Dear Fellow Otakus

I recently came out of the closet. Yup, that’s right. I’m no longer ashamed to admit that I am an otaku. Ever since I came to college I have slowly come to realize the true extent of my love for anime and manga. However it was only until this year, my senior year, that I have been able to fully cast aside any lingering embarrassment about my passion for anime and manga. Sadly there are other closet otakus out there too afraid to tell their family and friends about their guilty pleasure.

I can empathize with this. Even with the growing popularity of anime in America it is still not the easiest fandom to be a part of. While nerd culture has become more mainstream, especially with all of the superhero movies coming out in recent years, but there is still some stigma surrounding otaku culture. We are often perceived as weird. I have two things to say to this: 1. “Heck yes we’re weird, but that doesn’t make it a bad thing” and 2. “How is this different than being a part of any other fandom?” Isn’t cosplay the same as dressing up as Batman or Wolverine? And what’s the difference between collecting manga and collecting comics? So you’re telling me that a man who turns into a giant, muscular green monster when he gets angry isn’t weird but wait…so Sebastian is a demon, but he’s also a butler to a 13-year-old Earl in Victorian England? Um…What? You’re fangirling over that? Yes, yes I am, because Sebastian is hot and super badass.

There is also the stereotype that gets every otaku’s blood boiling: “anime is for kids.” Excuse me while I suppress the urge to breathe fire and scream from the rooftops why that statement is complete bullshit. Any time that viewpoint is brought up we would love to retort: “Would you let your child watch someone get stabbed through the neck with an umbrella? Or chopped up by a boat propeller? Or their head chopped off with a pickaxe?” And this is only one anime, coincidentally my roommate’s favorite (I still can’t look at an umbrella without cringing).

Because of this, it can be hard to admit to watching anime. It took me several years to fully embrace my inner otaku. I guess you could say that it was my fate to fall in love with anime (if you’re into the sparkly romance found in shoujo manga). Like many others, my first exposure to anime was watching Sailor Moon as a kid. Of course back then I didn’t know what anime was, I just thought Sailor Moon was a really awesome cartoon.

Fast forward to high school. I made friends with a girl who likes anime and one day while chatting on facebook she sent me a link a youtube video of the Powerpuff Girls Z transformation. It was cute and fun to watch, so out of curiosity I googled it. Powerpuff Girls Z became the first anime I watched in Japanese. Back then I was embarrassed to admit that I liked it and my family would give me weird and confused looks whenever I watched it on the computer.

Fast forward again to college. I decided to look up Sailor Moon again because I remembered how much I liked it when I was a kid. After watching it in English I decided to watch it in Japanese. Once I finished I thought: “Holy crap, this is so much better than the English version!” Sailor Moon once again introduced me to the charismatic world of anime.

At first I only watched magical girl anime (I really liked the transformations). I watched Tokyo Mew Mew and the Pretty Cure franchise up to Go! Princess Precure (it took me a year to watch up until that season, I need a break before diving back in). Mermaid Melody Pitchi Pitchi Pitch was the last magical girl anime I watched before branching out to shoujo anime. From here it would take way too long to list all the anime I’ve watched. My favorite shoujo anime and manga is Kimi ni Todoke (seriously, how frickin’ cute are Sawako and Kazehaya?).

Now back to the present. I am in my senior year of college and I watch any anime that piques my interest. It was not easy getting to this point. On campus, I was surrounded by people who either didn’t care that I watch anime or watched anime themselves. But at home no one understood the appeal; my family thought anime was stupid. I felt awkward asking for Sailor Moon manga for Christmas. I’m sure many of you have also experienced the eye rolls and the weird looks you get for expressing your love of anime.

But things have gotten better. My family still thinks it’s weird, but they have accepted the fact that I am an otaku now that they have seen how much I have gotten into anime and that it is not just a phase. I am now comfortable getting excited in front of them over the fact that Sailor Moon Crystal is getting a new season covering the death busters arc (the best story arc of Sailor Moon in my opinion) or telling my friends about which sailor senshi is the best (it’s Sailor Saturn by the way). I can also tell people about my crush on Kirito, Sebastian, most of the characters from Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and Eternal Summer (thank you Rin for making sharks attractive, I can never look at them the same again), and of course I can’t forget Tuxedo Mask. I’m no longer embarrassed asking for manga for Christmas and my collection of otaku items is slowly growing. Just this past weekend, I bought a Sword Art Online and a Black Butler t-shirt at Hot Topic.

So to all of my fellow closet otakus, don’t be embarrassed and embrace your love for anime and manga! The stigma still exists but it is getting better. Amine is growing more popular in America, just look at Hot Topic and all the anime stuff it sells. Even if your family or friends don’t quite get it, there is a whole community of otakus out here full of really cool people. If you’re not comfortable coming out yet, then at least try finding some fellow otakus to talk to. We’re out here and we’re not that hard to find. I’m no expert on dealing with people who don’t understand the appeal of anime, I am simply one hell of an otaku.