“
Hackers are nerdy, pasty, tubby, little geeks with triple thick glasses and this is probably a demented otaku with smelly feet. So catching him will be a breeze!
”
”
Keiko Nobumoto (Cowboy Bebop Film Manga, Volume 1)
“
I'm sorry. The Truth is....
I'm an Otaku.
- Serinuma Kae
”
”
Junko (私がモテてどうすんだ 1 [Watashi ga Motete dousunda 1] (Kiss Him, Not Me!, #1))
“
I'm a...an otaku faery.
”
”
Julie Kagawa (The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1))
“
You`ll wondering why aren`t you born in Japan if you think you`re an Otaku
”
”
Otaku Quotes
“
I'm actually a hardcore otaku who likes maids more than having three meals a day. And I only read books related to maids. Also, I only visit maid cafes. Of course, I also collect maid figurines. I play games which feature female maids and it turns me on so much. Then I'll wear the maid uniforms and jump in joy. I'll take my leave now.
”
”
Hiro Fujiwara
“
There are only two types of people in the world--those who became otaku and those who didn't--and the latter just can't understand what the former is so excited about."--Ono Norihiro
”
”
Patrick W. Galbraith (Otaku Spaces)
“
Everyone says I am an otaku, but recently everyone is an otaku, even if they just have a hobby. If someone says they are an otaku, I am a little doubtful. --Uchimura Amika
”
”
Patrick W. Galbraith (Otaku Spaces)
“
You see, whether you can draw like this or not, being able to think up this kind of design, it depends on whether or not you can say to yourself, "Oh, yeah, girls like this exist in real life." If you don’t spend time watching real people, you can’t do this, because you’ve never seen it. Some people spend their lives interested only in themselves. Almost all Japanese animation is produced with hardly any basis taken from observing real people, you know. It’s produced by humans who can’t stand looking at other humans. And that’s why the industry is full of otaku!
”
”
Hayao Miyazaki
“
I'm sorry, mom. I have some bad news. I guess I messed up somehow, somewhere along the way. I didn't manage to become a princess. I became a fujoshi instead.
”
”
Akiko Higashimura (Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, #1))
“
Otaku is a label applied to and adopted by those people who build a culture around anime, manga, videotapes and videogames. Their ideas and values were different from the mainstream, and so they were labeled otaku, or called themselves otaku, to indicate that difference.... In the end, otaku is just a label created to contain difference. --Ono Norihiro
”
”
Patrick W. Galbraith (Otaku Spaces)
“
Life in Japan, nowadays, is nothing like a Kurosawa movie, and only the contemptible Weeaboo thinks that it is. In order to be a whole, well-rounded Otaku, you need to be up on Japanese popular culture, as much as you may be up on anime, samurai philosophy or the canon of Square Enix games.
”
”
Alexei Maxim Russell (The Japanophile's Handbook)
“
Whereas an Otaku is a true connoisseur of the culture, showing the same reverence and respectful distance which any true expert
shows to their chosen field of expertise, the Weeaboo is like a socially awkward adolescent, ineptly trying to gain the social acceptance of Japanese people — because their unfortunate mental disorder has caused them to believe they are, in fact, Japanese.
”
”
Alexei Maxim Russell (The Japanophile's Handbook)
“
The Japanese have two words: "uchi" meaning inside and "soto" meaning outside. Uchi refers to their close friends, the people in their inner circle. Soto refers to anyone who is outside that circle. And how they relate and communicate to the two are drastically different. To the soto, they are still polite and they might be outgoing, on the surface, but they will keep them far away, until they are considered considerate and trustworthy enough to slip their way into the uchi category. Once you are uchi, the Japanese version of friendship is entire universes beyond the average American friendship! Uchi friends are for life. Uchi friends represent a sacred duty. A Japanese friend, who has become an uchi friend, is the one who will come to your aid, in your time of need, when all your western "friends" have turned their back and walked away.
”
”
Alexei Maxim Russell (The Japanophile's Handbook)
“
Chia decided to change the subject. “What’s your brother like? How old is he?” “Masahiko is seventeen,” Mitsuko said. “He is a ‘pathological - techno - fetishist - with - social - deficit,” ’ this last all strung together like one word, indicating a concept that taxed the lexicon of the ear-clips. Chia wondered briefly if it would be worth running it through her Sandbenders, whose translation functions updated automatically whenever she ported. “A what?” “Otaku,” Mitsuko said carefully in Japanese.
”
”
William Gibson (Idoru (Bridge, #2))
“
The presence of otaku culture is a grotesque reflection of the fragility of Japanese identity. This is because the "Japanese" themes and modes of expression created by otaku are in fact all imitations and distortions of U.S.-made material. On the other hand, the presence of this culture is connected to the narcissism of the 1980s and is also a fetish that can feed the illusion of Japan being at the cutting edge of the world.
”
”
Hiroki Azuma
“
I don’t have yellow fever. I’m not one of those creepy dudes who write exclusively about Japanese folklore and wear kimonos and pronounce every loan word from Asian languages with a deliberate, constructed accent. Matcha. Otaku. I’m not obsessed with stealing Asian culture—I mean, before The Last Front, I had no interest in modern Chinese history whatsoever.
”
”
R.F. Kuang (Yellowface)
“
Between the otaku and Japan lies the United States.
”
”
Hiroki Azuma (Otaku: Japan's Database Animals)
“
An Otaku who says your gay, is not an Otaku.
An Otaku who says a certain anime sucked, it not an Otaku.
But An Otaku who says whatever he damn wants, is truly an Otaku.
”
”
SilvyHarmonix
“
130Perhaps if like me he'd been able to hide his otakuness maybe shit would have been easier for him, but he couldn't. Dude wore his nerdiness like a Jedi wore his light saber or a Lensman her lens. Couldn't have passed for Normal if he'd wanted to.
”
”
Junot Díaz
“
There are limits to human beings and science, and fiction is one way to expose those limits. --Ono Norihiro
”
”
Patrick W. Galbraith (Otaku Spaces)
“
The history of otaku culture is one of adaptation, of how to domesticate American culture.
”
”
Hiroki Azuma (Otaku: Japan's Database Animals)
“
The obsession with Japan in otaku culture did not develop from Japanese tradition, but rather emerged after this tradition disappeared.
”
”
Hiroki Azuma (Otaku: Japan's Database Animals)
“
The image of Japan that obsesses otaku is in fact no more than a U.S. produced imitation.
”
”
Hiroki Azuma (Otaku: Japan's Database Animals)
“
Otaku (おた) is also a formal way of saying "you". た means "house", and with the honorific お, it literally means "your honorable house", implying that you are less of a person and more of a place, fixed in space and contained under a roof. Makes sense that the stereotype of the modern otaku is a shut-in, an obsessed loner and social isolate who rarely leaves his house.
”
”
Ruth Ozeki (A Tale for the Time Being)
“
Lurking at the foundations of otaku culture is the complex yearning to produce a pseudo Japan once again from American-made material, after the destruction of the "good old Japan" through the defeat in World War II.
”
”
Hiroki Azuma (Otaku: Japan's Database Animals)
“
Consumers with otaku are the sneezers you seek. They’re the ones who will take the time to learn about your product, take the risk to try your product, and take their friends’ time to tell them about it. The flash of insight is that some markets have more otaku-stricken consumers than others. The task of the remarkable marketer is to identify these markets and focus on them to the exclusion of lesser markets – regardless of relative size.
”
”
Seth Godin (Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable)
“
Understanding otaku-hood, I think, is one of the keys to understanding the culture of the Web. There is something profoundly postnational about it, extra-geographic. We are all curators, in the postmodern world, whether we want to be or not.
”
”
William Gibson (Distrust That Particular Flavor)
“
When we get older we buy the things we really wanted as a kid and can finally afford and appreciate. But it all goes back to that original longing. --Ono Norihiro
”
”
Patrick W. Galbraith (Otaku Spaces)
“
I guess I'm a "single aristocrat" (dokushin kizoku). This is a category of people in their thirties who have a decent income, but are not obligated to spend it all on family. Usually a man in his thirties or forties would have a family, house, and loan. But we single aristocrats don't. So we spend all our money on hobbies. If I get married, I can't continue this life, unless my future wife is an otaku girl. If she's an otaku and a working woman, we can share space and save money, and thus have more money to spend on hobbies. I have no admiration for the regular "salary-man" (white collar corporate employee) life. I don't want to fully support a woman financially. I like independent women. I'm going to continue my hobby-centered lifestyle no matter what. --Yanai Jun
”
”
Patrick W. Galbraith (Otaku Spaces)
“
They [Otaku] despise physical contact and love media, technical communication, and the realm of reproduction and simulation in general. They are enthusiastic collectors and manipulators of useless artifacts and information. They are an underground, but they are not opposed to the system. They change, manipulate, and subvert ready-made products, but at the same time they are the apotheosis of consumerism and an ideal workforce for contemporary Japanese capitalism. They are the children of the media.
”
”
Volker Grassmuck
“
In that sense, “otaku” referred to a sudden, spontaneous, and, to most Japanese, inexplicable eruption of extreme obsessiveness among the country’s youth. One day, Japanese in their teens and twenties were normal, well-adjusted young people. The next day, or so it seemed, they were hopeless geeks who had forsaken all social skills in favor of a deep dive into—whatever. Manga (comics). Anime. Super-hard-core deviant anime porn in which tender young schoolgirls are violated by multi-tentacled octopi. Trains. It could be anything really.
”
”
Frank Rose (The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way We Tell Stories)
“
I wonder if all these bad things will change when I’m a high schooler…”
“At the very least, they most certainly won’t change if you intend to remain the way you are.” Way to go, Yukinoshita-san! Not going easy on the young'un just after you finished apologizing to her!
“But it’s enough if the people around you change,” I remarked. “There’s no need to force yourself to hang out with others.”
“But things are hard on Rumi-chan right now and if we don’t do something about it…” Yuigahama looked at Rumi with eyes full of concern.
In response, Rumi winced slightly. “Hard, you say… I don’t like that. It makes me sound pathetic. It makes me feel inferior for being left out.”
“Oh,” said Yuigahama.
“I don’t like it, you know. But there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Why?” Yukinoshita questioned her.
Rumi seemed to have some trouble speaking, but she still managed to form the right words. “I… got abandoned. I can’t get along with them anymore. Even if I did, I don’t know when it’ll start again. If the same thing were to happen, I guess I’m better off this way. I just” She swallowed. “don’t wanna be pathetic…”
Oh. I get it.
This girl was fed up. Of herself and of her surroundings.
If you change yourself, your world will change, they say, but that’s a load of crap.
When people already have an impression of you, it’s not easy to change your preexisting relationships by adding something to the mix. When people evaluate each other, it’s not an addition or subtraction formula. They only perceive you through their preconceived notions.
The truth is that people don’t see you as who you truly are. They only see what they want to see, the reality that they yearn for.
If some disgusting guy on the low end of the caste works his arse off on something, the higher ones just snicker and say, “What’s he trying so hard for?” and that would be the end of it. If you stand out for the wrong reasons, you would just be fodder for criticism. That wouldn’t be the case in a perfect world, but for better or worse, that’s how things work with middle schoolers.
Riajuu are sought for their actions as riajuu, loners are obligated to be loners, and otaku are forced to act like otaku. When the elites show their understanding of those beneath them, they are acknowledged for their open-mindedness and the depth of their benevolence, but the reverse is not tolerated.
Those are the fetid rules of the Kingdom of Children. It truly is a sad state of affairs.
"You can’t change the world, but you can change yourself". The hell was up with that? Adapting and conforming to a cruel and indifferent world you know you’ve already lost to – ultimately, that’s what a slave does. Wrapping it up in pretty words and deceiving even yourself is the highest form of falsehood.
”
”
Wataru Watari (やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。4)
“
The Sixers killed my brother last night,” he said, almost whispering. At first, I was too stunned to reply. “You mean they killed his avatar?” I asked, even though I could already tell that wasn’t what he meant. Shoto shook his head. “No. They broke into his apartment, pulled him out of his haptic chair, and threw him off his balcony. He lived on the forty-third floor.” Shoto opened a browser window in the air beside us. It displayed a Japanese newsfeed article. I tapped it with my index finger, and the Mandarax software translated the text to English. The headline was ANOTHER OTAKU SUICIDE. The brief article below said that a young man, Toshiro Yoshiaki, age twenty-two, had jumped to his death from his apartment, located on the forty-third floor of a converted hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where he lived alone. I saw a school photo of Toshiro beside the article. He was a young Japanese man with long, unkempt hair and bad skin. He didn’t look anything like his OASIS avatar. When Shoto saw that I’d finished reading, he closed the window. I hesitated a moment before asking, “Are you sure he didn’t really commit suicide? Because his avatar had been killed?” “No,
”
”
Ernest Cline (Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1))
“
Within the term otaku, there is a certain degree of subtlety. Addressing someone as “otaku” is a formal way of saying “you” by referring to you as “your residence.” Thus using the term otaku can have a double connotation. It can imply very formalistic social relations. The reference to otaku in the 1980s was often to boys and young men who played video games together without really interacting in ways traditionally deemed sociable—these guys weren’t talking much to each other or roaming the streets together; they were interacting through the games. In these game contexts, boys called each other “otaku” as if sustaining cordial but distant (not sociable or intimate) relations with one another. At the same time, otaku can imply “housebound” due to its reference to the residence. This connotation of otaku became pronounced when linking fan behavior to social withdrawal syndrome.
”
”
Thomas Lamarre (The Anime Machine: A Media Theory of Animation)
“
What otaku enjoy is not making fiction into material form. Nor, as is often claimed, do they derive enjoyment from confusing reality and fiction. Their goal is simply to take fictions that are out there and promote them to fictions that are theirs alone.
”
”
Tamaki Saitō (Beautiful Fighting Girl)
“
Kalau tidak punya pacar, ikut saja aku ke dunia otaku dengan jantan!! (by Nishikawa^^)
”
”
Hiromu Arakawa
“
Well let the geek in the pink take a stab at it
If you like the way i'm thinkin' baby wink at it^o*
”
”
Jason Mraz
“
Although we may never touch hands or speak to each other. There is a connection of love between one and his waifu. In dreams or in an other world, those who bond with one will never let go.
”
”
Kanoko Kitsune
“
The preferred worlds to simulate were either sci-fi or Edo-period Japan, as if the two breaks of the Meiji restoration (1868) and the occupation (1945) had not happened. Azuma links simulation to the practice of détournement or the fan-based making of derivative works, which “official” products then borrow from in turn: “the products of otaku culture are born into a chain of infinite imitations and piracy” (O26). Simulacra thus float free from both the notion of an historical time and from the authoring of original works.
”
”
McKenzie Wark (General Intellects: Twenty-One Thinkers for the 21st Century)
“
There is no scientific evidence for a direct causal relationship between a fascination with lolicon manga and criminality or pedophilia, nor is there evidence supporting the claim that otaku cannot distinguish between fiction and reality.
”
”
Shige (CJ) Suzuki (Manga: A Critical Guide (Bloomsbury Comics Studies))
“
There are very few homosexuals among otaku, and even fewer who have an actual Lolita complex. Nor is this a question of idolizing anime characters and making do with real women as substitutes in their everyday life. Here, as in other contexts, the otaku very nimbly shift their “orientation of desire.
”
”
Tamaki Saitō (Beautiful Fighting Girl)
“
No matter how much otaku may appear to be pedophiles, we cannot simply write them off as sexual perverts. The problem of otaku desire has to be considered first in relation to “fictional context.” Let us not forget that even as otaku adore images of beautiful young girls, they maintain quiet every¬day lives as ordinary heterosexuals. The “Lolita complex” of the otaku is just an alibi for sexual perversion, or a method of fictionalizing sex.
”
”
Tamaki Saitō (Beautiful Fighting Girl)
“
No matter how much otaku may appear to be pedophiles, we cannot simply write them off as sexual perverts. The problem of otaku desire has to be considered first in relation to “fictional context.” Let us not forget that even as otaku adore images of beautiful young girls, they maintain quiet everyday lives as ordinary heterosexuals. The “Lolita complex” of the otaku is just an alibi for sexual perversion, or a method of fictionalizing sex.
”
”
Tamaki Saitō (Beautiful Fighting Girl)
Gianni Simone (Tokyo Geek's Guide: Manga, Anime, Gaming, Cosplay, Toys, Idols & More - The Ultimate Guide to Japan's Otaku Culture)
“
I'M AN OTAKU.
Are you?
You say English, We say Japanese.
You say Cars, We say Nyan Cat. :D
You say Justin Beiber, We say Vocaloid. -.-
You say Swords, We say Bleach.
You say Reality, We say Anime.
You say Comics, We say Manga.
You say countries, We say Hetalia.
You say Hello, We say こんにちは (Konnichiwa).
You learn Japanese from classes, We learn from shows.
You cry if a character dies, We have a rainbow of emotions.
You only feel what your favorite person feels, We feel what everyone else is feeling.
You crush on popstars, We crush on anime characters.
You think we're crazy, We just think you're normal.
You say Crazy, We say Soul Eater.
You say ocean, We say ONE PIECE!!!
You say family, We say FAIRY TAIL!!!
You say Ninja, We say Naruto.
You say Rabbits, We say Flying Mint Bunny.
You think we're fangirls/fanboys, but we're all OTAKU'S,
Re-Post if Your and OTAKU and PROUND!
”
”
Anonymous
“
As I have argued repeatedly, the otaku feel stronger “reality” in fiction than in reality, and their communication consists in large part of exchanges of information. In other words, their sociality is sustained not by actual necessity, as are kinship and local community, but by interest in particular kinds of information. Therefore, while they are quite capable of exercising their sociality as long as they can gain useful information for themselves, they always reserve the freedom to depart from the communication.
”
”
Hiroki Azuma (Otaku: Japan's Database Animals)
“
For this reason, entering into the cool, safe bubble of Otakon, where adolescents attempted to commune with the comforting kids' fantasy on the other side of the screen felt slightly unsettling to me, though I couldn't put my finger on why.
”
”
Dale Beran (It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump into Office)
“
I’m not an otaku,” Kevin grumbled. “You’re totally otaku,” Alex returned fire. “Your otakuness knows no bounds,” Andrew added with a nod. “Kevin, you’re so otaku that the otakus in Japan are envious of how otaku you are,” Christine said,
”
”
Brandon Varnell (A Fox's Mate (American Kitsune, #6))
“
While Iris mercilessly teased Christine until the poor girl looked ready to start flinging icicles, Alex and Andrew continued their merciless assault on Kevin. “You put the ‘k’ in otaku.” “When people look up otaku in the dictionary, they see your face.” “You’ve even got an otaku meme on Twitter.” “Shut up! I am not an otaku!” Kevin stood up and slammed his hands on the stone table. He glared at his friends. “I’m not! Just because I like anime that doesn’t mean I’m an otaku. And you two have no right to say anything!” He pointed an accusing finger at Alex and Andrew. “You watch and read just as much anime and manga as I do!” “You make a good point,” Alex admitted. “It doesn’t change the fact that you are, indeed, an otaku.” Andrew nodded at his brother’s words. “Only a true otaku would deny being otaku.” “No, they wouldn’t! Otaku are people who proudly proclaim their status even though they know others will look down on them for it. That’s half the reason they get such a bad rep in Japan, and even then, Japanese society has begun to accept otaku culture more readily in the last few years. I once read an article on Rocket News 24 that some people are beginning to think that being otaku isn’t something to be ashamed of.” “And how could you possibly know that unless you were an otaku?” Iris teased. Kevin grabbed his hair and threw his head back. “Arggghhh!” “Poor Kevin.” Lilian giggled. “Getting ganged up on by everyone.” “Ha…” Kevin sat down and pouted at his mate. “You’re not really helping me out, you know. You should be backing me up.” “I can only back you up when something isn’t true.” “Now you’re just being mean.” “I’m sorry,” Lilian said in mock contrite, her eyes glittering with mirth. “Would a hug make it better?” Kevin sniffled. “Maybe.” Lilian spread her arms wide. “Okay. Come here, Kevin.” “Lilian.” “Kevin!” “Lilian!” “Would you two knock it off already!” Christine snapped out of her state of perpetual humiliation long enough to shout at the hugging couple.
”
”
Brandon Varnell (A Fox's Mate (American Kitsune, #6))
“
If there is a certain sincerity and ethics in a dissociated life lived with self-awareness, it is because hypocrisy and deception dwell in the falsely coherent life.
”
”
Tamaki Saitō (Beautiful Fighting Girl)
“
I love anime, but anime makes it so hard... It's like a boy I knew. "I love you, so why do you have to be so dumb?" Hahaha.
”
”
Dash Shaw (Cosplayers #1)
“
I'm the poster boy for no movement."
"I think the girls disagree with that statement. I've seen your pictures on the Internet. What does your generation say? Oh,yes, they are otaku<\I> for you.
”
”
Jesikah Sundin (Legacy (The Biodome Chronicles, #1))