Confessions of an Otaku

Apologies for the header, I tried to make my own and it sucks.

So with everything going on at the moment, I have not been able to watch as much anime as I would like. When I do have free time I’m either playing Overwatch or the Bioshock collection.

That being said, I have been reading a lot of light novels on my way to work and I am trying to keep up to date with the latest anime.

Funny thing is, ever since I got into anime I have been way more social and found a lot of pals at meet-ups and conventions. Why is that funny? Well, there is a stereotype going around that Otakus don’t leave the house and are antisocial although my experience taught me the exact opposite.

Being an Otaku does have some disadvantages, of course. Have you ever tried to explain the premise of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt to your catholic mother because she found your copy of the DVD? Or tried to watch Monster Musume when she is next door and the wall is super thin so she can hear anything louder than the average fart but you can’t wear headphones as she has a bit of a habit of bargaining into your room and demands to see what you are doing?

Just me? Consider yourself lucky, then.

Her reaction

When you have been a fan of anime for so long, you get desensitised to certain elements. For example, fanservice. I tried to get my younger sister to watch Ouran High School Host Club, and it was going well until the twins showed up. She gave me this look that said: “you like this stuff?” I tried to explain that they were faking it to entertain their guests, but it was too much for her.

Thankfully, the break room at my job has wifi so I can watch anime during lunch. One day I was reading Uzumaki and I showed it to a co-worker and she looked absolutely disgusted. I can’t really say I blame her, but I found her reaction kinda funny.

Another co-worker told me that her boyfriend made her watch Death Note and she loved it, she found out I was an Otaku and asked for anime recommendations. I felt so proud as I wrote down a list for her, I kept thinking “my time has come!” as I scribbled down as many as I could before my break ended.

I’m not going to lie, this is a confessional after all, but I am one of those Otaku who went through a major weeb phase that I am glad to say is finally over. I still have some weeby tendencies remaining, though. Such as drinking ramune at every opportunity and shopping at Asian markets to get Japanese snacks. Thanks to that weeb phase I am pretty good with chopsticks and I like to show off my skills when I get the chance. I tease my family about it everytime we use them.

While I get teased a little at family gatherings for my interests, I don’t regret being an Otaku for a second. Thanks to this fandom I have met so many brilliant people and, as we all know, anime is awesome! I couldn’t imagine my life without anime.