Otakuism has been around for some time now, and people are already quite familiar with the term 'otaku'. Originating in Japan, the term 'otaku' (オタク） was once, and still is, an honorific word for 'house' or 'residence' and is used in less-casual and stranger situations where the utmost politeness in a conversation, so as to not offend anyone unintentionally. However, in recent years, it has become demonified, and associated with a subset of a group of people known as 'hikikomori'. Hikikomori is literally, 'withdrawn and locked in', and is used to refer to a group of people who stay inside all the time, and have withdrawn from socializing because of reasons ranging from social pressures and expectations, to extreme cases of agoraphobia. However, when I say 'otaku' a subset of this group, I do not mean a strictly defined subset, but rather to illustrate that otakuism used to be associated with hikikomoris locking themselves in a house watching anime all day. This is because the term has now spread loosely encompass introverts and extroverts alike who express and obsession in anime.

written by astrobunny \\