Life and Love in the Otaku Generation
I started off writing this post with the sole intention to gush about my boyfriend. As I’ve mentioned previously, my boyfriend is also an anime fanboy whom I met at an anime convention.
As a full-fledged nerdling couple, we spent a good part of yesterday evening not only watching the latest episodes of Macross Frontier and Chi’s Sweet Home, but also talking about the nuances of anime fandom and how we think that this fandom differs from the sf/f fandom, for instance. At some point during that conversation, I was struck at how much my thinking has changed that occurrences like that now seem…normal.
I wish there was some sort of survey of how many fangirls actually end up dating ‘one of their own?’ It really wouldn’t have been terrible if my boyfriend wasn’t an otaku himself, but the fact that he is makes a lot of things so much more convenient. If I’m squeeing over a seiyuu or hyperventilating over the cover of a new artbook, I do not have to explain my behavior at all. He knows the deal. He’s an otaku too.
Even to a certain extent, it got me into thinking that a good number of the people closest to me even act the same way. I did not decide to fill my entire peer group with just fanboys and fangirls; by coincidence or subconscious design, it just happened that way.
There’s actually quite a few great things about having otaku as your closest friends:
Their passion is contagious. One of the biggest concerns when you’re first meeting & talking to somebody is that the unspoken worry that the two of you won’t have anything to talk about. Hence the long awkward silences, which would lead to insecurity and anxiety, and possibly a very bad date. If you’re both anime/manga fans, I’m pretty sure that neither of you would run out of stuff to talk about. Otaku, in general, are passionate about their favorite series and would be more than happy to sing its praises to anybody who’s willing to listen. I’ve been a part of (or listened to) many conversations where the speaker’s enthusiasm about his fave new show was so compelling that everybody else became so hyped up to see the show for themselves ASAP.
Fanboys and fangirls are generally willing to share. From my experience, otaku friends, in the interest of getting you interested in a new book or show, are generous with their resources. Be it a DVD, or a manga volume, or a burned CD/DVD with a bunch of fansubbed eps, otaku love to share. It’s almost one of the defining characteristics of fans — the other being the “collectionist” mentality — and should be exploited for all its worth.
Anime/manga fans are creative. There’s a whole gamut of creative types throughout fandom. You have fan artists, fanfic writers, cosplayers, fansite makers (a dying breed, but there are still some out there), AMV creators, doujinshi circles, etc. Name a series, any series, and I’m sure there are tons of fanworks for even the most obscure ones. Also, there are a good number of authors, journalists, reviewers, and anime bloggers who have who have proven that the art of creative writing isn’t dead. Anime and manga fandom encourages participation, in any format where you would feel comfortable.
There’s room in here for everybody! It’s difficult to feel isolated in fandom only because there seems to be a group (or sub-group) for every possible permutation of interests that exist. Anime is not a genre, rather, it’s a means of presenting genre. There is so much variety and choice that one isn’t restricted to just the same thing that it seems most people are consuming. Sure, most new fans watch Naruto and/or Bleach, but that doesn’t mean you have to. There are a lot of series that could appeal to your palate based on your pre-existing tastes and preferences, and nobody is going to call you any less of a fan if you stick to the few things that appeal to you.
I must confess that I never fully bought into the well-worn stereotypes of otaku sitting alone in front of their TVs or computer monitors, for all the otaku that I’ve gotten to know (online and offline) are actually quite social. In this ‘community,’ if you will, there appears to be a constant craving for the shared experience. The anime blogging community is kept afloat by the belief that we think that other people care what we think about the series. We reach out to like-minded people, linking to them on our blogrolls, commenting on their journals, stalking their posts on aggregators because we like the idea that there are other people out there who are interested in discourse about an episode of a Japanese cartoon.
You know what? I do. If you’ve read this far along, I think you do too.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:23 am
All the otaku I know are quite social and more than just otaku circles. Only a couple of the ones I know are creative though…the rest mostly absorbed what they watch.
May 24th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Actually I’d be interested in that survey too. I had one boyfriend who was not into otakudom and never felt it was a bad thing, but my current and the one before are both otaku. As a fangirl, I have the impression that most girls are either single or dating an otaku.
But yeah, that was really interesting to read, and the picture is quite intriguing. Where is it from?
May 25th, 2008 at 2:11 am
[...] screenshot limit“! Again, I give Sasa’s seal of approval, especially since Anna is another animeblogging girl with an otaku boyfriend. :3 Back to Moggling, I think that my next blog postings will mainly feature his pictures. His [...]
May 25th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Wahhh, that’s so cute. I’d like that, too.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I definitely agree with the fact that there’s room for everyone. And we can always discuss how we feel about certain series
May 27th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
@Sasa: I picked up that image from Danbooru, of all places.