In these recent years, the flow of Japanese animation to the United States has become more frequent. To the surprise of many Japanese writers and illustrators, this form of animation that was originally aimed at Japanese audiences has gained popularity overseas. Better known as anime, Japanese animation differs from American animation in the diversity of its audience and themes. Unlike its American counterpart, anime is not exclusively made for children. In fact, it is a medium very similar to film, where a variety of genres (romance, action, horror, comedy, etc) are covered.

In anime, Americans see a no-holds-barred animation. However, the appeal of anime does not only come from showing what American cartoons cannot show due to censorship. To many American fans, anime is a door that takes them to a whole new culture, the Japanese culture. In other words, we could say that anime is an exotic item to many Americans.

Just like there are fanatics in sports and music, there are also fervent devotees to anime in America. These people, better known as otaku, are the subject of this paper, which will focus on how they interact inside and outside of their otaku world. The word "otaku" is a Japanese word that derives from the kanji meaning "household." This makes a lot of sense, if we consider that otaku rarely get out of their homes because they are so involved in their obsessions. Other sources indicate that it also comes from an extremely formal way of the word "you" in Japanese. Here, it is important to make a distinction between the Japanese otaku and the American otaku. In Japan, people give the name "otaku" to anybody who is considered a geek or nerd. In America, otaku are the geeks that mainly focus on anime and manga (Japanese comics). Some American otaku are also interested in video games since there are anime characters in some of them.

While geeks are subject of jokes in America, otaku have recently become a subject of concern in Japan. During the early 90's, Japan faced its first otaku serial killer. An article from Wired magazine, written by Karl Taro Greenfeld in 1993, talks about the case. Here is an excerpt:

When police finally caught up with Tsutomu Miyazaki, they found the 27-year-old living in two realities. By day he was a sullen apprentice at a local print shop. By night he lived out the fantasies he had internalized from avidly watching his collection of more than 6,000 slasher videos and pornographic manga, or Japanese comic books.

Tsutomu Miyazaki turned out to be a child molester who murdered four girls. For the relatively crime-free Japanese society, this was quite a shock.

Otaku are not exactly the most popular people in this country either. Being a subculture of geek culture, otaku are not very social and hence, are alienated from the rest of the society. Since watching cartoons and reading comics are considered childish pastimes in the U.S, the otaku's fondness for anime and manga doesn't help to improve his/her reputation. As a result, many otaku don't admit that they are otaku. However, there are otaku that carry the otaku label with pride. These proud otaku usually wear T-shirts of their favorite anime characters. Perhaps, they behave this way to rebel against the society they have been excluded from.

The otaku community is better known as male dominant. This doesn't mean that there are not female otaku. After all, anime is also aimed at female audiences. Unfortunately, the female otaku are not as noticed as their male counterparts. Sometimes, they don't even communicate too well with the male otaku. There is, however, a pretty good explanation for the precarious situation of women in the otaku world. Being geeks, most male otaku shy away from females. Used to female rejection, they find it very strange to see that there are girls that share their interest for anime. Due to their lack of social skills, male otaku never behave appropriately around female otaku. In his book Comic Book Culture, Matthew J. Pustz explains in more detail why comic book stores can sometimes scare away female customers. Comic book culture and otaku culture have a lot in common. Hence, I will sometimes use Pustz's book as a reference for this paper. When talking about comic book stores, the author says how:

"Female visitors commonly become uncomfortable or feel unwelcome as a result of the gazes of male patrons who are surprised to see women in that setting or by(buy?) posters that frequently objectify women and/or glorify violence" (8).

The female otaku's situation doesn't get any better at conventions. Here it is an excerpt from an anonymous essay called Civilizing The Conventioneer, written by a woman:

The most tasteless and inept ways that I have ever been hit upon have all been, you guessed it, at conventions. Another deterrent is staring. It frightens me, or at the very least, it makes me think I have something on my shirt… I do not think many women get turned on by an invitation to watch pornographic anime…Also, I am more likely to stick around if you smell nice.

Female otaku suffer from the fact that male otaku don't know how to treat people from the opposite sex. This doesn't mean that all male otaku are perverts that like to watch pornographic anime all day long. Of course, some of them are perverts and female otaku have every right to stay away from them. However, as I mentioned before, otaku culture is a subdivision of geek culture. Geeks, unfortunately, lack of basic social skills. Despite their behavior toward women, most otaku appreciate the fact that there are female otaku. Probably, this is partly due to desperation. Most girls find their obsession for anime childish and unappealing. Therefore, the thought of members of the opposite sex being interested in anime is overwhelming to the male otaku. Here it is an excerpt from an essay written to an anime website from a member of an anime club: "If a woman likes anime, she could look like a hairy sea-donkey, smell like moldy rat excrement, have the IQ of a raisin, and have the personality of brick, and STILL have half of my members more than willing to date her."

Otaku are usually considered outcasts. As mentioned before, watching cartoons or reading comics can be taken as "a sign of psychological maladjustment or arrested development" (Pustz 208). That is one of the reasons why they keep their interaction with the outside world to the minimum. However, there is a lot to say about how otaku interact with each other.

Ray Oldenburg, in his book The Great Good Place, explains that people have special places where they can get away from their professional and domestic lives (Pustz 25). These places are homes away from homes where people can relax. To the otaku, these places are anime or manga stores. In these stores, otaku don't need to feel ashamed of being otaku since everybody in the store likes anime. Depending on the store, it can sometimes turn into some sort of clubhouse. If that is the case, people can make friends there or talk to the owner. Just picture Cheers but with anime being sold instead of alcohol. The reason why some anime stores can feel so cozy to many otaku is the fact that they were probably founded by other otaku. Although they opened their anime stores to make money, these storeowners are also interested in being the first ones to get certain anime titles. To them, it is probably a dream come true. They don't only get to be surrounded by anime but they can also make some money out of it. These stores, however, can accidentally become very exclusive for non-otaku. Like female otaku, non-otaku can feel awkward inside these places. Pustz explains this exclusion in terms of comic book stores.

Although the shop may function like a clubhouse for regular readers, for others it is so intimidating that new readers, especially women, can find it difficult to become involved. Literary readers might also be turned off by the clubbish nature of the shop and the large quantity of superhero comics there. (23)

Perhaps, the exclusiveness of these stores is what otaku look for. If otaku stores were accessible to everybody, then otaku would not feel comfortable being there. These stores would not be any different from any other stores.

Besides watching anime or reading manga, otaku also enjoy memorizing trivia about anime. In fact, being geeks, some otaku can be quiet good at memorizing data. However, they don't always get involved in this activity for the sake of doing it. There is some prestige that comes with knowing more than other otaku. Things such as who is the creator of a particular title or who is the voice actor for certain character form a small part of what an otaku has to remember. This contest for knowledge is not unique to otaku. It also exists in other groups such as sports fans who like to know things like what team won a particular championship. Most otaku are also technical oriented. Hence, knowledge of the latest in electronics can also be subject of competition among otaku. Being fond of Japanese video games, some otaku take pride on beating certain game before any of his/her buddies do.

One reason why otaku don't know how to act appropriately around other people is their lack of interaction with the real world. They spend most of their time in front of a television set watching anime. As a result, they get most of their ideas of social interaction by watching how anime characters act. Unfortunately, anime does not portray the real world accurately, and people reject otaku because of their weird behavior and customs. Thus, otaku feel misunderstood and stay away from non-otaku. This leads them to watch more anime where they learn some of the behaviors that non-otaku find weird or unappealing. In short, the relationship between otaku and non-otaku could sometimes be described as a vicious cycle.

There is, however, no reason to see otaku as helpless victims of society. As I mentioned before, many otaku do not feel ashamed of being otaku. With anime being relative unknown, otaku feel a sense of uniqueness. This also applies to comic book readers, who "prefer the situation as it is and enjoy being misunderstood" (Pustz 210). This type of behavior is not unique to otaku. According to Pustz, "Americans find a certain pleasure in obscurity, whether it is finding a secret fishing hole or collection every compact disc released by an obscure Los Angeles punk band" (Pustz 210). This is probably one of the reasons why some otaku resent the fact that big corporations such as Disney are getting their hands on some anime titles. Besides the fear of these companies' editing and corruption of some of these titles, there is also a big concern that anime will become mainstream. Geeks, being different from other people, appreciate the fact that anime is unique and obscure. Hence, these geeks form the otaku culture, which is not very noticeable but it's definitely there.