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The word “otaku” is probably not the most well known in today’s American society. But to those who do know it (despite its ambiguous meaning), there are usually a few other words that come to mind. Someone who is an otaku is usually considered to be a die hard anime, manga, and video game fan (or any combination of the three). With that image also comes the usually negative reputation that’s usually attached to the fandom. “Cartoons/comic books are for kids!” “Can’t you put that video game down?” Indeed, the “otaku” is often depicted as a 30 year old virgin who lives in his mother’s basement and has no social life because he spends all his time watching anime (the popular stereotype is the guy who likes hentai more than he does real girls).

While it’s hard to argue that people like this don’t exist, it does no represent the entire group as a whole. Rather, that is only one extreme in a group of generally not-so-extreme fans. But even those who aren’t as obsessed as the aforementioned “otaku”, it’s easy to tell that one’s love for anime and manga effects a lot of things in their life, from the food they eat to the music they listen to and the celebrities they idolize. Despite this, there are those who are still able to be fans and still hold a normal social life and jobs. Indeed, the “otaku” is a rare breed among anime fans.

The word “otaku” has come to adopt several meanings here in the US. Some have remained faithful to the very negative and derisive original meaning from Japan, while others have taken on a new, more positive meaning through “word evolution/adaptation”. Otaku in it’s original form was meant to represent people in Japan who literally had no social lives, and chose to stay home all the time and spend time working on a hobby that they were very dedicated to, usually on an unhealthy level. The etymology for otaku is “Japanese house”(dictionary.com) and it basically means someone who spends all their time at home, or someone who is obsessive over a certain hobby. The word was first popularized by a man named Tsutomu Miyazaki, also known as the “otaku murderer”. Miyazaki, who was accused and confessed to the murder and molestation of four girls, who were four to seven years of age, showed little remorse for his actions and drew cartoons of his alter-personality “Rat Man”, who he blamed for his actions. While searching his home after Miyazaki was arrested, police found various pornographic videos, violent movies, and some anime. (AnimeNewsNetwork) It is because of the few things they found in his home (which were greatly exaggerated by the media to make the accused seem even more guilty, arguably) solidified the negative meaning of otaku all around Japan. Miyazaki, who is no relation to the Gibli Studios Director Hayao Miyazaki, who is responsible for some of the most popular and impacting anime feature length films of this time, has sense been executed by hanging. It’s been rumored that his execution took place when it did to set an example, as two other “otaku” massacres had recently taken place. Miyazaki was apparently to be made an example.

It is because of murders like the one’s Miyazaki committed, as well as two others (one of which the criminal declared that he was the “next Tsutomu Miyazaki), that the word otaku had picked up a very bad image. But sense the word began being used in America; it is often given a very different meaning. There are those here in the USA that believe it is a foul word and wouldn’t dare use it as a self-title, nor would the call other’s an otaku. But there are those die hard fans that, loving anything Japanese really, have made the word have more of a positive meaning. Basically, it’s the same thing as someone proclaiming “I’m a nerd and I’m proud of it!” Thanks to the way the word otaku has adapted in American culture, it’s basically the same thing as calling someone an anime nerd. While this is hardly harmful, some argue that it’s very irresponsible and shouldn’t be used so loosely. In a survey given to 65 different anime fans on a website dedicated to such fans, 26 out of the 65 voted that they don’t use the word because of its original meaning, while 19 said they use it on a daily basis and are proud of it. Twenty of the voters reported as “other”. (Poll)

In an interview with a fellow anime fan (and cosplayer), a girl, who’s cosplaying alias is Ophiucha, has this to say.

“I don't really mind the term, although I never use it on myself. The sort of people who do use it are generally the kind of people who annoy me. One such 'otaku' type in my school had this conversation with me (on college):

(her)"So, what are you thinking of majoring in?" (Ophiucha) "Well, my main focus right now is East Asian Studies." (her)"Wow! Awesome, will you learn Japanese if you do that?" (Ophiucha)"Yeah, definitely. I am also thinking of double majoring in Germanic and Dutch Studies." (her) "Why? They don't have any anime in Germany." (Ophiucha)

“Otakuism” (in the American sense) is hardly something that everyone lets take over there life. But every once in a while, you’ll find that one’s fandom tends to lead to life style decisions, some small, and other’s a little bit…bigger. Two examples of small behavior that you rarely find outside of the anime fandom (china towns and other such areas excluded) is the consumption of two mainly Japanese snacks. Most people outside of the fandom hardly know what these two things are, but they are notorious throughout the fandom as either something amazing and tasty, or something that’s really more of a fad or status food than anything else.

These two treats are pocky and ramune. Pocky is a biscuit stick that is covered in flavored icing. One of the more entertaining aspects of pocky is that you can get it in pretty much every flavor under the sun, from strawberry, grape, and chocolate to black sesame seed, milk, and even green tea. Ramune is a lemony soda drink, not much different from Seirra Mist. Both are very popular among younger fans here in the states, and there are older fans who like it as well. Some people of the fandom argue that people only consume these products because they’re more of a “status food”, and that they’re really not as awesome as they’re glorified to be. Despite these few protests, pocky and Ramune can be found at most anime conventions and china towns, and are both very popular and sell well.

A bigger habit of the fandom is more or less a hobby inside of a hobby. Anime conventions are short events, usually lasting three days over a weekend (from Friday to Sunday). The turn out of an anime convention can vary. It’s usually dependant on how many years the get together has been running, it’s reputation among fans (how polite the staff is, the sort of things to do that the convention staff offers, celebrity guests, ect.), as well as location. A convention in California (such as Anime Expo, a convention that is perhaps the most popular and successful convention in the US, is far more likely to get a better turn out than a small, relatively unknown convention in Michigan or Indiana, simply because there is a larger, more open demographic of people in places like California). Though, large conventions like this also tend to get a lot of attention, which also brings in the crazies: Johnny Otaku, for example. (Oh look! There’s that word again!) Johnny Otaku is an “obsessive fan” who escalated to the point of being violent to a convention guest because he thought that she might have had connections in a studio that did voice dubbing for anime movies and episodes. Johnny Otaku has been noted several times stating that it is his goal career to be a voice actor. He has sense been removed from…somewhere around 11-13 different Anime Conventions, and he is banned state wide in one of the 50 States in American completely. Several conventions, Anime Central in Chicago for example, have “ban hammered” him before even attending the convention, fearing any sort of altercation that may happen.

One of the more popular things to do at a convention, which also happens to be one of the more well known “nerdy” thing that anime fans do, is cosplay. Cosplay is a play off of the words “costume” and “play”. Cosplayers go to conventions in costume and usually act as the character they are cosplaying in, get their photos taken, and all around enjoy the attention they get. Usually, cosplayers, at least here in America, hand make their costumes and take a lot of pride in the hard work they put into it. In Japan, however, cosplayers have access to many stores and other places that mass produce their costumes for them. Because of this, Japan has gotten a reputation of being the “best” cosplayers because of the quality of their costumes. There is a lot of controversy among online communities about whether or not this is true. Many believe buying ones costume is “cheating”, while others simply believe cosplaying is for fun and it shouldn’t matter how one got their costume as long as they’re enjoying themselves while they’re in it.

Sadly, cosplay also tends to give anime fans a bad reputation because, just like in any hobby, there are those who aren’t really all that good at what they do. Over weight cosplayers, as well as those who’s costumes aren’t up to par with the level of skill as many others, despite the fact that they may have still worked hard on said costume, tend to be ridiculed. The mainstream media, when it does give anime fans any screen time at all, is usually show casing the worst of the worst, thus making everyone else who really doesn’t know too much about it think that everyone who cosplays is like that. But just like in every other aspect of life, there are the good, the bad, and the ugly. One person, or a small number of people, hardly represent the entire anime/manga community.

Regardless of the quality of the costume on your back or the way you behave in it, generally, mature cosplayers and fans alike agree that they usually do their best to give the fandom a good image. Or, if not that, they at least try to not make things worse. The fourteen year old Naruto cosplayer you see over the internet that is constantly making an idiot out of himself may be all over TV, yes. But he and his kind are not the only fans in the world and are greatly outnumbered by the many more people who think before they act and speak. There are shows such as MTV’s “True Life” who will be filming an episode all about being a “fan girl or fan boy” that will include an anime “fan boy”. This has sparked what some would call a panic among other fans everywhere because they are afraid the popular MTV show will choose a stereotypical person who will do nothing but continue the negitave image anime fans and cosplayers already have. They have chosen a man who actually believes himself to be Goku, a character from an extremely popular anime called Dragon Ball Z.

One of the most popular guests a convention could have is a creature fans like to call the JRocker (Japanese Rocker). Often times, larger and more successful conventions will have a guest from a very popular Japanese group, such as Kyo from DirEnGrey or Mana from Malice Mizer (who some fans believe is probably one of the worlds most talented drag queens). Other times, a convention will go all out and have the entire group. One of the most noted was the 2008 performance of the group S.K.I.N. in 2008. S.K.I.N. is made up of several different musicians, all of them having formerly been in very popular groups such as Yoskiki from Xjapan, and MYV and Gackt, who both had very successful solo careers after leaving their own respective groups.
Most often, though, fans get their JRock and JPop (Japanese Pop) kick from the internet through websites such a youtube, myspace, and playlist.com. Often times, a Japanese hit is also featured at the beginning or end of an anime episode, as well. There are cases where an American anime fan will listen to mostly Japanese music and pay little attention to the American mainstream groups almost entirely.

In fact, Japanese music often times has such an influence over it’s fans that many people from it’s non-Japanese audience dreams of going to Japan (a place they are convinced is way more open minded and cool that their respective home countries) to become Japanese Idols themselves. Of course, there really aren’t many people who actually attempt this, rather than just dreaming without taking action. And those that do try don’t really ever succeed. These desprate fans are usually at the butt of jokes made by others who feel that they “know better”. They’re made fun of because many fans feel it’s foolish to really judge Japan because of what happens in an anime. In fact, a large majority of anime series’ are actually “westernized” to more resembled American (ect.) culture.

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