Readers who like anime and video games should call themselves "dead houses" when chatting with friends, or some people will call themselves "fat houses", of course, there are also people who will be radical and call themselves "dead fat houses", which refers to "otaku".
The term otaku is an imported product, and today I will talk about the history of otaku in Japan.
<h1>The origin of the word otaku – from honorifics to enthusiasts</h1>
The word "otaku" comes from the Japanese "お宅" and "おたく", which are second-person honorifics or titles for their residence or family. Because of the peculiarities of the Japanese language, there are different levels of respect, and if placed in Chinese context, "おたく" is more than "you" than "you".
How do otaku and anime fans relate to each other, and there are two theories about this.
In the 1970s, haruhiko Mikimoto and Masaharu Kawamori, who were born in Keio Yoshiku and worked at STUDIO NUE, used the term "otaku" as "otaku" for each other. In 1982, the protagonists in the animation "Chrono Fortress" produced by STUDIO NUE also called each other "Otaku", which later became a popular title among fans.
In 1982, the then social critic Akio Nakamori had a series of columns in the manga magazine "Manga ブリッコ" called "Research on the Otaku", in which he wrote that Akio Nakamori attended a doujinshi sale when he was 23 years old, and he was shocked to see thousands of young girls gathered in Tokyo.
In addition, Nakamori Akio also criticized this group of "gray and dark teenagers living together at the end of the century" in a magazine called "Lolita" with pedophilic tendencies, which was unanimously resisted by the majority of fans, and the result was that Nakamori was regarded as discriminatory by the editor-in-chief Hideshi Otsuka and swept him out, but did not attract much attention from mainstream society.
<h1>The strongest otaku is born - anime fans strike hard</h1>
For better or worse, the term otaku appeared in 1982, but the original otaku was not born at this time, just as everyone talks about "human beings" and does not start from "modern people", otaku also has "otaku".
In the second half of the 1970s, a series of works from "Space Battleship Yamato" to "Mobile Suit Gundam" triggered a boom in science fiction animation, so that a large number of science fiction fans in Japan merged with animation fans, many animation fans under the baptism of science fiction culture, inspired their desire to study the connotation of animation more deeply, they not only discussed the style, connotation, and production technology of animation works, but also began to produce animation!
In 1981, Okada Doujio, Yasuhiro Takeda, Hideaki Anno, and others worked together to produce an 8mm self-made animation that referenced many anime and science fiction masterpieces in the way of "playing with the terrier". This self-made anime was played at the opening of the 20th Japan Science Fiction Convention in Osaka in 1981, and the sequel was released at the 22nd Japan Science Fiction Convention in 1983.
In December 1984, these people stopped sticking to "small fights" and founded the well-known animation company GAINAX. This company is no stranger to anyone who watches animation, and I believe that when you saw the words "Hideaki Anno" above, you already had a number in mind, yes, GAINAX is the animation company that produced Evangelion (EVA).
<h1>The Black History of Otaku – Otaku Killings</h1>
The 1980s were the golden age of Japanese animation, with many masterpieces being launched and the industry thriving, and animation lovers seemed to be in paradise. Unfortunately, the good days did not last long, and between 1988 and 1989, there was a "Miyazaki killing incident" that shocked Japanese society.
In Tokyo, Saitama, and other places, there were four consecutive crimes in which young girls were kidnapped and killed, and after the suspect Miyazaki was arrested, he found a mountain of video tapes, manga, and magazines in his residence, and Miyazaki had seen and published works at the 35th Comic Markt during the crime.
The image of the otaku is typical of the Miyazaki incident: problems with interpersonal relationships and communication with people. Unable to approach women, it is the typical loser. The incident caused a social uproar, followed by a series of demonstrations and denunciations against otaku and anime, and the prohibition and self-censorship of anime and manga and the fandom reached an unprecedented peak. Along with the trial of the case, the entire industry faced a period of low tide for several years: the subject matter regressed, the number decreased, and it was criticized by all parties.
Journalists who report live at Comic Markt will even say, "Look, there are 100,000 Miyazaki here." At the beginning, Nakamori Akio also said that the otaku were a group of shady guys, which was good, and directly became a criminal homicide reserve.
<h1>The Rise of the Otaku – The King of Otaku and the Definition of Otaku</h1>
The so-called otaku is a new breed of extremely evolved sensibility of images produced in this century of images, and has a high degree of intelligence collection and analysis ability, as well as insatiable hardships and self-expression.
The above is the definition of the otaku given by okada doujifu, the king of the Japanese otaku. King of the House? Why did Okada Say so, who could he say such a wild word? If any of you readers think this way again, I can only say that you are not serious about reading the article, as mentioned above, Okada Doujifu is the president of GAINAX, although he did not participate in the production of "EVA", but how to say that he also produced the famous "Wang Li Cosmic Army".
Why didn't Okada take part in EVA? Because he was fired from the "employee".
In 1992, due to a disagreement between Okada Doujifu and the elders of the GANAX Society, Hiroyuki Yamaga and Hideaki Anno, in terms of economic and corporate direction, the two secretly transferred all the rights of the company to the vice president, Hiroyuki Yamaga, without Okada Doujifu's knowledge.
You can imagine that one morning, Okada Doushifu opened the company to ask everyone to have a morning meeting, but saw a contemptuous smile from his colleagues: "Meeting? Sorry, there's no longer a place for you here."
Personally, I feel that there is "moisture" about this matter, as the president, it is completely hollowed out without his own knowledge, which is unimaginable in Japan, where the legal system is strict; secondly, if the average person encounters such a thing, it will definitely be a mental explosion, throwing the table and smashing the chair or something, but Okada Doujio just quietly left GAINAX, and all his shares in GAINAX were retained...
I think it was a topic of creation, Okada Doujifu may have found that commercial animation is not really what he really wants to do, it just so happens that the other two people are thinking about it, so the two sides completed the transition of power, Yamaga Hiroyuki became the new president, according to his own will to continue to lead GAINAX in the field of commercial animation, Okada Doujifu according to his own will to study culture.
Four years after his departure, in 1996, Okada Publishing Primer on Otaku, which was probably the first book to discuss "Otaku" and "Otaku Culture" in a positive way, and he himself gave himself the title of King of Otaku through this book.
According to the above definition of otaku, Okada Toshio further proposed three kinds of eyes that otaku must have when viewing works:
Eye of the Eye, Aesthetics and Spirit. Feel the creator's philosophy with a unique eye and appreciate the beauty of the work.
The Eye of craftsmanship, technology and theory. Analyze works in theory, logic and technology, discuss their production techniques, and judge their advantages and disadvantages.
The Eye of Communication, History and Culture. Vertical is to place works on the timeline of history and explore their evolution with past works; horizontal is to compare works with works of the same period to explore diversity.
Speaking of having the above super abilities is an excellent otaku, right? The king of the otaku said no, do the above points show that you have the ability to be an otaku, basically get started. Only talent cannot become a otaku! To become a otaku, you need to invest astronomically in terms of economy, time, and knowledge! Hard work, hard work, and self-expression are the keys to opening the door to the otaku!
Seeing this, everyone should think that Okada Doujifu stood and talked without waist pain, and what did he say without evidence? What evidence is there to say that otaku are the social elite? The evidence is there, but in the hands of Hideshi Otsuka, the one who swept out the door of the person who insulted the otaku in the above article.
In 1992, Hideshi Otsuka conducted some investigations of otaku in order to write "Criticism of False Reality":
For example, if the otaku and the average person are compared, there are more friends of the opposite sex, and the average number of friends of the opposite sex is 2.8 for people in the age group of ten to thirty years old; compared with the average otaku, there are 6.9 friends of the opposite sex in the otaku, which is more than twice that of the average person! If the number of friends is also more than the average person regardless of gender, otaku can be said to be quite social.
Also, in general, otaku are quite rich. Otaku, between the ages of 20 and 30, earns an average of 22,700 yen a month, while the average monthly income of their peers is 16,600 yen. Occupations such as engineers or teachers and students are quite common among otaku, and the proportion of money spent by these high-income people on entertainment is also one of the characteristics of otaku...
<h1>The Death and Rebirth of Otaku - New Otaku and New Otaku with "Meng" as the mainstay</h1>
In 1996, the king of the otaku, Okada Doshio, wrote "Introduction to Otaku Studies" to say that the otaku were great, but ten years later. In 2006, he wrote "A House, You're Dead."
How did the otaku die? Okada Sayuri says that "Moe" killed the otaku.
There are many opinions about the origin of the word Meng, but if you want to say a representative of Meng, the 1998 "DiGi Charta" is counted as one, she was originally a mascot of the boutique designed by the anthropomorphic design of Zhao Cai Cat, but it was widely popular and later launched an animated game, the name of the animation is called "Ding-Dong Little Witch".
Every popular anime girl has an "attribute symbol", which is what we usually call "cute point", such as maid suit, sailor suit, dead bank water in terms of clothing; hair such as black long straight, double ponytail; identity such as students, nurses, sisters, sisters...
As long as a character has some or more specific attributes, the audience will say xx is my wife. As for the relationship with other characters, the story she has played, and her position in the history of ACG development, it is easy to say.
After Meng became popular, the guy who excitedly shouted at my wife when he saw the maid dressed as a cat ear gradually became equal to the otaku, and they ran counter to the "social elite" in Okada Doujifu's "Introduction to Otaku Studies" and the otaku culture, and when he saw this, Okada Doujifu could only lament that the otaku was dead, and he also regarded himself as the "late king of Otaku".
Okada Felt that the Otaku were dead, but others didn't think so, so a new otaku school based on the Heart Otaku appeared!
There are many representative figures in the new otaku, including Hiroki Higashi, who is well known for his book "Animalized Postmodernity: How Otaku Influenced Japanese Society", and Saito Ring, who wrote "Psychoanalysis of Fighting Beautiful Girls".
Higashi Hiroki links "Moe" with consumption, and he said that the reason why Moe attributes have become the mainstream of otaku consumption is that in today's postmodern period, the concept of "big narrative" has withered away, and consumer behavior has changed from "story consumption" to "database consumption".
"EVA" happens to be his work, I don't know if Okada Doshio will remember the day he left the company in the middle of the night, if he did not care about the rebirth of the otaku, would it come a little later?
Saito Ring analyzed the complex between otaku and the two-dimensional beautiful girl, he said that the otaku is not unable to distinguish between reality and virtuality, for them, virtual and reality have the same importance, that is to say, girlfriends are looking for, but those beautiful girls in the animation are also my wife.
For the new otaku, the late otaku king also expressed his thoughts:
It's not just the excitement of the bureau's "beautiful girl is so cute", but also the feeling of "I would like this thing so much, I am so cute" and "I understand this dream, I am really handsome and interesting when I am cute". That is to say, it is not simply a "like", but also a view from a rather detached extraterritorial bystander. Moreover, you can also put the sensibility of the "cuteness" of beautiful girls into yourself.
I understand that I will be treated as a pervert by others, but I still like to be treated as a pervert in time, no, it should be said that I can even like the fact that I am a pervert.
In short, from then until now, the evaluation of otaku has "declined" a bit, and otaku has changed from a social elite to a guy who yells at my wife.
In fact, if you think about it, you will find that this is normal.
The growth of the older generation of otaku is accompanied by the progress of ACG works and technology, the rise and fall of the industry is also in the eyes, the ups and downs of the social status of otaku they have also personally experienced, we are looking at relatively complete things, the industry has formed a model operation, from the moment of becoming an otaku, the status has not changed much, talking about the past those things have no sense of reality, just like parents tell their stories, we are difficult to understand, they will also say that your generation can't do it!
Symbolic labeling things such as cute attributes are also, and now that social networks are very developed, information is generated much faster than the speed at which the public can be digested, and no one can grasp all the dynamics in any field. Symbolization is a good thing for consumers and creators, just like the "keywords" we usually buy things online, in this moment of information flooding, this can be regarded as a "survival mode" in the industry, right?
Otaku and otaku culture are not dead, but with the trend of the times have changed, even the meaning of some idioms will change, let alone talk about otaku without much historical background? If you ask which idiom it is, I'll give you one – all the people can do.
Well, the early history of otaku is almost like this, let's see you next time~