Do you consider yourself a real Otaku?

[Charles]

I'm a real otaku, yes. My friends and I dress up as our favorite anime characters on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Conventions aren't necessary for such a thing.

We then proceed to act out scenes from our favorite anime; if we become bored of that, we partake in bouts of anime trivia. And, of course, we've constructed several shrines in which to we store our obscure memorobilia. In school, I was picked on for carrying around an anime lunch box--I was a senior in high school at the time.

I'm also a member of fifteen other anime message boards where I enjoy fifteen different anime-related screen names. When people speak to me online, I call them a "baka" compulsively.

Last but not least, I'm attracted to female anime characters as if they were real. On especially lonely nights, I dream of marrying them. Plus I frequently masturbate to hentai.

In the end, I know as much about anime as I do music. So that makes me an otaku. Love me for it.

[Semjaza]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Charles [/i]
[B]In the end, I know as much about anime as I do music. So that makes me an otaku. Love me for it. [/B][/QUOTE]

I almost feel like this comment was directed towards me and it makes me want to cry. Charles is a cruel and unusual creature.

[AnonymousSource]

I'm still trying to get over that Hentai comment...

*hystarically laughing*

[Guest lavalamp]

Why anyone would want to group themselves with the overwhelming amount of idiots who call themselves such a thing is beyond me. The term is a Japanese insult, people.

People should treat it like a guilty pleasure, because if I cared to watch it, that's how I would treat it.

[Oukan05]

Truefully, I would definitly consider myself a real Otaku; maybe a beginner or something. In putting it this way, I've started watching anime back at 1998. (I didn't have cable back then) That's the time I had channels that showed some shows that were way different from regular cartoons.

From then on out, I started searching for any types of anime that I can find. I would look up on any websites that have anime info. on shows, movies, images, reviews, and so on. Then, I would collect from VHS to DVDs; along with T-shirts, soundtrack(s), pictures, keychains, and video games.

I have about 21 DVDs, 8 to 10+ VHS (including my brother's), 16 graphic novels (only one is Cardcapter Sakura and 15 are Inuyasha), 1 PS game with about 3 Nitendo games, 1 soundtrack (still saving up some money in finding more), and to put it all 2 T-shirts. Some of the stuff I buy come from near or far stores and conventions. I usually buy any anime that's my favorite; especially when it comes to finding my favorite episode. To the count off of DVDs and VHS, my brother also collects too. He has more VHS, but I have the most DVDs.

Wooo...:sweat: :gulp: Even my parents question me on why I love anime so much. I would talk hours and hours about it; they only get for the fact that I love it, and that's all that matters. (They're not anime experts, but in some cases in watching one, they would like it.) Also, I'm not an expert on anime vocab, but I know at least a few; still I look them up (just for more information).

So, yeah, a real Otaku indeed; and I'm proud being one.:D :bow:

[Katana]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Hittokiri Zero [/i]
[B]The real "otakus" are usually the crazy insane cosplaying fans who buy more than just anime dvds. They buy anything anime, from anime cels to anime shirts, to anime eating utensils. Yep or something like that =P. I wouldn't really consider myself an anime otaku, i'd be a big anime fan but not one of these "otaku" that you speak of. [/B][/QUOTE]
Crazy and insane, yep.
I consider myself an Otaku to a...far extent. I am totally obsessed with the stuff, I own tons of mangas, my room is complete with anime models, posters, and drawings, and to top it off, me and my friends have started the Otaku Agency. Bunch of kids at school and stuff who are otakus...it's fun.
I think the problem with the definition of "otaku" is that not everyone can afford everything. Older teenagers will have an easier time getting anime-related things compared to the older child or preteen. I try my best to get anime stuff, but it's hard (a)getting my freakin' allowence from my mom, and (b)finding a good place in my area that sells anime. *heaves heavy sigh*
Welp, I'm done, see ya later...

[kenshinsbabe]

I would call myself a real otaku. But, my definition of an otaku may be different than everyone else's. My definition of an otaku is someone who watches anime and who knows their stuff about it. Also, they know where to get all of the latest anime supplies and stuff. But, what's different in my definition is that you have to have a certian anime that you can relate to or one that just took you away into all of the threads of its papers.That, my friends, is a true otaku, therefore, making me, kenshinsbabe, a true otaku.

[DeathBug]

Do we really need to label ourselves?

I enjoy several anime and manga, but I'm not an otaku. I shop at Hot Topic occassionally, (I'd shop there more often, but there's not one at my local mall), but I'm not Goth. I enjoy certain comic books, but I'm not a fan boy.

Really, labels are useless. I'd watch more anime if I had more money, but I'd only watch things I honestly thought I would like. For example, I'll never go out of my way to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion. I don't care how great everyone says it is; it's not my bag, baby.

So, I guess the answer is, I don't consider myself an otaku; I consider myself an individual who doesn't want to be stereotyped.

[AnonymousSource]

And it's quite reflected in how I dress. I've asked my friends to all try and define me (punk, goth, etc) and they can't, and I like it that way!
So to add to my earlier answer, I don't think I'd want to be CALLED an otaku, even if I made the definition; Not because it's bad, it's just not what I want to be known for!

[KKC]

[size=1]I know that I will be concided an Otaku after 1 more post ;) , but...... I concider myself...er... not even close to otaku... I have never been to any kind of anime conv. and have never cosplayed as anyone. Yeah, I watch anime, buy the DVDs, read manga, but i'm not obsessed with the stuff. Although my sister says I am, she doesn't know diddly squat about how obsessed other people are.
Some people even go to school trying to make their hair look like Goku's, which i find very disturbing.
Asides, when I tell people I don't like Inuyasha... they act like I don't like anime period. I'm not, and probably will never be an otaku (although I would like to cosplay at least once in my life).[/size]

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]The odd thing about this entire thread is that I have always been under the impression that the people on this site that have seen quite a bit of anime and are somewhat knowledgeable about the genre would never admit to being an otaku. At the same time I have always thought that quite a few members that consider themselves knowledgeable about anime and manga really aren?t. Obviously there are exceptions.

Although I seen a ton of anime and read quite a few manga I don?t think I could ever be considered an Otaku, mainly because I don?t find it superior to western cartoons and comic books?.[/color]

[MaggieMehve]

I'm probably pathetic. I'm a prejudice kind of person when it comes to English dubs of series, yet I still watch them if I have no choice. Anyways, I've been in this anime thing since I was six or seven because my cousin sometimes does fansubs for some animes and my brother was always getting tapes from his homeroom teacher, Ed, of Hayao Miyazaki movies in original japanese. Ahem, anyways, this year I consider and turned myself into the direction of insane otakuness.

My bookshelf (I have three bookshelves o.o;;) behind my bed is jammed with manga. I have already all the volumes of Inuyasha that are translated up to date and have preordered the 16th volume, same as with Fushigi Yuugi and Neon Genesis Evangelion. I don't know how many DVDs, fansub tapes, or just tapes of anime I have. My recent galore is getting the boxsets of Inuyasha (ep. 1-102 and 1st Movie), .hack//SIGN, and Haibane Renmei from Christmas, but of course I paid half of the Inuyasha one since it cost so much -_-;; I already have two wallscrolls, one of Inuyasha and other of Evangelion. I have three anime t-shirts, one that I made myself with the design and everything, and I'm actually learning Japanese.

I went so far for the japanese course, that when I had a book report and we had to act as the person from the biography, I was Hayao Miyazaki, and I spoke in Japanese with translation cards for my presentation. @_@ My friends and I use Japanese vocab. At the beginning of the school year, we barely said these words to each other, so I had to teach them in some respects. I had to teach them the suffixes of -chan, -san, etc. We use -chan or the suffixes rarely, but whenever we do, its really fun! And now everybody calls me Maggie-sama or Lord Maggie after I suggested we should "walk around the school aimlessly in circles." Its a joke, yet I'd rather be just called Maggie. Actually, our manga group (actually its just a duo, my friend Rachel and I write and do the stories) is called Baka^Ni, which means Idiot to the Second Power. ^_^ And usually or sometimes, we call each other bakas etc. My secret way of just making someone shut up is to say, "Nandemo o hanashi mo kikinai." Heh...*evil laugh* But its not that rude. o.o Its kind of embarrasing to say, but I actually went as Sango from Inuyasha for Halloween, I made the costume and everything. >_< Oive`! I just realized, I bought too much of manga yetserday, I bought about 6-7 books of it! XD

Hmm...oh yeah, I also go to the anime "conventions" here: [url]http://tass-anime.com[/url] It's where I got to see Inuyasha: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass movie. And another thing, I own website(s) (actually I'm creating them as we speak). So far the only anime website that is up is MehveGhibli :P But more is coming since I've already have got my domain. :D

*looks down at t-shirt* Oh god, I'm still wearing my Inuyasha t-shirt. ._. I'm so weird....

[Guest lavalamp]

^

1. Anime purists/elitists are annoying.

2. Your use of "already" is laughable. Observe:

"I can already walk."

3. Calling anyone a ?Î?© [el oh el] is a testament to your bad Japanese.

4. Yes, you are weird, but not because you like what you like. You're weird because you're trying to get attention through exposing such, or, you're weird because you have to boost your confidence through your false sense of separation. There is a word for that; there is a medication for that.

5. One day you'll look back on the way you're acting now regarding your interests and cringe. You shouldn't label your exposure/personality because you'll regret it later on. Definitely. Hopefully. For humanity.

Wishful thinking?

[Guest Inuyasha7575]

I call myself a poorOtaku who is too young to get a job since im only 14. I love anime yet I can't buy the dvds,the t.shirts,well barely anything. I am forced to watch american dubs to get to watch anime when it comes on adult swim who dont even show the whole series they leave you wanting more so you just buy it which is something I can't afford to do since most dvds are like 28 to 50 dollars maybe i'll look to buy manga volumes.

[wrist cutter]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by lava lamp [/i]
[B]3. Calling anyone a ?Î?© [el oh el] is a testament to your bad Japanese.[/B][/QUOTE]

But it sounds so kakkoii to say it!!!

[anime_guy]

I'd say I am...I geuss... I don't own a lot of anime, but I watch a lot on TV. I have a bunch of Newtype-USA magazines, i have a lot of anime posters and stuff, and I know some Japanese...not much, not even enough to get around in Japan...just a few words here and there....And just so everyone knows, I have never cosplayed...and never plan to...I think that's a little bit over the "obsesed" line.....And if I could draw better than a chicken, I would probably be drawing anime/manga 24/7......

[Spikey]

I don't really consider myself a real otaku. To tell you the truth I never really have. The reason why is because I haven't seen all that much. I'm a guy who likes music computers (I love computers) and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

I consider myself a otaku in some sort. I read quite a lot of manga, but I don't see that much anime. If you consider reading a lot of manga means you are an otaku, then I am an otaku. But the only times I get to read manga is like 3 or more times a month. That is because I don't go to the Book store all that much.

I love to read manga, but not as much as I enjoy other stuff. I consider myself to be an otaku in some ways, but not all that much. I love anime, I just don't watch it all that much. I consider myself a fake otaku, rather than a real. lol.

[Mitch]

[size=1] I'm such an Otaku that when I played Metal Gear Solid last night, and I found Hal Emmerich after defeating Gray Fox, my fallen comrade and friend, whom was in his ninja costume. And after doing that and upon seeing Hal, he asked me to call him Otacon. And I knew that that was an anime convention, I was so Otakusavvy. I'm so Otaku I knew that. I'm also so posh I knew it as well.

Honestly, no one here is an Otaku lol. Maybe James, if someone wants to say it. Inside joke that means nothing. Anyway.

I'd say half the people here never even watch Anime. The reason I stay on this message board is for: #1) Crazy White Boy--

Charles is The Man. He is the reason I was as active as I was when I first joined. I was first gotten to know this Crazy White Boy by his gaming RPG he created. It was entitled Project Gamer, most certainly not the undertaking of an Otaku.

Back then my name was much woed with the pneumonically blurred ulunation of "AnimeLover."

I PMed Charles way back then, asked him if I could join his RPG, and from there, I talked to elcrazywhiteboy upon his AIM name many a time indeed.

I am not an Otaku, and half the people on this site, at least, aren't either. I haven't touched the Anime forums much since first I came here. And it can be said that many of the most popular people here--Piro, Sara, perhaps myself, Alex, Charles, Crazy White Boy, Tony, Shy, Ken, all the others whose names go without saying--all these people aren't into anime too much.

It's hard to say what draws us here to this board whose name is "Otaku"boards.

I think we should rename this board. Name it JamBoards. Or maybe CharlesBoards. Maybe JamCharBoards. Maybe CrazyWhiteBoards. Maybe PoisonedTongueBoards. Maybe SaraBoards. ShymanBoards. Any name that one can think of, it could be taken.

Yet still naming it only like this would accomplish nothing--for there is many a good person here, many people to get to know. Naming it one person over the other would cause an ulcerated self-righteous suicide which would not be fair to all the rest of the people who make up this community.

Let's just call it O Taco Birds. Like Taco Bell only gone fowl and fair in the sky.

O Taco Birds,
whence did you be.
Whence came you,
whence came all this I see.

O Taco Birds,
grace be you,
the holder of the times.

O Taco Birds,
O grace have a name.
A claim, a fame.
O Taco Birds,
whence did you came,
and flew upon.
Adam's eve built fond.

O Taco Birds,
whose utterances were there heard.
Whose built was felt as it perturbed.

O sweet a thing as this be.
O sweet the reasoning of the seen.
O sweet and tasty does this be.
O Taco Birds, the dwelling we feed.

Yes, I'm Otaku. Just look at me.

It just cannot be denied.[/size]

[MaggieMehve]

To Lava Lamps Post:

I'm not exactly an anime purist. I have my own interests too such as graphic design, writing, photography etc.. I'd rather not watch dubs. Dubs annoy me 90 percent of the time and rarely you can find really good dubs such as in Mononoke Hime etc.

Anyways, I'm not trying to showoff. You don't even know me, so why are you thinking that I'm one of those people striving for attention? I'm NOT. Period. I am weird, yes I'm insane, but that is just me. And suggesting medication already makes my face boil with anger. I'm sick of medication for my depression, my own health, I don't know how many pills I take a day just for my health. And no, this isn't started by watching too much of TV, its for other reasons. Besides, I barely watch any TV shows anymore.

I'm NOT labeling myself. In fact, I hate that, I'm even in a hatelisting for labeling people. I've already gone two years without anime back when, and I know that I did cringe a little thinking that I liked anime back when I was seven or eight, but I like it. And I know I won't cringe because I actually am seeing good anime and good stories.

So stop acting like a hypocrite and picking on me for things like this. This was the question, do you consider yourself an otaku? and what animes or manga you own. I answered truthfully and now you're freaking out over me and pointing out things to show that I'm messed up. Meh....

[Guest lavalamp]

I don't ever remember "freaking out" but whatever floats your boat.

I also missed the hypocrisy bit, but I'm not going to worry myself over it. I'll just say that my post went over your head entirely because you can't relate to where exactly I'm coming from. You warped my post into this bizarre offensive monster when that wasn't what it was meant to be.

As for the medication bit, I won't even go there. Perhaps you should look into medication for stress, though?

[DeadSeraphim]

I have never and will never call myself an Otaku. I haven't seen enough Anime for starters, and I'm already eccentric enough without adding another tag. I don't think anyone could ever be a true Otaku, as everyone has different opinions on what an Otaku is.

I'd think an Otaku would be a cosplay fetishest... but that's my opinion. Some may consider themselves an Otaku whilst only have watched uber-loads of anime, while people who have watched the same amount may not because they aren't into cosplay or own half a million imported action figures. It's a matter of one's opinion on what constitues an Otaku.

[Dragon Warrior]

Nope. I don't come to OB for anime anyways :) I come for movies/animations/stories, etc... anime is actually one of the last things I come here for. Though, I do like some.

If an Otaku was a person who has been here a long time and enjoys himself here, I'd be it. But for anime purposes, nope :)