Recently, a fragment of Wikipedia's definition of
“ Otaku ”
became a trend on social networks in Japan , generating an
intense debate among users. The excerpt highlights the evolution of the
perception of otaku in Japanese society, from a negative connotation to greater
acceptance today.
- “Otaku”
is a term that refers to fans and became popular in Japanese subculture in
the 1980s. In 1989, during the discovery of the serial kidnapping
and murder case of girls in Tokyo and Saitama, the media It was widely
reported that criminal Tsutomu Miyazaki had collected numerous video
tapes of anime, tokusatsu, and manga magazines, linking them to the crime. This
caused a wave of social criticism towards otakus, and, paradoxically, made
the existence of “otakus” widely known to the general public.
- Therefore,
at first, the term was often used negatively to refer collectively to
people with hobbies such as manga, anime, video games, and idols, as well
as individuals who lacked social skills or were bad at interpersonal
communication. The persecution of anime otaku 20 years ago was
quite severe. Although now they are accepted.
Below are some comments from users on social
networks who reacted to the statement that “although twenty years ago otakus
were persecuted, today they are accepted in society”:
- Will
it be around the time of 'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'? It really was
something that was seen in secret . Although it was in the top
sales positions on Oricon, it was totally ignored. There were no
special anime programs on the variety shows .
- « Being
an otaku was like being a hidden Christian, we lived in secret .
Today's otakus think that it is normal to be accepted in society,
but that is a big mistake .
- " It's
not a question of being accepted or not, it's that there are
practically no people in this era who have not seen anime or manga ."
- « Twenty
years ago they already had some recognition, right? In Miyazaki
Tsutomu 's time , being an anime lover earned you horrible
treatment. Maybe it was since 'Princess Mononoke' when it changed .
- « Our continuous
effort has finally caused it to infiltrate society at large . It
is not easy to guide a crowd that does not know what is good or bad .
- "
They used to say that 100,000 guys like Miyazaki met at
Comiket , but they didn't talk about the good one ."
- « Otakus
who watched 'Samurai Champloo', 'Fafner in the Azure', 'MEZZO' were
harassed and called weird. "Those who watched 'BLEACH' or
'School Rumble' were not considered otakus ."
- « Society
has become a little more tolerant of diversity and they
simply pass by with a forced smile when they see peculiar people .»
- « Between
2000 and 2004, the number of late-night anime increased
drastically and in 2006, in the period of great prosperity, it
completely changed phase .»
- " It
made me laugh when anime became known even among pachinko fans and
the elderly ."
Source: Otakomu
