Download or read book Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan written by Patrick W. Galbraith and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From computer games to figurines and maid cafes, men called “otaku” develop intense fan relationships with “cute girl” characters from manga, anime, and related media and material in contemporary Japan. While much of the Japanese public considers the forms of character love associated with “otaku” to be weird and perverse, the Japanese government has endeavored to incorporate “otaku” culture into its branding of “Cool Japan.” In Otaku and the Struggle for Imagination in Japan, Patrick W. Galbraith explores the conflicting meanings of “otaku” culture and its significance to Japanese popular culture, masculinity, and the nation. Tracing the history of “otaku” and “cute girl” characters from their origins in the 1970s to his recent fieldwork in Akihabara, Tokyo (“the Holy Land of Otaku”), Galbraith contends that the discourse surrounding “otaku” reveals tensions around contested notions of gender, sexuality, and ways of imagining the nation that extend far beyond Japan. At the same time, in their relationships with characters and one another, “otaku” are imagining and creating alternative social worlds.

Download or read book Beautiful Fighting Girl written by Tamaki Saitō and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Nausicaä to Sailor Moon, understanding girl heroines of manga and anime within otaku culture.

Download or read book Tokyo Geek s Guide written by Gianni Simone and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-11 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tokyo is ground zero for Japan's famous "geek" or otaku culture--a phenomenon that has now swept across the globe. This is the most comprehensive Japan travel guide ever produced which features Tokyo's geeky underworld. It provides a comprehensive run-down of each major Tokyo district where geeks congregate, shop, play and hang out--from hi-tech Akihabara and trendy Harajuku to newer and lesser-known haunts like chic Shimo-Kita and working-class Ikebukuro. Dozens of iconic shops, restaurants, cafes and clubs in each area are described in loving detail with precise directions to get to each location. Maps, URLs, opening hours and over 400 fascinating color photographs bring you around Tokyo on an unforgettable trip to the centers of Japanese manga, anime and geek culture. Interviews with local otaku experts and people on the street let you see the world from their perspective and provide insights into Tokyo and Japanese culture, which will only continue to spread around the globe. Japanese pop culture, in its myriad forms, is more widespread today than ever before--with J-Pop artists playing through speakers everywhere, Japanese manga filling every bookstore; anime cartoons on TV; and toys and video games, like Pokemon Go, played by tens of millions of people. Swarms of visitors come to Tokyo each year on a personal quest to soak in all the otaku-related sights and enjoy Japanese manga, anime, gaming and idol culture at its very source. This is the go-to resource for those planning a trip, or simply dreaming of visiting one day!

Download or read book Train Man written by Nakano Hitori and published by Corsair. This book was released on 2013-02-07 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a true story of love for the internet generation - the international bestseller that sold over a million copies. This wonderfully unique book from Japan derives from a series of postings over a three-month period to a particularly computer-geeky thread of 2 Channel, the world's largest anonymous Message Board. The events all took place in Tokyo. One day a shy otaku computer geek mentioned on the message forum how he had met a girl on a subway train. As things developed he continued to post updates to the message board. He gained the nickname 'Train Man'. With each update from bashful Train Man, his fellow correspondents throw in own colourful speculations, boyish encouragements, tongue-in-cheek warnings, and fabulously inventive ascii text drawings. Train Man tries to take on board their comments as events unfold. Eventually he finds love with the girl, Hermes, and reveals to her the entire history of the thread. The true identity of Train Man remains a closely guarded secret.

Download or read book Fandom Unbound written by Mizuko Ito and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-02-28 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, otaku culture has emerged as one of Japan's major cultural exports and as a genuinely transnational phenomenon. This timely volume investigates how this once marginalized popular culture has come to play a major role in Japan's identity at home and abroad. In the American context, the word otaku is best translated as “geek'—an ardent fan with highly specialized knowledge and interests. But it is associated especially with fans of specific Japan-based cultural genres, including anime, manga, and video games. Most important of all, as this collection shows, is the way otaku culture represents a newly participatory fan culture in which fans not only organize around niche interests but produce and distribute their own media content. In this collection of essays, Japanese and American scholars offer richly detailed descriptions of how this once stigmatized Japanese youth culture created its own alternative markets and cultural products such as fan fiction, comics, costumes, and remixes, becoming a major international force that can challenge the dominance of commercial media. By exploring the rich variety of otaku culture from multiple perspectives, this groundbreaking collection provides fascinating insights into the present and future of cultural production and distribution in the digital age.

Download or read book Wotakoi Love Is Hard for Otaku 1 written by Fujita and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A geeky girl whose life revolves around yaoi manga and a quiet gamer boy are old friends, but when they start working in the same office, they decide to date. It's a relationship of convenience at first, but could it become something more? This manga comedy is now a hit streaming anime! Extra-long book includes 2 Japanese volumes! GAMES OVER ROMANCE Narumi Momose has had it rough: Every boyfriend she's had dumped her once they found out she was an otaku, so she's gone to great lengths to hide it. When a chance meeting at her new job with childhood friend, fellow otaku, and now coworker Hirotaka Nifuji almost gets her secret outed at work, she comes up with a plan to make sure he never speaks up. But he comes up with a counter-proposal: Why doesn't she just date him instead? In love, there are no save points.

Download or read book Wotakoi Love Is Hard for Otaku 5 written by Fujita and published by Kodansha America LLC. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After years of butting heads and petty disagreements, Hanako and Taro begin to realize that the next stage of their relationship may be the most challenging one yet. Naoya faces his own hurdles in trying to understand his feelings toward Ko, whose quest for personal growth has led her farther out of his reach. Fortunately, big brother Hirotaka has some insight to share on the topic, which may bring to light a new perspective of what Narumi means to him…

Download or read book Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend Roomies and Romance Volume 1 written by Rin Murakami and published by J-Novel Club. This book was released on 2021-06-17 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If I’m going to find a girlfriend, she has to be an otaku. She’ll be beautiful, innocent, with long black hair, and she’ll like all the stuff that I like! Kokoro Nishina, the girl I’m living with, is the exact opposite of that. So why did I promise that I’d turn that flashy, extroverted gyaru into the ideal otaku girlfriend?! Sadly, I know just how it feels to need a little self-improvement to find the perfect date... and there’s no way a girl like that will tell her friends that she’s actually a closet fujoshi. But I’ll teach her—then maybe she can teach me too! With my expertise, she’ll definitely become an otaku’s dream girl!

Download or read book Otaku Spaces written by Patrick W. Galbraith and published by Chin Music. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive look at Japan's otaku collectors, including peeks inside their rooms and visits to their favorite stores.

Download or read book Otaku written by Hiroki Azuma and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Printbegrænsninger: Der kan printes 10 sider ad gangen og max. 40 sider pr. session

Download or read book My Brother s Husband Volume 2 written by Gengoroh Tagame and published by Pantheon. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed global sensation, from one of Japan's most notable manga artists: the concluding volume in the story of Yaichi, his daughter Kana, and how their meeting Mike Flanagan—Yaichi's brother-in-law—changes their lives and their perceptions of acceptance of homosexuality in their contemporary Japanese culture. As Mike continues his journey of discovery concerning Ryoji's past, Yaichi gradually comes to understand that being gay is just another way of being human. And that, in many ways, remains a radical concept in Japan even today. In the meantime, the bond between Mike and young Kana grows ever stronger, and yet he is going to have to return to Canada soon—a fact that fills them both with impending heartbreak. But not before more than a few revelations come to light.

Download or read book Transparent Light Blue written by Kiyoko Iwami and published by Seven Seas Entertainment. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ritsu is willing to do anything for her best friend Ichika, including the intimate act of cleaning her ears. But when Ichika starts dating a boy, Ritsu realizes that she wants to be more than friends. Will Ichika push her away when Ritsu reveals her innermost feelings?

Download or read book Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend Roomies and Romance Volume 5 written by Rin Murakami and published by J-Novel Club. This book was released on 2022-03-22 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is it: Elena and I are dating. But things aren’t as smooth as they seem. Kokoro’s parents are coming back to Japan sooner than expected. We're no longer going to be roomies! We're both so close to our goal, but how are we going to break this to her mom? She still thinks we're dating and wants to pay for a house so we can live together...forever! Slow down! I guess our only option is to keep up this charade a while longer and go on a fake date. It'll all be over soon...right?

Download or read book I Otaku Vol 2 written by Jiro Suzuki and published by Seven Seas. This book was released on 2008-05-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There's a new fandom comedy in town! Meet closet "otaku" Sota, a seemingly normal high school student with a secret obsession for the dog-eared anime character Papico. During one fateful trip to Akihabara, Sota's life took an unexpected turn when the crazed owner of a collectibles shop forces Sota to come out in all his fanboy glory. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, when the editor-in-chief of "Boy's Heaven," Kanari Momoe, shows up at Otakudo Headquarters looking for two young male interns...it's Sota and his friend Kenji that get roped into helping out! And to make matters worse, "Boy's Heaven" is a yaoi magazine! Dun dun duuuun!!

Download or read book The Otaku Encyclopedia written by Patrick W. Galbraith and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2014-02-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Otaku: Nerd; geek or fanboy. Originates from a polite second-person pronoun meaning "your home" in Japanese. Since the 1980s it’s been used to refer to people who are really into Japanese pop-culture, such as anime, manga, and videogames. A whole generation, previously marginalized with labels such as "geek" and "nerd," are now calling themselves "otaku" with pride. The Otaku Encyclopedia offers fascinating insight into the subculture of Cool Japan. With over 600 entries, including common expressions, people, places, and moments of otaku history, this is the essential "A to Z" of facts every Japanese pop-culture fan needs to know. Author Patrick W. Galbraith has spent several years researching deep into the otaku heartland and his intimate knowledge of the subject gives the reader an insider’s guide to words such as moé, doujinshi, cospla y and maid cafés. In-depth interviews with such key players as Takashi Murakami, otaku expert Okada Toshio, and J-pop idol Shoko Nakagawa are interspersed with the entries, offering an even more penetrating look into the often misunderstood world of otaku. Dozens of lively, colorful images—from portraits of the interview subjects to manga illustrations, film stills and photos of places mentioned in the text—pop up throughout the book, making The Otaku Encyclopedia as entertaining to read as it is informative.

Download or read book Otaku Girl written by Louis Bulaong and published by . This book was released on 2021-06-24 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine a world where you can live the life of your favorite fictional characters. Where you can become a real comic book superhero, anime protagonist, video game badass, and other great characters of fiction. Where you can gain actual superpowers, live in a fantastical world filled with villains and adventures, and have fun battling it out with other fellow geeks. In the virtual reality world known as the Escapist Dream, all of this can be possible for a price - once you get in, you can never get out. An American geek named Charlie, and a Japanese otaku named GI, would become trapped inside and forced to fight for survival, against rogue AIs and crazed players that had taken over the virtual reality world. Would their new-found powers and teamwork be enough? For what they didn't know, behind this malfunctioning virtual reality world, hides an even darker evil. One who is all-powerful, sadistic, and possibly eldritch...

Download or read book Kyle s Little Sister written by BonHyung Jeong and published by Yen Press LLC. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My name is Grace, not "Kyle's little sister!" Having a good-looking, friendly, outgoing older brother sucks—especially when you're the total opposite, someone who likes staying home and playing video games. Your parents like him better (even if they deny it!), and everyone calls you "Kyle's little sister" while looking disappointed that you're not more like him. I was really hoping I'd get to go to a different middle school, but no such luck. At least I have my friends...until he finds a way to ruin that, too...! Argh! What do I have to do to get out of his shadow?!