You are (not) an Otaku.

I think one of my biggest annoyance with the anime/manga community (aside from the arrogant douchebaggery) are people who PROCLAIM to be an Otaku. I don’t think people really understand the concept of the world otaku, so aside from my rage, I will explain what it means to be an otaku.

Now, first off, YOU are not an Otaku if you claim you are one yourself. An Otaku can not simply be your label if you just have a love for anime/manga and think you breathe, sleep, and talk about it. I don’t care how you take this bash, but all I know is, you make yourself look like an idiot. To GENUINELY be called an otaku, you must literally dedicate your whole being to your hobby, to the point where it gets in the way of real life. I don’t give a fuck about how many emoticons you use to make yourself look “SEW KAWAII NE?!?!?!?” or how many NaruXSasu fanfics; as long as you proclaim to be an otaku, you will never be one. Also, people need to know that being an otaku IS NOT A GOOD THING. Being an otaku means being seen as trash, or at least in Japan. If you go to Japan calling yourself and otaku, more than likely people will think lowly of you and will also probably consider you a dirty gaijin.


Back with the ramble though. Watching Naruto and Bleach and being able pull any trivia from the show out of your ass on the spot does not mean anything. I don’t get why any of you even bother calling yourself an otaku just on the bases of liking anime and maybe owning a few figures here and there and decking out your room with a few posters. I will ask, do you really want to be considered an otaku? What do you gain from being one? As I said before, an otaku is looked down upon in Japanese society. Also, an otaku is not strictly on anime and manga. It can be with anything. I think the best way to put it is, an otaku is the equivalent of a geek, but to the extreme.

I'll leave some delicious Misaka before I continue.

Anyways, with that out of my system, I will go over what I would consider to be an otaku. Now in no way do I consider myself to be an otaku. I merely like anime and manga and related items, but in no way am I anywhere near otaku level.


-Dedication: You must devote yourself to your hobby/interest. So much that it becomes cumbersome to real life activities.
-True Interest: By being an otaku of something, you must carry a true interest in it. Just because you like something does not mean anything; you must be willing to take it to the next level and literally feel like you can’t live without it.
-Trivia: Just because you like something and show your dedication does not mean anything if you can’t show it off. You must be able to pull any information related to your interest without difficulty. This means anything and everything about something that can be answered are answered without hesitation.
-You yourself do not decide your status as an otaku: You should not be the one calling yourself an otaku, but rather others decide for you. Those who decide should also not be a self proclaiming otaku nor should they carry similar or same interests as the focus of your otaku-ness.


These are just basics of what I see as an otaku. Overall though, those trying to be cute with their wapanese, believing to be an otaku, only watching/reading poplar popular/mainstream series just gives me the impression of a 13 year old fangirl who needs to be punched in the face. Also, I Rage, I Lost. I could get into why I hate people (younger people), but I think that’s already been touched upon in one of our previous posts. Either way, I hope all you guys learned something and if for whatever reason you disagree, agree, want to add on, just let me know cause I’m fairly open minded…Unless you are all like “AHH HIDOI YO~ ANITA BAKA DESU WA NE WWWWWWWW WATASHI KAWAII DESU NE~ xD” then I may be forced to kill myself.