’cause I think I just heard someone say Weeaboo
By Mad Mage • Mar 6th, 2009 • Category: Anime, Featured, General, Video GamesIn my previous editorial I may have sounded harsh towards towards the people Japan defines as ‘Otaku‘. I referred to them as vile, scum-sucking pedophiles, or something along those lines. But what I didn’t touch on is what defines an otaku. If you were to ask a Japanese, they might use words such as disgusting, idiotic, pathetic, and fanatical. One Japanese woman referred to them as “ningen janai” (not human). This societal contempt is very real, and I would go as far as to say in Japan there is even a mini McCarthyism against otaku. Otaku are very real, but they don’t dare ‘come out’, instead meeting in dark, small rooms where they can build model Gundam and play Melty Blood in peace.
When I first came to Miyazaki, I was unable to find any other gamers. With no other choice, I put aside my comfortable nerdy traits and socialized like a normal person. It’s not so bad, though there are a considerable less amount of fireballs involved. Little did I know, the otaku were among me; they just couldn’t show it in public for fear of being ostracized. Then I met Isamu, the head of the international club. A veterinary student, nearly fluent in English and extremely intelligent, with spiky hair which reportedly took him an hour to prepare every morning. He was quite popular, and never gave the slightest indication that he liked nerdy things. Finally, as we were leaving club one day the subject of anime somehow came up and I was asked what anime I liked. After listing the norms, I let slip that I liked Genshiken. The floodgates were open. Isamu practically flipped out and threw a barrage of otaku questions at me.
He told me after he graduates veterinary school he wants to study overseas and that his grandfather (in typical Japanese tradition) forbids it, insisting Isamu get married and live in Miyazaki his whole life. To ‘appease’ his grandfather, Isamu sent him a letter saying he agreed and to marry and that enclosed was a picture of his girlfriend. Enclosed was a picture of Saber from Fate/Stay Night. I was not surprised to hear that the grandfather called Isamu’s parents in a rage asking how he turned out so poorly, to which they could only reply “we don’t know”. It’s enough to make me wish my grandpa was a less understanding man, just so I could of pissed him off in hilarious ways.
Isamu’s apparent joy of finding a gaijin otaku, had him outing me personally to the other international club members. He told the girl members too, “Get this! Mikku likes Genshiken!” “Mikku is an otaku, haha! “, to which the girl members did not respond favorably. They never do *sigh*. Isamu and I aren’t fanatics, or even socially awkward, and the idea of someone holding prejudice against me or anyone because of what entertainment they enjoy dumbfounds (unless it’s Dr. Phil. If you like Dr. Phil you are a bad person). The situation is not unlike American high school cliques, except that shunning nerds continues on into adulthood in Japan whereas in America nerdy hobbies are if anything gaining in acceptance and popularity.
The future of otaku in Japan is grim. To my dismay I am forced to keep my hobbies to myself. Perhaps with greater language skills I could find social groups more accepting, but until then I remain a closet otaku. Well, at least my Japanese friends like Wii Sports. God Damn Wii Sports.
Mad Mage Mad Mage is the be-all end-all source for Japanese video game knowledge. If he doesn't know about it, it didn't happen.
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It might just be a difference in culture between Japan and the US. I think (and this is just a wild guess) it’s probably because of the Japanese differentiation between being a kid and being an adult. While a kid, it is ok to have fun and enjoy these nerdy hobbies. Once you are adulthood hits, all of that ends and it is job time. The most important thing about you is your job. That is a lot different in the US where a lot of people couldn’t give two shits about the place that they work, and people still look towards their hobbies to find some fulfillment in their life.
I think another point is the type of nerdy hobbies that are gaining mainstream acceptance. Aside from a rising video game market, the US has seen a boom in the popularity of comic-based and fantasy movies, both genres originally relegated as nerd pastimes. In Japan, anime movies have always been around and popular, so they can’t really be seen as nerd culture seeping into the mainstream. I guess what I am saying is that Japan has always been kind of a nerdier country than the US, overall, and that it’s only been this recent trend in the US that has made it seem like the US is more nerd centric.
Unfortunately, my view as foreigner of Japan is the idea that its nerd subculture is also tied to a strange sexual side. The hentai doujins and all that other stuff. Maybe I’m stereotyping here, but I get the feeling that an anime has not become popular in Japan until it has at least a half dozen pornographic pictures of the lead female character(s) being circulated. I also get the impression that is a more important part of the nerd circles over there.
Yes, I know that the US has its own problems with erotic fanfiction and burgeoning trend in erotic fanart. But this is the underside of nerd culture that is not really noticed by the mainstream in America, whereas in Japan it seems almost intrinsically tied. And I am not saying that pornographic fan tributes are a bad thing either, it’s just that I think they are more readily known about and tied to the culture in Japan than they are in the US. Grandma can enjoy Iron Man without having the slightest inkling that someone is writing fanfiction about Tony Stark nailing Bruce Wayne. However, I can’t watch any anime without knowing that, yes, pornographic pictures of all these female characters is just a google search away. Not that I think about that while watching anime or anything.
You make several great points. I strongly agree that the heart of the issue is that Japan’s society values hard work and effort to the point where one is letting down their family and nation by not being productive (as opposed to in the U.S. where they would just be letting themselves down). Since otaku things are escapism and are well associated with a lifestyle of zero productivity or personal growth, it is not hard to see how a Japanese mindset could be repulsed. Please correct me if I am misinterpreting you.
I’m going to have to disagree to an extent about negative sexual connotation, though I preface this by admitting sexual studies are hardly my area of expertise; I don’t go around asking Japanese about their sexual preferences or views (though it’d make a funny documentary I’m sure). But what I have observed is that Japan (not to mentione most the rest of the world) views sex with so much less shame and secrecy than America that it can be difficult for one who has grown up in American society to comprehend. In every mainstream bookstore and convenience store you can easy find porn and ero manga right on display, sometimes predominantly displayed. Even the nasty stuff that shocks some like loli or rape. Now again, believe it or not I’ve yet to ask my female Japanese friends how they feel about tentacle rape, but I’m starting to see that being brought up in a country not based on puritan values can drastically change one’s take on sexuality. Last week I found ero manga stacked by the elevator among the stacks of recycling to be taken down. True, a guy’s college dorm is different than real society, but I would have thought the guy would have at least taken his used porn down himself.
I do believe the over sexifacation of otaku media has contributed to society’s looking down on it as a childish medium (i.e. otaku should get girlfriends and jobs), but I don’t actually think the sexual disgust levels are very high. I could be wrong, but the ero manga industry is so big hear, I’m guessing someone else is buying the stuff (which is not to say Otaku don’t buy heaps of it).
Yeah, you are right on with what I was trying to get at in the first comment. The otaku lifestyle choice can easily be not productive and, in some cases, can lead to withdrawal from the larger society. It is easy to see why it would be looked down by an industrious nation like Japan.
However, yes my second point is coming from the viewpoint of being in America, where sex and nudity are a no no in mainstream media. I hadn’t really thought about how other countries are more open about sex, and that culture difference is even in nerd culture in this other countries (the aforementioned hentai doujins being a part of the culture, for example).
I guess I am having a hard time believing that otaku aren’t looked down upon because of obsessions with things like loli and rape porn. I don’t know, it may just be a cultural thing I don’t understand. I think you summed it up best though that the disgust of otakus must come largely from the lack of girlfriends and prestigious jobs.