Alright, first off I just want to say that I hope I don't come off as elitist or snobbish in this thread. That's not my intention, I just really want to get this off my chest since its what I believe.
You may think its elitist, snobbish and purist but it's what I believe and ultimately you can't change that.
With that said.
This topic is about how I perceive the Japanese Otaku and the negative connontation that goes along with that title. Some people might say I have a very unique view... but whatever, here it goes.
It is my belief that the stereotypical Japanese Otaku, while being known as the "hardest of hardcore anime/manga/video game fans" are really not. In fact, I believe them to be quite fake, and not real anime fans. For I've noticed that they only like the eroge and hentai aspects of anime, so really Otaku are just porn fans that are hiding under the cleaner term "anime fan."
True anime fans don't just watch anime for the cute girls and the porn, but for the deep storylines and characters. For me I watch anime/read manga and play JRPGs to escape into a fantasy realm and get lost in a fairytale story. Akin to getting sucked into a good book. I love anime, manga and JRPGS because I feel they have the capacity to tell grand, epic stories. Much more creative stories as well compared to the Western entertainment mediums, or even novels.
However these Japanese otaku just give us true anime fans a bad name by painting us all as porn fans, when really a lot of us couldn't care less about the porn and hate porn in general.
In this respect, I agree with Hayao Miyazaki's supposedly snobbish attitude towards the Japanese otaku community. As he is right and is just telling it like it is. They're not fans of anime, like the creative and enchanting worlds that he creates in his anime, they're just fans of porn.
In fact I could also see why the mainstream Japanese perception of Otaku is so negative. Because the Japanese public probably sees these people as just plain porn fans, nothing less nothing more, and that's why they get such a bad rep from people.
So yeah.... I know its a weird view but I feel Otakus aren't anime fans at all, more like they're just fake anime fans, while the true anime fans don't get noticed a lot in Japan like here in America sadly. (Note: I am specifically reffering only to the Japanese Otaku, as "Otaku" here in America takes on quite a different meaning and is usually meant to describe a real anime fan.)
You may think its elitist, snobbish and purist but it's what I believe and ultimately you can't change that.
With that said.
This topic is about how I perceive the Japanese Otaku and the negative connontation that goes along with that title. Some people might say I have a very unique view... but whatever, here it goes.
It is my belief that the stereotypical Japanese Otaku, while being known as the "hardest of hardcore anime/manga/video game fans" are really not. In fact, I believe them to be quite fake, and not real anime fans. For I've noticed that they only like the eroge and hentai aspects of anime, so really Otaku are just porn fans that are hiding under the cleaner term "anime fan."
True anime fans don't just watch anime for the cute girls and the porn, but for the deep storylines and characters. For me I watch anime/read manga and play JRPGs to escape into a fantasy realm and get lost in a fairytale story. Akin to getting sucked into a good book. I love anime, manga and JRPGS because I feel they have the capacity to tell grand, epic stories. Much more creative stories as well compared to the Western entertainment mediums, or even novels.
However these Japanese otaku just give us true anime fans a bad name by painting us all as porn fans, when really a lot of us couldn't care less about the porn and hate porn in general.
In this respect, I agree with Hayao Miyazaki's supposedly snobbish attitude towards the Japanese otaku community. As he is right and is just telling it like it is. They're not fans of anime, like the creative and enchanting worlds that he creates in his anime, they're just fans of porn.
In fact I could also see why the mainstream Japanese perception of Otaku is so negative. Because the Japanese public probably sees these people as just plain porn fans, nothing less nothing more, and that's why they get such a bad rep from people.
So yeah.... I know its a weird view but I feel Otakus aren't anime fans at all, more like they're just fake anime fans, while the true anime fans don't get noticed a lot in Japan like here in America sadly. (Note: I am specifically reffering only to the Japanese Otaku, as "Otaku" here in America takes on quite a different meaning and is usually meant to describe a real anime fan.)