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how to tell if youre an otaku
ajslayer:
--- Quote from: AceHigh on May 05, 2011, 08:38:35 AM ---There is one easy way to spot otakus. After watching anime they tend to like everything that is Japanese, not because it is necessarily better or anything, but just because it's Japanese.
--- End quote ---
this post made me think a little. ok so the deal is before i started watching anime, i already found japanese women to be attractive than most and i already had an interest in japanese food, for example. but now, since i started watching anime regularly, ive been a little obsessed with the culture and whatnot. im now reading manga, and here's the kicker, im starting to get into j-dramas now. it started with nodame. also movies on top of that. i even tried my hand at japanese curry a couple times. cant get the taste quite right though.
now my dream is to move to japan and maybe open an italian restaurant or something. (studying to be a chef) i hope to possibly start a family and raise my kids there as well.im even starting to study rosetta stone japanese. also i smoke rolling tobacco but i started smoking lucky strikes again since i see it in quite a few shows.
well i dont think my obsession with japanese culture is unhealthy or anything but im just a little worried. i dont have anything physical in my room like dvds or figurines or anything like that though. and yea thats about it. your thoughts?
rostheferret:
Sounding a bit like it, yeah. SE Asian women, fine, but specifically Japanese? :/ Same with food; what's wrong with Thai for example? On the figurines, it's not so much "do you" but "would you;" those things are overpriced for what they are imo, so if money wasn't an object would you spend it there? Like I mentioned before, the term only really applies if your Japanese interests take over completely from others, and that's hard to really gauge online.
Example: I'm a growing film nut. Japanese film is a major interest of mine but that said, I still think Kurosawa's "Kagemusha" sucked balls, John Woo made more decent action flicks in his early days than most Japanese directors could dream of accomplishing and Thailand still reigns supreme for Ghost stories. My interests don't blind me to things elsewhere.
Gangster301:
--- Quote from: AceHigh on May 05, 2011, 08:38:35 AM ---There is one easy way to spot otakus. After watching anime they tend to like everything that is Japanese, not because it is necessarily better or anything, but just because it's Japanese.
--- End quote ---
Well, it can also be the fact that the culture is very different from your own. That's the case with me. I would probably have become just as interested in any other unusual(very different from my own) culture if I had been introduced to that first. Wouldn't call them an otaku just for that reason, though.
froody1911:
--- Quote from: burningstar4 on May 05, 2011, 07:33:23 AM --- (click to show/hide)
A person who simply enjoys “anime.”
Is proud of Japan’s anime.
Evaluates anime based on direction, voice acting, art, etc.
Hates shallow anime with no real content.
Story emphasis >>>>> Moe anime.
A recent example would Higashi no Eden. Fans of anime who like Lain or Ghost in the Shell would probably be this kind.
--- End quote ---
Wait...so having good, mature taste in anime makes me an otaku? That's like saying "If you like intelligent and meaningful films from hollywood, and usually not the 'entertainer' kind, you're a movie buff."
I don't agree with this classification :-\
AceHigh:
--- Quote from: ajslayer on May 05, 2011, 09:54:19 AM ---this post made me think a little. ok so the deal is before i started watching anime, i already found japanese women to be attractive than most and i already had an interest in japanese food, for example.
--- End quote ---
Personally I already knew that Japan made good electronic and cars before watching anime, but only that is not enough, is it? However then it goes as following:
--- Quote ---but now, since i started watching anime regularly, ive been a little obsessed with the culture and whatnot.
--- End quote ---
Natural reaction. After all through anime you are literally getting influenced by Japanese culture export. Not very unlike people wanting to learn German language just because they like Rammstein or learn more about shaolin monasteries just because they are impressed by martial arts performed by the monks.
--- Quote ---now my dream is to move to japan and maybe open an italian restaurant or something. (studying to be a chef) i hope to possibly start a family and raise my kids there as well.im even starting to study rosetta stone japanese.
--- End quote ---
Yes, learning Japanese and moving to Japan is another wish which is also natural after being influenced by Japanese culture through modern mediums like anime, manga and j-movies.
--- Quote ---well i dont think my obsession with japanese culture is unhealthy or anything but im just a little worried. i dont have anything physical in my room like dvds or figurines or anything like that though. and yea thats about it. your thoughts?
--- End quote ---
My thoughts are: nothing to worry about at the moment. For most people it will pass as soon as they find something more interesting to do than watch anime all day and after some time the interests about Japan will go more stale and the ideas of moving to Japan will seem less realistic.
Another thing that can influence you to snap out of Japanophilia is to dig too deep into their culture and find a numerous dark sides about it. I will not mention which, because rabid Japanophiles will eat me alive if I do, so that is up for you to discover. Hell, even I went through a similar phase about 6 years ago. However as there became less and less quality anime to watch, all the fascinations about Japan became stale and after a while I got a more objective view about Japan and their culture. Nowadays anime is just another form of entertainment for me and little else.
The question is, what if you continue spending most of your time watching anime and thus never snapping out of the fascination about Japan? Well, then you are an otaku, right? ;)
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