Real Meaning of Otaku

[3] Self-proclaimed Otaku

Are you obsessively watching anime to the point where you are up til 5 am or in the morning or pulling all nighters? Do you have a knowledgeable information about anime in a general sense or only on the ones you have watched? Is anime all you ever do? Have you become so obsessed with it that it has heavily affected your life?

Just because the word otaku is often related to anime/manga, it is not limited to only anime and manga. A lot of people who are self-proclaimed otaku most of the time are NOT otaku. I mean, just because you watch a bunch of episodes a day of an anime from dusk til dawn, does not make you an otaku.

It's kind of annoying how a lot of people who watch anime are self-proclaimed otaku (I am simply stating my opinion about self-proclaim otaku). I kind of find it an insult to otaku when others, who are clearly not otaku, claim to be one. I mean, I don't think that people who are actual otaku or geeks go around proclaiming their otaku-ness. And because of this, newcomers to anime or manga confuse the definition of an otaku. Learn how to differentiate the difference between an otaku and having a love for anime/manga.

Btw, I am not an otaku but I sure as hell know the characteristic of one. I watch anime and read manga as a hobby. And trust me when I say, I do it A LOT but I am not an otaku. I know my boundaries and when to stop. An otaku doesn't.

And just to point out, otakus do NOT refer to themselves as otaku.