LJ *secrets*; how do you prefer your otaku?
Explain your LiveJournal name and its meaning. When you're done, tag as many people as there are letters in your name.
My username is taken from my enjoyment of two things: taking walks late at night, and anime. I used to randomly go off to less frequented parts of campus, just to walk and enjoy my surroundings, uncluttered and free of noise. I liked it that way, sometimes. Most of the time it helped me clear my head. Other times it allowed me to just let my mind drift. On occasion, when necessary, it gave me time to escape. And, of course, my perhaps naive early perception of the anime fan. I made this name back in the days when ideas like the 'Otaku Society' were thrown around. Little did I know I was no otaku, not really. I should probably be grateful for this, too, but I'm not completely sure.
On the one hand, I understand people in Japan have limited reactions to the word: they might recoil from and shun someone who thinks they fit the label, or think they themselves are otaku, and reciprocate their own fandom(s) and such. They lock themselves in their rooms, watch anime, discuss anime, relate every facet of their existence to anime... and you get the idea. They're consumed by it.
On the flip side, in the US, there are some who don't have that reaction. For one thing, the whole scale of an otaku here is different from that of Japan. The people who fall into this category in either country don't necessarily share the same qualities, in large part aren't nearly as intense here as in Japan. Sure, there are your 'Narutards' and such... but that's not the majority. Even people who annually frequent conventions might be called otaku in the States. Point being, it seems more and more likely to me that the term itself has taken on two separate meanings. And, existing in two very separate cultures, I think that's appropriate.
Even so, I no longer consider myself an otaku. I think that's part of the reason I want to get a fresh LJ. But that is the secret behind the username.
And if I tagged one person for every letter in the name, I'd probably be tagging half my friends' list. So instead, whoever wants to partake, go for it!
My username is taken from my enjoyment of two things: taking walks late at night, and anime. I used to randomly go off to less frequented parts of campus, just to walk and enjoy my surroundings, uncluttered and free of noise. I liked it that way, sometimes. Most of the time it helped me clear my head. Other times it allowed me to just let my mind drift. On occasion, when necessary, it gave me time to escape. And, of course, my perhaps naive early perception of the anime fan. I made this name back in the days when ideas like the 'Otaku Society' were thrown around. Little did I know I was no otaku, not really. I should probably be grateful for this, too, but I'm not completely sure.
On the one hand, I understand people in Japan have limited reactions to the word: they might recoil from and shun someone who thinks they fit the label, or think they themselves are otaku, and reciprocate their own fandom(s) and such. They lock themselves in their rooms, watch anime, discuss anime, relate every facet of their existence to anime... and you get the idea. They're consumed by it.
On the flip side, in the US, there are some who don't have that reaction. For one thing, the whole scale of an otaku here is different from that of Japan. The people who fall into this category in either country don't necessarily share the same qualities, in large part aren't nearly as intense here as in Japan. Sure, there are your 'Narutards' and such... but that's not the majority. Even people who annually frequent conventions might be called otaku in the States. Point being, it seems more and more likely to me that the term itself has taken on two separate meanings. And, existing in two very separate cultures, I think that's appropriate.
Even so, I no longer consider myself an otaku. I think that's part of the reason I want to get a fresh LJ. But that is the secret behind the username.
And if I tagged one person for every letter in the name, I'd probably be tagging half my friends' list. So instead, whoever wants to partake, go for it!