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This Is An Encyclopedia of Otaku
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This Is An Encyclopedia of Otaku |
06/12/09
HEYA BASH AGAIN!
I do actually leave the house- in fact, I just went out trash scrubbing looking for some wire and BAM! found a fan cover. Should work for what I need.
I just checked out the review at Akiba blog, and, more importantly, checked some shots of the book- and it is much much better than I expected, so my doubts about the book were almost completely wrong. I still stand firm by my absolute hatred of the misuse of otaku, but it is nice to see in the description of things the author puts in a little bit (a very little bit) of history. It's still, apparently, mostly Akiba-centric, which is why the otaku in the title stings. But, as all things go, for a coffee table book it isn't bad.
Though, if I were to be completely pleased by an encyclopedia of Japanese pop-culture, it would be about 20-50 pages on a single subject, which is a little too much.
AT MonsterKingRen:
Sorry, the reply function doesn't work for me, so if you're reading this, then yay! You went to the second page of posts.
Yeah, while there is a lot of stereotyping associated with, well, anything, it doesn't really help that a movement away from anime=otaku is happening in non-Japan. While, as I said in the above part of this post, this book is definately a worthwhile and valuable attempt on defining things seen within Akiba culture, it also re-enforces the stereotype which ain't cool, dood. I'm mostly angry at people mis-using the term because they think they have an "in" with Japanese culture by using a Japanese word, and don't really bother to follow up with anything else. So basically, ignorance pisses me off (I am, of course, wholly ignorant of a ton of shit, but I don't, or try not to, throw around terms unless I fully understand what they actually mean).
For myself, my Japanese friends usually do describe me as an otaku to their friends (I have been called one of the following at different occasions: mac/music/game/nekojiru/japanese society/linguistics otaku), but they do so jokingly. It helps that I am gaijin and therefore they don't immediately jump to the common "otaku=pedophile" concept in Japan, but it helps more that I realize it isn't good to be called an otkau or take pride in being called one (and I also don't think I am in any form). Because of the narrow view of otaku from non-otaku, to say that you are otaku is another way to say that you are really boring and socially inept, except in one subject, where you are incredibly boring. So if I meet anyone who calls themselves a "____ otaku," I have also met someone who I don't want to spend any time talking to. And calling a Japanese person otaku, unless you know them very well, is a good way to get them pissed off at you.
If anyone is still reading this, something that rhymes with beans.
06/12/09
HI BASH.
Reading the book would require me to leave my house, which is something I'm not accustomed to. I am actually planning on doing so, or at least skimming through it, seeing if it actually addresses the history and cultural background of otaku, and isn't just a big ol' book of terms and pretty pictures. From reading the porduct description on the Amazon site, which is something I did before posting, it states that the term otaku has "been used to refer to people who are really into Japanese pop-culture," which, while yes, there are otaku that would fit that description, it doesn't go on to explain that the term is also used in more ways, something that is quite more important than just saying you like "Japanese pop-culture." There are a ton of gyaru who would be outraged if you dared try to call them otaku. I'll admit that I'm biased against the book just knowing that the author works for Metropolis, which regularly provides examples of ill-informed culture-shock views of Japan.
However, my post in question was not so much directed at the book as it was directed at non-Japanese using the term otaku like it makes them cool or something, who, being the main demo for this book, perpetuate the misuse of otaku more than an "encyclopedia" ever could. Props to the author to finding something that he can write a book about to make some quick cash, but for someone who is supposedly a "PhD candidate at Todai" I would have thought they'd have the common sense or integrity not to allow "subculture of Cool Japan" plastered on the front of the book.
06/12/09
WE MEET AGAIN.
You should leave your house! Even I leave my house. At least once a week. But only under the cover of darkness.
Akiba Blog did a post on the book:
[blog.livedoor.jp]
So that's kinda like going to the bookstore, no?
06/12/09
Secondly, outside of their circles, otaku ARE NOT cool. Ever see revenge of the nerds? Even at the end of the movie nobody thought the nerds were cool. It's the same in Japan.
So stop tossing around otaku like you, or anyone you know, is actually one just because they like Japanese anime, videogames, or have been to Akihabara. It isn't the proper use of the word, it presents a skewed version of Japanese society, and you aren't giving yourself any points.
06/12/09
Maybe more actually-reading-the-book, less soapboxing? :/
06/12/09
Also most people who think they're "otaku" in the west usually are pretty obsessed. And since it's borrowed from Japan it'd feel pretty weird to apply the term to something else. Hey Bob, you're such a beer otaku. "What the hell did you call me".
Looks like the circle part.
You seem pretty angry with people semi-misusing this term. Are you obsessed with that? Are you HHEH a correct-japanese-word-usage-otaku? HHHEH
In a way at least you seem to be defending people from a pejorative word, that's a bit like you saying to people who don't speak english "Stop calling yourselves assholes like it's cool".
Unless you associate yourself with the word and don't want the equivalent of posers.
The moral of this story is that there will always be stereotypes.
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Ice.
06/12/09
In any case, Japan is not geek friendly in the slightest... Geeks are treated REALLY poorly in society there, and much better in the more open-minded and individualistic US.
I'd love to see some of the more geeky folk in Japan rise up and prove themselves, that they're not all potential Tsutomu Miyazakis...
That they're not all lonely perverts living in apartments they don't pay for...
It's possible to be a geek AND a working and productive member of society. Liking anime -- and not just Shonen jump anime-- is a perfectly decent hobby... I know, grunting for 30 episodes and staring at each other for over an episode is acceptable, but dare to attempt a complex story, and it's suddenly serial rapist and child killer territory.
I don't want to see Otaku die out in Japan, I just want to see Japan more open to different groups in their native inhabitants, and maybe if Otaku had a bit more acceptance, they'd be able to move themselves out of their stereotypes and prove themselves in society at large... And not just by working for game companies that are losing their influence, either...
Gamers in the US should really feel an affinity with Otaku in Japan... The actions of a couple of us affect all of us, and we're looked at as potentially dangerous too.
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No, it's his biography.
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