How to Be an Otaku

Step 1: It's Pretty Obvious

Watch anime! It's the most important thing about being an otaku! My recommendations for starter animes: Inuyasha Soul eater Fruits basket Black butler Ouran host club Lucky star Hetalia (These are all relatively short animes of up to 80 episodes at most to 13 episodes at least)

Step 2: Read Manga

It's optional to read manga but there are many other fun and great stories I manga that aren't animes and most of the time an anime will also have a manga version which is usually better than the anime itself.

Step 3: Find Your Favorite Anime

Your favorite anime will never be set in stone, for there will always be an anime that you like the best but then you will find another that's either just as awesome or better. However your favorite anime is the anime that you always want to watch even if you've seen it over and over again. If you just can't decide, then make a top 5 or top 10!

Step 4: Find Your Anime Crush

Again just like your favorite anime it is never set in stone who your anime crush is but that one special anime girl/ anime guy is out there! You will always hear your crush's voice in your head and you will wish for them to be real but sadly they aren't :'(

Step 5: Buy Anime Stuff

You guessed it, buy tons of anime merchandise! I recommend not buying too much stuff from one anime but get a bunch of stuff from a variety of animes! Don't buy merchandise from an anime you haven't seen even if its cute because you don't even know who or what it is. If your low on money make sure to have a little pile of money set aside for your anime needs! It is optional to buy animes on DVD because that stuff is EXPENSIVE I usually just watch anime online.

Step 6: Deck Out Your Room

Cover your room in anime pictures or posters or both! That is only one corner of my room the rest of the wall and the other 3 walls all have anime stuff on it. Make sure you actually like the way it's set up and arranged.

Step 7: Learn a Bit

Learn the basics of Japanese. I'm not saying learn the entire language but learning a little helps understand anime if your watching it in English sub. Plus it's fun to annoy your friends by talking Japanese every now an then :3

Step 8: Do a Little Cosplay

I'm not saying dress up full blown but inuyasha ears (inuyasha) or making plush dangos (clannad) is fun

Step 9: Write/read Fan Fictions

It's not mandatory lol but it is a lot of fun (especially when it's about your anime crush and you) or you can write about stuff that you wish happened in an anime

Step 10: Draw/ Have Fan Comics/ Fan Pictures

It pretty much goes along with the earlier step on fan fiction

Step 11: Anime Vs Cartoon

You must know the difference between an anime and a cartoon such as: Plot Animation Epic ness Etc

Step 12: Not Being an Annoying Prick

Please don't throw your anime love in people's face and call people "Baka" and stupid stuff like that because its not fun for anyone but yourself and its really annoying so please don't do it

Step 13: Being Proud About Your Anime Love

I know what I said on the previous step but you can still be proud of your otaku nature without throwing it in people's faces like talk to fellow otakus about anime and feel free to rant about something that pissed you off in an anime but don't go into anime with someone who doesn't watch anime. Also, it's ok to not watch anime don't hate on anime haters if they keep their opinions to themselves then you should to.

Step 14: ENJOY OUR OTAKUNESS

Comments

[jtilan]

Is there any suggestions on how can i learn a bit japanese? where from and stuff like that. ty

[guipe7635]

Download Duolingo, it helps you learn languages

[BrittanyC61]

I would say

Speaking: Watch LOTS of SUBS!!! you start to pick it up, even if you have to pause if you're a slow reader, it's worth it! It'll increase your reading speed while you watch your favorite anime!

Writing: Take a class. The sentence structure is different and especially if you want to learn kanji, because it's symbols instead of letters.

[LatashaG2]

Well i am american but i love anime and manga. So i am a fan of japan and im studying next year over there so. Frome me to u. ありがとう、先生 (arigato sensei) ?

[Flame896]

Welp I AM AN INDONESIAN. Bruh.

[GMR2]

Yes my bday is in july i get rin from blue exorsist hellz ya!! Being an anime/manga fan is the greatest thing on earth!!!!

[BrittanyC61]

The people that have January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December birthdays are so Lucky!!!

I'm Naruto

[ThatBeMe]

who is that blue haired girl though? what anime is she from?

[BrittanyC61]

Lucky Star, "Those aren't faults those are moe points! Clumsy is sexy!" -Konata Izumi

[THEJJRAT]

So I can't watch cartoons and anime at the same time? (WHICH ARE THE SAME THING).

[YuriS33]

The hell they are! Dude, U DONT LOVE ANIMES. Besides, no one is telling you to not watch cartoons, waht you're saying is that you can't watch animes and go to the movie theaters watch Captain America for example, that is what you have said how it sounds like for me and that is just stupidity, but stupidity is put Cartoons at the same level as animes.

[WhiteLotus]

I'm not entirely certain you understand the true gravity of the word "Otaku"

In the US, Otaku more or less just means a person who likes anime. But the phrase has a different context in Japan. Liking tihngs labeled as "nerdy" has gained more popularity recently, so you're generally safe with being open about your nerdity.

In Japan, the word Otaku essentially means a "basement dweller" they're ostracized much in the same way that nerds used to be ostracized in the US.
Cases of this include the "manga murders". A Belgian murder in Belgium drew mass attention in Japan because it was linked to the anime Death Note.
Another notable case took place during the Tsunami. Said Tsunami ended up cancelling a popular anime convention, after which a Japanese politician said the Otaku "Deserved it" and caught no flak whatsoever. In fact I believe he was reelected.

This isn't meant to be a dig on you, I'm a big fan of anime as well. But when you find yourself in Japan as Otaku are wont to do, know that you wont be as welcome as you think you may be.

[THEJJRAT]

Yep. We're calling ourselves what it means in Merica.

Cuz we don't live in Japan.

[Egon_Freeman]

Rather, you won't be very welcome, period. Being a gaijin is never fun, but it's esp. not fun when dealing with a closed culture. And in a sense, they *are* right - you've grown up in a different culture, so you can NOT be "like them". Therefore, you are different, an outsider, a gaikokujin - "a person belonging to elsewhere", a foreigner.

Though, to be fair, it's very demonized, when it shouldn't be. The Japanese are, from what I've seen, mostly kind and open. They're also polite to a fault, so don't believe everything you're told. No, your japanese isn't that good. They'll tell you that it is, deal with it. But keep in mind that you will always be viewed as an outcast, even if you're accepted. There will always be that one barrier that you cannot cross, because you were raised somewhere else. Mamoru Oshii, I believe, once summarized it as such - if you're born somewhere and then brought up in the Japanese culture, then you are Japanese; if you were born in Japan but brought up elsewhere, then you are not Japanese. Plain, simple, concise.

Keep in mind that their culture is built on a very different work/relations ethic. If you're not, in general, a contributing member of society - in your place - you're an outcast by default. It so happens that otakus are commonly in this group, with no real outlooks for change. As such, it can't be helped that they're ostracized. But it's worthy to keep in mind that change and innovation is not something that can be mass-produced by the system.

[WhiteLotus]

That's another really good point.

[THEJJRAT]

Gravity Falls has a lot of plot...

[jryan27]

So who likes fairy tail??

[dodidie]

Yay my birthday is with L! I can't believe out of all the anime people out there I got my favorite anime guy!

[ThatBeMe]

Yep, Completed all of the following, I'm a true otaku now

[crazy4christj]

That picture is just... awesome!!