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I've been seeing a lot of people around this forum posing as "otaku", most of them illiterate 12 year-olds. I am not in the position to judge a person who decides to present himself/herself as an otaku, but I can't help but feel a bit bothered when I sometimes notice downright attention seekers taking on the persona of a socially awkward anime/manga/games fan, who doesn't have offline friends and never had a 3d crush. I will not provide you with examples because I don't want to quote & offend someone with my speculations, but they're pretty much everywhere in the General Discussions and Casual Chat boards.

What's more, to associate the "otaku" concept with social awkwardness is neither wrong, nor right, but I have a hunch that the people in question don't belong to either of them.(This phenomenon is similar to the Female Gamer thing: as in, usually when a girl declares to be a girl gamer, "believe it or not", she most probably sucks as a gamer. So I say, when somebody presents themselves as a friendless anime fan, he most probably has friends, but no personality.)

It's a little strange sometimes, but I don't really think most people actually mean it, at least not in the sense of the japanese idea of what an Otaku is.

I sometimes see people using it just to refer to being a fan of Anime.

Because in an anime forum, you totally are socially active!

As I think what Jack Rav replied to some reply of what I said.

I Lol'd.

But what if they ACTUALLY don't have offline friends or a 3D crush?

i am one but not as you describe it iv held jobs i have very good personalty and some good friends both IRL[ most witch i met online first ] and purely online

But i dislike Benin and/or banal topics of conversation

im the model of the otaku but not as uasly portrayed


most people would not call me otaku cause i have otakuish behavioral ideals I every thing i do
3 main things i call my self otaku of
1 manga/anime
2 Games
3 Idols

Can someone please define what an otaku is? ( In the way that most Japanese view it)

I wonder how a person is supposed to have no personality or how it can be good or bad.

Some one who is obsessive over something

So not just associated with anime I assuming?

It's never been cool to be socially inept. Though, it is cool right now to be into anime and video games. Social awkwardness and otaku culture like anime and videos games in a lot of cases go hand in hand.

True

Is that a reason to portray themselves as such? Wouldn't they be better off trying to move away from the stereotype?



Having no personality usually implies trying to fit in a stereotype, so that you "receive" some predefined traits to identify with, since you don't have any of your own. In this case, the "socially inept otaku" stereotype, which has grown quite popular.

Not in a lot of cases. Just in some. Not enough to make being an anime fan connected with not having a social life.

I'm pretty sure that an otaku is someone with a very unhealthy and excessively obsessive interest in something, usually anime and/or manga. It can also apply to games and other interests.
Just because you're an anime fan, doesn't mean that you're an anime otaku. To be an anime otaku is to be VERY obsessive about it. For example watching thousands of different anime series, collecting many figurines, being all "2D > 3D PIG DISGUSTING", thinking only about anime all the time, etc.

How sure are we about this?

I'm an anime fan and I have a social life?

Nope this is not true since anime Otaku and Video game otaku from what i have sceen [ in the west anyway] are very much not two sides of note
while in Japan thay are no1 reason the First Dragon quest game sold so well was cause Enix used Toriyama to give interviews about the game. Sugiyama is the single most Famous games composer in Japan when he socres and Film or Tv Show live action or anime, Games Otaku will By cause of him and Cause of his work on Dragon quest

the Otakuism of any type 9/10 will lead to oyu getting in other things and you may become an otaku of that thing

Even if this is the case, you are still one in thousands. So I'm still not sure.

I'm not an otaku or even intermediate level anime fan, and the reason I'm socially inept can't exactly be helped.

People throw around "Otaku" as much as they do "Troll". I don't think you'll be able to stop 'em.



Not exactly work safe.