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In English, an otaku (plural usually otaku, though otakus is not unknown) is a variety of geek (or an overly obsessed fanboy / fangirl) specializing in anime and manga. The word is a loanword from the Japanese language, in which it is derived from an honorific term for another's house or family (お宅, otaku) that is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun. The modern slang form, which is distinguished from the older usage by being written only in hiragana (おたく) or katakana (オタク), appeared in the 1980s; it appears to have been coined by the humorist and essayist Akio Nakamori (中森明夫, Nakamori Akio) in the 1983 series "An investigation of otaku" (おたくの研究, otaku no kenkyū), who observed that this form of address was unusually common among nerds. It entered general use in Japan around 1989, and may have been popularised by Nakamori's publication in that year of "The age of M" (Ｍの時代, M no jidai), which applied the term to the (then) recently caught serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, who turned out to be a loner obsessed with pornographic anime and manga (which is often called hentai in North America). In modern Japanese slang, therefore, an otaku is an obsessive fan of any one particular theme, topic, or hobby. Perhaps the most common uses are anime otaku (who sometimes enjoys many days of excessive anime watching with no rest) and manga otaku (a fan of Japanese comic books). Japanese culture has many other varieties, such as pasokon otaku (personal computer geeks), gēmu otaku (playing video games), and otaku that are extreme fans of idols, heavily promoted singing girls. While these are the most common uses of otaku, the word can be applied to literally anything. Thus, one could have music otaku, martial arts otaku, cooking otaku, train otaku (metrophiles) et cetera. A subset of Otaku are the Akiba-kei (アキバ系), men who spend a lot of time in Akihabara in Tokyo and who are mainly obsessive about anime, idols and games. While in Japanese the term otaku has strong negative connotations, in English the connotation differs from person to person. Some fans consider the word to have a positive one, while others consider it to have a negative one. Wapanese and Japanophile are derogatory terms that are sometimes used. See also: anorak. Japanese loanwordsOtaku culture outside Japan often makes extensive use of Japanese loanwords. This can create an effect that is similar to Engrish, where the otaku will use Japanese phrases in conjunction with English. Such "reverse Engrish" can lead to the loanwords taking on different meanings from their original Japanese use (See hentai, bishonen, and above, otaku). Use of these loanwords are sometimes known as otakuisms. When used negatively, this term should include what is perceived to be an excessive use of Japanese wording when reasonable English equvalents exist. Because many otaku loanwords come from sources such as bishōjo with characters who employ "feminine" vocabulary (especially words usually reserved for very young girls/women), this has the effect of causing some fans to sound like young girls. Anime and manga are two words that were once solely otaku vocabulary, but have become common English. Before the term "anime" was adopted into English, Japanese animation was simply called cartoons or "Japanimation" (e.g. Speed Racer). This was later downplayed to reduce identification with all anime as children's fare or humorous, although much of anime in Japan is geared towards a young audience. Similarly, until recently comics were associated with young readers in America versus manga, which is popular with all literate ages. List of common otaku loan words
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