Japanese People On Anime "Otaku"

[Shiokaze]

To start off things, I would like to say sorry for anything I will say that will sound offensive to anyone. The reason for this thread is an educational one.

Anyways, to start things off basically...
What do Japanese People (I'd say people 16+) think of people who like Anime?


The reason for me wanting to know this is because I went to Japan this summer and stayed with a host family. I was 18 at the time and am 18 now. When I went there, I had a host sister.

My Anime life at home wasn't that big compared to an Otaku, or so I've read on wikipedia. I basically watched Anime at home up to maybe an hour each day.

However, when I went there, I told my host family I liked Anime, and my host sister immediately thought of me as an Otaku. And it seemed like my host sister developed a distaste for me. I looked up Otaku on the internet and from what I read, is completely different from what I was. Yeah, I watch Anime 1 hour a day, do listen to Japanese songs, mostly from Anime, but that doesn't mean I am a social outcast that only thinks of everything Anime. I am human.
Anyways, I got this impression that what I had been mistaken for what big, as she would tell her friends behind her back "He is an Otaku" and from my little experience with Japanese, when tried to ask her, her response loosely translated to "It's nothing." as she was obviously trying to hide it from me that she didn't like it.

So, about 6 months after that trip ended, I had been thinking, why is that the words "I like Anime" translates in the minds of most Japanese people to "I think of Anime 24/7, have no social life, live at home, think of only girls whose bodies are made out of pixels, and love to sing songs of love.", where as in my mind it means "Yeah, Anime is cool, I watch an episode here and there. Air Gear is cool, so is Bleach." Like, I enjoy Anime but I am not crazy over it.

I also went to Akihabara with my friends, and realized that the however number of girls that were in our group were the only girls in Akihabara apart from the ones in maid outfits, from what I saw. I know there were others, but not in compared to the number of men.

Also, another thing, when I told my host family that I went to Akihabara, they were surprised as if it was like place no one set foot into. It was like
Them: So where did go in Japan?

Me: Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Akihabara
Them: AKIHABARA? (with smiles on there face)

So, the Akihabara aspect of it made me wonder even more.

And also, I think (<-- keywords), I feel as though kids growing up watching Anime in America are completely different from those who watch Anime in Japan. Like, a lot of kids get exposed to Anime in America when they are 7, maybe 10, or maybe 12, where in some cases, when these people discover Anime from fansubs and sites like animesuki.com go well into high school and college watching Anime but at the same time still not becoming a social outcast. The Anime is mostly not girlish but more action based. You know? Also, in college life, it's perfectly fine to be playing video games with friends and girls won't think you're weird, just a little unproductive. lol

But in Japan, since kids are immediately into Anime since birth, they get out of it faster, so when 18, 19 years old rolls around those who are still into Anime get out of the action based ones and start going into the more hentai based ones. Or so I can assume judging from my what I have read or seen.

But why is there is such a difference to how both cultures American and Japanese percieve Anime?

Feel free to correct me, everyone is different, so my views are only limited to the experiences I had in life, as with are yours. But I want this thread to be another apart of the experience as well. so yeah... (wow those were some crazy words)

[Daughter!]

I don't know how to answer your question, but this is a very interesting subject. I'd like to know an answer too for when I go to Tokyo next year.

[Aoie_Emesai]

It might just be your limited experience around anime and their relative bodies. After a bit, well.. it may just be me, you just get use to them. Anime to me is nothing more than a hobby, just like drawing and photoshopping and playing my Pump it Up game. It just come with time and experience. If you feel neglected or ashame of being an otaku, just call yourself a fan or a anime connoisseur. For me, i like the artistic side of anime more than anything else, it's like novel writing, it's a form of self expression in graphic form rather than words.

You can do what I do. Keep your anime experience to yourself and those around know that have a like interest in them. To answer your question from my experience, it's just stereotype. If they feel different otherwise, explain it to them. There's not really a right or wrong answer.

[xris]

The following post in the Is watching anime or reading manga considered childish in Japan? (located in the General Anime forum) may well give some rational behind the Japanese viewpoint of otaku.

Originally Posted by kj1980

I've already explained this thing in detail in another thread...but I'll re-write a touched up version of it here.

Yes, I am Japanese. Yes, I am an otaku.

There, that will instantly make me shunned from my co-workers, women, and society if I go out into the street and proclaim that.

Why? Where did this stigmatism for being an otaku come from?

There are numerous of reasons, but most Japanese will have one distinctive and infamous crime that makes them equate "otaku=psycho" in the heads.
__________________________________________________ _____________
The Tsutomu Miyazaki Case (also known as "The Saitama Prefecture Multiple Child Rape-Murder Case)

Between August 1988 and June 1989, four pre-school school girls became missing in Saitama Prefecture. Here is an overall review of what happened:

August 22, 1988 - Imano Mari (age four) was kidnapped, raped and murdered. Video taped Mari-chan's corpse and vagina. (video tape found at his house as evidence). Dumped and buried body in forest.

October 3, 1988 - Miyazaki asked Yoshizawa Masami (age seven) for directions, and promised her to take her somewhere "nice." Masami started crying inside Miyazaki's car, and Miyazaki: "I had no choice but to strangle her to shut up." After she took her final breath, Miyazaki: "I took her clothes off and put my finger into her vagina, but her body moved even though she was dead...I became scared I left the body in the forest"

December 9, 1988 - Namba Erika (age four) kidnapped, raped, and strangled. Dumped body in a forest.

December 15, 1988 - Erika's body found in forest by police investigators.

January, 1989 - Miyazaki returns to Mari-chan's burial site, took her skull back home, burned it to ashes at his home incinerator. Sends Mari-chan's ashes to her parents in a cardboard box with a letter enclosed with newspaper letters of 「真理・遺骨・焼・証明・鑑定」 (Mari, Ikotsu, Yaki, Shoumei, Kantei / Mari, Body Ashes, Burned, Evidence, Proof)

February 10, 1989 - Miyazaki sends additional letters to Asahi Daily News and Mari-chan's distressed families (once again with newspaper letters) explaining in vivid detail how he killed and raped little Mari-chan.

March 11, 1989 - Miyazaki learns of Mari-chan's funeral. Sends another letter to the Imano family and Asahi Daily News "I deeply appreciate the proper burial that you were able to provide her that I could not." Public anger explodes.

June 6, 1989 - Nomoto Ayako (age five) kidnapped. Miyazaki: "after she kept on repeatedly inquiring about my deformed hands, I became frustrated and killed her." Body (minus legs and arms) dumped in forest. Video taped himself masturbating (once again, video tape found at his home later) with Ayako's hands, then ate them.

July 23, 1989 - As Miyazaki was video taping a crying naked girl (age six) in a forest, he was apprehended by the girl's father. He was taken to the police station for attempted kidnapping and rape. Miyazaki confesses to his crimes.

Police searches Miyazaki's house:
over 6000 video tapes of anime, lolita videos, and horror films
numerous photos and video tapes of himself committing the crimes (used as evidence)

Miyazaki Tsutomu - Sentenced to death in 2002. Currently appealing to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, he had published an autobiography with proceeds going to the victims' families. Victims' families refuse such an outrage (duh).
__________________________________________________ ______________


The above mentioned case was so notorious and shocking to the Japanese public that it set an image that loners and otakus are all fucked up in their minds.

Yes, the act that Miyazaki Tsutomu did was indeed a heinous and atrocious crime...and I support his death as do the majority of the Japanese populace. However, is it fair to say:

"Otakus cannot get real girls, so they settle for 2-dimensional girls and go after little innocent children"

"All otakus are loners because they cannot fit in with society"

because of one otaku who couldn't distinguish the obvious between right and wrong? No. He was a fucked up loser who just happened to be an otaku. What if he happened to be a biker? Does that mean all bikers are fucked up? Or, the most possible scenario which is the scariest of all - what if he was a socially amiable neighbor who would go out and drink beer with his neighbors?

Unfortunately, people like to label each other as being "with us, our against us." Hence, thanks to Miyazaki Tsutomu they associate it as "Miyazaki was an otaku, hence all otakus are fucked up." Congratulations Mr. Miyazaki Tsutomu, you are hated even more since us Japanese otakus despise you because you are the reason that caused us to be branded as "fucked up losers."



So going back to the question with this aside..."how do Japanese view people who watch anime/manga?"

As your Japanese friend has mentioned, yes we are considered to be "childish losers." Why? Because of the above mentioned incident.

And of course, Japan is an image conscious society. As I said earlier, the Japanese philosophy of social harmony (or, "wa") is basically an euphemism in saying "you are with us, or you are not - and if you are not, tough luck." Hence, I do not openly say that I am an otaku nor avidly remark that I love to watch anime and play ero-games - for the risk of being cold-shouldered by my co-workers and that it may infringe on my advancement...or even worse, being laid off for any reason the corporation may decide to utilize upon me just to get rid of "a psycho that disrupts the harmony of our company." Perhaps there are several other co-workers in my company that share the same interest in anime and ero-games as I do...but since they don't go out and proclaim themselves as anime fans and neither do I, we will never know.

Manga is a different story. Manga has been with us since the pre-war days, and were popular back then as four-blocked comics on newspapers spreading propaganda. Later on, Haseda Machiko's "Sazae-san," and the Fujimi-sou members mangakas (Tezuka Osamu, Fujiko A/F Fujio, Akatsuka Fujio, Ishinomori Shoutaro, and Tsunoda Jiro) would revitalize the whole manga scene altogether. These people are considered to be national heroes by the populace, and gods by otakus. It is more than enough to say that without them, the multi-billion-yen publishing industry (mainly through manga sales) will not exist today. For otakus, without them, there wouldn't be the abundance of manga and anime that we see now.

Hence, stigmatism against manga are more relaxed. You see them all lined up on shelfs at bookstores all across Japan. Genres exists aimed at little kids (Koro-Koro Comics) to elementary (Sunday, Jump), middle school and high school (Magazine, Young Jump) to the adult (mangas about playing mahjong and golf, mangas about office life, mangas about dating and getting laid, mangas about how to keep a stable marriage, etc. etc...)

But so do anime - they offer variety. Unfortunately, not all mangas are turned into anime, and not all anime are shown on "normal time." Compared to the amount of published manga and anime that is shown on TV, manga beats anime handsdown...hundred fold. Compared to 60-70 different anime shows each week...there are over 600-700 different manga being published - from the obviously popular such as Naruto to extremely minor manga on how to taste wine. Manga is more easily accesible and offers a vast amount of variety that it includes genres that even men in their fifties and sixties can enjoy (like how to keep a good posture when playing golf). Manga has assimilated into Japanese literature as it is.

But then, there are exceptions to what society perceived which anime is acceptable to be watched even when you are an adult.

A. "Doraemon"
B. "Sazae-san"
C. anything by Miyazaki Hayao and Studio Ghibli

Reason being, both A & B are animes based on mangas done by national heroes and gods of the manga world - Hasegawa Machiko and Fujiko F. Fujio. C is because Miyazaki Hayao has established himself as a major internationally accepted (and makes very great films too!) director.

So anime is gaining popularity outside of Japan. Even the Japanese government proclaimed that "anime and manga are an important part of Japanese culture." So several Japanese anime films won kudos at Cannes and Venice. Still, the Japanese populaces' stance is "anime is for kids, if you still are watching anime as an adult - you are fucked up."

Once again, thank you Mr. Miyazaki Tsutomu. I hope you have an excrutiating death at the hanging.

BTW, this thread may well be merged with the one above since they discuss the same basic topic.

[Zero Shinohara]

I read about this extensively a couple of months ago and did some research on those cases and some other idyosincrasies that are automatically connected to Anime-fans ( Otaku ) in Japan.

The thing is, we here at the West, use the term "Otaku" quite often and most of the time to reffer to our passion for Anime and Manga. Yet, the term has a much more serious conotation in Japanese society, and thus you wouldn't want to tell a Japanese national that you're an Otaku out of the blue. Heck, like KJ said, you're better off not saying it out loud to anybody at all. But the thing is, Otaku are just another victim of public difamation. It's nothing new in human society, I'm sure everyone is well aware of that.

Let's take, for example, American School Shootings. There seems to be a great concern nowadays that anybody carrying a gun is a criminal nutjob that will bust into a school and kill several people, and then kill himself. However, even if we do have our Cho's and our Columbines, not everyone who carries a gun is doing so because they are mentally ill and would like to take "revenge on society". Just like not every Otaku is out to rape and kill innocent children.

But frankly, I think this mentality ought to change in the next couple of years. There are millions of Otaku - real otaku, people like me who will take a 2-D girl over a real one anyday - in Japan, and as they grow up and start to "infiltrate" into the real world, I am willing to bet that the onimask branded on the face of every one of our Japanese compatriots will fall.

Unless, of course, Virtual Reality kicks in and we all die from starvation. After all, VR eroges are always better than food. ALWAYS.

[Deathkillz]

What people outside the immediate culture think is cool isn't necessarily cool for the people who has the culture is something I agree on. It's like thinking that being a triad is cool but when you go to the place where there are triads - you find yourself killed or ignored if you go out proclaiming it, certainly not on the same scale but a fair comparison imo.

It's just typical that the minority has to ruin it for the majority. Being otaku in Japan must by like being a Chav here in the UK (both types unwanted)

[tripperazn]

I don't know which country you're from, but telling people you don't really know that you're an "otaku" is almost never a good idea. This of course is usually the same thing as saying you like "anime", because most people don't make the distinction much like your host family. As I understand it, "otaku" is a lifestyle and subculture. "Anime" is an entertainment medium as is manga, eroge, galge, etc.

In Japan, yes, there is a lot of bad publicity. kj1980 has a lot of posts on this forum on all the disasters involving little children and raping/killing done by people whom the media have referred to as "otaku". The only good publicity that it's gotten is probably the TV drama/movie "Densha Otoko" which definitely evokes a lot of sympathy for the otaku. I watched for Itou Misaki, but it was pretty good and supposedly highly rated in it's initial run. Sadly, it seems that the otaku image is still exceedingly negative...

[Kyuusai]

Sadly, you've been bitten by a stereotype.

As you've figured out, in Japan, the image of otaku is that of a disgusting, perverse, poorly adjusted person. It's true, these sorts of people do exist (and a lot of them in the otaku community). The hard part is that if you, as an adult (or near-adult) admit to liking anime or some other otaku interest, you are assumed to be one of them.

Why? Part of it is just regular bigotry. Keep in mind you were basically victim of teenage girl bigotry--the most vicious kind! My life in high school was made harder because teenage girls spread the "awful" gossip that I was a "nerd" who "reads books all the time". If a hobby of reading can turn into social ostracism this way in the US, certainly the more misunderstood subject of enjoying anime can turn out this way in Japan, where social conformity is more important.

It's not that diversity is non-existent, but conformity is important (certainly you know that if you've been there, of course). Think of it this way: The casual anime fan isn't known to the public. They know the social price they'll pay for making even passive, casual enjoyment public knowledge, so they keep it a secret. The average Japanese person who exercises their sense and knows how ridiculous it is to assume that watching a cartoon doesn't make one an otaku doesn't speak up because they have no motivation to try to start a social movement on some one's be half, and even speaking up for that could have its repercussions if done in any meaningful manner.

And so the vicious cycle continues: The more normal fans stay underground fearing the social repercussions, and society continues judging without the benefit of more positive examples to counteract their stereotypes.

The otaku world can be a slippery slope, though. As anywhere else, pursuits that completely outside of "normal society", participants can quickly go from "casual interest" to "completely absorbed" by virtue of working outside of social restraints. And when you get down to the real otaku, there are still varying shades going from mere "intense fans" to, well... the sick puppies. There are various reasons for this and various implications it carries, but those are discussions for another post.

Things are changing. As the market and general mindshare for these sorts of things increase, so changes public opinion. Take Comiket attendance as an example. While manga itself doesn't have the same stigma as anime, Comiket is definitely a subculture event. ...A subculture event with attendance nearing half a percent of Japan's entire population. That's not all the otaku in Japan, that's just those who attend this one event (although as dedicated as otaku can be, a large percentage attend, I'm sure). If Comiket attendance is only a small part of all otaku... and otaku are only a small part of all fandom... That means that there are enough people out there to create some real social change. If you consider that most of these are younger people in a society where older people are the majority of the population, that means a much larger portion of the youth are involved in this than their elder generations. As more of these youth grow into positions of power in society, you'll see a drastic shift.

We live in interesting times.

[Sakura_Kinomoto]

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

B There are millions of Otaku - real otaku, people like me who will take a 2-D girl over a real one anyday

Unless, of course, Virtual Reality kicks in and we all die from starvation. After all, VR eroges are always better than food. ALWAYS.

Too true those two statements and also i ahev been hit by the otaku brand also, Im aged 16 and since the age of 11 i have beena vivid Anime/manga watcher and when i hit year 8 in high school people found out about me watching anime* i wasnt ashamed to tell them i watched it* and i began to get teased alot and ostracized from every activity at school, Sure i put up a few pics of Kaede and Ama in my locker and sure i used to always use to read Manga during english class and i would always draw whenever i had the oppourtunity and i would listen to japanese music *not the crap rap music or whatever it is people listen to these days* but that doesnt warrant the fact that i should desereved to be ostracized from everything I even lost my GF becaus everyone kept saying that i would grow up to be a pedo when im older and they still do, that commemnt more than any other hurt me and made the most mad , i would never exploit any child EVER My life was ruined throughout High school buy a group of Fuckheads who keep calling me a pedo and various other names, i havent changed my ways though because of them i still watch anime/manga and still play ero games doing all of this makes me happy, and im not gonna change for a group of people who think that there way is the best way. I play sport and do lots of other things My life isnt 100% Otakuism but why i am slammed with an australian equivluant is Screwed up! i have done nothing wrong to warrant this and well beacuse i happen to watch and enjoy these types of things my whole social standing has been ripped to shreds, Its Fucking retards like Miyazaki Tsutomu and people who believe that all otakus are like him that have ruined not only my early years but i presume alot of other peoples aswell, it seemed that the only person who sympthasied with me and who really befriended me was a japanese girl i met over the net, who had gone through some similar things i had, Neways i have a group of friends but well we are hit with the labels of nerds, retards all of that beacuse we frequently watch Star trek and the like but well none of my friends ever copped what i have beacsue of my liking for anime and manga and as soon as i can i intend to move to japan on the belief that people over there may be more accomidating, perhaps it might just be where i live in Australia but they are not accomidating of people like me in Mildura/merbein my whole early years were ruined....I am now going into Senior college and i hope that there may be somep people there i can relate to, we get alot of japanese exchange students so hopefully...Anyways thats how its was where i live and trust me when u come to school everyday being called a pedo, it just really destroys a person on the inside i still score good grades and even have a part time job but well i wish i had stayed underground and never let anyne find out... thanks alot Miyazaki Tsutomu i hope you Rot in hell you sick bastard * i need a scapegoat to take my anger out on*

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Kyuusai

Things are changing. As the market and general mindshare for these sorts of things increase, so changes public opinion. Take Comiket attendance as an example. While manga itself doesn't have the same stigma as anime, Comiket is definitely a subculture event. ...A subculture event with attendance nearing half a percent of Japan's entire population. That's not all the otaku in Japan, that's just those who attend this one event (although as dedicated as otaku can be, a large percentage attend, I'm sure). If Comiket attendance is only a small part of all otaku... and otaku are only a small part of all fandom... That means that there are enough people out there to create some real social change. If you consider that most of these are younger people in a society where older people are the majority of the population, that means a much larger portion of the youth are involved in this than their elder generations. As more of these youth grow into positions of power in society, you'll see a drastic shift.

We live in interesting times.

Is there enough people to affect change? Sure, but you are still fighting more than just making anime socially acceptable, you are also fighting a social way of handling things. Lets face it, this is a country that gave us tentacles and many other "interesting" things. So we know that the culture is multifaceted just like everywhere else. But you still have the problem of "It's a secret to everybody", that is much like how America handles sex. It took the 60's social movement and aids to get people to start discussing sex publicly. Even now people are still rather prudish about sex but at least it's a bit more in the open now. Major celebrities revealing they are gay, people discussing fetishes more, etc.

It just takes time. I think eventually, the memory of that sicko will slowly fade and things will be easier, but the damage is done and there are lots of social perceptions to overcome.

[solomon]

Wow, I was afraid it was like that in Japan. I'm low key and somewhat introverted, so I normally keep my anime fandom to myself. Say, if I were dating and I wasn't sure someone was an otaku or not, I'd try not to dwell on it (ie gab about my fandom). Unfortunetly, in Japan (to an extent) as well as other countries, Animation is still seen as something childish or worse extremely nerdy (like Comic Books in the US are). If your peers/lovers/etc. are mature and thoughtful enough to find more common ground to create relationships, then that's what really counts. Be proud of what you like but how you express it is totally up to you.

[Shiokaze]

Thanks to everyone for the input. It seems that the only options are either quit Anime or just live with it. The thing is, I want to start a life in Japan.

The other thread that xris posted seems very interesting as to the whole issue.

That whole Miyazaki is just wow. I had never thought that something like that would trigger such hatred for the following almost 20 years. It seems kind of similar to the other stereotype of people from Osaka. Someone said that water from Osaka tasted worst than water from Tokyo. It somehow sprung a big controversy making Osaka look bad. The person who made the accusation apologized on public TV and tried water from both places, admitting that there is no difference.

And another question... I know Akihabara has A LOT of technology too. Are there such things are technology Otaku's? Are they viewed different from the Anime Otaku by Japanese people?

[TigerII]

Although it is not as hated where I am, I still go great lengths to hide that I watch anime. I live in dorms, so I have never bought any figurines or things like that, only actual DVDs I have watched I rented, and that is through online vide stores, so no one can ident me at a rental store. I make sure when I have them, I lock them in my closet so my snooping roommate does not see, and I make sure I have my computer password protected.

Although it is not hated here, the stigma is still pretty bad, and I have to keep this little hobby all hidden and secret. And I just plan to quit when I find a spouse I plan on staying with(I just hid it from past girlfriends) so as not to weird her out.

[anti-random]

Sakura Kinomoto, I don't know what to say. We live in the same country (if I read that post properly you live in Mildura (Victoria) kind of area) and even the same age but the fact is that on the whole I have had a vastly different xperience on how people view anime and otakus. In the school where I go too, people who watch anime are so widely accepted that there is an anime club set up for it. No one really cares about it and there is nearly no discrimination from people (except probably the odd few, don't really know) to those who watch anime. Maybe the reason is that maybe have the school has shown up to at least one of these anime screenings we have. And I know these facts because I am the event organiser of the club. So, maybe in 'normal' society there is like the interpretation that otaku=psycho due to the case seen above but I can't see this were I live.

[Honda Boy Techy]

Originally Posted by anti-random

Sakura Kinomoto, I don't know what to say. We live in the same country (if I read that post properly you live in Mildura (Victoria) kind of area) and even the same age but the fact is that on the whole I have had a vastly different xperience on how people view anime and otakus. In the school where I go too, people who watch anime are so widely accepted that there is an anime club set up for it. No one really cares about it and there is nearly no discrimination from people (except probably the odd few, don't really know) to those who watch anime. Maybe the reason is that maybe have the school has shown up to at least one of these anime screenings we have. And I know these facts because I am the event organiser of the club. So, maybe in 'normal' society there is like the interpretation that otaku=psycho due to the case seen above but I can't see this were I live.

Yeah, no one here really cares about anime otakus that much either. Sure, some people on my favorite local car forum bust on me here and there for it but still, no one really cares. There too is an anime club at my college. I'm part of it. In fact most of the anime we watch is played off MY external hard drive (gotta love projectors and big screens in 80% of the classrooms). Because of the popularity of it here I guess it's relatively accepted. Now a lotta of people will still see you as nerdy but even then, nerdiness is pretty well accepted. For me, my car and my mechanical prowess (and my rifle) help me out some. A lot of people see me more now as a car guy who also likes computers and anime cause I think Honda/Nissan/Toyota Chassis codes and engine codes come out of my mouth more than anime stuff.

[Marina]

This is sad for me to read all these negative reactions to people who like anime/manga and that whole lifestyle. I do admit that I tend to hide that fact that I enjoy watching and reading these kind of things since I know many people would think it childish and well, just plain dumb, but no one I know would hold the opinion that liking it marks you as a creep. Perhaps it's because I live in a place so separated from others where I actually notice a difference in the way Alaskans think compared to other Americans, but at my college we actually have an anime club. Several people in my Japanese class are proud to tell us their hobby of watching anime/reading manga, and the Japanese students I've had stay with my family in highschool did not think it strange when I started watching it. They in fact recommended others to me, and I'm not talking creepy-looking Japanese otakus, I'm talking really cute Japanese girls who lived w/ my family and we seriously consider ourselves sisters and family. I was baffled to see how other Japanese reacted to the otaku culture when I watched Densha Otoko, but I'm sure I haven't even seen the extent of how much they loath it...reading about the incident that xris posted shocked me.

[KholdStare]

That sounds so me like a similar situation, whereas whenever I said that I watch anime, the first question is almost always, "do you watch anime porn?"

But back on topic, I could only say about my experiences in America. Here, people don't immediately associate anime watchers "otaku," but rather, they think that I'm rather childish and weird. This is partly due to the commentator's lack of knowledge in anime, because when I ask them questions about it, the only anime they seem to know are "hentai" and Pokémon. The lack of differentiation between the contents of cartoons and anime here lets people look down on me, but they don't think I'm a social outcast or anything.

About the situation in Japan, well, all I can say is wherever you go there will be misunderstandings and assumptions based on lack of knowledge. It gets boring and annoying explaining to everyone that you're not an otaku (you don't have to defend yourself, because watching 1 hour of anime a day does not make you an otaku) but that's what you have to do. The incorrect assumption that "all anime watchers are otaku" I can understand, since many racial stereotypes are the same. Some people still think that everyone from race X is Y and it leads to a lot of complications. As much as I don't like to do it, I will only tell my closest friends that I watch anime for the sake of preventing misunderstandings, and not just tell everyone I meet that my hobby includes anime.

[TigerII]

As stated, here in the states, Otaku isn't a common word. We who watch anime are ust childish or weird. My college has an anime club, but the sole member was ridiculed until he quit, so now it is a dead club. I would have never joined it, but on the whole, watching anime around me is a stigma. I doubt I will ever come into contact with another anime watcher here(not very common or known anyways when the most popula thing to do is get drunk and shoot animals-That is the South for you).

One thing I am glad is the only thing I do is watch anime and read a few light novels. So it is easy to hide. I just plan quit one day as well.

[Dxon]

So... Right.. I have read almost all posts here but eventually stopped when they became long again. >o< You people write them big! :O

Anyways..
All just sums it up very well. When you go to japan living with a host family or for every reason. Dont say your otaku! It ruins everything you've expected about those people. Only say it to those you are sure of they are otaku too! If I once go to japan im not going to say im otaku. Since of what I've read so far on various websites is that the otaku-people (or how to say it.. :P ) had a hard time to change the way of writing it and thus getting a little bit of bad things in the image of it. (Is that said right?) Its going to take another looooong time to change the whole image of otaku back to normal (and thus not bad. Not like: otaku=psycho but like: otaku? So what..). But until that happens. Its best for you to not say that you're otaku to other people who are not. Even if the one who doesnt care that your otaku and knows what otaku really is, dont say it! He might say it to people who DO care. Just say it to fellow otaku's. ^^

Wow.. Just wrote a bunch back there. :P
If anything is wrong or something. Dont mind me! Just forget everything what I've said then and stuff.. This is all the way I see it.

[Honda Boy Techy]

Originally Posted by TigerII

As stated, here in the states, Otaku isn't a common word. We who watch anime are ust childish or weird. My college has an anime club, but the sole member was ridiculed until he quit, so now it is a dead club. I would have never joined it, but on the whole, watching anime around me is a stigma. I doubt I will ever come into contact with another anime watcher here(not very common or known anyways when the most popula thing to do is get drunk and shoot animals-That is the South for you).

One thing I am glad is the only thing I do is watch anime and read a few light novels. So it is easy to hide. I just plan quit one day as well.

That's kinda strange cause I'm in the south too but no one seems to care. I've told people that I watch anime and how much I have and they are just "Wow, that's a lot" and pretty much leave it at that. I've had a few ask me why I watch anime. I usually tell for the most part why and they usually accept it and move on. A few however inquire further and think some of the stuff I watch sounds good. No one here is ridiculed for watching anime or anything. Our club, though not an actual college club (populated mostly by college students and meets at the college, it's actually an open club not affiliated with the college) has quite a few members and it's a community college in a relatively small town. You also have to take into account I'm in redneck country and still no one cares.