All-Girls Round-Robin: Otaku - Stereotypes and Perceptions

Participants: Mei, elezend, Death by Moe, Hoshi, Fang-tan, Hynavian , animemiz, nyachan, fuyumaiden

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OTAKU. It is a loaded word full of connotations for those in the know. If you are reading this and you are not Japanese or not living in Japan, you're probably one. If you just happened to pass by here: Imagine a convention center. In one corner, people seated on chairs, floors, or whatever with their laptops playing the latest episode of *insert anime title here* or having a DS or PSP party... In another corner, merchants selling their wares from everything from fan art to PVC figurines at dirt cheap prices to people who wanna up their manga/DVD/anime/PVC figurines/nendoroid/video game/doujin/*insert Japanese merchandise* collection... And all around, people in the uniform (black shirt, jeans, sneakers and backpacks) and people in costumes from everything from robots to sailor schoolgirl uniforms and an occasional blue/pink/green/orange wig. All of them singing to a Japanese song of an anime you've never heard of. Yes, you are in an anime convention.
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I was into anime since I was in elementary and manga from high school. I was really thrilled that I was a part of the very first anime convention ever in The Philippines back in 2000 even if it was just as a spectator. I met many people who had the same interests as I did and I was so happy despite losing touch with high school friends who shared my same passion for anime (whom I hapen to have reconnected with in that convention). But apparently, none of these like-minded people go to the same college I did and the lack of friends with the same enthusiasm for anything beyond Rounin Kenshin (which is a show we stop thesis writing for). I lost touch with my inner fanatic and graduated and joined society.
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After a gall stone operation, I spent three days in the hospital during Christmas holiday of 2006. And because the thought of watching nothing but sappy Christmas movies irritated the hell out of me, I turned to a channel where someone is guranteed to die: Animax. Tsubasa Chronicles got me interested again in anime (though now I hate the anime version with a passion and the manga makes me cry in a bad way) and the rest is history...
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I was a little bit overwhelmed. Picking up where I left off, there were a lot of things that happened after Fushigi Yuugi (they showed it in the Philippines in 2000). Now to be back in the scene, I had to download a show as it's seen in Japan (apart from the ones that I picked up during my hiatus), know the songs, play the games, know the good fansubbers, know the blogs to go to, know the seiyuus and the other work they've done, and so on and so forth. By the time first six months, I was exhausted! But there was something I learned: the word "otaku" (when I was in high school, we were called "anime fanatics" and the only place we can get our bootleg anime were the hole-in-the-wall video shops in Greenhills shopping complexwith their secret drawers).
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Not to delve on the traditional definition of the word and the connotations in Japanese culture for I cannot relate for I am not in Japan, the word otaku is generally only known by those involved in the culture outside of Japan. When I say the word otaku to an outsider, they say "huh?". They will though if I use the term "anime fanatic". In the most brutal of stereotypes, they are still living in their parent's homes on their computers all day watching anime and playing otome games in a room filled with souvenirs from conventions and very expensive figurines of maids and Final Fantasy characters. The stereotype is harsh, but the only people who know understand that this is not necessarily the true. Though I still live in my parents' place (it's a Philippine culture thing) I have no interest in gaming and I'm too poor to buy PVC figurines. People who are immersed in the otaku culture know that the stereotype is a blatant exaggeration for the culture is too board for one person to take on.
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Of course, to an outsider, the otaku culture is likened to an alien culture complete with strange hair colors, robots, and magic. In the short year and a half I've lived the culture, here are some of the worst assumptions outsiders I've encountered...
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ANIME=HENTAI BUT NARUTO IS DIFFERENT.
When a friend found out I was into anime, the first word that came out of his mouth was "Hentai!" Apparently, his entire repertoire is that hentai doujin anime involving the casts of DragonballZ and Sailormoon (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you're only lying to yourself) that a friend of a cousin or whatever lent him and made him watch. That video is probably one of the most popular doujin anime ever because of the characters are part of the most recognizable in animedom that even outsiders know of (nowadays it's Naruto, Sasuke, Ichigo, and I don't know anymore...) and the visions that they have of people who are involved with the culture are just whacking away at their joysticks or their mouse scrolls.
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As it turned out, my friend was not alone. Many, many people apparently have also been lent that video by friends or cousins and they have concluded that this is the sum of the entire culture. I mean, yes, I can tell them what bukake is or differentiate a seme from an uke when asked. But once that becomes the launchpad of the the conversation, the conversation will always end with "So you watch hentai?" no matter how much to try to broaden the discussion with other genres.
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But well... when I ask them if they can consider Rounin Kenshin or *insert mainstream anime title that even non-anime fans would watch* because they are anime, they vehemently refuse to because they're "art" or "special" because "the story is great!" Supposedly simple logic, right? If all anime is hentai and Rounin Kenshin is anime, therefore Rounin Kenshin is hentai. I'm bad with logic but even I can see that's what they're implying. I give up. These are not the people you can have serious conversations with about the otaku culture no matter how hard you pound at them.
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If you consider human nature, they are just probably living under the premise of "first impressions lasts" so if this was their exposure to anime and their response is to the negative, they can only assume that everything else is like this. Their lack of further exploration and limited interest to do so leaves them with the impression that this must be what all of them are. To concertize this explanation, I will base it on personal experience. My first exposure to yaoi is reading a doujin that featured a Kurogane and Fai D. Flowright from Tusbasa Reservoir Chronicles pairing. For a long time, I always thought that many yaoi are like this (my first yaoi series to watch is actually Junjou Romantica if you don't count anime with overtones) and therefore, it must be hentai. I wouldn't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole. But once I've relaxed into the anime culture, I developed a curiosity for the genre where I am comfortable watching it. And now I don't think it's so bad... It now pisses me off because the reason why all shoujo guys are assholes/losers/jerks are because they're all gay and in yaoi. Surprisingly enough, I never considered yuri as hentai. My years in witnessing it in an all-girls school, it was just part of it already.
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YOU'VE SEEN ONE OTAKU, YOU'VE SEEN THEM ALL
In an interview with a future-now-past boss, I was asked what my other interests are outisde work. And since I could sense that he was inclined to hire me, I answered, "Anime". As it turned out, he too liked anime and asked me what I thought about the current season of Naruto. Of course, I honestly answered, "I don't watch Naruto." He seemed unimpressed by my answer and told me that I may not be as big an anime fan as I thought. So there I spent the next 30 minutes of interview time explaining to him genres of anime and titles he's never heard of.
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And last Christmas, a friend (not a very good one) gave me a Sasuke keychain, which I keep because it's a gift, where he proudly told me, "You like anime, right? You're definitely gonna love this!" ~ah-hmm...~ For one thing, even if I was a Naruto fan, I would probably own one of these since the China knock-offs are so cheap. Secondly, because of previous knowledge of my interest in anime, it is automatically assume that I must like Naruto.
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If there's one thing I've learned watching Genshiken and Densha Otoko, it's that an otaku is not a checklist that if you come up short, you're no longer considered one. When I rejoined the otaku culture, I realized that I may not be a big fan as I was when I was younger because I wasn't familiar with seiyuus or songs or every little aspect of a show I like. I got burnt out and exhausted familiarizing with everything related to the series of my liking.
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Anime, manga, PVC, ongaku, doujin, cosplay, games, Gundam model kits - you only have 24 hours in one day!!! You can't get into every single one of them! But most "starter otaku" seem to think that to be a true fan, they should get into every single aspect and the brain dies from information overload. Mine did! But those who survive learned. We end up being partial to a sub-culture we are inclined to and stick with it with momentary lapse where we would extend out interest into another part of the culture because they like the series too much.
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Most people like having neat labels for everything. "You are therefore you must be." A nice list of stereotypical characteristics to identify people with. But this is the very first mistake any person make. Just because you are doesn't mean you should. It applies to everyone too, not just in otaku culture. With me, people have the assumption that because I am heading for an anime convention and hangout at the cosplay booth, I must know the intricates of Naruto story arcs and was cosplaying (Actually, it was because two very good friends are admins and it's a good place to dump my stuff safely while going around. Yes, I'm user-friendly.) And on Christmas day, I get a new set of Naruto keychains.
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IT'S OK TO BE A MAN OTAKU BUT NG IF YOU'RE A WOMAN.
This applies only to adolescents, not teenagers. If you're a teenager, this is considered as a phase. But once you join society (i.e. get a job), you are expected to uphold certain things. Vague things like maturity and other adjectives which always connotes a gray area.
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A 24-year old co-worker once told me, "Bianca, you're a 26 year old woman and a Project Manager already. Stop watching cartoons and grow up!" And when I pointed out a guy Project Manager the same age as I was who mooches off my FMA and Geass Season 1, all she can answer is "He's a guy."
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And so???
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This seems to be a double-standard that because I go with indoor plumbing, I should stop watching anything animated as soon as I start having interest in boys and start watching crap like Big Brother (BELIEVE ME.. the Philippine version is crap like after an eat-all-you-can burrito night) or Keeping Up With The Kardashians (which makes me lose 10 brain cells per second). Those are the kinds of things the girls in the office like to talk about over lunch. I just finish my lunch quietly or sit with the boys who only talk when needed to.
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Seriously, in my country's culture, if you are a guy who still collects PVC figurines, it's OK because you're a guy earning his own money and anyway, it's "Boys and their toys". Whereas if I spent money I earned on anything otaku culture-related, I'm considered childish or immature. I'm single. I already have a comfortable house. I have a job. And I have a cat. I'm don't exactly throw my money around while children I don't have are starving. Why can't I spend it on things that make me happy? Those girls do on clothes and make-up and stuff. And I'm in an urban culture where women are on supposedly on equal standing with men. It's not like I live in a country where women are considered second-class citizens. OK, I'm not a guy so I don't know how otaku boys are treated so I can't speak for them.
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Jeez, I tried. I tried very hard. But I just don't get it. I looked at it at any perspective but I can't think of one rational explanation as to how my being a girl having an interest in otaku culture have anything to do with my level of maturity. And this is when I'm compared to a guy the same age as I am with the same level of interest in Code Geass where our work output is pretty much the same.
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And lastly, I wasn't really going to put this in. But considerin that there has been a lot of noise about this...
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OTAKUS ARE PSYCHOS
This is in light of the Akiba killings last week. A man labeled as an otaku went on a rampage, attacked 17 people and 7 of them died. It's sad and it's tragic.
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But for people who automatically assume that because this man is an otaku to go on a killing spree in the otaku district and conclude that all otakus are psychos is just absurd. Wouldn't that mean, that this man may have killed an otaku too? This is like racial profiling. Only instead of race, they focused on the person's interests. I think too much emphasis has been made on this man's hobbies and interests that people have unjustly concluded that all people who share his interests are like him too. If it was like that, I would have killed so many people already. But I haven't because I still have enough sanity and brains to differntiate right from wrong. And you should too.
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People often commented as to why this has to have happened in Akiba. We all cried "What is the world coming to?" when this tragedy happened in a place we consider to be our Mecca. We feel that this place will no longer be safe for us and neither do the Japanese based on a news report on NHK World the other day, where they agreed to close the promenade to people for a while. But they'll move on and they'll come back. This keeping away is merely to respect those who have died. I personally plan to spend the lot of my time there when I finally got around to save for a trip. Right now, it seems a little frightening, but if I don't go... who is the winner and who is the loser? The one who went on a rampage or me for being too afraid to go.
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I cannot defend the entire culture. The culture is too big. I am too new at this. So I can only defend myself. Honestly, I am one of those types who doesn't care what people think about me as long as the things that they know are true. They can slap any label they want at me and I wouldn't care. I know who the people who matter and anyone else can either get to know me or leave me alone. Their narrow minds can't hurt me but to quote my newsest fave anime guy Dojo(!!!) "I'm only human, you know. Sometimes I get hurt by words too. Who knows..."
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On definition alone, yes, I can consider myself as an otaku. But I feel as though I'm a novice one. Negative meaning or positive ones, don't all labels have those attached to it. If people label be me as one, they should not see me as the entire represenation of the entire culture. God help us all if they do.
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PS. I use Naruto a lot because this is the most popular anime series in my country right now - cripes.
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