uh huh.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way representing all anime fans, or generalizing each and every single one of them. I am merely stating my own opinion, therefore there are no complete facts here.

You know, I actually think it's kinda sad that you can easily spot an 'otaku' in a crowd. Yes, an 'otaku'--the term Americans use for hardcore anime fans, but a term the Japanese use for the socially inept. A lot of those 'otaku' don't even know what it all means, but obviously none of them ever cared to find out, because the American market obviously knows what they're doing, right?

The Japanese have always had this term in their vocabulary, but it's applied towards anime fans because Japanese otaku are exactly what the definition says they are: socially inept, weird, and obsessed. Now don't fully quote me on this as I have not done extensive research on it. I do know that we can all identify the clearly avid manga readers and pocky consumers by a long shot for the following reasons:

1. Their dress - Have you noticed that a lot of them lack fashion sense? If anything, it has a lot to do with the fact that Hot Topic sells clothing with anime logos on them. Because Hot Topic is a major distributor in anime goods, I suppose it gives the anime consumer convenience to buy their clothing there as well. And also because many of them are already comfortable with the way they look, which is perfectly fine. Go ahead and wear your ridiculously loose jeans and your beanie/cat ears/cat-eared beanie, but don't say the fashion police didn't warn you.

2. Their demeanor - Everyone knows that when in company of anime fans, make sure to bring some ear plugs. We all know a good lot of them are incredibly loud, and rather eccentric, but only when they are talking about anime. For whatever reason, the remainder of the time they are not with their anime-posse, they are so quiet that it makes them look anti-social, creepy, or just flat-out shy. Come to think of it, a lot of them are very shy, but for whatever reason when seen at anime conventions or just with groups of people that are just like them, it's as if they were never their previous, shy self. It's not all that understandable if you feel, 'no one understands you', because that is just an excuse meaning that you have nothing better to talk about with people other than the latest anime fix.

3. Messenger bags - They all have one! Why?! Why is it that they all have the Naruto or Full Metal Alchemist Messenger bags?! Let's not forget how the messenger bag is immersed with pins, keychains, or stuffed with enough anime plushies that make up the entire cast of anime characters from whatever series.

4. Language - Because anime is from Japan, we know to expect some Japanese language to be adapted into American otaku culture. I've most prominently seen people call each other by their names and then add the "-chan" suffix to it. Now anyone taking Japanese language courses, or is from Japan and is fully aware of the language structure, would know that is seriously the silliest thing a person would do. Why? because even though they may be using it on their friends, they aren't pronouncing it right! The "-chan" is not the same pronounciation as how Americans say Jackie Chan, it's not, okay? Other things I noticed people like to say depend on the fandom: with Fruits Basket, "baka neko" is an avidly used term. If it's Naruto, "dattebayo" or whatever, and lastly with Fushigi Yuugi, adding "no da" at the end of each of their sentences seems to be what people enjoy doing. [Ironically enough, in the jrock fandom, "-sama" and "kawaii" are the most popular terms in usage]. I suppose learning a thing or two from a different language just by watching something with English subtitles really gives them a better reason to use it in everyday English.

Okay, so those were just the main things that I wanted to list out. I feel like I've basically brushed up on everything though. All of this does not only apply to the anime fandom though! Before Japanese brands came into question in the jrock scene, a lot of them looked like otaku....because some of them used to be otaku. I think in general j-fandoms are special in their own ways; we have different types of people that can be generalized in certain social groups.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not here to bash any anime fanatics out there, seeing as I continue to have some interest in it 10 years later. I'll probably dissect other fandoms in the future as well, but I think I want to continue on this one in the near future.