Otaku
Otaku Urban Culture
Otaku is a Urban Culture which was the second of five Urban Cultures effected during the Geek Movement. However it started out in the Japanese Animation, Manga, Japanese Enthusiasts, and Video Game communities of Tokyo Japan. The Five Pillars of Otaku are Cosplaying, AMV Editting, Manga Writing, Model Sculpting and Super-Sentai.
Origins
Etymology
The word Otaku started in Japan. The word in Japanese means obsessed or liking something to excess. However, internationally Otaku is known as someone who is highly interested in Japanese Traditional Culture, and Anime/Manga. The word Otaku comes from the word house. The term Otaku became popularized from Akio Nakamori in 1983 from Otaku no Kenkyu, however the character Lynn Minmay from Macross first brought the word up in 1982.
People internationally are not completely obsessed, but see Anime and Japanese culture as a hobby.
History
Otaku first began to emerge in Tokyo Japan, it was based around the comic, animation, and filmmaking scene.
Many of these comic artists, animators, and filmmakers were curious in the idea of experimented techniques of the west in the drawing and animation styles which were being explored at the time.
During their spare time many of the otaku would join clubs or start clubs involving their fandom for anime and manga. They would frequent stores where they could buy manga to see what was the newest series to come out in their favored genres and quickly rush home to record or watch their animation shows.
The Movements
Gastro-Otaku Movement (1970-current)
The gastro movement started when the first otaku fans hit the scene. Most of them were very obsessive because anime and manga was new. The ideas of animation were endless, so it left them highly eager to find out new series. However there wasn't too much direction back then for the fans, so many of them went into anime and manga with even more obsession. Many social obligations were not met and anime manga fandom took number one priority. The gastro movement is thanked much for its hobbies within anime which were set in the time as Sculpture, Cosplay (Sewing), Animation (Drawing), Video Editting, and Retail. It wouldnt be until the 1990's that this attitude towards anime manga would begin to change. Back during this time being called anime otaku was scene as a drastic insult.
Wotaku Movement (1990-current)
The west had been watching anime far before the 1990's with shows like Astroboy, Speed Racer, and Voltron (Go Lion). During the 1990s many gateway anime shows were on childrens television, some of these were Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and Gundam Wing.
In north america those who got interested found out it was called anime and people who liked it were otaku. Otaku became a loneword from the japanese language, and the original definition of house or obsessive hobbiest were lost. The definition of Otaku outside of japan started to evolve into something very different from its original meaning. The term Otaku became popularized as someone who is a big fan of japanese music, traditional culture, popular culture, fashion, anime, manga, food, etc... In the wotaku movement many took pride in being apart of something which celebrated anime, manga, japan, and the arts.
Paleo-Otaku Movement (2010-current)
O
Effected Communities
The main effected community was Geek Culture. A group which involved people who enjoyed Technology, Electronics, Education, Thinking, and possibly Obsessed or Passionate with one or more things.
Effected Niche Hobby Groups
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Fashion
The Fashion of Otaku that distinguishes Otaku from other urban cultures is Seira Fashion. The word Seira comes from the japanese pronounciation of sailor in the term sailor uniform. Originally seira fashion started with the ideas based from the anime manga sailor moon in the 1992. The outfits the sailor scouts used were based on japanese school uniforms which were highly modified.
Cuisine
Otaku cuisine has developed its food through the paleo-otaku movement. The style of cuisine emerged from a need to add food to be an additional identifier to Otaku during the Paleo-Otaku movement, so the styles origins come from a mix of inspirations from Japanese, American, Korean, and Chinese cuisine.
Dance
Super Sentai is the celebrated form of street dance. Even if the name originates from japanese super heros many of the poses are from anime such as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucky Star, Macross Frontier.
Shami Dance is the celebrated form of performance dance. Shami dance is a mix of asian traditional dances like Kamigata-Mai with interpretive dance to fit faster pace music like artists Yoshida Brothers and Kagrra rather then the traditional shamisen songs. Sometimes there are different variations of Shami dance which involve a mix of Korean and/or Chinese dances.
------------ is the celebrated form of couples dance.
Sports
During the Paleo-Otaku movement, Kyudo and Kendo were shown in many anime as a school sport inside of japan. People who watched anime then started to have a growing interest in the sports in the west since it was not common to practice Kyudo or Kendo. Anything goes martial arts was originally a school in Rumiko Takahashis anime manga Ranma 1/2. It was created as a multiple round and ruling sport for the sake of no particular martial art having an advantage over another. For example Throwing round, Pinning round, Striking round, Knock Down, Push Back Round. Each round has a different point system.
The most popular sports in today's Otaku are Kyudo, Kendo, and Anything Goes Martial Arts.