Anime fans 18+, do you hang out with other Otaku?

~jorelle

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:26:32 -0400

Im 18 and it's almost 1 1/2 year since i finished highschool and i still communicate with my friends about anime. we listen to the same anime music and even suggest other music as well. even if were in different countries, we use internet chat like yahoo messenger and such...

~hauu~

~lostcat2008

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:54:37 -0400

I usually don't rang round otaku do you social problems. i guess you could say i'm a little shy when it comes down to anime

~lostcat2008

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:52:02 -0400

I don't usually hang around otaku do to social problems

~aruku

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:26:36 -0400

-sigh, I am 23 and as soon as I turn on an Anime my friends throw me funny looks; I think an intervention is in the works (I guess the older you get the harder it is to justify your obsession with all things kawaii).I do have some friends even older than me who are just as, if not more, anime crazy; most of them were once members of my universities anime club.

~DTek

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:10:24 -0400

I'm 20 right now and I can't really say that I hang around with very many otaku, though I don't really hang around with a lot of people in the first place anyway. I would say that about half of my friends do watch and enjoy anime to some extent, though only about half of them watch it religiously. I would say that the greater majority of people I talk to about anime I only know through message boards or instant messenger.

~ecristy85

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:55:07 -0400

It's quite true that after high school meeting current or new friends (anime or not) is almost impossible. Especially after moving to LA from Argentina, I found myself very ronery, because either my classmates have all different schedules (so you can't even talk a bit while walking to the next course) or it's difficult to squeeze yourself in an already formed group of friends.

Now I either plan to meet them in animexpo or try to squeeze some time for lunch (which by the way is not the same than just chilling out like in high school). But it's a shame nobody can just stay over for some soda and anime watching for a couple of hours.

Also, like several people posted, even when you find a buddy who likes more or less anime your personalities or tastes can clash, so it's not enjoyable to interact with them.

I tried looking up some anime clubs around the area, but most are comprised by teens and below (who mostly watch Bleach and Naruto and I'm sick of that stuff).

~Sabakurou

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:20:35 -0400

I dont consider myself an otaku and deem it an embarassment to be called one. I do like my anime and have certainly amassed a fairly large collection over the years, but I usually socialise among other anime fans at conventions. I deem being called an otaku quite offensive seeing as otaku's in japan are pretty much social rejects who are looked down upon and its also deemed a health hazard over there as an otaku's behavior of shutting themselves away and lack of human contact is quite problematic.

Now to go back on subject, I do have friends round occasoinally to watch anime, its very rare that I do but it does happen sometimes. When I do though it usually comprises of a 1 or 2 episode sit down before doing something else. I quite often go on walks with friends, game with friends, have long conversations with friends, go out socialise with a group etc etc.

Depending on the friend I usually do different things though.

$fawnet

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:23:30 -0400

I have five friends who don't watch anime, and one who does. For what it's worth, the ones who don't watch it aren't *rejecting* it or anything, but they already have a full roster of TV shows to watch. They don't get time to watch what they have, let alone squeeze in something new. Now the sixth person you would think I could talk to, but there are difficulties there as well. He's been an anime fan for about fifteen years now, has watched or at least sampled anything he can get his hands on, and has heard enough about most titles to have a good idea of what they were about. I've only been watching anime for the last four years, so the problem there is that I don't know *enough* to talk to him. And it would be impossible for me to catch up to him--I have other things that I ought to be doing! The upshot is that I can talk about anime to real people, we're just on completely different footing most of the time.

~diabolikal

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:42:52 -0400

Well i'm 26 and i just "discovered" anime for myself. I saw the Cartoon Networks version of anime when I was younger and to be honest I wasn't interested. My interests were peaked with Voltron (if you call that anime i dont know?), but other than that I didn't watch any. Then a couple of my friends introduced me to their fav. anime which is Bleach and Naruto. I would have to agree with them in saying these shows are great. And these friends are locked into a network that enjoys anime, but I dont know that they just meet to talk about it, however they do meet up at parties and watch it, which i guess is the most fun part about anime. I don't know much about the anime "subculture" or vernacular, and i'm certainly no artist myself. all I know is that I've loved the artwork since I was young, and I have now found 2 shows that I truly enjoy, and I guess thats enough for me.

~ubadawan

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:53:35 -0400

Who is interesting in dating a Mexican Otaku and not ugly!
I Don't have donkey, I have a car!
I don't eat burrito I love Pastor
I don't use sombrero, Im not a Mariachi and I don't like mariachis.

In other words ignore the mexican Cliches, Im just like an european, except that I smile more and laugh more

~Lawlietpop

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:28:10 -0400

No. I do not know anyone who likes anime or manga. Sometimes I do wish that there was someone I could share my interests with. In high school there was an anime club at my school but I never really had the desire to join. The people who were in the anime club were strange(not in the good way) and most appeared to only like dubbed anime. Also I don't think of myself as an otaku however I probably am one.

~shireishou

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:15:24 -0400

Umh.. in my country most anime fans come from 20++ ages. in last con (J-vo 6 July 2008) the oldest cosplayer is 36years ^^ weeheheh

~bcraven

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:17:25 -0400

My friends were the first ones to get me into anime in the first place, but yeah I have been hanging out with other people who are otaku. In fact, we both borrow each others anime series. We have a lot in common and we hang out about once every week. When ever works does not get in the way. There is also my friends who first got me into anime in the first place. I don't hang out with them much anymore; however, I do hang out with them when I get a free moment form college and work. Not to mention paying the bills is still a hassle. Back on the topic besides those two people I really don't hang out with other people.

~mala-suerte1

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:55:39 -0400

I am 21 and for the most part even in Highschool teh otaku was a rare and elusive breed. And now in college, I usually keep it to myself and the friends I have aren't as into it as I am and at times think of me as perv for some of the anime I like (which at times is warranted but not all the time). I'm starting my senior year in a couple months and I finally met this couple who are pretty heavy otakus (their house is filled to the brim with anime, video games, and action figures - danm that place is awsome). It just sucks that I met them so late. Anyway, I came to animepaper for the wallpapers but I think that I migh just stay for the company.

$knyghtmare

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:50:47 -0400

I think part of the nature of being an otaku is what makes it hard for us to meet other otaku anywhere but the internet, there's also a big tendency that as we get older we move away and the like too, which is what is happening in my home town with our anime club. Most of our older members have left, going off to persue their careers, while new baby members pop up everywhere. It's hard to talk about older anime with a lot of the younger kids, you ask them about project A-ko or Akira and most haven't heard of or even seen them. -_-;
But I'll say one thing, thank god for the more social of nerds, or there'd never be clubs or cons and we'd never meet people at all!

~solidstate

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:57:43 -0400

Heh at least I'm not the only one here going on 25 :)

I did the college club thing that many have mentioned, and I'd say that's much more likely to be the time when you -can- get really into it (high school... its a little niche?). The club had some older alumni and faculty members, although I admit a lot of the student members considered them... kind of weird.

Outside of that, I still have a lot of friends who watch it, but I've lived off and on in Japan and my area of work is also Asian-related so there's likely a higher concentration of people with this kind of interest. I imagine it does probably get hard to find many people with the same interest if you're in more 'mainstream' circles, as you get older.