The five episodes of OreImou that have aired so far have given me a number of otaku-related subjects to ponder. This post is a collection of six short essays about specific topics that OreImou has made me reflect on, both in terms of the show itself, as well as my own personal experiences…
– Hiding your hobby
Episode 1 of OreImou introduces us to the basic premise of the series and a conflict that many die-hard fans of anime, games, etc., have to deal with: feeling the need to hide their hobby.
In Kirino’s case, she has good reason to want to hide it. Her position wouldn’t be as bad if she were interested in more universally likable anime and games, such as the kinds most of us like. Instead, she’s interested in literally the “lowest of the low” as far as society is concerned – games that revolve around incestuous sexual situations with underage girls. Throw in the fact that she herself is precisely the opposite kind of person that these games are aimed for, you can’t blame her for being paranoid.
When it comes to people who are unfamiliar with anime and Japanese culture, I don’t try to hide my hobby to the extent that Kirino does, but I also don’t try to advertise it either. I make sure it’s the right situation before I’ll wear one of my anime shirts for example, and I do tend to feel awkward when strangers such as workmen have to come into my room full of anime. But at the same time, my interest lies in the universal, general anime rather than the shunned erogames that Kirino prefers. If I had her taste, I believe I would also want to hide it the way she does, perhaps not even decorate my room at all.
– Finding that special person
Although I feel she acts rather unappreciative, Kirino is one of the luckiest female erogame fans in the world to have a brother like Kyousuke. If we can find someone like that who accepts our questionable hobby despite not sharing it themselves, that’s certainly a blessing. In my experience, it’s disappointing how hard it is to find someone who doesn’t share your passion yet you can freely and comfortably discuss it with them, and they’ll listen and inquire with patience and kindness.
Very few people want to hear passionate talk about a hobby that isn’t theirs, so such a person is rare indeed. If they actually try and take part in the hobby just to humor you, such as watching a few episodes or playing a few games with you, that’s a plus. Of course, it doesn’t seem like Kirino likes to talk about her hobby with Kyousuke as opposed to just telling him to play her erogames. But I assume if she ever did, he would probably prefer that kind of “life counseling” and be just as patient with her as he already is.
Since I’m such a hardcore anime fan, I can’t help the fact that just about all the good friends I have are in some way also interested, even if not anime in particular, other related mediums such as video games, Japan, or art/animation. But again, since Kirino’s erogame hobby is much less widely accepted than my general, non-ecchi anime hobby, her difficulty in finding even one friend to accept it is more difficult, especially when you also consider her age and gender.
– Awkwardness, even amongst fellow fans
When Kirino finally had the opportunity to meet fellow female fans in episode 2, she was surprisingly quiet and awkward at the meet-up. I can sympathize with this because even among fellow fans, it’s hard to find people who like the same anime in the same way as you do. The term “anime fan” is very broad – one person loves mostly moe anime, another is only interested in creative, intellectually-stimulating anime, still another only likes action-packed shonen and mecha series – they’re all called anime fans, yet their tastes are different.
We’re able to see this distinction in the relationship between Kirino and Kuroneko. But if their tastes in anime and games are so different, why did they become friends? From how I see it, 1) their tastes may be different but their passion is the same, 2) they’re still fellow fans and can accept each other despite having different opinions, and 3) it could just be a case of opposites attract.
In the many times I’ve been amongst groups of fellow anime fans, I still tend to be quiet and withdrawn. The main issue I have in these situations is finding a fellow fan who actively asks for my thoughts instead of just talks about their own opinion and hardly gives me a chance to butt in. Like with people in general, I usually don’t care to become friends with all the anime fans I meet in group gatherings. But if I can find just one Kuroneko or Saori, that makes it all worthwhile.
– Leading a double life
Kirino’s reactions to the male otaku in her class were quite interesting. In one instance, she’s plainly interested in what they’re doing but can’t openly show it.
And when her friend comes by and bad-mouths the hobby she secretly shares with them, she can’t speak out.
I also lack the guts to speak out when I overhear people saying ignorant things about anime. I’ve never had a case that was too extreme, but perhaps if I did, my passion would drive even a shy person like me to defend the thing I love most.
In the second case, she’s enjoying listening to them talk about things she loves even though she can’t join in. I’ve had this experience before as well.
I think it’s easier in most cases (though definitely not all) for guys to be open about a hobby such as anime and games amongst their peers rather than girls. Most anime is targeted towards males anyway, and typical girls tend to be more critical about things that appear “nerdy” or non-feminine. However, Kirino’s “non-otaku” side allows her to have perfectly normal interactions at school. A lot of critics of anime fandom think it’s bad because fans have nothing else going for them, but we know that isn’t so. Kirino’s modeling, track racing, and other non-otaku interests didn’t develop just as a false identity to hide her real otaku nature. As she’s stated adamantly, they’re both her.
Anime is my biggest love, but I also have other interests that have absolutely nothing to do with it. Society’s view about anime and games forces us to have a seemingly “double life” or else risk ridicule, but that doesn’t mean our passion for the other things isn’t as real as our passion for anime. Is it odd for someone to have more than one hobby that defines who they are?
– The struggle for parental approval
One of the first places we may look for approval of our otakuism is from our parents. In Kirino’s case, her strict, conservative dad probably wouldn’t approve of any non-traditional female hobby, even if it was just general anime and gaming, much less 18+ rated ones.
From my experience, most parents aren’t particularly keen on their child’s otaku hobby but tolerate it for the most part. But I’ve also heard of cases from both extremes, from parents who harshly criticize their child for having such a hobby and even throw away their collectibles, to other parents who actually share in the hobby or at least encourage it. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones who has a very understanding mom who encourages my hobby. Though she’s not a fan herself, I’ve shown her many anime over the years and she’s grown to respect it. She’s happy that I have such a unique, cultured, artistic passion as opposed to something run-of-the-mill, or no passion at all. But again, Kirino has it worse because her particular taste in anime and games is way harder for anyone, much less a parent, to approve of.
– Acceptance and true friendship
Kirino wanted to hide her hobby even from her best friend, which is something I’ve never done. The main reason is because the only friendships I’ve made that have lasted are the ones with people who like anime, or at least did at some point. But if I found someone I wanted to call a friend who didn’t know about anime, I would make sure they knew about it early on. Perhaps I’d do it gradually, but I wouldn’t lie or dismiss my other friends the way Kirino does to Kuroneko and Saori. If the person had a distorted view of anime, I would do my best to correct it. Anime is so important to me that I can’t imagine being friends with someone who’s less than neutral to it.
Again, Kirino’s case is different because the type of anime and games she likes has a major stigma. Unlike the general, non-ecchi anime that I like, the kind that Kirino likes reflects a moral indecency on the part of the person interested in such things. Because of this, I can understand Ayase’s reaction – if Kirino were interested in the more universal shonen or shojo anime, she probably wouldn’t have had a problem. But the fact that the anime her best friend likes simulates something that people find immoral, she cannot accept it.
Was she right in her reaction, regardless of the fact that Kyousuke showed her the truth behind that one news item? For me, I can accept my friends’ hobbies even if I don’t share them. However, if I find their hobby to reflect something immoral about them as a person, I need to see how far they take it. For example, if they enjoy video games about brutally killing people, as long as they don’t act violently and cruel in real life, I don’t have a problem (I enjoy those games myself actually). Likewise, even if Kirino likes games about doing questionable things to underage girls, as long as she doesn’t advocate that in real life, she’s still more or less the same person Ayase knows.
Some people like violent video games because they relieve stress, while Kirino likes erogames because she finds the girls cute – both reasons are good enough in my book because the immoral things in the games don’t carry on to their real lives. I think a true friend should try to see that.
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This was one of my longest posts…I congratulate anyone who read it all and I apologize if it was tl;dr. The remaining seven episodes of OreImou may give me more otaku-related topics to think about, in which case a follow-up post to this one may be on its way =)
I think a lot of us struggle with the hobby. It is hard to explain to someone that you like “cartoons”. Worse if they have a common stereotype of anime as either pokemon/dragonball Z or worse yet, as lolicon hentai.
Try to explain to them that you’ve seen enough Western Media with the same cheating spouses, murder cases, clueless sitcom husbands, “reality” tv, etc, and just want to see something HAPPY. Is that so wrong?
I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but here in America people still can’t get over the fact that cartoons could be anything more than children’s entertainment or crude adult comedies. And as much as I love Pokemon, Sailor Moon, etc., thanks to them people think that anime is also kids cartoons, or the exact opposite – disgusting hentai shows. I really don’t know why anime is thought of more as hentai here in the U.S. than just regular shows considering more of the latter is released in the U.S. But I’ve noticed that the anime that was on Adult Swim has done a lot to help change people’s ignorant preconceptions. Too bad there’s little to no non-kids anime on TV in the States anymore.
The repetitive, unintelligent, low-class reality shows and the like are one of the main reasons I barely watch TV anymore. People are willing to get into this stuff but not anime with its real creativity and storytelling quality. Again, I think that preconceived notion about animation is just too hard for people to shake off.
I’m pretty sure I’ve reached a point where hiding my hobby just makes me a relatively unhappier person. I know I used to keep it when I’m not with friends, but I think that by hiding it, I’ve missed out on some pretty awesome opportunities for interacting with others and kindle an engaging conversation. I see Kirino in the same boat; granted, at that age, kids do care a lot about how others perceive them and so, place an undue amount of emphasis on superficial appearances. Still, after watching through those episodes, I see her being more open about that hobby to be something that would be liberating and we’ve seen a bit of that in her interactions with Saori + Kuroneko and Kyousuke to a lesser extent. Hopefully she wises up to this at some point.
My years of Pokemon obsession were the first time I felt awkward about liking something, around when I was Kirino’s age actually. You’re definitely right that at that age, kids care a lot about fitting in with their peers, as many of my past friends from elementary school who also went to the same middle school as me, started changing to fit in with the popular kids until they eventually turned into total strangers to me. However, I never once did anything to “fit in” that went against what I wanted – even though I was teased for liking Pokemon, I still continued to indulge in it. I know my case is the minority though, as most kids care too much about what people think of them at that age and thus would rather hide their hobby like Kirino or just ditch it all together. I too realized that lying about my hobby makes me more miserable in the long run.
Ah god, I feel your pain. It’s amazingly difficult to get anyone at ALL to try and understand this hobby. I took up this hobby since I didn’t really have much friends, nor did I have much to do. Now my new strategy is to live the hobby, but not to the extent where it annoys people. I can’t find the same way to express my passion as you have, so I’m just going to be content with what I have.
You’re right that it’s indeed difficult to get people to understand anime, at least here in the U.S. I’d imagine in Japan, China, or other countries where animation is more universal, it wouldn’t be that hard unless we’re talking about stuff like erogames of course.
Once I started branching out with my hobby by way of the Internet, my web site, joining clubs, decorating my person with anime, etc., I’ve managed to make many friends, just as Kirino decided to branch out and try the fangirl meet-up and ended up making friends with Kuroneko and Saori. As zzeroparticle mentioned above, living your hobby makes you a happier person – despite the fact that a few nobodies might make fun of you, constantly lying to yourself would be much worse.
Well, thats true for those who are hiding their otaku state of mind.
asides, few people really understand how things should go around(not to mention reading the manga of it up to chapter 11) in the world of otakus like me.
At first I hide it since I know I am the only one in our class has this passion and I guess when few people noticed it, I tried to be a part open and much likely a part of my hobby and a part of me.
My sister is also an otaku, but I find troubling talking to people like them… at least I can understand Kirino’s part of hiding her passion for her prized things.
Finding friends who can accept the truer you and all that is good and bad of you is rare… even if they are otaku-busters or haters.
Yes, few people do understand how unique and complex the world of anime fandom is. They tend to lump all “nerds” together, from gamers and movie buffs to anime fans, which isn’t accurate.
Finding true friends who understand and accept your anime fandom is also difficult – not necessarily because there’s something wrong with the person who likes it, but because of the ignorant view average people have about it. Even finding a true friend among fellow fans who understands the specific way you love anime is hard.
Hello there! Been following your blog for the past few weeks, but this post struck my interest more than usual so I thought I’d post something in response.
While I’m not into something as socially unaccepted as Kirino is, I got into shounen-ai at around her age. I didn’t think it was particularly weird or anything, but I figured it was something best kept quiet about. I remember it was quite difficult trying to explain to my non-anime-fan friends the difference between shounen-ai (which was what I enjoyed reading – yaoi was still a bit icky for me at that stage) and hentai, which they seemed to assume anything that wasn’t Pokemon/DBZ/YGO was. =.=;; There was a lot of “so isn’t that just gay porn?” which made me give up trying to explain altogether.
Now almost all my good friends know I like it, and they know what it is – in fact, I’ve even introduced some of my female friends to it, haha. It’s still not something I would announce to just anybody though. Mostly because trying to explain to people that anime/manga exist outside of the ones they broadcast on afternoon TV is a chore that I simply don’t have the energy or time for.
Welcome to the blog =D And thanks for sharing your example.
Liking general anime, from the long running shonen titles, to mecha series, and stuff like Haruhi, Spice and Wolf, Lucky Star, etc., isn’t too hard to convey to people. But go higher on the niche line to the stuff you’re mentioning – yaoi, yuri, ecchiness – and you’re more likely to want to hide it. Kirino’s taste exists at the highest point with erogames simulating situations that would be criminal in real life, thus she’s even more paranoid.
Your friends’ ignorance isn’t uncommon unfortunately, but I’m glad you didn’t let it deter you and you’ve even managed to enlighten some of them =)
When you say this, a few people pop into my mind immediately. And I’m 90% sure the same people pop into your mind as well. :)
Personally, I found episode five hard to sit through. It’s a little better when you remember that they’re teenagers and everything’s going to be really dramatic… But really, if you don’t love yourself, how can you expect anyone else to love you? Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt, so they say.
Heh, I don’t want to lump all anime fans together, but when I go to any real-life gathering, there’s always a few fans that constantly and passionately let their opinions roll out but don’t let the soft-spoken minority like me get a word in. But when there’s at least one understanding soul who says to me “So what do you think?” or “Which one do you like?,” that makes me feel good ^^
Yeah, episode 5 was interesting…I can’t tell whether I like Ayase more or less now ~_^ By “denial” do you mean the fact that Kirino was denying her true self even to her best friend?
Yes, pretty much. Kirino is a self-hating otaku. Then again, perhaps most of us are.
sentiments shared…
Thanks for your concise thoughts =)
Terrific post! Definitely not tl;dr – in fact, because they were mini-reflections, it felt like a quick read! :)
You have a lot of great insight. I really liked your discussion about Ayase’s reaction. I think that you made a strong connection there – there’s a difference between a hobby and acting on a hobby. The show also addressed the issue that just because someone likes something that is morally sticky doesn’t mean their actions are such – many defend this idea to no ends. Ayase seems to be worried about the implications of Kirino’s hobby – does that change who she is? Will she become one of these abhorrent people she’s heard about? If Kirino is still who she is, Ayase isn’t so worried.
Of course, Ayase seems to be worried about Kirino, ironically, because of selfishness. She depends on her, models herself after her and wants her to stay that pure hero she believes she is. It’s a complicated friendship, and one that I think makes the story even more interesting.
Thanks for the compliments. And that’s a great interpretation of Kirino and Ayase’s friendship. It does seem that Ayase is being the selfish one, making it seem that Kirino has to choose between their friendship or her hobby because she can’t accept the social implications of such a hobby, even though she can see that Kirino is still the same person. And even if she couldn’t see that yet, she should at least try to find out before automatically assuming that anyone who has this hobby will turn out like that particular case she mentioned. And though it wasn’t stated, I think she also doesn’t want to take the risk of being stigmatized herself for being friends with a person who has this hobby. However, I also believe there was some genuine concern for Kirino as well, so she’s not all bad =P
Regarding the awkwardness amongst fans, I think your case of being withdrawn is merely because you’re trying to find someone who is at the same wavelength as yours, or match it at the very least. Because, let’s face it, there are no two fans that have the very same interests. Someone will always have a greater or lesser kind of fandom than what you have, and we can only hope to be able to communicate without bringing up differences with other fans.
Then again, that’s just my analysis about your “skinship” with other fans. I don’t know if you apply the same kind to bloggers, but I digress.
Thanks for your thoughts. I don’t think my problem is so much that I only want to be friends with fans on the same wavelength as me, but that I’m just looking for kind, understanding fans who mesh well with my personality. As I’ve mentioned in my above comment to 2DT, I don’t mesh well with the vocal, highly opinionated ones. But over the years I’ve managed to make a lot of friends who don’t love the same anime in the same way as I do, yet we get along very well. So I guess having the same wavelength for me simply has to do with our personalities blending and feeling comfortable fangirling about my favorite anime with them even if they don’t share it, as opposed to just liking the same anime.
Great post! I definitely suffered the exact same thing during highschool where it is really difficult to openly show my interest in anime in fear of being treated as an outcast. However I have reached a point where I’m just so sick of hiding it and decided to open up and believe me, life has been way easier to live afterwards. I have to also partially thank the increase in popularity of anime.
Glad to hear you’ve decided to live true to your hobby!
My high school must have been quite different from yours since we had an anime club, lots of people liked anime, and the majority of people were at least neutral to it rather than downright hating it. Your high school situation sounds more like my middle school actually.
And I agree that the period of much dubbed anime on TV in the U.S. from around 2001 to 2006, did a great job showing people that it’s more than just Pokemon-type stuff.
Now that I’m an adult, I don’t bother to hide my non-mainstream interests from others. I don’t really recall whether I was that was as a teen or not; I was never really embarrassed about rock climbing, hiking, reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, or computer games.
While I don’t consider any of those really common (it’s not like I’m talking about baseball or football), as time has marched on I’ve taken up other, even less mainstream interests. Board games is one: I play designer board and card games (largely designs imported from Europe). When Americans think of board games, they think of Monopoly, Candyland, Risk, and Chess. When they think of card games they think of Spades, Hearts, Phase 10, Uno and Skip-bo. Of course, I grew up with all of these things! They don’t have much of a foundation to compare games like Puerto Rico, Starcraft (the board game), or Glory to Rome with. Indeed, with this particular hobby of mine I find that many people I know are either uninterested in using their brains recreationally, or simply incapable of doing so (to the point of failing to understand the basic rules of even the simpler games).
Anime is much the same. When people think of anime, they think of Naruto and Pokemon. Some may think of Akira, others may think of tentacle porn, and still others may think Scooby Doo. The most open you’re going to get is the people who have been exposed to some Miyazaki (or other Studio Ghilbi) works like Spirited Away. There’s a vast gap in genre lines between American TV cartoons (80s and 90s cartoons, largely) and quality anime shows. The barrier here is again disinterest for some, or intimidation at having to “read subtitles”.
Nonetheless, I’m still open about my interests and I don’t shy away from talking about them. In fact, a guy with a Japanese name joined my work just yesterday. I mentioned to him in passing that one of the guys who just walked by spoke Japanese, and when he asked me further about it I told him how I’d overheard him mentioning it to someone else in the office, and I keyed in on it because I like to watch anime. This started a conversation on the subject, and ended up with me sending him an email with some anime recommendations for his kids.
Another friend at work and I occasionally talk about our enthusiasm for action movies (Ong Bak is one of them), so I recommended that he watch Sword of the Stranger. He liked it, and I gave him a bunch of other action anime titles to watch. They are his “Saturday morning cartoons” now. And when I set up a bi-weekly anime viewing nite at my house with a couple of other friends (interested anime noobs), I invited him and he was excited to join us.
This isn’t to say that I don’t have to deal with people who are, for whatever reason, prejudiced against anime. I don’t doubt that some people now think of me as a little weirder than they did before. I suppose the difference between me and the “closet anime viewer” is that I’m not ashamed of my viewing habits. Granted, I stay away from most of the lascivious ecchi titles, but I’d gladly discuss the merits and risque elements of Koi Kaze (which is one of my favorite shows).
Then again, I’m not playing eroge like Kirinin, or watching hentai. Porn is shameful in just about any culture (at large), though it does flourish in some subcultures. You’re bound to be derided if that’s what you’re into. In Kirinin’s case, we have someone who ostensibly enjoys these games because she loves the cute younger sisters, not because she gets off on sexing them up in the game (though I do think she has a sublimated brocon and that contributes to her interest).
Great thoughts!
I think the main reason people don’t think any less of you for having a hobby like rock climbing or reading fantasy novels is because they know what those things are already. Even if they don’t know the details, they have a good idea of what such hobbies entail. What entails anime however, is not public knowledge and most people will have a skewered view of it based on what they heard through the grape vine. Thus, when they encounter someone with anime for a hobby, they don’t know what to think and will usually lean towards the negative side.
One thing you said really stuck out to me – that most people are “uninterested in using their brains recreationally.” I would say that’s the reason the average person would rather play sports, hike, or vegetate with a mindless reality TV show than have an involving hobby like anime. The complex stories, details, fan commitment, and continuity in anime and games require much passionate brain strain that most people just don’t want to deal with for a hobby. The mind work of reading subtitles will turn off some people right away.
I’m satisfied even if I can introduce just one person to a new anime, just like your example. I’m terrible at introducing non-fans to anime though, since I have lots of trouble imposing my interests on others unless they seek it. But that could change over time =)
I actually completly agree with what you wrote. Being an otaku can be difficult since “regular” people tend to look down upon us and think we have no life.
And I don’t just have friends that like anime. I know a couple who maybe watched a Miazaki film and that’s it but we’re still friends.
Family wise, my family more or less tolerates it. Back when I was younger they hinted that they looked down on it but they’ve come to accept that it isn’t going away. Plus, being an otaku means that now I cosplay and my parents are quite happy that I’m learning the skills to sew and such.
And I can kind of see where Kirino is coming from. I will admit that although I love the usual anime, I am a hardcore yaoi fan. I even own adult yaoi visual novel games. That’s not something that one admits in public to anyone because it is quite awkward even though yaoi seems to be starting to be put into the main stream(yaoicon and yaoi manga in bookstores). I still keep quite about it though unless I know the person is into anime and I can hint at yaoi and then admit to liking it or just be quite about it.
And I also agree about the anime fans thing. I was at MangaNext this weekend and me and a friend were hanging out in the lobby area with a bunch of Naruto cosplayers. My friend ended up becoming best friends with everyone while I just sat on the side and just listened in. I’m not a loud person in groups and I didn’t find a Saori but that was alright. My friend was having fun. Plus later on in the same day, I actually made friends with a fifteen year old guy who ended up hanging out with me and my other two friends that arrived later.
Cool, thanks for sharing your examples =)
I’ve never cosplayed but I know my mom would love it if I learned to sew from that XD
Yeah, if I was a yaoi/yuri fan I would probably be more opted to hide it. Even amongst fellow anime fans, some may look down on you for that. But again, I look at the person more than the hobby – if they’re the kind of person I’d want to be friends with, and they have decent morals even if they like something that people would consider immoral, I don’t have a problem.
I’ve had that same situation like you did at MangaNext. People who don’t understand anime think that any two people who like it will automatically get on well, but that’s not the case. If you recall my “branches of anime” post, they don’t realize that it’s made up of many different fandoms.
I like to hide my anime “obsession” (not so much an obsession anymore) mainly because of the the fact that it’s like living a double life, and two lives are more than one, so technically, I’m twice as old.
Or something like that…
LOL, so you want to hide it because you want to be “twice as old” from leading a double life? I see…I think =P
I just watched oreImo episode 5…
Yes, somehow it’s really depressing to know that there are few people who think that otakus are criminals in the making.
The truth is… living a double life makes anyone miserable…
a hobby is not harmful unless you are under control of the hobby itself.
The most hard part for otakus is… finding someone who understands you.
Seeing as everyone has posted about their own experiences with hiding their hobbies, I think that part of the OreImo franchise that makes it well engaged with its fanbase is the aspect of it that’s self-referential and contains plenty of references to otaku culture. Hopefully the anime is capable of really developing the themes it has so far, so even by the end of the series we see it remain true to its main subject matter.
I think the hip, savvy, self-referential quality of OreImou is also what made shows like Haruhi, Angel Beats!, and Lucky Star so popular. They’re fraught with things only otaku would like and understand, but they also have more universal qualities beyond that too.
Greetings from the Windy City!
OreImo has got the aniblogosphere abuzz with questions and comments about anime fandom. While everyone’s really concerned about Kyousuke and Kirino or fangirling/boying over Kuroneko, the one character who intrigues me most is Saori. She’s so cool! What does she look like without those swirly glasses? What’s her own story, and what her own particular fandoms, and what’s her real name? And what are those wallscrolls in her backpack? She evidently has decent social skills and organizational ken to put together the fangirl meetup, and she appears to be quite level-headed and reliable, which we see when she checks in with Kyousuke about Kirino after the Ayase encounter. She’s also a “big-sister” figure for Kuroneko, which must be worth a whole anime series in itself. I hope to see more of her as the series goes on…
Re: the life of an otaku / anime fan – I understand what it means to lead a double life, since my professional life needs to be completely separated from my personal enjoyment of anime. I don’t share my fandom with any people or colleagues my age, because I know they wouldn’t understand at all. Perhaps I’ve become too used to being alone, but I can’t shake the feeling that being an anime fan is more often than not a solitary affair. There’s only so much group activity you can indulge in before you need to start watching anime or reading manga on your own, isn’t there? Alternatively, there could be anime appreciation (as opposed to anime watching) sessions where people would watch a series together in person and then talk about it immediately after the screening. But that kind of activity mainly takes place in the blogosphere as well, what with streaming and torrenting. I think having an activity that you can’t do through the internet – like karaoke! — is a really good way get anime fans together. What other activities would do the trick, I wonder?
Good thoughts about Saori! I hope we learn more about her too =)
Not being able to talk about my greatest passion with ease at work, or most anywhere else actually, is tough. If I was into sports, or American pop culture, or other things average people my age know about, I wouldn’t have this problem. But alas, being different means you’re more likely to be alone.
Actually, some people watch anime more often with others than alone. So I don’t believe it has to always be a solitary affair – just personal preference =) I like watching anime alone for the first time because other people are too distracting and I like to really “study” the show on my own. But for the second watch, I don’t mind either way.
Anime pictionary, charades, or other games like that come to mind. But having discussions in person rather than online is more spontaneous and telling because people’s personalities and tones are clearer.
I hid my anime hobby back in high school since it was an uncool thing. Also, I watched mainly Pokemon, which most of the people weren’t interested in high school. When I entered college, I free my hobby and let everyone know I like Anime. Quite frankly, nobody judged me on it, which is a good thing.
However, I hide my playing of visual novels because you know…
Yeah, your true identity really starts to come out in college, so that’s probably why you didn’t want to hide your hobby anymore =)
Stuff like yaoi, visual novels, etc., can be embarrassing to like, even among fellow anime fans. I still feel a little awkward about my Pokemon obsession among fans my age.
I must admit, I have difficulty sympathizing with Kirino due to the fact that she’s a blatantly manufactured male otaku fantasy. Personally, I would have vastly preferred the character and the show in general if it had tackled the subject matter in a more realistic and feminine (as opposed to the generally masculine Genshiken) manner.
That said however, I do hold some small level of sympathy with her having to hide her hobbies. High school is never easy, and when one has hobbies that can easily ostracize oneself, it makes it all the worse. At the same time however, I’ve always felt that otaku are at least partially responsible for the bad flak they get. When you are the only demographic in the known universe that could give birth to, and sustain, a market for body pillows with teenage girls printed on them, you deserve some of that bad rep.
Personally though, I’m at that stage where I simply can’t give a fuck what people think about me anymore (with the exception of people who can influence my professional life, I give many fucks about what they think about me). Because of that, I don’t bother hiding anything at all. My house is filled with anime related crap and I openly watch anime in public on my psp. I must say, the feeling is quite liberating, though at the same time, it has caused people to develop a negative perception about me. Eh, the price of freedom, I guess.
You have a point about otaku’s bad rap holding some truth, but the body pillow market and all that are only the extreme kind, the kind Ayase uses to lump all otaku together. I know plenty of people who truly love anime but don’t let they’re fetishes get out of hand like that (myself included =P) The problem is that people think anime fans are either kids who like Pokemon stuff or the creeps you describe who fantasize about underage girls – they don’t know about the variety of others in between.
But…didn’t you say on your last post that you hated anime? ~_^
I generally don’t watch current series but anime fans online sure can’t seem to get enough of this one, so to say the least. I can’t say that I was planning on checking it out but now having read a (gasp!) female perspective on it, I’m kind of intrigued and think I might hunt it down.
If nothing else, I know what it’s like to not have anyone to share my geeky interests with. The screenshots you posted of Kirino sitting alone in class, listening in to other students’ conversations… I haven’t seen this show yet or anything but that looks and feels so painfully familiar. The premise of this whole series sounds so creepy and pandering, but if the creators are also trying to capture bittersweet moments and feelings like this on top of the initial setup of it all, then maybe they’re working with something really special here.
I’m trying not to build this up to be something that it’s not. I guess I’ll find out once I’m able to track down a torrent of it.
Like other anime specifically aimed at otaku, like Lucky Star, Haruhi, Macross F, etc., OreImou can be seen as pandering on one level, if that’s what you’re looking for, but it can also be seen as a worthwhile, creative story with engaging characters. I get a similar feeling from watching it as I do with Toradora!, though I don’t think it’ll be that good.
Mazui is the main fansub group that’s releasing it. You can get their subs directly from their site (only 5 episodes as of now).
that was really deep..i found myself in these words..Anime is more than art,it gives art life, meaning and all kind of emotions…you cry,you smile,you laugh ,you get angry and so on…while i don’t play erogames,i love playing visual novels which are slighting different from hentai games because they focus more on story and most of the times i skip the ecchi scenes which simply speaking i do not love watching..examples are Tsukihime,Clannad,Shuffle,Fate stay night,Little busters,Air and so on..and i do know girls who love playing these visual novels,they even recommended me some games….people should learn to know that Japanese tends to clone real life into their stuff which is something i love cause it gives deepness to anime,visual novels(don’t tell me in real life,people don’t do ecchi stuff or if not worse),light novels, manga and even games…(just now i’m playing a game called ZHP Unlosing ranger,and i find this game really funny,and its like playing a real life,even giving you examples of the social problems most people suffer)..while in occidental countries,animation or anything drawn is considered a joke,if you want to make a comparison we can say anime and like are adult like while the cartoons are childlike..i do like watching cartoons but there hasn’t ever be a time they touched or moved me to tears except for Disney ones while anime do so all the time…
Aside from Kirino, the general situation is really relateable to people. Everyone’s been in that place where you don’t belong. I think that everyone here should have been that person sitting there listening to other people talk at one point or another.
I’m one of those people who trusts a small number of good friends completely and doesn’t care much about everyone else. So even when I was teased when I was in gradeschool about anime or something I never really cared. I mean, there were bigger things to worry about. What was going to happen in the next episode of Gundam Seed is more important than what those idiots think was my motto.
I never tried to hide things, but I don’t go around declaring it either. I have a Hatsune Miku bag and some cute little accessories/buttons from anime/manga, but that’s about it. It’s interesting if anyone recognizes it, but almost all of the time nothing happens. Generally, it’s not like some random person will walk up to you and ask “hey, do you play eroges?” or something, right? My parents think I like cartoons. I don’t want any problems so I let them keep thinking that.
As for finding that special person, all I can do is sigh. There is an anime club at my school, but they only watch series that are dubbed because there are special needs members. I really can’t watch dragonball z or bleach anymore, so I don’t go. The weird thing is that there are a lot of people who like anime at my school, but they avoid the anime club people, so there’s like this rift between different modes of fandom. With my 3 closest friends, one is a pure fushoji, the other knows about anime, likes some, but doesn’t care too much, and the last one likes anime/manga but cares more about Korean dramas. So it’s not like we all like the same thing, but we’re friends anyway because it’s not about liking the same thing. We actually have this thing going: if both my fushoji friend and I like the same title, it must be good. But sometimes it does get awkward. My boyfriend doesn’t play eroges/vns as much as I do, but he has played some. One time he was hugging me and randomly said “this is like a visual novel”. It was very, very odd.
Oh, and about Kirino herself: I can’t relate to Kirino. I mean, we’re really similar in a lot of ways, but something about her attitude prevents me from feeling sympathy. Like Snark said, she’s a “male otaku fantasy”. As a girl, it’s just completely impossible to connect with a person like that.