Omg, yes!

In school there was this new girl who was really tough and looked like she could beat the crap out of me but I decided to hang out with her for a bit and then when we were sharing outpr interests with each other, she mentioned naruto and I was like oh my god you love anime :D and she was like yeah narutos my favorite and then we ended up discussing our love for anime. She because my best friend and still is and always will be x3

Yes, it happened to me on the first day I was in 5th grade. ( ・ω・) That day, I met a girl who is now my best friend in school. （＾_＾）And for me, it's one of the best days in my life. (*≧▽≦) Sadly, she will move to another country next year. (´Ａ｀。)

So, that day I was sitting alone in class when she came. I had talked to her before and had been in the same class too for two years but we didn't know each other much. She asked me whether she could sit in the empty seat next to me. I said 'yes' to her so she sit there. After that, we talked much about everything, I enjoyed talking to her so much. (＾▽＾) The next day, I found out that she could draw manga (I saw her drawings in her textbook) and apparently she knew a lot about anime, I was really surprised and happy because I had never had a friend who liked anime before. After that day, we instantly became best friends. (^～^)

I honestly wish I could use my creativity to make up a good story and stand a chance of winning this great prize. I really do. But I have to be honest and say that the only person I ever met who I was surprised to find out was an anime fan was, well, myself.
I had seen a couple Miyazaki films as a kid. Beside Miyazaki's works I had read a couple mangas, but I never really paid much attention to anime or manga... or at least I didn't think I did.
Around the time when I was 15 I heard some of my friends (who I knew were Otaku) discussing a manga and getting the main character's name wrong. Hearing this wrong name repeated again and again and again made me rather frustrated. Finally I asked them if they were discussing Code: Breaker-the answer was yes, followed by the question of who my favorite character was. I told them that I liked a lot of the characters but that I thought Ogami Rei wasn't really my favorite. It took them a couple seconds to realize that this, of course, was the real name of the main character. Undeterred by this they changed the subject and proceeded to start a long debate over Code: Breaker versus a bunch of other anime.
I was a bit intrigued as to the shear amount of anime they had referenced so I decided to watch a couple of them. Not really caring too much, and more to see what strange things they watched than to watch it out of personal interest, I decided to start watching Fairy Tail which I heard being mentioned a lot in their argument.
Within a couple weeks I had watched over 80 episodes. When someone asked me what I'd been doing over the weekend I was surprised to admit that I had spent it all watching Fairy Tail. It had become such a natural thing to do that I hadn't noticed how absorbed into the series I'd become.
That was a real revelation for me-that I REALLY enjoyed anime.
And ever since then I have, and will continue to do so ^^

A gal, about in her like 50's, in my military unit. We were talking one day during one of our training weekends and I mentioned that I was a huge gamer and anime fan. She smiled and asked how big my collection was. I told her that I fill about two bookcases with anime and games and she snapped her fingers and said I might have her beat.
So we got to talkin' about what we've seen, what we like and what not. A total surprise to find that she was also a Please Teacher closet fan. She did have more fansubs on hand then I did. And here I thought I was the only big fan in my unit.

NNM
The more you know.

The best surprise to me was my manager at my job (i work in a day spa) I walked past her (she is around 35) when she exclaimed that she liked my captains tattoo. I looked at her questionably and realized she saw my Byakuya Kuchiki tattoo on my ankle (it's the emblem for squad 6 in the black diamond)!! Biggest shock ever!!! for a very down to earth, professional women to know what bleach is?!?!?!?!

@Otaku panda:

Honestly, i am an otaku and people know that. That's who i am and people accept that. No one has ever really been shocked to learn i was an otaku... my friends might sometimes tease me about it but none of them are shocked x3 i guess i'm an otaku inside and out

yes i kinda freaked out when i heard my friend was an otaku she and me were even great friends and i was growing my hair out so i could style it (like anime hair of course) and my friend saw i was growing my hair out so she said i should style it like an anime persons hair so i went to lunch and sat with her and asked her about the anime hair thing and she said she loved anime so i told her i was an otaku and she said no way me too and know we are the best of friends.

I met a few people I was shocked to learn who like anime.
One time I met somebody in elementary school. She was a mom I think. I was on a field trip at a restaurant and we suddenly started talking about Yu-Gi-Oh. We has quite a lengthy conversation about Yugi and Kaiba and the series in general and this was in 4th grade. This mom liked Yu-Gi-Oh and we talked like major anime fans. That was the best conversation I've ever had. I still remember it like yesterday.
In high school I was kind of a secret otaku. I didn't know anyone was interested in anime until I met my friend Raymond. I didn't expect him to be an anime fan and he was. It turned out he loved Yu-Gi-Oh as much as I did. We then hung out and we were friends ever since.

For many years until turning 18, I always assumed I was the only one in my family who watches and enjoys anime, so I found myself afraid to discuss my love for anime with anyone (besides my parents) until my vacation in Florida, where I learned that a cousin of mine actually watched anime on Toonami. In fact, he is a somewhat animation nerd as he watches anything animated in theatres, according to an uncle of mine.

Well, I used to be open about liking anime in middle school but in High School and College, it's looked down upon, so I kinda keep it a secret. ^^;;

It happened when I was in High School. I found out that my hot-blooded chemistry teacher liked Slam Dunk. Yeah, I was quite shocked to know that. I was almost asleep when we was explaining some unimportant chemical formulas but suddenly he mentioned Hanamichi and talked about Slam Dunk in class. Somehow, since that time, I started to pay attention in his class. XD

There was also this art teacher in my school who were a cosplayer. The first time he brought his laptop to school, I saw Kenshin Himura as his desktop background. It was shocking though he's an art teacher, he never mentioned anything related to anime. After knowing that he's an anime fan, we started chatting and became friends.

My friend's CO (Navy Cadets). He's aa fifty-something year old who came to camp with an extremely big and important announcement: he has a Sailor Moon blanket. It was the funniest thing I ever heard! xD
He also has his ringtone set to the Thomas the Tank Engine theme o_O

The Support Lab teacher at my school grew up on Sailor Moon and Ultraman. I went to interview her for the school paper and ended up having a lengthy (and fun) conversation about Soul Eater, Naruto, Inuyasha, and many more anime. It amazed me that she knew about so many anime, and was as fascinated in Japanese culture as I am. She even exclaimed, while I ate my lunch, "You're eating with chopsticks!" (Which I was) But seeing this young Filipino teacher so enthusiastic about anime was surprising in a positive way.

Yes! Multiple times! (I swear my high school is swarming with these secret otakus....)

Coming into high school, all my otaku friends were going to a different high school, and, upon having decided I would hang with marching band kids rather than seek out new otakus, I figured I would be otaku-friend-less. Once settling into a group of friends from marching band, I was pleasantly surprised to find out two of them were dedicated Naruto fans, and a third was a hard-core FMA fan. I later "converted" a fourth, (my current best friend), by showing her OHSHC. She is now coming to anime club with me tommorow for the first time ^^

There are other times I've discovered otaku fans (including my old religious teacher ._.), but, for time's sake, I'm going to only mention the three times I was completely surprised.

The first happened when I had posted a screenshot of the scene in Soul Eater, when Excalibur had put up flowers and pictures of himself for Black Star and Death the Kid. A kid I had a religious class with, the extremely popular theatre-star kid, posted as a comment "YEEEHEEEHEEES Fools....EXCALIBUUUUUR EXCALIBUUUUR". I was blown away that he had seen it.

The second was when I had friended an old elementary-school friend on Facebook, and the first thing he messaged me (upon seeing my account, and what shows I had seen) "Angel Beats... nice (: ." Once, again, blown away that my super-genious friend whom I hadn't seen in ages had seen any anime whatsoever. He had also seen Code Geass, Evangelion, Death Note, and FMA, and had mentioned how he thinks anime is much better than American (Western) TV.

Lastly, about a month ago I went to [marching] band camp. One day, while walking to the field, I got super exciting upon seeing that the popular, (among the band), super-outgoing trumpet player was wearing an L shirt. I flipped out (my friend can attest to that, as L is my favorite character....EVAR), and about ranted to him for about five minutes. (He kinda just blew it off. ._.)

Anyway, once again, I SWEAR my school is filled with these secret otakus...

YES. When I met ChinaSan at school, the first time we started to talk to each other was because of miku. XD

I saw her draw miku and I was like "you know hatsune miku?" And then she was like "yes, you too?" So I looked at her In a creepy way and says this... "DRAW HER FOR ME...please." And ya.... But after that the biggest shock I had was when I knew she knew what anime was. XD I was the only otaku I knew before I moved to Canada. XD

I thought people there didn't know what anime was. >_>_

Well, xD that's life!

Well, my grandma is a big anime fan. She's not, like, a sweet little old lady-type grandmother, so maybe it isn't that weird. Still, last year I mentioned that I was watching the Black Cat anime, and she said she loved that show, and that seemed like a pretty cool coincidence.

I learned that my uncle was an anime fan and loves Bleach a few years ago. I was really shocked but now we have something in common. He works in the medical field so I wouldn't have imagined he would've had time to watch anything.

before some months my aunt came to my city and we were talking about how we spend our time and i told her about anime . well i was so surprised when she told me that she loved some anime like dragonball & sailor moon , yu-gi oh.she didnt know that they were called anime but she had watched them . well i never thought that but she said that she always have watching them in the past.lol i was surprised my aunt when she was young. i was happy in that moment .

I was completely shocked to learn that my mom's friend's whole family has been watching Miyazaki movies since the early 90s. They didn't even know what this art style was until I told them it was anime. They're a really traditional, stereotypical middle class family. They just said the animation was different than most cartoons and thought it taught better lessons than the typical Disney or Dreamworks stuff.

It's not that I was shocked but unexpected. I met a few people who liked anime/cartoons/BBC through the BTR tag on tumblr. I just didn't think I would meet others who liked what I like. We don't talk about anime a lot tho x3

I had a bunch of friends in school who were into anime and whom I got into anime but that friendship didn't last long. So when I entered college, all I wanted to do was spend my five years peacefully without forming any strong bonds with anyone. I didn't tell anyone that I was into anime. There was this one guy in my class who stood out a lot. Really outgoing, a bit of a know-it-all, answered all the questions the teachers asked. The total opposite of me (silent type). And his roll number was right before mine, he was 25, I was 26. So we had to sit next to each other in classes and practicals. He spoke a lot so we didn't hit it off at first. One day he asked me what type of songs I liked, and I told him only English songs, no songs from my country or stuff. And to my surprise he said,"You like Linkin Park? GreenDay?" So we talked a little.

Few days later, we were sitting outside our class in the corridor with a bunch of other friends. And he was working on his laptop and playing "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem, and my other friend (girl) was ranting on about how those types of songs suck -_- And then all of a sudden I heard a Japanese song play. When I turned to look at his laptop, I saw Detective School Q playing. And I ended up saying, "What was that?" And he shook his head and said 'nothing'. I was freaking excited and said,"Was that Detective School Q?" His eyes literally lit up when he heard me say that and he went,"Yeah, you watch Anime?" Followed by a bunch of yeahs, we laughed so hard and talked like crazy. Turned out he was downloading anime and was checking if the episode was working but the speakers were on full volume thanks to Eminem xD

That was three years ago. We've been best friends ever since. We download anime like crazy and watch it together. We speak what little Japanese we know with each other too. I started reading manga thanks to him. This was the best thing that ever happened to me （*/∇＼*）

This actually happened to me at work....
A coworker told me she liked my tsubasa backpack! She had never ever mentioned anime before, but I came to find out that she even has a TheO account! Small world! You never know what a person is interested in until they open up to you. Unfortunately, a lot of Otakus feel uncomfortable revealing themselves because others are ridiculously judgmental. Let's support a world where you can wear a Naruto headband to school with pride :)

~Wall-iE

Just before high school, I joined a social therapy group for teens. I'm not really the type to open up so easily, so I was quiet for many of the early sessions. Sometimes people in the group would be asked to act out a scenario where two people would socialize. I'm a little fuzzy on the details but in one case, I was talking to this one person. The conversation seemed a little forced until one of us let it slip that we liked Sailor Moon. Then we got all fangirly. Then it turned out that another girl in the group was a Sailor Moon fan, too. An instant friendship formed between the three of us.

Over the years, we began to lose contact with one another. Then I found one of these friends on DeviantART. I joined Facebook soon after and found that both of them had accounts. Turns out one had moved on from anime completely, and the other, although still a fan, was more into DC Comics.

I had thought that I would never physically see either one again, but the DC Comics Person (lame spur-of-the-moment-nickname) invited me to an open mic event. I had never done an open mic, but I had been playing guitar for about two or three months at the time. So I went to the place with my guitar and signed up to do a song. Well, the person who was taking sign ups was DC Comics Person, who kind-of recognized me, but wasn't 100% sure if it was me. When I gave my name, DC Comics Person revealed her secret identity, and told me that she was one of the people who worked at the open mic place.

Since then, I saw her at other open mics, but it seemed that she had other friends that she was more comfortable with. Eventually, she stopped working there and soon after that, the place stopped doing open mics. I still go to the place-- all the people who work there know me by now-- but I still haven't seen DC Comics Person in a couple of years.

Some months ago, I learned that DC Comics Person was hired to do art for con posters and stuff. She's a really good artist and she's lucky that she has an artsy job. I wish I could do something like that, but I'm hardly as good as she is.

Even though I think she's moved on from me, I still think about DC Comics Person a lot. After all, she's the one who named me Keba.

I have, actually. It was none other than my current best friend. She saw me at my locker, which is decorated with different pictures from various anime series. She approached me and started asking me about the anime series that I watch, and we immediately hit it off. All day everyday, nothing but anime this and anime that. Instead best friends. I was surprised that there was another otaku at my school, nonetheless in my grade and half of my classes.

Another time was a little more on the awkward side, but hey. It was the first day of my freshman year of highschool (last year.) We were sitting in Literature class, and my teacher decided that we needed to get to know each other. So, he had us introduce ourselves, say what our talent is, and what we are interested in the most. I sat there and endured all of the jocks and cheerleaders and bookworms go (no offense to an on this site.) Then, I heard a kid say "My name's Aaron Saddler. I'm a videogamer, and I love anime." BOY DID I FREAK OUT. Internally, of course. I waited for class to end so I could approach him. I walked up to him and asked "You're the kid that said he likes anime, correct?" He kind of looked at me funny, but he nodded. I high-fived him. He kind of avoided me for the next few days, but we clicked when we talked about Naruto. Since then, he asks me how updated I am on anime. He got me hooked on SAO (Sword Art Online) and RWBY (found on www.roosterteeth.com).

You would be truly surprised. Us otakus aren't the stereotypical no-life nerds that society makes us out to be. We are disguised as normal people, other than the few who proudly advertise their otaku ways (Guilty as charged here.) We otakus are a proud group, and for a good reason too. What I don't understand is why a chunk of society degrades us so. They have their Twihards, Directioners, Beliebers, etc. We are simply another fan group, except we are more than that. We don't commit suicide over our favorite anime character. We surely do get emotional, however. I cry during every single sad scene in an anime, I yell at the screen, I practically hug the screen when I see a little anime child that is an orphan, and all of that other otaku stuff. Just like society's groups, we are passionate about what we believe in: Anime. We unite in some of the strangest ways. Which is truly amazing.

This site, for example. There is no place like theOtaku.com. However, we can also find fellow otakus around us. We just have to look in the right places for them. You never know where they may be. They may be a coworker, boss, relative, or even just some stranger passing your locker in the halls at school. Life is full of surprises like this, so otakus, get ready to........UNITE!!!

When I was starting highschool, I had my friends who adored anime around when the timing was convenient. For instance, before classes started or at lunch. Everyone else, the subject is something not to be discussed.

Then one day in my technology class, I had set aside a large volume of Rurouni Kenshin, and I heard a girl next to me ask me what it was about?
This girl was someone who appeared to be the type to do her hair everyday in a special way, to make sure her make-up was perfect before she went to the next class,dressed in the nicest of shirts and matching skirts, and chattered on about school gossip,future tests, and her boyfriend. (not that there's anything wrong with that)

As I had explained in a typical one-liner; It's about a has-been samurai- who blah blah blah.
She then gave me a follow up question- "Have you heard of Inuyasha? I'm stoked for the Final Act!"

I was awestruck. While I made my love apparent for anime, this girl had been as quiet as a door mouse for as long as I've known her. There was so much I wanted to ask her.

Absolutely! I had this choir director named Mr. Kosciesza in community college who was one of my favorite teachers. I had his class for the better part of a full school year. It was around this time I was watching a ton of anime and animation. Mainly because there was this kid in the choir who discussed culture with me regarding movies and TV shows and I wanted to have good conversation material.

The third semester rolls around and we're waiting for Kosciesza to arrive to class. He strolls in, coffee in one hand and carrying bag in another. He greets everyone and we reciprocate. As he's calling out the names, he gets to this one guy named Edward. Ed isn't in class today, and this gives Mr. Kosciesza some fire power. A known running joke he likes to pull happens when someone isn't in class. He'll use your name in a goofy manner.

So, right in the middle of role call, he says very simply, "Edward is Edward." I thought it seemed familiar, but let it go. Mr. Kosciesza looks at everyone and says, "Seriously. No one knows what I'm talking about?" We in the class are all kind of dumbfounded. He sighs and straight up says, "Cowboy Bebop."

The whole class pretty much let out an ah of realization. As in, "Ah. Really? Why didn't I know that?" I mean I knew he was a culture fan, as noted through the many discussions he'd have with the aforementioned kid after class. I just never expected Cowboy Bebop. What's more, I felt rather sheepish at that moment. Cowboy Bebop is my favorite anime. Should have gotten that reference.

I brought it up after class and Mr. Kosciesza explained the soundtrack is the best television soundtrack ever written. DANG. I agree wholeheartedly, but only alongside Baccano!, never above it (not to diminish the demigod of musical swagger that is Yoko Kanno). Mr. Kosciesza also liked DBZ in the old days but, due to his busy schedule, hadn't the time to catch up with new stuff. Shame, really. I only think of this story because I'm heading to an actual university tomorrow (UARTS otaku, unite!). Wonder how Mr. Kosciesza is doing. As for the kid, he's now the proud owner of a theOtaku.com account, courtesy of me.