/otaku/ - Japan / Otaku / Anime

I met someone who is now a good IRL friend over the internet through shared otaku interests, but that's really the only person I've ever met who is as deep into such things as I am. It's very nice to be able to talk about artists, my favorite touhous, writers, silly internet memes, directors or even doujinshi and have someone know and be interested in what I'm saying. I've of course also known a few other people who are into "entry level" anime, but that's a fairly common thing these days. Not quite the same but it does give me at least a shared interest, and it's always nice to introduce someone to your favorite show or manga.

I definitely know people who have seen anime and are fans of it but I always get the feeling that it's only because it's something popular and trendy nowadays. They aren't very willing to try some of the more 'otaku' anime out, namely CGDCT. I do introduce some of the people I know to K-On mostly because its popular, easy to access, a good way to get people into SoL and CGDCT, and also my personal favorite anime. I still don't really get to talk about other anime I really like such as Tamayura because I guess they just aren't popular enough but most of my closer friends aren't even into or interested in anime so I don't really get to discuss anime in real life much anyways. Most of the stuff I talk about is more like meta analysis like why anime is different from other media and not individual shows themselves because most of the anime people talk about in real life are either stuff I dropped, thought were overrated but okay, or have just been talked about so much already that the only discussion that can really come out of it is "who is best girl in this show". I guess I've never met a 'real otaku' but honestly I'm fine with it just being a sort of niche thing because it gives places like this more appealing to me.

There was one time I had to clear up some confusion on Paypal about a DAL figure and the guy I was talking to said he watched it. That's about as far as it got for me.

a friends wife asked me if i watched anime and i said yes and she asked if i have seen "attack on titan" i answered no and said i only watch anime with cute girls and that to admit such things is embarrassing.
which is true

My dad used to be a otaku, he used to make a lot of anime references of evangelion, samurai x, macross, and other stuff.

I've met anime fans, normally people who just wwatch punch man, my hero academia, jojos that kind of thing; but I don't think I've ever met an actual otaku. Well actually there was one guy. I met an autistic guy in college, we somehow talked about anime, he said his favourite show was clanaad after story. Then he asked if I'd seen monogatari and I said yes, he then proceeded to, unprompted, recite embedrelated perfectly from memory.
Sadly, we never spoke again after that because I am too socially awkward to approach him again.

>>1949
>i answered no and said i only watch anime with cute girls
Just say no you never had to admit to only watching cute girl shows

I was doing a training course and on one of the days after it was over I went into an anime shop in the area. A few of the people from the course were there too. While two of the people seemed more entry level, the other guy was looking at the model kits there and despite not talking to anyone at the course (I had several panic attacks there), I asked him a bunch of questions about model kits and he was really passionate about it. We talked about gundam for a bit too, it was a lot of fun finally meeting another otaku. My social anxiety prevented me from talking to him at the course after that.

My uncle is a low-key otaku. He always asks me if I’ve seen stuff like Haruhi Suzumiya and shit from the 90’s. He got my siblings Cave Story for Christmas. Interesting guy.

IRL I hang out in geek adjacent spaces so there’s always people into some otaku subculture around. If you’re forward about your hobbies other people will be more comfortable to open up and you’ll be surprised what’s out there. I made a rhythm game friend just by having a Taiko no Tatsujin pin on my backpack. I had a conversation with a random guy on the bus and learned a lot about Monster Hunter games that came out before my time by having a little Palico keychain. Be polite and be yourself!

3 that stand out:

First was the lead in a factory I worked in for a bit, who seemed like a mainstream anime guy until he'd get sweaty enough to take off his kingdom hearts hoodie and reveal t shirts with Azumanga Daioh or TouHou stuff printed from redbubble. Once made an over 9000 joke.

Second was a guy in the same place, working across from me, unashamedly showed his phone which had some honkin' hentai bikini titties as the homescreen and a soundcloud that was playing lolicore type stuff.

Third and the champion was this guy I knew in high school who always had /a/ open, waifu bloat widgets, anime and hentai torrenting on the reg. He had wallpapers that would cycle through several waifuy wallpapers and one time I thought it'd be funny to litter the wallpaper folder with thomas the tank engine images to fuck with him. We watched an episode of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei together once.

Everyone else was pretty casual and only knew mainstream. I'd ask if they liked "older animes" and get answers like "Yeah I love One Piece and Mirai Nikki." I see a lot of people driving around my area with anime stickers littering their cars. But finding a true Otaku is something else.

>>1951
This guy gets a trophy.

I have once, over a forum. The experience was good at the start but as subjects started to run dry the focus became more on drama and interpersonal relationships. I think some of them are married now to each other.

I concluded that binding over passive hobbies is just too brittle, because it doesn't really say anything about someone. As long as there's a barrier of entry and some skill level, there's no drama and you are much more likely to bind with fellow club members.

Before 2020 I used to play golf every other week at a local club and it reached the point where I knew all the regulars and staff and they knew me.

Now I have another problem : being so much around my parents and co-workers has made me hate being around people in general.

I've met quite a few over the years, though it's been a while now.

The most notable one would be the guy who was my roommate for 4 years of college. One day the college dining hall was playing Touhou music on the speakers so when I got back to my dorm I went on /jp/ planning to make a thread about it only to find someone else had already made a thread about it. We talked a bit, exchanged contact details, met up, he ended up being a cool guy and the next year we started rooming together. It was very nice being able to just walk 10 feet to another room and talk about whatever anime or VNs. He even had a younger brother who also went on /jp/ who started going to the same college and moved in with us so it was definitely the most fun part of my life. We never did find out who actually played the Touhou music in the dining hall though.

I've also met several people from /jp/ at anime conventions and they've all ranged from cool guys I'm still in touch with online to just boring at worst, I've never had a genuinely bad experience there.

I was also active in my college's anime club with my friend for a brief time and most the people were the stereotypical weeaboos you'd expect at an anime club but a few of them had decent power levels and were pretty cool. After a few months I ended up not going to the club anymore and just hanging out with the cool ones outside of it.

I'd love to meet more people I can actually talk about my hobbies and passions with but unfortunately I'm not really aware of avenues for it outside of college. At best I met once guy casually into Japanese games at work.

Out here in California, nearly everyone I've talked to has seen at least some anime. But, people who have seen as much as I have or who consider it a primary interest seem rarer. But yes I have met several, including some really hardcore ones who collect stuff, and I like talking about or watching anime with them.

It's hard to find people who have seen a lot of older or obscure stuff like I have, but they are definitely around.

>>953
A few of my cousins are and I've gone to anime conventions with them before. I've bonded with a few acquaintances over otaku stuff.

I think it would be harder to bond with them now since I'm less with the new releases now and my identity is more tied to other things now. But it does make it easier for me to have something to talk about to kids who have more time to watch anime.