Hello, my name is Alexa, but I prefer to go by Udon-ninja-sensei-tan, though I formerly went by Onigiri-ninja-chan-sama in my younger years! I am eighteen years old, work at the mall, and for the past 12 years of my life, I have been an otaku. I know that some of you purists are shaking your heads at this right now, saying that “Only Japanese people can be otaku!” But, my friends, you are wrong. With the right heart, you can be anything, like how Tom Cruise-san became a Samurai! In this world, I understand that we otaku have developed a bad reputation for being geeks and losers, but this is not so! We are far from it. We are simply people that are passionate about Japanese imports!
First of all, I would like to clear up the stereotype that we otaku have poor hygiene skills and cannot dress ourselves. Did you ever stop and think that maybe we used up the last of the shampoo washing the hair of our life sized Sailor Moon figurine, or that we happen to like those pants that are just a little too short in the legs? No. I bet you didn’t. The truth is, we understand that yeah, maybe we do smell a little bit funky sometimes, and yeah, some of our clothes do look a little bit outdated. But you know what? We wash when we can. We have to look after our memorabilia first. Do you even realize how quickly those things depreciate in value?! We know what you kids are wearing these days, with your low rise pants and your short skirts and your tiny shirts, but we opt for the comfortable route. In your opinion, we may be “out of date”, but when you’re visiting your collectible dealer, and he just got a new shipment of stuff and it’s on the bottom of the glass case, it’s not very practical to wear a skirt and a low cut top, is it? I do not support the gratuitous panty flashes in real life, no sir!
Many people believe that outside of anime, otaku have no interests. They believe that otaku are simply uninterested by anything outside of the anime realm. That’s not true at all! I have many interests! Like listening to JRock, watching movies in Japanese with subtitles, writing slash fics, ordering samurai swords, ninja equipment and ancient scrolls off the internet. This one time, I totally found this sweet guide to becoming a shinobi, by the last known shinobi master, Ryu Sobakawa. I also eat a lot of ramen! I eat ramen with every meal. My favourite brand of ramen is Sapporo Ichiban. I really don’t like the Maruchan brand. Please. Who do they think they’re kidding? We also love sports. Granted they are sports video games, but I’m sure it’s pretty much the same as going outside and doing it anyway!
I hate it how many think that Otaku only like Gundam Wing and hentai, and how female otaku only like shounen ai. I don’t mind shounen ai, but give me yaoi over that sissy stuff, any day! Fluff is nice, but let’s face it, if I’m watching it, I obviously want to see everything, so let’s not skimp on the details. Who doesn’t want to see two totally beautiful boys going at it? As if one wasn’t great enough, there are two? Oh my gosh! They’re always so perfect… with the quiet, strong, and troubled seme, and the calm and gentle uke who is the only one who can unlock the seme’s heart… *squeals* KAWAII!!!! *coughs* What was I talking about again? Oh yeah. The point is, there are many (better) anime outside of Gundam Wing, that otaku are interested in. The world of anime is a huge one, and there are things outside of giant mechas battling each other for Kami-sama knows what that you can watch.
Another prevalent stereotype associated with us otaku is Cosplay. First off, people seem to think that we all do it, and secondly, many people seem to think we do it very poorly. Now, I’m not sure why all you “regular” folk find it creepy. Who doesn’t want to pretend they are someone else for a day? I’d like to think that somewhere out there, the character that I am cosplaying is totally honoured that I want to dress up like him or her. I bet you’d be totally stoked if someone dressed up like you because they liked you so much! And as for the quality, there is nothing wrong with adding tons of personal flourishes. If you can’t tell who we’re dressed up as, ask! And then we will tell you and explain all of our personal additions to the outfit, such as chains, cat ears, fishnet… It’s all very original, you see, so that we’re honouring the character all the while proclaiming our edgy, non-conformist ways! This is especially effective in the Naruto fandom!
Original Characters are also a wonderful route to take… Of course it’s more than likely that we or someone we know will make it big in the anime industry over in Japan, so one day our Original Character will be a very real and idolized character who is constantly cosplayed. It just makes good sense to get a head start.
And, if you don’t want to go to all the trouble of sewing or buying a costume or coming up with a totally new character, you can always just take your chains, cat ears and fishnet and call yourself a JRocker. I’m sure one of them looks just like you. You are probably very visual kei.
The last stereotype I’d like to break is that otaku have no social lives, and can’t get dates. That’s so unfair! I have tons of friends! Like Kenneth-san, Dorothy-chan, Patricia-chan, and Charles-san (I like to be informal though, and I call him Chuck-san). We go to Kenneth-san’s house a lot and play the latest games on his modded PS2 that have only been released in Japan. Our favourite game to play is Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED Destiny: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. II Plus. As for dating, many of us prefer not to, because we know that no real person could compare to the characters we have come to know and love in our dating sims. I mean obviously, who could be as kind and caring as Tamaki Oto-kun from my personal favourite dating sim, First Live(that is not a spelling mistake. Seriously.)? None of the pigs here, that is certain.
In the end, I have to apologize to you, the “normal” folk. Because now I am sure you understand how much cooler it is to be an otaku. It’s not our fault we’re so much more passionate about what we love, and are unafraid to show it to the world. Some of your friends may have told you horror stories about otaku, and may have spread the stereotypes. But the truth is, they’re simply jealous of something they can never be. Unfortunately for you, not everyone can just go out and be an otaku. It takes great dedication and commitment. I followed my heart when I decided to become an otaku (like many of the great bishoujo heroines out there), and I gave up the social norms for that which I loved the most, and if you think you can let go of your conformist doubts and embrace your true obsession, then I say to you “welcome to the world of otaku.”
Originally written in 2006, revamped.
