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 Hikikomori is literally, 'withdrawn and locked in', and is used to refer to a group of people who stay inside all the time, and have withdrawn from socializing because of reasons ranging from social pressures and expectations, to extreme cases of agoraphobia.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.

Whenever one declares one's liking for anime, one gets labeled an otaku. The word 'otaku' has become an informal definition by people 'who like anime' and 'always watches anime' and has become, for some, derogatory in a sense. This is because the word otaku itself continues to carry with it the meaning of 'home' and so gets associated with social ineptness and inability to communicate. This is an insult to most who consider their social lives an important responsibility, and thus, it is to them, irresponsible to continue staying at home all day while contributing nothing to society. This could not be further from the truth. Otakuism no longer defines the expired paradigm of hikikomoris watching anime all day. It encompasses an entirely different breed of people obsessed with the fantasy that anime brings and those who admire the otaku culture. The Japanese Otaku have even made it a point to refer to themselves as ヲタク (note the different first character) to distinguish themselves from the demonized and unpleasant original idea of otakuism.

One outside the world of otakuism would wonder: what is it that is so great about otakuism anyway? Why are there followers so faithful that they spend most of their time dressing up as anime characters (cosplaying) droning over figures and other anime merchandise, learning the arts and the ways of the Japanese and anime characters, creating original but derived works from them, sometimes even behaving like them, and in extreme cases, believing that they are capable of what superhuman feats that are presented to them in an episode of anime? Why is it that mere moving pictures, and hand drawn and certain types of moving pictures could inspire a distinct culture and fellowship to surround it? Where does the magic come from? Why is everyone inside the otaku circle so faithful to it? It does not have a distinct ideal, it does not have a creed, it is not even considered a religion, but an obsession, that draws millions. What form of art could be so powerful yet so popular towards the masses?

If we were to ever understand this, we must at least understand the role visual arts have played in the development of human psychologies, societies and civilizations. Ever since the beginning of time, man has sought to use art as a method of expressing himself, his emotions, his dreams, and his ambitions. Art was once viewed as mystical, being a special form of being capable of coaxing supernatural powers to do one's bidding, as in runes and symbols. Art was also once viewed as an expression of existence, the reason why Pharoahs had pictures and icons carved on to walls and pyramids to their likeness. As it could be etched on to walls which may not perish let hundreds of generations past, art was viewed as a superior form of imagery, which in turn inspired its use in symbolism, where it met religion. Since then, symbols have been used extensively to denote the supernatural, beliefs, creeds, and faiths, and still are today. Art forms have also found a new use: representation, which was first begun unintentionally by the formation of the first written languages, which were also the first attempts to unify and standardize religious faiths: the Sumerians to describe the Gods and powers of nature, the Chinese in their first attempts at divination, and the Aryans to write their visions. Art has since then been used as representation, and some art forms command as much power, fear and admiration as the people or ideas which they represent. Such are the symbols of religion, the seals of royalty, the emblems of kings, the pentagrams of demons, the signature of a prosecutor, the logos of companies and the letter of a written word.

When we observe the varied roles that the many forms of art plays in our lives, we observe that all of it has one thing in common: man's creativity taking control of man himself. Anime is just another art form. However, unlike many other art forms, it has some uniqueness to it such as its presentation in the form of moving pictures and sound. That is not unique enough however, since movies and 3-D animations also belong to this form of art, but also garner a substantial fandom and fellowship. Anime has a very substantial property that brings life to it, and that is that it is drawn by hand. This is the magic Walt Disney Pictures has long lost since its forage into the world of 3-D animations. Disney once held the imaginations and magic of the world in its hands, through the extremely charming, lively hand-drawn animations of the day. Sadly, they don't seem to produce any of that anymore, but have moved in favour of the less costly, less time consuming 3-D animation. Anime however, seeks to return the magic to those who have lost it. The Japanese producers have continued to stay faithful to the hand-drawn styles of cartoons of old, and adding some charm of their own, little by little, episode by episode, until the motion picture itself becomes completely embroidered with the passion and hard work of the artists who painstakingly draw each frame one by one to produce it.

It is perhaps the fact that the animation scene has become too mechanical. Most movies and cartoons nowadays are 3-D, or real life. That hand-drawn cartoons have continued to prove themselves the best way to express and convey the magic of an artist's imagination into the minds of others, and that the Japanese producers have taken it one step further to produce anime that did not only have storylines targeted at kids, but mature stories, targeted at adults, and using much more impressionist techniques to provide the feeling of reality, while relying on the artist's style to convey feelings and emotions in characters that cannot be done, or would be too lame to watch in real life. Hand drawing allows one the greatest freedom to use each and every frame to create a very highly customized message to send to the audience. By leveraging the ability to make people and things look unrealistic, yet adorable and human enough for people to relate to, artists and storytellers can reach, perhaps further than 3-D animations and real life actors can, into the hearts and minds of the audience.

And perhaps it is the continued paradigm that cartoons are for kids, and people who continue to have a passion for anime see themselves as part of a niche community, who are willing, and admirably so, able to express their passion for an art form that they can relate to and read their minds into, speak their faiths into and motivate themselves from exposure to the art form itself. Perhaps it is the vast variety of anime episodes suddenly becoming available to every single person on Earth who has an internet connection, ever since the Internet boom beginning in the 21st century and the digital revolution that followed, that has reached so many people, a large enough population of otakus has been cultivated that no matter how the world tries to shun them, they are hard to ignore. And those with open minds who once gave no more than a narrow thought to the world of anime, find themselves in a rich environment of very different people, with very different ideas about beauty and very different ideas about fun.

And perhaps in the end, it is the community that has been spawned by the very otaku culture that originated when a group of eccentric people have taken to the streets with and labeled nerds and geeks by those of a previous age, and that because geek culture has become cool, and the wide variety of material, ideas, blogs, memes and sites spawned from this very culture have made their impact courtesy of the internet and has become more visible lately, otaku culture is now an international phenomenon worthy of mention when measuring the effects of an explosion of global data exchange. And it is because there are so many people in the community, and so many people seeming to have so much fun while in the community, that everyone else who dost keep an open mind on life would see it a cause worth joining, and contribute to the ever-growing anime fever in the world.

I have always liked anime, and I have watched anime ever since I could remember. I 'grew out' of it for a while, but after some time, I came back, and realized that there was something in life that I had sorely missed. And although I have been called an otaku several times over, it never bothered me, because I have learned from anime that you don't have to be cool or clever to have fun. All it takes is an open mind, an open internet connection, and an appetite for tsundere lolis and moe explosions! Well, time for another batshit insane episode of Kyouran Kazoku Nikki. Astrobunny over and out.

*beep*

written by astrobunny \\