The Otaku Culture and Its Cultural Ramifications

Just like there are fanatics in sports, music and in all spheres of life, there are individuals obsessed with animation, Japanese comics, video games and the fantasy world. These people, known as the “otaku” or literally translated as “nerds” in English, are the subject of this paper. The article describes the characteristics unique to the “otaku” individuals as well as how they interact inside and outside of their “otaku” world. In the beginning, there seemed nothing wrong with the “otaku” world; it was just a social trend. But during the early 1990’s, when Japan faced its first otaku serial killer, “Otaku” has become a subject of social concern in Japan. College students and young adults are strongly hit by this socio-psychological obsession with the imaginary world, causing real, not imaginary, social problems (Pustz, 1999). This paper hopes to find answers to the following questions. What is “otaku” in relation to manga and animation? What are the characteristics of the “otaku” sub-culture? What is the psychological behavior of “otaku” individuals? By tracing the spread of internet cafes, manga and anime, and otaku conventions in Asia and Europe this paper aims to trace the cultural ramifications of Japanese animation overseas.