How Do You Become An Otaku?

It's long but please take the time to read it.........

Well first of I think liking anime is good enough. In my opinion I think being an otaku isn't something you want to become, it just happens (which can be both good as well as a bad thing). And what everyone says is true, in Japan an Otaku is often refereed to as people who are obsessed with a particular thing, which is usually frowned upon. However here in the west it is simply a term used to refer to people who enjoy anime and manga.

Otaku are stereotypically known too collect figures, be obsessed with anything from japan, spazz over pockey, listen to J-pop and use the word "kawaii" without end. Though Otaku do tend to have traits like that it is usually kept to a minimum. In fact those traits are more common to.......*shudder* weaboos. So if you really want to be an Otaku please try not to cross the border between sensible and Bat sh*t obsessed (keep in mind that even Otaku will find weaboos extremely annoying)

I don't like how people here are mixing up the (western definition) term of Otaku with weaboo (or Japanophile) but yeah like I said don't become obsessed....

Lol believe me you don't want to be labeled as an Otaku. Otaku is actually negative however in other countries like America we only think it's good because we love Japan for the anime/manga/games and think we'd be closer to Japan I guess you could say.

Otaku are frowned upon in Japan, many of the residents of Japan are sickened of them. They don't just adore watching anime they literally live it, breath it everyday. What one guy said is partially true you don't give up your friends and such but Otaku literally watch so much anime, read so much manga and play games their social life is reduced more and more.

Personally I think it's just best to stay who you are then an Otaku. I sort of have experience as for a month of my vacation all I did was eat, sleep, watch anime and read manga.. It only took me about 9 days to watch ALL 511 episodes of One Piece. I watched it 14-15 hours a day and just burnt through an anime that's been ongoing for 11 years now in 9 days.. Basically I realized what was going on and stopped watching so much at a time. Now I happily watch about 2-3 episodes of a show a day still keep up with all my anime/manga and going to college with my social skills in tact ^_^

Moral of the story don't become an otaku, just enjoy what you are given and don't try to become something that's not worth it.

Why do people think that its ok to be an Otaku. Japanese people don't want to be an Otaku. Being called an Otaku is like being called a Pedophile. No one wants one in their family. Want to be an Otaku? Ok then live with your parents. Never get a job. Get an Obsession with something, masturbate often and never ever ever, get a boyfriend or girlfriend. Don't go outside, and make sure that the only relationships that you have are completely 2D.

I'm not sure if I would like to be labeled as an otaku....i'm pretty sure that in Japan, "otaku" has a negative meaning to it.

But, if you wanna be an otaku, I'm pretty sure that you have to make anime your world. watch it ALL the time, draw it, collect the figures, buy all the games (English or Japanese), become knowledgeable about every anime every created, and just buy anything with an anime character on it.

princess ninja's example is too extreme. but her first example is correct. an otaku in japan is frowned upon usually. only otaku's LIKE being called otaku.s

on another note, an otaku is basically just an anime lover. u just have to watch it a lot and over time u will start calling urself an otaku more or less. forums are a great place. and while there isn't a centralized forum for otaku's the most relevant one is mangafox :P it's the biggest manga site on the web and has a very active forum which is mainly jsut for manga.

I wouldn't reccommend becoming an otaku... If you look here:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=otaku&tbs=dfn:1&tbo...

It tells you its someone who is really obsessive (anime/manga being one of them), but has a negative connotation in Japan. Just like anime/manga how you normally do and don't worry about a label.

If you just HAVE to be obsessive, then do what the person above me said: watch everything you can, read all the manga you can, learn the language probably, collect figurines, etc.

Cosplaying

Roleplaying

Obsess over really hot anime guys (Tamaki just came in my mind XD)

Eating a lot of ramen or at least going through a phase where you eat a lot of ramen (I used to it every day!)

Drawing anime

Reading manga

Watching A LOT of anime

Spending most of your day watching anime

Watch other people cosplay

You feel the urge to cosplay in public places (stores, malls, church, etc.).

You really want to learn Japanese

You watch most/all of your anime in Japanese

You want to draw/write your own manga

You make your own manga/anime characters.

You wish you were in an anime/manga.

You remember the little things characters say.

You listen to J-pop/J-rock a lot.

You end up getting colored hair because of a vocaloid or character (*coughs* my hair *coughs*)

Take some WWYFF's!:D

You become just as sarcastic as some characters do.

You feel as if the characters know you OR you know them.

You want to share your love for anime/manga wherever you go!

You want to know more about the Japanese culture.

You want to be called by a Japanese name (eg: Mine is Suki which means "love" in Japanese)

I didn't put how to become one but I just put ONLY A FEW symptoms. All it did was for me to watch a few episodes of Ouran High School Host Club and Big Windup and then BOOM! I was obsessed. Being an otaku just comes naturally.

If you feel as if you're not "up to par" with them, you can try expanding your anime list or watching more animes. Also, READ MANGA! It's amazing! Here are some things to get you in the mood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI

http://www.mangareader.net/186/chobits.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVRJQQlvx1k&feature...

http://souleaterepisodes.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N-Ruo8Dtpw

http://quizilla.teennick.com/quizzes/18538448/this...

Have fun!:DDD

im not sure if im one either but ever since i was little i started watching anime like pokemone,sailormoon,cardcaptors, and building up from that

Stop going out, spend all your time in your house watching anime, reading manga, gaming etc.

Only even go out of your house to buy food, spend at least 65% of your day engaging in gaming/anime watching/manga reading, lose most of your contact with the outside world so on.

There was this one Otaku who went around killing little girls and banging their corpses.

Don't do that, for one.