/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I'd say there is a generational divide between the otaku from then and from now (if they can even be considered the same thing) because of several reasons, like the mass expansion of the internet or how previously niche industries have evolved. I'm really interested in how the first group fares nowadays.

The people who were in their 10-20s when Gunbuster was made are now in their 30-40s. I don't think they all either killed themselves or submitted to normalcy. What are they up to? Are they simply engaged with modern trends?

If you ask different people for a definition of the term otaku you get contradictory answers. In different phases of its dissemination it changed in meaning, and people look at it from different angles at any given time. What is the smallest common denominator? Otaku are teens or twens. Mostly boys. They usually wear jeans, T-shirt and sneakers, which might not sound very characteristic, but in fashion-crazy Japan it is. They despise physical contact and love media, technical communication, and the realm of reproduction and simulation in general. They are enthusiastic collectors and manipulators of useless artifacts and information. They are an underground, but they are not opposed to the system. They change, manipulate, and subvert ready-made products, but at the same time they are the apotheosis of consumerism and an ideal workforce for contemporary Japanese capitalism. They are the children of the media.

Otaku is not concerned with a certain subject matter, but is rather a mode of being.