Otaku Helping Others Pt. 10: Are You An Otaku?

Here we are... At the 10th installment of Otaku Helping Others and nearly 2 years after the first installment of OHO. We're at Shabody Archipelago, ready to travel to the New World. We're powered up to the max and there won't be any more time-skips, maybe.

The 10th installment of Otaku Helping Others is about being an Otaku and the medium in which otaku live, anime and manga (and other Japanese media outlets such as jpop or video games).

Anime and manga have the ability to draw people in to them. Think about anime trends like Pokemon, Akira, or Miyazaki movies. Those three have such wide fan bases that it seems like everyone has seen them or heard about them. You don't have to be an otaku to know those anime. In fact, the Deputy Prime Ministor who was once the Prime Minister of Japan, Taro Aso, was an avid manga fan while he was in college. He also reads manga from time to time, as multiple sources suggest. You'd think that most Japanese celebrities would love anime since it's one of Japan's cultural staples. However, once you're a celebrity you have to be conscious of whether coming out and saying you love anime will be good for your career and for anime. To Taro Aso, admitting that he was an avid manga fan was like Barack Obama coming out with his love for things like beer and basketball. That means Taro Aso didn't mind saying that he was an avid fan.

Other celebrities have came out in the open about their interests in anime. Soulja Boy notably for saying that he looked just like Goku and also for liking Death Note. Soulja Boy also has been video'd playing indie games on his Xbox, as in the documentary Indie Game. It's speculated that Gwen Stefani and Zach Efron both like anime from sources like interviews. There are many people out there who do like anime but might not talk about it. I once knew a man who was an original gangsta and also a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh. The point here is that anime does draw people into them.

Let's get to the point. What makes someone say that they are an otaku though? The people mentioned above would probably never admit or come out and say they're an otaku. Being an otaku means that you're obsessed with anime and manga and Japanese media. In America or Japan, it's the same thing as being a comic book nerd. We all know what comic book nerds are like also. They're usually unattractive and never get a date. What would make anyone say they are an otaku?

For us at the Otaku Reviewers we knew we were otaku at a young age. Especially Chansu and Deretsun who embraced being an otaku in high school. Growing up as an otaku or comic book nerd is OK I guess. However, can one be an otaku forever? There's no short answer to this question.

Back to the main question, what makes one an otaku? The short answer is the list below. The more you match the more you are an otaku. If you match all eleven, then the answer is you are an otaku. This list is all or none. Or one for all. The point is... If you match even one, then you may possibly be an otaku. 

Are You an Otaku Quiz!

• 1. You have an anime list on Myanimelist.com
• 2. Your anime list has over 50 anime watched or over 50 days spent watching anime.
• 3. You've been to more than one anime convention. 
• 4. You've been to Japan.
• 5. You own more than 3 video game systems and at least one game that hasn't been translated into English.
• 6. You watch most of your anime in English subs.
• 7. You write fanfiction, write anime/manga, create video games, dojinshi, or draw anime characters.
• 8. You either know who the creator of Astro Boy is or you have watched a movie by Satoshi Kon.
• 9. You own an anime figure.
• 10. You have at least ten manga somewhere.
• 11. You've cosplayed or dressed up as an anime character.

Back to the article. What would make one say they are an otaku? They're usually unattractive and never get a date.... Well the answer to that is: If you've done even one of the things above you know that being an otaku is fun! It probably doesn't matter what other people say about you because you already know that anime and manga is fun. It's not about other people, it's about about being happy. And I'm not really sure about the unattractive part because Ne-yo created his own comic book and in the process of promoting it at the now defunct "New York Anime Festival" (Comic Con) he's crossed more than one thing off that list. But I'm sure that it's fun and it's time consuming. I'm a proud otaku!

Are you an otaku?

Why Japanese Psychologists are Smarter!

(Note: This post is about educational topics and Japan)

In America, psychology is straightforward and to the point: People would rather treat the disease than the person. This makes people wary about the American psychology treatment system.

Japanese psychologist, Naoto Kawabata, is working on the front lines of the Fukushima disaster, helping people adjust to the circumstances of the disaster. He's risking his life to help people that need it the most. Many people consider him a hero.

He's both a psychologist and a psychoanalyst which is interesting because he uses the Freudian theory! I've never heard of a Japanese psychologist using Freudian theory before. And, surprisingly, he is able to use it skillfully to help trauma victims.

His theory is called a "systemic-psychodynamic" model of trauma disaster aid. Instead of only treating people for the trauma of the disaster, he sought to treat past traumas as well, convinced that any weak areas in their psyche would could cause breakdowns in the future. For example, if you had family troubles before the disaster and later had a breakdown from the disaster, there's a good chance that those family issues were the root of the problem, and not the disaster itself.

There's a lot to learn from his method of helping... Instead of just fixing the short term problems, people can instead choose to delve in deeper to find the root of the problem and solve the long term problems that may arise. This way people are treated like humans instead of like insignificant patients with immediate circumstances.

Naoto Kawabata, thank you for making a difference in the world and "helping others" in their time of need!

Otaku Helping Others! Part Six

Today's Otaku Helping Others Post is called:

Shounen Challenges: A Metaphor for the Odds

What can shounen anime teach us? You might say.

It can teach us alot of things but one thing in particular is that we can overcome the odds.

Naruto as a kid, during his ninja qualifying exams.

Yesh the characters in shounen anime have to overcome odds... But it's even more than that. The challenges in shounen anime are a metaphor for the odds we face in true to real life.

Successful people of any culture overcome odds with the same prowess, skill, effort, and raw determination that the main characters in shounen anime show in their adventures.

Being an otaku who loves to watch shounen anime, I've compiled a summarized list of qualities and events that we can and do apply in our lives to overcome the odds.

1. Training

Training can take many forms. In shounen anime it's usually a long arduous and practically impossible feat of practicing.
Example:

Master Roshi trained Goku and Krillin by having them move boulders the size of houses, trek hundreds of miles, plow fields with their hands, and find things in a forest below a cliff (which they had to climb or jump down).







In our lives we train by studying for hours on end, or lifting weights until we can't lift anymore, or making daily commutes to work, or keeping a simple routine. Though not as arduous, being able to TRAIN can make the difference between SUCCESS and FAILURE.

2. Doing an impossible feat to change a bleak situation.

Somewhere along the line our shounen heroes have to do something that is physically impossible to change a bleak situation.

Luffy climbed a very jagged vertical mountain to get his crewmate, Nami, to a doctor or she would have died. There were times when he almost fell but he kept going on the thought that they were his friends and crewmates. He was also carrying Sanji, I think. ...Carrying two people up a very jagged mountain face.





We might not carry our friends and family up jagged mountains but sometimes the challenges we face for them and to change bleak situations can be percieved to be just as hard as Luffy's.

3. Defeating enemies who are much stronger

In this picture Naruto is shown beating one of the six living corpses of Akatsuki leader, Pain. Read that sentence back to me and tell me that doesn't exemplify defeating an enemy who is much stronger. It's with this win that Naruto finally won the favor of his entire village, who used to treat him as an outcast.

You don't have to beat one of the six bodies of Pain to defeat a strong enemy. If you so much as go out, to something like work or school you are bound to encounter someone who doesn't like you or will treat you without kindness. It's knowing how to keep our head held high, (not always fighting) that can defeat these strong enemies!
And there you have it, three aspects of shounen anime, outlined to show you that YOU can overcome the odds!
And this is RPGHero, with the first Otaku Helping Others Post of 2011.

Otaku Helping Others! Part One!

Hey guys! Halloween is now over so I'm here to start damage control. If you've been reading my comrades posts then you know the yandere personality is scary O.O

But I'm really here to talk about Helping Others! In my new weekly post!

Exactly! I'm here to fly in the face of criticism with more positivity!

POSITIVITY!

Tomoya and Nagisa??

For my first Helping Others article I'm going to discuss a Japanese meme. Well they might not even be aware of it because it's deeply embedded in every facet of their culture.

I'll be listening to a Jpop song or watching an anime and I can't begin to count the number of times I'll hear "Kimi no Tameni". The amount of times I hear that phrase in Japanese programming by far outweighs how many times I hear it's english counterpart, "For your sake" or "I'll help you" in American programming.

It's such a general phrase I can't really include the hundreds of anime or songs that have included it in their dialogue.

Then I started to think. If we all started to think more like that then the world would at least be alittle bit of a better place. We're all trying to figure out how "I'm" going to get by, how "I'm" gonna pay the bills, how "I'm" gonna score with the next person, how "I'm" gonna go to the doctor, how "I'm" gonna beat this next RPG (that one is uniquely RPGHero). Instead of thinking about "number one", our own selfish self we could stand to think about the people around us. Whether they be our family, friends, or just strangers we meet on the road. If we thought about their sake we would be able to do so much more and live for so much more, even if it's just to help them find change for the bus or let them get ahead in line to get their train on time.

So when you start to do whatever it is that gives you purpose and freedom, think about why you're doing it and think about all the people in your life you can say "Kimi no tameni" or "For your sake"!

The ending theme of xxxHolic, a clip from AZU's song "Cherish". The last part is: "If your heart is hurt and the tears won't stop falling, I'll sing for your sake, again and again".

This is RPGHero signing out!