Do you tell people you are into animu/video games/jap shit while meeting them? I personally strongly distance myself from them because people's preconcieved notions of them are bad. Cosplay, pocky, weeaboo, ^____________^, jpop > american pop, etc.
I'd say you have a good policy. Myself, having had friends in the past who wouldn't shut up about how awesome they think Dragonball Z is makes me unlikely to willingly associate with people with similar tastes.
What is it with pockey hating?
That shit taste good, I eat it because it taste good not because it's Japanese, I don't get why you would import it when you can go to marsh.
My friend eats pockey and he has never watched anime in his whole life.
I just don't mention it unless it's relevant. Works for me.
same as >>4.
Though, I guess I'm not that otaku. I have no wallscrolls, figures out in the open, etc. A look at my book/DVDcase (which is in my closet) and I might get questions, though.
Yep, I don't mention how huge of an otaku I am unless it's relevant, also; I'm a huge otaku, but only a few people outside of my anime club, etc. know it
*pocky
Haha... my room is safe, it's almost completely devoid of merchandise except for a Totoro.
On the other hand if they see the bookcases out in the main area it's like looking at a rainbow of anime and manga...
Note to self, hide the ero stuff some day.
I'm one of those rare(?) female otaku. Then again, I also like video games and other geeky crap. I have all sorts of figures and magazines and whatnot lying all over the place in my room, and my bag's got all these anime-related pins on it. It's wierd, but I've never been bullied about it. It's not like I'm overly flamboyant about it, like cosplaying in public outside a convention or something, and I don't force my interests into conversations. In fact, every time I meet a new person that's female, they're the ones that ask me where I got the pins on my bag because "they're all so cute!".
Again, I've never been bullied about it. It's nice that the people around me are so open minded. In fact, I rarely hear the whole "anime = kiddie shows and pr0n" anymore. I don't know if it's my attitude, or if I've just been lucky. Or it might be 'cause I've got tits. Who knows.
It's cause she's a gurl. Gurl's get charisma bonuses. It's not fair.
Then again, I don't think many places/people would openly bully someone for high interest in anime or cosplaying. They might distance their social circles away from yours however.
>>18
Life is not the same as an RPG. Please take note of this and apply it to your future reasoning.
It's people like you that make me feel humanity as a whole have just started nearing a summit of some kind, a real milestone in our acheivements.... And then some idiot such a yourself applies RPG logic to real life.
I'm a girl, too. People don't really bully me in front of me, but it's obvious they talk behind my back a lot. I don't openly show off my interests, but sometimes I wear anime t-shirts, and I formed a club at my school, so people know. I'm glad that I formed a club, since now I have a social circle of my own, but before, I felt a little paranoid and kept to myself mostly.
People around me are very open-minded. I think it's not that other people are turned off by my interests, but because I have something I like that they know nothing about, if they try to have a conversation with me about something I know a lot about, they'll feel stupid and think that I'm looking down on them for not knowing anything about the subjects I'm interested in. I hope that's not too confusing...^_^;;
>>19
Life may not be an RPG, but girls still get a charisma bonus.
I'm not a geek, and don't look like one, so unless I told you, you wouldn't know I was a borderline otaku-level anime fan. I don't mention it.
I also don't hang out with otaku in real life, because I can't really stand them.
i dont know about you peoples, but being otaku is all the rage in my hood. i get hella bald pink vagina because of it.
It's not my fault~!! Teh internet makes me stupid... (-_-)
Nothing like the joy of easy, painless anonymous posting to make people post dumb stuff for fun. It's fun to pretend to be stupid. The internet is where idiots try to show off and attempt to fabricate pretentious, pseudo-intellectual arguments, and smart people kick back and get a chance to be idiots.
Anyway, I thought it was funny....
Girls DO get ++charisma. U just dont want to admit it.
>>24 fail for using a weeaboo smily and trying to come off as holier-than-thou. try harder.
Fucking nerds :3
I'm a geek on many counts, but I don't usually say anything about it unless I get a signal that the person I'm talking to is also geeky in some way. Usually, though, it's a good idea to bring it up at some point early on, in my opinion. I still know enough about pop culture that I can talk about the idiotic celebrities that most the idiotic masses worship without tipping them off to much.
If it's a girl I plan to have come over at some point, eventually they're going to see my walls covered in anime posters, my shelf of anime figures, stacks of comic books, drawers filled with manga, TV with videogame systems all over the floor, etc. I've got so much geek stuff in my room it would be literally impossible to just hide it before a girl comes over, so it's really best for me to eventually tell her about it. If she can't deal with it, better now than later.
Actually ... I am pretty proud of being a geek, though I am a girl and i don't know if that makes anything change (?) but, I am proud of my room filled with stacks of manga, anime figures and utterly shity drawings in which i rely my future.
And i tell other people about it, when the time comes, like if we are talking and it is brought up. I actually don't even hang out with other anime geeks (otaku) because most of them are past the geek point and became blinded fanboys, not a pleasant sight, not pleasant at all.
I watch hentai and tell other people if it is brought up, etc., the problem here is that most of the geeks are so ashamed about being one, that they don't even properly enjoy it; as for me, i was raised into being a geek, midst geek guys and it made me become a tomboy.
So maybe this is all about how people were educated, and NOT about not being a geek or being one, it's not that big of a deal. Being one that is. It's the same as having a band and talking a lot about it, it's normal; or being in a soccer team and LOVING SOCCER.
Stop being such victims you guys, being a geek does not turn you into renegades so stop feeling like that, the sooner you stop the sooner you'll see things brightening up (even though people will still renegade you, they will be to weak to even tell you to go away). BE PROUD OF YOUR OTAKUNESS !!! epic wave crashing
There is a slight difference, which is to say that geekiness in women is kinda hot.
Yeah, the Konata phenomenon.
Why aren't otaku girls attractive anyways? This could differ for you all, but every single otaku girl (or even mildly otaku) has one overbearing flaw with her. Not like an everyone-has-flaws flaw, but a full blown one.
Alas, I still find them attractive because I can relate to them. Ah well, would anyone else like to comment?
For a while I did think I was distancing myself, but the reality was I grew out of anime. I like some, and tend to check something out now and then, but i've never really associated with people that like it, mainly cause there isn't anyone! However when I went to a bigger city for a bit, I discovered there was a small community for the people in uni there, and they all gathered and watched anime, I couldn't help but think of them as faggots.
Do you count being chubby or overweight an overbearing flaw? Or are you talking about more than looks; the sanity level of said otaku girl?
Anyway, on topic, I'm a closet otaku. I like a lot of anime and manga but I get embarrassed if other people bring it up because of reasons mentioned by >>1
I used to be a fanatic who wrote crap like Invader Zim slash and stuff, lol
Now I hate those types.
>>35
Why do all annoying weeaboos like Invader Zim? Because it's RANDOM DOOOOOOOOOOOOM or something? The show was funny, but you don't have to scream about it 24/7.
>Do you count being chubby or overweight an overbearing flaw? Or are you talking about more than looks; the sanity level of said otaku girl?
Chubby is not bad, as long as the body proportions are the proper ones. But being overweight is simply a display of ignorance, being overweight IS BAD FOR YOU, if you don't care about yourself, who can you care about? And no, it's not cool to not care. (Though i respect overweight people, i try to convince them of the bad they are doing to themselves, and people who have fetishes about them is cool to me, fetishes are very healthy and beautiful).
Sanity levels in otaku girls can only be truly defined after you truly know them, for example, some girls are pseudo-insane, while others are pseudo-normal (the ones that like to look like characters from their favorite newest fanservice-filled anime!). Then you have the ones that assume being insane, and other that assume being normal, some are just seeking for attention, others are just being honest.
Now, from my personal experience, most of these girls HAVE a big trauma/flaw. I myself have a trauma, not a really big one, but still a trauma, it only gets back to me sometimes though, I'm really taking an effort to make disappear since it makes me feel so embarrassed to have such a trauma.
The way I feel, is the way some girls feel, others are too weak to even try to overcome their own demons, so to say, but some are strong enough to know themselves and try to make themselves better. I believe in this.
But yeah, by image i mean looks & personality, of course. Since image is what represents your personality.
td;dr -- after college, only fools discuss anime amongst strangers.
I never start discussions about anime/manga/etc, regardless of who the other person is. People basically break down into four groups here:
People who've never even heard of anime before: I don't have the patience to explain my hobby to them, much less to explain it AND make it sound socially palatable. I gain nothing by trying to talk to these people.
People who have heard of anime and have already formed negative opinions of it: I really don't want to get into debates about what I like. I'll never change their minds (not that I'd be inclined to do so in the first place) and they'll certainly never change mine. I gain nothing by trying to talk to these people.
People who have heard of anime, are not fans, but are open-minded and curious about the medium: I'm not about to be a human signpost for their journeys into this world. Over a decade ago, back when I was much more naive in my fandom, I'd try to encourage these people to really get into the hobby. I'd suggest shows, discuss anime in relation to other media, and even lend tapes to folks I trusted. Most of this worked well enough, but soon I wound up getting used as a human video library. Not letting that happen again -- never did get some of my tapes back. Now, I've lost the paitence for all that shepherding, and I'm really not keen on letting my collection out of my hands. I gain nothing by talking to these people.
People who are full-out fans of anime: The younger fans are impossible for me to relate to. Their culture of fandom is radically different from what I know, and we see nothing eye to eye. I stay away from that crowd. Older fans (not necessarily older in age, just those who've been around long enough to at least know what SASE stands for, and why a fan would want to be familiar with that acronym) are getting harder and harder to find, as more of them get settled down, fade from the fandom scene (even though they may still love the medium), or find their interests changing. If I find an old-timer, I will talk up the medium. But unless I know the person beforehand, I avoid talking to people who are obviously fans. People who aren't obviously fans don't look any different from ordinary people, and I've already established that I'm not about to discuss anime with them.
Basically, I stand nothing to gain by discussing anime with others, and quite a bit to lose. Anime fandom still carries a substantial stigma. Hell, in the business/financial world, ANY personal aberrations carry a substantial stigma. I'm not about to risk career ostracization to talk up my hobbies. As far as everyone else is concerned, my only hobbies are acceptable ones -- racing, fishing, that sort of stuff. I won't contribute to discussions about anime, and if anyone asks me if I like it, I lie. Nobody I don't know -- and, therefore, who isn't already privvy to my otaku status -- has ever seen the inside of my flat. I've got too many figures, DVDs, tapes, manga, posters, pillows, etc. to ever hide away from company.
Maybe people in other walks have it differently, but if word about my otakuism got out, it'd be as good as career suicide for me. I work very, very hard to make sure that will never happen.
I don't make an issue out of it. I'll tell them if they wanna know. If they ask me it's not like I'm gonna lie about it. I enjoy my hobbies. It's a part of who I am and I like it. I have no reason to deny who I am.
>>37 Now, from my personal experience, most of these girls HAVE a big trauma/flaw.
100% agreed. If they have no substantial physical flaw than you can be pretty sure there is some sort of psychological flaw aka batshit insane.
I can't stand overweight, if you can't be in moderate shape or just not fat than you have some sort of issue that you need to work on. You lack discipline or something. It's not that hard, burn more calories than you take in and eat healthy. I rather deal with a psychological flaw than any physical flaw.
To 38, I can't help but see a little hipocracy in your statement. Although I admire your strong awareness of social rules(it's never a good idea to discuss anime in polite company), don't you think a better solution would be, not only don't discuss it, but restrict the level to which you're into it? Basicly, if your room is as full of anime crap as you say it is, then why not just sell some of it; i.e anything non-essential. When I realised the high risk of being an otaku, over a couple years ago, I changed myself so that, for example, I only rented anime DVDs once or twice a month(even less now). I garrantee if you restrict yourself like that, your life be alot more satisfying, cause then you'll have more time for other things.
Except I'm not interested in "restricting the level to which [I'm] into" anime. This is my favorite hobby and is also my primary source of joy in life. I don't care about not having time for anything else because, frankly, there isn't anything else I'd rather spend my time doing.
Heck, the whole reason why I work is so that I can obtain money to pay for anime, the A/V setup that I use to watch anime, and the flat in which I partake in the watching of anime (and the storing of all the paraphenalia mentioned in my previous post). Granted, there are other reasons -- I'd really like to own a Porsche someday -- but anime is the core of my life and drives everything I do.
I'm just not about to let my coworkers and superiors know of that fact.
>>40 Well, i am the one who wrote 37, and I would like to disagree with batshit insane! Yeah, most of them are very neurotic and paranoid. But then there are others who were heavily mocked when younger for simply liking games/for no reason at all and developed weird traumas. Some even have really harsh family lives, and some are elitist fangirls of shitty Ai Shounen.
Which brings me to this: yaoi/shounen ai fangirls. Would someone please explain fangirls and their annoying fangirl squeaking ? Also, why the fuck can't fangirls be friends with non-fangirls ? fangirls, fangirls, fangirls.
I used to have a friend who i really really liked and cared for, she was a fangirl and a lesbian (how uncommon, though she only recently assumed it openly, and yes, i didn't knew until she did assume, even being her friend for nearly two years), she eventually started developing weird traumas towards me and thinking that i was superior in everything, sometimes she would just start crying when she was with me.
It was really painful for me to see a friend cry, but she wouldn't open up with me at all, even when i talked to her about nearly everything in my life she wouldn't say a word. She simply nodded. What hurts even more about this situation is that she was actually the first girl that i actually felt friendship with, and yet i felt like she didn't like me at all, and simply wanted someone to hang out with, simply not to feel lonely.
Nowadays, she is friends with a group of 20-something yo fangirls who are nothing in their pathetic lifes; shes going to become an architect because thats what her parents told her to do. And i know this because i try to talk with her now and then but... She simply goes: "x3" or "xP" and "lol yes what can i say" ...
Every time i think about this i can't help but feel sad but, i guess that's what growing up wanting to be rebellious (since she watches yaoi undercover from her parents and shit) and feeling shitty because of the social circumstances can do to you.
This is my main reason to hate fangirls.
Interesting stuff of people who are fans of anime, otaku people themsleves, people that dont enjoy anime. So in personal issues for people, everyone has a different one to deal with. But i think if people on this board help one another you solve some of the questions and problems people have on here.
Society sucks. I have chronic anxiety problems and panic attacks because of how I have to hide my true self (lolicon, otaku, ultra-liberal) from the people in my job and such.
>>37 >>43
All people have traumas and flaws. The real issue is how people handle them. But I don't really get why the fangirl community would be the cause for your friend's behavior? Isn't it really her inability to stand up for herself, especially in regards to her family and sexuality, that's tearing at her? I also have a sneaking suspicion she never hated you, but had a crush she was hiding.
>>3 pocky is just a stick covered in multicoloured poo and you guys like to spend a fortune on just a small pack
>>20 you're lucky society is not so critical of you.
i don't see what people can discuss about anime (for long terms)
i think i'm growing out of anime...(￣□￣|||
isn't otaku a self-degrading term?
in my environment has same attitude too. from myself, sometimes i think otaku it's weird person.. (sorry about that) because they act different ^^; i know there is no one who exactly normal.. everybody has something weird in themselves...
>>46 I felt like she had a crush on me but i didn't want to mention it because i always thought she would feel bad if i brought it up, because i wasn't interested in her that way. I really liked her, but as a friend.
>But I don't really get why the fangirl community would be the cause for your friend's behavior?
Well, because the community that is the one best suited for her in tastes (as in yaoi) isn't exactly the best one for her personality. Because Fangirls in those communities are low self esteem people who support each other's shitty motivationless lifestyles. And they start feeling good with that lifestyle because people still like them, even when they are like that.
It may sound beautiful that they are so close like that, but nothing I've ever heard in my life justified such a lifestyle. They are running away, and they deny the friendship of those that try to put some sense into them. They just keep on living in that same cycle, repeating itself over and over again, numbing their brains.
This is how I feel.
>>49 . Because Fangirls in those communities are low self esteem people who support each other's shitty motivationless lifestyles. And they start feeling good with that lifestyle because people still like them, even when they are like that.
Well said Anonymous. I agree 100%.
>>47
Otaku may be self degrading but from the recent Otaku protest/march throgh Akiba and videos of groups of otakus chanting 'Otaku!' makes it seem Otakus are more acceptable of their personal interests. all the power to em(and me) anyway.
I only read manga these days, but I can't help but to come off as a bit nerdy in everything I do in real life, lol. I have big interests in drawing, graphics design, motion graphics, digital painting, photography and all that. When I talk to people I'll always have an opinion about something like that, and similarly when it's about all the weaboo shit.
What's wrong in having opinions? Not being afraid of showing them is just a compliment. Being a hikki weeaboo emo "lul I can draw coz drawing as a hobby is wat u do in tihs fandom"who doesn't know/use any social rules is where I don't like us geeky types. I'll avoid those as much as I can.
>>52
People's preconceived notions about a certain subculture can damage your first impression/their view of you without even knowing you. I personally don't blame the person, I think it is human nature.
There's nothing wrong with having opinions but being a weeaboo/otaku is looked down upon to say the least.
>There's nothing wrong with having opinions but being a weeaboo/otaku is looked down upon to say the least.
Of course it is looked down upon, a great majority of otaku and weeaboo are ugly, fat, they don't take care of themselves, and they have weak personalities. what is there not to be looked down upon, this is not a question of "what counts is the inside", no, this is social image. OH BUT! weeeaboos still have feelings! that doesn't make them nicer to have arround, that makes them even worse to have around, a weak, sensitive, ugly, fat person.
Are you fat and unhappy about it ? THEN LOSE WEIGHT. Are you fat, and ok with it ? It doesn't affect your personality ? Then no one will care if you are fat, of course it will mean that less girls will be interested in you, but people will like you the same way. DO YOU LIKE ANIME, FIGURINES, MANGA, HENTAI AND ALL THAT SHIT AND STILL CARE ABOUT YOUR IMAGE ? People will love you.