/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>35010125
consumerism is a huge part of it yes but it's not really a good attitude to think of the culture as just "consumerism and memes", it pretty close minded though it is a take easy to fall into just looking at things at surface level, the current nature of online communities that cover everything in layers of irony don't help either.
Try reading let's say, "Fandon Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World", it's an anthology of 10 writers talking about diverse topics and communities in otaku culture such as train otaku, fujoshi, western AMV communities, the rise of Akihabara as an otaku space etc.
Some of them are excerpts from bigger projects but I think that because they're all bite-sized and covers many topics it should be good to get an idea on how the culture itself can branch in so many subcultures that you might find valuable to look into, as well as there is the possibility of finding more things to get a further understanding of in the culture in general.
I'm not going to claim to be well read and be the "I read books and so should you to be as intellectual as me" guy, as a matter of fact I consider myself really poorly read since I don't read much in general (besides manga) but every time I sit down and read about something I feel like I get a better understanding of what I consume and more importantly of myself, I think it's a pretty valuable thing to do