Musings On The Otaku Lifestyle

While I may be a big fan of anime, plamos (plastic models), and videogames, I have always crossed the line at calling myself an otaku. To put it mildly, the title carries with it a negative connotation. Normally, otaku are people with no social life, no money, and unhealthy obssessions towards anime, videogames, models, electronics, cosplaying, or whatever.

In fact, in Japan it's a derogatory term. Infamous incidents such as the Otaku Murders of Tsutomu Miyazaki and Hiroyuki Tsuchida served to further the image of otaku as social misfits. In Tsutomu's case he killed Japanese gradeschool girls, mutilated them then raped their lifeless corpses. Hiroyuki was inspired by the CRAPPY anime Neon Genesis Evangelion (The "Da Vinci Code" of anime, controversial but ultimately shallow) to bash his mother to death with a baseball bat, since the show convinced him that human beings were worthless creatures.

As of late, this image has altered. Anime, live action shows and manga dealing with otaku culture have helped shed light into the lifestyles of these social misfits. As the intro song to the hit anime Genshiken says so fittingly of the otaku lifestyle, being otaku may be a source of infamy to some, but pride to others:

(Source: http://www.soul-reply.net/genshiken/theme.php)

My Pace, the Emperor
Translation: EclipseZeta, xiaozzfei

Wake up in the morning, forgot my cell phone as usual, missed the train
My life reflects in the train's window
I have something I'm better than enyone else in Japan at
But it's a little sad no one knows about it
Even though I can't run fast
I'm not built that strong
I'll go now, my pace is indomitable
Today's sorrow, go away like the afternoon's rain
The second dance on the two feet, dreaming night after night
Goodbye sorrow, take off beyond the atmospere
Scream out load towards the vast sky
With this tempo...
...With this tempo now

Don't be misled. The song may sound sad but it's actually sung in the Punk Rock style, further glorifying the otaku status from that of a slow, miserable social misfit into an upbeat, productive (albeit weird) member of society. Still, in spite of these, it is still not a title I'd like to adopt for myself because if anything, the title is still mostly negative. While the image has improved, it still carries the connotation of being weird.