What is 'Otaku'?

[† RazorDan]

I hear this a lot when it comes to anime and manga but I don't understand the term fully. What defines an 'Otaku'? Do you believe this is an offensive lable? Heck, do you see yourself as an 'Otaku'? What is your opinion on 'Otakus'? Leave your thoughts......

[Manifesto]

It's just what japanese people call people who are really into manga/anime, I guess I don't really feel offended because it's true

[Koby]

The term Otaku is actually offensive. Japanese hate Otaku, yet Americans completely misunderstand the term Otaku. In Japan it is as bad as someone calling you a 'Mother Fucking lazy ass bum'. Here in America people celebrate being an Otaku.

Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life (no social life, no love life, etc)

Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer).

In the Western culture, people confuse otaku to be something positive like "Guru". If you think about it, it's not really good to be called a guru if it means you are a total loser who can't socialize with other people except through the Internet.

[† Irish]

The term Otaku is actually offensive. Japanese hate Otaku, yet Americans completely misunderstand the term Otaku. In Japan it is as bad as someone calling you a 'Mother Fucking lazy ass bum'. Here in America people celebrate being an Otaku.

Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life (no social life, no love life, etc)

Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer).

In the Western culture, people confuse otaku to be something positive like "Guru". If you think about it, it's not really good to be called a guru if it means you are a total loser who can't socialize with other people except through the Internet.

QFT, I hate it when People ask me if im an otaku, it offensive... It makes me want to ask them, Can I Punch You in the Face? I just hate it when people dont understand the ACTUAL definition and parade around calling themselves something so negative...

[† Anras Rune]

QFT, I hate it when People ask me if im an otaku, it offensive... It makes me want to ask them, Can I Punch You in the Face? I just hate it when people dont understand the ACTUAL definition and parade around calling themselves something so negative...

i know how you feel irish...there is alot of people here in spain that do the same, all because they only watch 1 or 2 series' (almost always Naruto and One Piece, although some watch Bleach) the parade around calling themselves Otakus and adding the suffix -chan on the end of damn near every sentence...which believe me doesnt sound good in spanish... XP

[† Talena Mae]

Chan at the end of a sentence? Man they are lame, it is to be used at the end of a close (mainly) female friends name...

Otaku is offensive, if i hear an Aussie use it I confront them about it. " you do know you are putting yourself down calling yourself an Otaku?" sort of thing, they get all upset about it so I call them Japanese wannabes, people who like the anime and/or manga but know nothing of culture.

[† Anras Rune]

Chan at the end of a sentence? Man they are lame, it is to be used at the end of a close (mainly) female friends name...

Otaku is offensive, if i hear an Aussie use it I confront then about it. " you do know you are putting yourself down calling yourself an Otaku?" sort of thing, they get all upset about it so I call them Japan wannabes, people who like the anime and/or manga but know nothing of culture.

Wapanophiles!!!! The scourge of the anime community, the reason it is still considered childish in many countries, cause those twats are ignorant!! XP

well i have seen more than a few offenders of the "-chan" pitfall on this site...>.>

[† Irish]

Wapanophiles!!!! The scourge of the anime community, the reason it is still considered childish in many countries, cause those twats are ignorant!! XP

well i have seen more than a few offenders of the "-chan" pitfall on this site...>.>

lmao.. I just have no respect for people like that. I can't bring myself to think on their level.

[Dreamscape82]

The term Otaku is actually offensive. Japanese hate Otaku, yet Americans completely misunderstand the term Otaku. In Japan it is as bad as someone calling you a 'Mother Fucking lazy ass bum'. Here in America people celebrate being an Otaku.

Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life (no social life, no love life, etc)

Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer).

In the Western culture, people confuse otaku to be something positive like "Guru". If you think about it, it's not really good to be called a guru if it means you are a total loser who can't socialize with other people except through the Internet.

Exactly, in Japan the term is an insult; whereas in the West it is considered a "compliment" ... personally I find it insulting

[luring]

Well in my country, the word otaku to my fellow anime lovers is somewhat positive. If you're an anime lover, you are considered an otaku or you call yourself an otaku. Basically no one really knows the full meaning of the "standard" definition of it but heck, words have different meanings in different places.

Personally I think the term is relative since we're living in a postmodern era--there's really no such thing as a single ultimate meaning.

I don't really call myself as an otaku cause I feel I'm not that addicted to anime--I haven't cosplayed or bought many anime collectibles. But I still love anime. XD

[seirachan]

Well in my country, the word otaku to my fellow anime lovers is somewhat positive. If you're an anime lover, you are considered an otaku or you call yourself an otaku. Basically no one really knows the full meaning of the "standard" definition of it but heck, words have different meanings in different places.

Personally I think the term is relative since we're living in a postmodern era--there's really no such thing as a single ultimate meaning.

I don't really call myself as an otaku cause I feel I'm not that addicted to anime--I haven't cosplayed or bought many anime collectibles. But I still love anime. XD

I just think the point is that it is insulting the culture. It's mostly said by Japanese wannabe's also known as weeaboos. Most of these people scrimmage all their money to visit Japan and make fools out of themselves. I know of a hardcore "otaku" who acts like a child when she is 10 years older then me almost. Her inter life revolves around anime. She makes a complete fool of herself all the time and butchers the Japanese language.

Also my name is OLD from back in highschool but at least I knew where to put chan lol.

[TheLostFool]

The term Otaku is actually offensive. Japanese hate Otaku, yet Americans completely misunderstand the term Otaku. In Japan it is as bad as someone calling you a 'Mother Fucking lazy ass bum'. Here in America people celebrate being an Otaku.

Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life (no social life, no love life, etc)

Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer).

In the Western culture, people confuse otaku to be something positive like "Guru". If you think about it, it's not really good to be called a guru if it means you are a total loser who can't socialize with other people except through the Internet.

I tend to disagree for the following reasons:

A) the word Otaku as we are talking about is Slang, and not part of the actual Japanese Language. As with any Slang it is unofficial and changes with time, usually from generation to generation. Slang is completely made up and can't be considered part of the actual language.

The slang application of Otaku as you guys are describing is derived from お宅 otaku meaning "your home, your house".

C) Otaku as you guys are talking about, didn't come around until the 1980s. And perhaps it is now a part of Japans Anime and Manga, and perhaps more a part of the youth culture. but it has nothing to do with traditional japanese culture. Or modern Japanese culture other than it's slang application.

You said the meaning of Otaku hasn't changed in your post on the other thread, well thats because it is a relatively new slang term. (30 years or a word is basically new) And by people using it as a joke or implying a good meaning to it, that is exactly how slang and words change over time.

you said

you can't justify misusing another languages word as simply culture differences or 'words changing'. I call BS on that. Bitch, Mother Fucker, Cunt, etc.. will always be used as insults and they're meaning will likely never change. If they do change that's up to the culture in which the language is actually used. Japan ain't gonna change the meaning of English words just like Americans aren't/can't change the meaning of the word Otaku. So you're reasoning/justification for doing so is flawed at best.

But thats a very narrow way to view languages.

A) 'Bitch' originally was not an offensive word. In fact its true meaning is 'a female dog', nothing offensive about that. But it's application through slang has changed it to an offensive word, though none the less the slang application of 'bitch' is not it's real meaning.

People use phrases like "mother fucker" as jokes and not insultingly, such as "you're such a mother fucker man hahaha" Or someone saying "yeah I'm mother fucking best" This show sort of the inverse of point A. Words are very dynamic and can have several meanings.

C) Where it is true that language and culture are in some ways connected, a culture doesn't really own the language it's people speaks. Viewing it in such a way is flawed, especially in saying it's up to the culture to change it. Think of this the culture of modern Japan did not create the japanese language, and you can bet the culture that created the Japanese language all those many years ago was completely different than the culture japan has today. So by just going by your own definition that the culture has to be the one to change it, which im not saying i agree with, the culture that created japanese would have to be the ones to change it. But in that event Otaku as you guys describe would never have been created because it comes from a different culture. So based on your argument Modern Japan and the USA would would both be equal, in that neither would be able to change the meaning of the words as neither culture created the language. But the fact is, that assumption is incorrect, any culture can and does change words and meanings regardless of where it may have originated. In fact every language is continuously being changed by all. The english you and I speak didn't come from America, it came from the Anglo-Saxons, which later evolved into the United Kingdom. Orignially Anglish which became English. And later crossed the Atlantic Ocean to take on a new form. English in the UK compared to the USA are very different. And words and meanings, even the spelling of words were changed. But both are english.

All cultures are very dynamic and often conflicting. And with Otaku its slang application was created by if anything the anime and manga culture in japan, which by no means can be said to be representative of the entire culture of japan or even a large portion of it.

And another aspect you don't see is how other cultures influence and change other cultures. Especially the American Culture, which is definitely the most influential culture in the world. Which affects how people dress, act, talk, eat, the music they listen to, the movies they watch. All these thing both directly and indirectly change other cultures. In fact Japans gradual move away from their traditional culture is directly due to the influence of american cultures. It's Westernization. The same can be said with languages.

So by all means people aren't idiots for calling themselves Otakus, because in some regions it is evolving to mean something else. Change is inevitable, and that applies to anything and everything.

[Koby]

So by all means people aren't idiots for calling themselves Otakus, because in some regions it is evolving to mean something else. Change is inevitable, and that applies to anything and everything.

This is still wrong despite everything else you said. What you continue to fail to grasp is that the term has NOT evolved it's just continued to be mis-used by Japanese Wannabe's. Mis-using the word does not make it evolve into what it's being mis-used as. It simply allows us to laugh at the retards who mis-use a word. People need to learn the damn meaning of words they use instead of trying to create their own definition of the word.

I don't go around saying hey I like the term Fucker. I'm going to turn it into meaning the greatest dad ever and then spread it around calling myself a fucker because I personally changed the words meaning because I failed to know it's real use/meaning. That's still BS and all you've continued to do is make excuses to wrongly use a word. That fact hasn't changed.

Go ahead continue to mis-use the term Otaku. Real fans will always correct you and laugh at you as they have done for well over the past decade at the pathetic Japanese Wannabe's who continue to insult themselves without realizing it.

[TheLostFool]

This is still wrong despite everything else you said. What you continue to fail to grasp is that the term has NOT evolved it's just continued to be mis-used by Japanese Wannabe's. Mis-using the word does not make it evolve into what it's being mis-used as. It simply allows us to laugh at the retards who mis-use a word. People need to learn the damn meaning of words they use instead of trying to create their own definition of the word.

I don't go around saying hey I like the term Fucker. I'm going to turn it into meaning the greatest dad ever and then spread it around calling myself a fucker because I personally changed the words meaning because I failed to know it's real use/meaning. That's still BS and all you've continued to do is make excuses to wrongly use a word. That fact hasn't changed.

Go ahead continue to mis-use the term Otaku. Real fans will always correct you and laugh at you as they have done for well over the past decade at the pathetic Japanese Wannabe's who continue to insult themselves without realizing it.

As I said above Otaku as you know it is only around 30 years old, a new slang word. Everything takes time to change and this is changing. I mean we even have an "Otaku Releases' section in the forum, so does that mean that section is the loser section? And yes when many people use a word in a certain way and it catches on, then yes that is how words evolve and get different meanings. You're right we haven't seen it evolve YET, but as we are seeing it is or else why would so many people be in a hizzy over it? Seems this other meaning is certainly catching on, and as i just said we have a "Otaku Releases" section, seems it's catching on and some are just reluctant to accept it and just call the others who use this new meaning as Japanese Wannabes.

Also again It is not a real word, it is slang. It is not part of the Japanese language, it's a made up term thats what 30 years old. So the real Wannabe's are those who make up a new word and argue about what it means. When in actually it's not real, it's like people arguing what is emo, or indie. Reminds me of high school where people are too worried about what is hip and how to be hip when really its ridiculous. The fact it it is slang that is changing. If people can make up a word others sure as heck can change it's meaning.

[Koby]

As I said above Otaku as you know it is only around 30 years old, a new slang word. Everything takes time to change and this is changing. I mean we even have an "Otaku Releases' section in the forum, so does that mean that section is the loser section? And yes when many people use a word in a certain way and it catches on, then yes that is how words evolve and get different meanings. You're right we haven't seen it evolve YET, but as we are seeing it is or else why would so many people be in a hizzy over it? Seems this other meaning is certainly catching on, and as i just said we have a "Otaku Releases" section, seems it's catching on and some are just reluctant to accept it and just call the others who use this new meaning as Japanese Wannabes.

Also again It is not a real word, it is slang. It is not part of the Japanese language, it's a made up term thats what 30 years old. So the real Wannabe's are those who make up a new word and argue about what it means. When in actually it's not real, it's like people arguing what is emo, or indie. Reminds me of high school where people are too worried about what is hip and how to be hip when really its ridiculous. The fact it it is slang that is changing. If people can make up a word others sure as heck can change it's meaning.

I'm tired of having to repeat myself to someone who clearly doesn't understand simple English.

Mis-translating does not equal definition evolving.

So all you're doing is showing how little you actually understand.

It has not changed, and mis-using it will not be the cause for the change when/if it does change. Otaku is an insult plain and simple. If you want to be neglectful of this fact don't bitch when we call you an idiot for mis-using it. For as long as the word has existed there has been idiots who don't get it. They mis-use the term because they're idiots. You defend them because you don't get it. You make excuses for idiots. It doesn't change the fact you don't get it.

As for Otaku Releases. I only used the term Otaku.. because there wasn't really a compatible term. I could probably used Fan Releases, but I opted not to. Otaku is too mis-used by English speaking people anyhow, so people get it, although they don't really get it.

TD;LR only idiots believe the term is anything more than an insult.

This fact seems to continue to excape TheLostFool. Good to see the rest of the thread is full of people who actually get the meaning of the words they use.

It eludes me how some people can mis-use words from other cultures and then when confronted about it try to make of excuses for their mis-using it by blaming it on words evolving. Mis-using a word doesn't evolve the word into meaning what you want it to.

If that was the case I could go re-write the whole Webster Dictionary to make every word have the same meaning simply because I said so.

*edit*

For the record the 'official' English definition as told by dictionary.com is:

Main Entry: otaku

Part of Speech: n

Definition: an avid collector or enthusiast, esp. one who is obsessed anime, video games, or computer and rarely leaves home

Etymology: Japanese 'house'

Usage: derogatory slang

Not as bad as the Japanese meaning, but it's still intended as a derogatory insult.

The term "otaku" seems to have been introduced to anime fans in the US and other countries via Studio Gainax's "Otaku no Video 1985," a self-parody film.

Otaku, meaning probably "venerable house," refers to someone who has a devotion to a subject or hobby (not necessarily anime) to the point of not leaving home. For instance, an otaku fan of a particular movie star could quite possibly know all of the films s/he has been in, their birth date, time of birth, shoe size, favorite toothpaste, etc. Generally speaking, calling someone an otaku in Japan is an insult, implying that their social skills have atrophied or never even developed, due to their manic involvement in their chosen fandom.

In America, the term is used to denote a zealous fan, usually of anime and/or manga. Due to its introduction to most people's vocabulary through its tongue-in-cheek use in Gainax's film, "otaku" tends to have a much less dire definition overseas.

When dealing with Japanese people, however, it may be best to keep in mind the modern Japanese image of an otaku -- Someone who only leaves their home to eat or shop, if at all, with an overwhelming and unhealthy obsession about something. It can as easily refer to a stalker or sociopath as it can to a harmless anime buff.

Best to avoid the word altogether if one is not sure of the context in which it will be received.

Positive: "Oh, wow! Check it out: Neck-through, Floyd Rose locking tremolo and an optional push/pull coil tap!" (slaps forehead and laughs) "Man, I am such a guitar otaku, aren't I?"

Negative: "Stay clear of Toshi, man. He's such a RQ otaku, always online. Bet he's never actually even talked to a real-live girl before... You never know when he's gonna' snap, right?"

Otaku is the honorific word of Taku (home).

Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life (no social life, no love life, etc)

Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer).

In the Western culture, people confuse otaku to be something positive like "Guru". If you think about it, it's not really good to be called a guru if it means you are a total loser who can't socialize with other people except through the Internet.