "fan" of anime, which is why I picked "Someone who likes anime and/or manga enough that it would be a "hobby"". I guess... maybe I'll have to reconsider calling myself an otaku if SO many people consider it to be someone who has no life. I don't know. I'm kind of stuck on this now. |
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bebop26
Posts: 64 Location: where ever fighting games lay |
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I too think it means someone who likes anime and/or manga enough that they consider it a hobby of theirs, and I voted for that option too. It's just like gaming or playing music; it's something that you love to do.
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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I think it depends on what definition you chose to use, and I think this poll is just trying to figure out what definition we use.
On urban dictionary there are 10 definitions. |
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PantsGoblin
Subscriber Encyclopedia Editor Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Yes, and this is the definition that most people agree with on that site:
sure... It really pisses me off how they use the word "confuse". It's not being confused, it's adopting a foreign word into its own meaning. Something called a loanword. It happens in many different languages all around the world. People are such idiots. Edit: After looking through a few more definitions on that site, most of their definitions are inaccurate, unreliable, and biased. I've heard of the site before, but I didn't think that such a popular site for definitions... would be so inaccurate. Don't think I'll be trusting any sort of information coming from there anytime soon. |
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Dargonxtc
Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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No I wouldn't do that. If you want to call yourself an Otaku go right ahead, who gives a F*** what other people think. Me, if I met you and you described yourself as an otaku, I wouldn't automatically think you are some loser as I realize people think it means different things(which it does depending who you talk too). So I would judge you like I do everyone else, by there character(of which I happen to be an excellent judge). I tend to go with the original definition, I don't particulary go for loanwords even though I can't do a damn thing about it. When I think otaku I think of this guy. Its 11 minutes I know, if you don't want to watch all of it fast forward to 5:00 where he does a one on one with the guy in the mask, this makes me feel sad for the guy, and make sure you watch the very end as well. [edit: Oh and about that definition site I just typed in "Otaku Definition" and that was the first one that popped up, sorry if it sucked, but on a lot of them you still get the gist, which was all I was going for.] |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7413 Location: Maine |
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I'm with you, PantsGoblin. My use of the word otaku comes from the anime Otaku no Video where they actually use the word even more loosely than some people do today. Their definition is more like that of sheer fandom and isn't specific to just anime and manga, but anything including guns, toys, scifi movies, and anything else that could possibly have a following. Fans of anime are anime otaku, fans of guns are gun otaku, fans of games are game otaku. I would call myself an anime otaku and a toy otaku since those are my areas of fandom, there's no limit to what type of otaku you can be.
And I also believe in concepts like word evolution and word adopting, otaku being a great example of it. I'll be honest, I cringed when I watched Otaku Unite and had to listen to AWAs Dave Merrill (I'm pretty sure it was him) telling people "don't call yourselves that. It's a bad word!" in the same tone of voice you use when your dog pees on the floor... Emerje |
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Steroid
 Posts: 329 Location: At home, where all good hikikomori should be |
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To me this question seems archetypically oversimplified. What makes something a hobby? What constitutes nonessential? If, by option 3, I am an otaku, but then I take up macrame or start watching competitive curling, do I cease to be an otaku? And what about the non-anime and non-manga otaku like baseball otaku and train otaku?
I think otaku is a matter of attitude. It's not so much a matter of watching or reading or participating as it is what you *think* about anime or manga (and *if* you think about anime or manga) It's a matter of getting beyond "it's just a tv show" to caring about the characters, wanting to be like them or to be among them. It's whether you relate anime and manga to life in general or just use it as an escape. I believe there are such things as otaku values, values which are expressed in anime which are ignored or contradicted by the world at large. Anyone can apply the title to themself, and this is good, because a desire to be an otaku is an indicator of the type. I won't deny the "honor" to anyone who wishes to claim it, and I decry those who try to shame otaku into being more normal. |
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minakichan
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Lots of people assume "otaku" always has had really bad connotation... But I mean, it used to be a pretty casual word for geek, at least before such incidents as Miyazaki Tsutomu's rise to infamy. And even now, after Densha Otoko, the word has lost some (well, not all) of it's really negative meaning.
I don't use the word because I feel that in the U.S., it's reserved for Inuyasha fangirls who write Mary Sue fanfiction and try to insert Japanese in their everyday speech. But outside of that context, I think it's OK. |
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championferret
 Posts: 765 |
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I think it falls between the 2nd last and last definitions.
The last one is definitley otaku, but I dont think that if you decide, "I'm going to take the dog for a walk", which has NOTHING to do with reading manga or watching anime or whatever otaku-y things you do, then you're not an otaku. I already stated my opinions on my personal labels in the 'are you an otaku'? thread...so, yeah. |
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Chief2BeaR
Posts: 6 |
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I always thought people knew what the word Otaku means for both languages... I guess not. Anyways, I'm going with the western saying in that its a hobby
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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I abstained with disappointment. Reasons.
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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My definition of the term would be that they know all things about anime down to the last detail, but I don't think that they don't have a life, which is why I put down for the third choice.
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outlawwolf
 Posts: 645 |
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Hmm, I find it funny that so many other anime fans (such as myself) seem to view the word as an insult. Didn't we also have a discussion about this? I would like to see someone else's reason for seeing it as such.
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Fui
 Posts: 339 |
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Interesting how according to the "Do you consider yourself to be an otaku" poll the majority of people who voted that they do (54.4%), and the majority of people also consider otaku to be defined as someone who's obsessed with anime/manga to a point where it's their one and only interest in life (45.2%). Does this mean that a large fraction of people do consider themselves to live only for anime/manga or did the people who don't consider themselves to be otaku vote for the "negative" meaning? I think next question I'd like answered is, "if you consider yourself an otaku, do you believe that an otaku is someone who lives for anime and/or manga and has no room in their life for any non-essential activities that aren't related to anime and/or manga."
Unfortunately, whenever I see or read something about otakus in the news/media it's almost always bad and/or painful to watch. I wonder to what extent that reflects reality. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6901 Location: Kazune City |
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I agree with the authorities in Otaku no Video and Otaku Unite!; it's not limited to anime/manga, but either way, it means someone who is an obsessive fan of X to the exlcusion of all else, where X is some sort of solitary/shut-in hobby or entertainment medium. I wouldn't consider "otaku" a loanword; outside of Japan, it's more of slang or jargon used within the world of anime fandom. Real loanwords from Japanese would be words like rickshaw, typhoon, futon, samurai, ninja, etc., where most relatively well-educated English speakers are likely to know them. On the other hand, if you asked 100 random people what "otaku" means, chances are 90+ of them are not going to know.
Because of that, "otaku" is still limited to the fandom world that we inhabit, and since it's linked to a Japanese cultural product, imo its meaning is still tied to the Japanese definition. And as we know, that definition is not a positive one. I haven't tried this myself, but if you try out some Japanese 101 on some industry guest at one of the major cons this summer by saying. "Hajimemashite! Watashi wa Otaku desu", I'd bet money that you'd get funny looks or worse. |
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