"Blood, and magic, and all that..."

Here's my sexy segment from last night's episode of NHK TV's Eigo de Shabera Nighto. Watch me squirm as the eternal question is posed not once, but twice: "Are you an otaku?" The shocking answer may surprise you!!!

Comments

[Joseph Luster]

Your admitting it at the end was the big Maury Povich breakthrough of the show!

[Zer0]

I am proud to be an (South)East Asian OTAKU!!

[wildarmsheero]

It makes me laugh that they were using the first Pokemon theme, Pokemon BGM and the first Dragon Ball Z theme as BGM for the segment.

And god, some of those answers were pretty lame. "Blood, and magic, and all that..." >:|

Also, "American manga fans are sophisticated." LOL. Yeah, them Narutards are very sophisticated...

[SkywardShadow]

I discovered your blog by googling your name, after Kotaku posted a couple of your videos.

So far, it's pretty interesting, and thanks for sharing these news segments!

I'd have a hard time coming up with an answer I liked as to why I enjoy anime and manga more than any american equilavents. (Story, detail, characterizations I suppose.) I'd have to write an article or something similar.

[Gilles Poitras]

Narutards are not necessarily manga and anime fans. They are fans of one show. Some are be fans of much more, others will become such fans, many may end up just as Narutards 20 years from now. Much like many Robotech or Speedracer fans who almost never watch anime.

Now if they start reading Koike manga, that would be cool.

[Carl Horn]

I kept expecting the narrator to say that no one knows Patrick's real name or nationality, and that the 13th man carried the crown of thorns. Come now, though, the guy playing Mechazawa deserved credit not only for his suit, but for his use of the qualified "semi-realistic."

[Steve Harrison]

OK, dialup keeps me from enjoying the vids, but the 'screencap' that shows for the link has a picture of a model of a Japanese Castle.

All I can think is, Heaven for Patrick would have been being given a Godzilla suit and 20 minutes alone with the model....

Oh, come on! Like you wouldn't!

[Ms. Geek]

Way to go Patrick! w00t!

You really should get your own show. You could carry it off.

And oh yeah: never be ashamed to be Otaku. Never. It's the mundanes who will never know who should be crying those hot tears of shame. Be proud of your Otaku-ness. I am!

[Bryce]

パトリックさんはオタクですか？？

[Carl Horn]

Ms. Geek, ain't no otaku more real than me, but I've always objected to the thinking behind "mundanes," that is, the idea that being really into anime, SF, etc., makes one superior to those who are not. One could in theory, after all, be really into anime or SF yet still remain boring, annoying, and unattractive. Being an otaku doesn't relieve one of the necessity of self-examination, which comes with being human. There are millions upon millions of people in the world who have never seen an episode of Evangelion, let alone Munchen e no Michi, yet whom are quite interesting to know--and since otaku culture is only a small subset of human culture in general, the idea that those without it must be "mundane" seems somehow unconvincing.

Steve, I also have dial-up, and was pleasantly surprised that it's quite possible to watch a YouTube clip on it. You just need to come back in a little while and give it time to load--in the case of this clip, it took about fifteen minutes. You'll see it loading as the slow progress of a red bar across the bottom of the screen. If it doesn't start loading, try pressing the "play" button and then pressing it again for "pause." The castle, by the way, is on the lower floor of the Kintetsu building, the heart of San Francisco's Japantown. Right up the stairs and to your left is the Kinokuniya, where I snuck many a peek at BROTHERS in the days when they didn't shrinkwrap manga.

Huh-huh-huh...I said "load."

[Steve Harrison]

On the 'mundanes' issue..boy, am I freakin' bi-polar on this.

I try to be casual like Carl, keep it on the burner, what the quote "the brilliant light must be kept covered, lest it blind those around it" or some stuff.

Yet I fully understand Ms. Geek's 'tude, because why NOT boast and be proud, look down upon those not as enlightened?

Think the St. Louis Cardinals fans don't believe they're a superior brand of Humanity right now?

It goes back to the 'Otaking conundrum'...why is it Ok to paint your face like a tiger (or your belly green and white) yet wearing a 'EFSF' style flight jacket get you stares? blah blah blah.

Me, I just do my thing and not worry about it :)

[Carl Horn]

One can be proud of something without looking down upon those who aren't it. Also, it can be hardly said that being an otaku is a victory earned in a contest over others.

[Steve Harrison]

Carl said:

"Also, it can be hardly said that being an otaku is a victory earned in a contest over others."

Ahhh, but isn't life a daily contest of self?

And that raises the question, does a person who only watches a contest merit the same pride as those who are within the contest itself? Does sitting at home watching the Cardinals equal playing the game? They would have you believe so, yes? So then, is it not the same of the anime Otaku? Is Otaku not Otaku regardless?

I think I'm twisting myself into a big knot... :)

[Paper BoyXXX]

'Yes! I am an american otaku!'

Finally, you admitted.

[Patrick Macias]

They cut out the part where I conclude: "...but only as it applies to giant monsters, superheroes, super robots, and space battleships."

[statiq]

"Otaku about Otaku".

I guess i'd say the same about me, Meta-Otaku rather than full blown vanilla Otaku.

[Reginald Rhoades]

My world! My precious, crumbling, ruin~ I always considered myself an otaku of otaku, dangerous grounds they be, thus, I settle for music otaku (also to keep the conversation short). I salute you and your cajones.

[Ms. Geek]

Unfortunately the alternatives for the term "mundanes" are worse than the term itself. OK, maybe I should have said "non-Otaku." Little less judgmental. Oh well.

I don't necessarily view the Fannish culture as being superior to non-fans. They're just...different. Sort of like how we seem to them.