(INGLES) Investigacion de SOCIOLOGIA: LOS OTAKUS.

Stating the Problem

There is a growing crowd/circle of a subculture named “otaku(s)” in our society that reaches not only to teenagers but adults too. People who live their lives through a fantasy world, or take on the hobby(more of a Japanese way/definition) of watching and collecting anime(worldwide).

Society sometimes judges subcultures without fully understanding them  and such is the case of the Otaku subculture in Latin America which is quickly emerging in Honduras.

The research will be done with school students, (they can even be out of school), universities, and malls; since those seem as the “hot spots” for those people to gather.

Objectives:

• Understand this subculture
• Get a broader opinon of what the public thinks about otaku

Reasons for our research:

While the ages, nationalities, and life experiences of the people who are considered, or consider themselves, otakus can be remarkably diverse, the one thing that they all have in common is a devotion to a particular object. While there are definite similarities in how fans, regardless of their interest, identify themselves, rationalize their devotion, and act out that devotion, research mapping the evolution of fandom from outsider to advocate and back again is scarce. It is this topic that we will explore. Specifically, I look at the culture of anime (Japaneseanimation) fans, or “otaku.” There are many reasons for choosing this culture grouping including anime’s rising popularity in recent years, the small amount of research done on this specific fan group, and relevance to Honduran youth trends’ history. The importance of this study lies in approaching a relevant topic of interest in a new way. While the literature of fandom analysis and theory is a long one, most of these look at fandom in a critical-first approach, rather than in a more grounded context. Also the building of an analysis apart from other critical theorists who explored fandom from afar rather than upclose. 

This study is likely to benefit these fandom critics, analysts, and theoreticians byapproaching knowledge about fan cultures from within the cultures themselves.

Companies who cater to the growing group of anime fans around the world can benefit from this study by understanding what it is that keeps anime fans purchasing their products, going to conventions, and even advocating for others to become interested.

Finally, parents of adolescents and young-adults, who likely are overwhelmed and confused by their child’s interest in something as foreign and, well, cartoonish, as anime can benefit from such a study by understanding from the very people impacted by anime. Specifically a view from inside at how anime fans see themselves in relation to the anime community.

Theoretical Framework

 “Otaku is the honorific word of Taku (home).

Otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life (no social life, no love life, etc). Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer). In the Western culture, people give otaku a more positive connotation, someone more like a "Guru". If you think about it, it's not really good to be called a guru if it means you are a total loser who can't socialize with other people except through the Internet.1 ”Here the term “guru” is used as a description of a hermit that doesn’t dedicate his/her life for praying and fasting but as someone who is uncapable of communicating with the world surrounding him/her unless it is through a machine.

• We can say that the otaku culture comes from the Akihabara District in Tokyo, Japan…

“When we say otaku culture today, though, the Akihabara district in Tokyo, Japan usually comes to mind. This is the center of otaku culture that includes manga, anime, along with "mild cafes". Here are a couple of the most recent developments that have taken place in this district which continues to spread the otaku culture out into the rest of the world.Akihabara was previously known to be dominated by wholesalers, but after World War II, the black market thrived, particularly those shops that handled electrical components. It was from these shops that Akihabara transformed into a hub for household and electronic appliances. It is now known as a place where individuals who have a passion for electronics can be found in mass, including computer geeks, radio operators and audiophiles, as they are certain to find whatever they’re looking for.However, recently, there have been a lot of other shops which have risen that cater to the needs of otaku. These shops would include those outlets which handle anime character merchandise and manga fan fiction. Aside from these, there are also maid cafes all over the district, where the waitresses are in maid costumes similar to the ones that are featured in manga. This further cemented the reputation of the Akihabara district for quirky pop culture.

 The district has subsequently been identified as the hub for otaku culture, a culture which has already spread from Tokyo to many other areas throughout the world.There are also numerous themed cafes which flourish in Akihabara. These are similar to the maid cafes, but allow and encourage visitors to enjoy kosupure or costume play just like the waitresses in maid costumes. The waitresses even address customers as "master". For an extra fee, customers could even have the maid/waitress sing them a song. There are other shops as well that allow role-playing like this which enable otaku to have the ability to imitate the manga and anime characters that they adore.

• How they emerged in Honduras:

Investigations made by “El Heraldo” newspaper states that this urban tribe emerged in the campus of UNAH and spread through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Otaku Hondurans had their first encounters with the anime or Japanese cartoons through the small screen series presenting as Astroboy, Mazinger Z, Sailor Moon and of course the remembered Dragon Ball Z series starring Goku; ALSO SERIES as Candy, Heidi, Sakura Card Captor… At the beginning of the new century, the followers of this cultural tendency access chapters of the new animated series through Internet pages and  YouTube series. Some of the new characters that are admired by the highschool and college students in Tegucigalpa(mainly) are usually young characters that live in contemporary times  having daily adventures, creatures of the night tormented by their past and others live in post apocalyptic worlds or universes unknown. Some of the most committed otaku practice "cosplay", which is short for costume play, a term popular culture refers to the representation of fictional characters using costumes that resemble the characteristic costume of the character. Others simply are fans of some video games, animated, or manga drawing, which are Japanese cartoons.

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