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An Introduction to Otaku Culture
Hippies have their weed, head bangers have their metal, and Germans have their beer. There are things in this world that people love and obsess about. Just like weed and metal, otaku have their anime, manga, figures, games, and cosplay. An otaku is really just a lover of anime and manga; an overzealous fan completely dedicated to their passion. This passion takes many forms and can often appear strange, but that's one of the most enjoyable aspects of otaku culture. Part of the appeal of otaku culture, especially here out in the West, is the foreignness of this phenomenon from Japan. There's just nothing like it and quite often general lovers of Japanese culture are clumped into the broadening scope of what is considered otaku culture. There are just so many facets of otaku fandom that it's hard to explain to those not already entrenched in its deep culture. For all the curious non-otaku out there, welcome to a wonderful new world.
Anime
At the center of the otaku movement is surely anime. Anime is by far the most approachable subject available to people and its aimed to appeal to the widest audience. Anime is merely the Japanese equivalent of cartoons and literally comes from the American word "animation". It's shown on public Japanese television for free and presented to a wide target audience from children to adults. Yet the scope and scale of Japanese anime far exceeds that of current American cartoons. With pioneers such as Osamu Tezuka (of Astro Boy fame) creator of the first true anime, Mastumoto Reiji (creator of Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express), and Miyazaki Hayao (Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away) anime has risen above and beyond simple cartoons to something that has become a part of Japanese culture. The highest grossing film in Japan to date is currently Spirited Away, an anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki whose dominance in the field of animation in the East has been compared to Walt Disney and his own success in the West. Spirited Away also has experienced success overseas, and is the winner of an Academy Award in 2001 and the second Oscar ever awarded for Best Animated Feature.
For the full article, go to DLSite.com article page.
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