I soon realized that I couldn’t possibly become an expert in every single anime or manga or science fiction show or fantasy movie or comic book. Also, there were some works that I absolutely detested despite my friends’ efforts in getting me to like them (Fushigi Yuugi, anyone?).

What I didn’t realize was, as far as being Otaku is concerned, this is all beside the point.

Understand this: I’m never going to claim to be the Voice of All Otaku. I have weird tastes by ‘typical otaku’ standards, if such a thing exists. I like Deep Space Nine better than Voyager. I haven’t seen any Bleach or Naruto. I caught Firefly a few years after it was canceled. I’ve only seen one episode of Heroes. I haven’t seen the new Dr. Who. I haven’t been keeping track of Star Wars Clone Wars. I haven’t read the last Harry Potter book. I haven’t played D&D 4th Ed. seriously. I only watched Lucky Star late last year. And my tolerance for tedium is too low for me to enjoy your typical MMORPG grind long enough to be competitive at it. Sorry, I tried, I really did.

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Most English-speaking fans use the word otaku exclusively as a label for fans of Japanese animation or comics. It’s a reasonable conclusion. It’s a Japanese word after all. But that’s not how the Japanese themselves use the word otaku.

Originally a way of referring to another’s family or house, or a really polite way of saying ‘you’ (think ‘thou’), otaku is used by the Japanese to refer to someone who is so into his or her chosen hobby or field of interest that he or she neglects things most other people would consider simple common sense.

Sometimes the normal people are right on the money (have you ever smelled the air at a Magic tourney or Level Up! event? We really could use some more attention to our hygiene, guys, seriously!) and sometimes not so much — consider the strange fact that a person who will listen exclusively to techno or polka or Gregorian chant might consider someone who listens to video game music or anime soundtracks or Korean pop ‘weird’. Taste is truly subjective.

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I would have to say that the radical downturn in my academic career beginning in college coincided neatly with the rise of three influences in my life: access to anime, access to Magic: the Gathering and RPGs, and access to the Internet.

All of these things would be supplemented by a community of geeks known simply as The Hill. The Hill alumni are many. You might actually know someone who was part of the Hill. We were, for all intents and purposes, a catch-all otaku group just like in Otaku no Video or Genshiken. Some specialized in anime, some in CCGs, some in RPGs, some in comic books, science fiction, tarot card reading, and so on.

We contributed to each other’s academic demise. Going to class man? Nah, just stay for ten more minutes and have one more duel. If you come with us we’re going to So-and-So’s place to watch the new Ranma OVA. Hey, study later, read this Oh! My Goddess fanfic I wrote and tell me if it’s good enough to submit to the FFML or if it needs work. Captain, I detect no intelligent life on this planet. So roll the dice already. You’re already late for class anyway.

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It began early in my life. I just didn’t know what its name was yet. I’m bad with names, you see.

I was a toddler raised by Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny and Tom and that bastard Jerry. Well no, back then it was Jerry and that bastard Tom, but I digress. I loved cartoons. Bright colors, crazy sounds, a blatant disregard for the laws of Newtonian physics.

Anyone else feel sorry for Wile E. Coyote?

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