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"Fans (Persons) -- Japan"
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Otaku and the struggle for imagination in Japan
\"In this ethnographic study of Otaku-- a loose category referring to intense fans of Japanese animation, games, and comics-- conducted in Akihabara, the electronics-turned-pop-culture neighborhood of Tokyo, author Patrick Galbraith traces the evolving relationships of mostly male-fans with imagined female characters. The term otaku, he argues, is frequently pathologized, to mean alienated or introverted persons - usually male - who have difficulty having real relationships and thus retreat into a world of their own imagination and control. Galbraith wonders why the form of a relationship that focuses on an animated character is more problematic than other kinds of fan attachments - crushes on pop music stars or a deep investment in Star Wars or Harry Potter. Through his engaged ethnography at the height of the interest in maid cafâes and animated female characters in the early 2000s, he is able to historicize this fandom in an empathetic and detailed way, showing that what many have taken to be a single and peculiar psychological phenomenon was actually a complex, quickly evolving pop culture phenomenon. The affective relationships of the fans (seen as 3D) and the characters (2D, even when they are in three dimensions) is seen as a shifting and ordered form of closeness, a closeness between humans and animated characters. Galbraith urges us to explore rather than denigrate these relationships\"--Provided by publisher.
Book
Fandom Unbound
In recent years, otaku culture has emerged as one of Japan’s major cultural exports and as a genuinely transnational phenomenon. This timely volume investigates how this once marginalized popular culture has come to play a major role in Japan’s identity at home and abroad. In the American context, the word otaku is best translated as “geek”—an ardent fan with highly specialized knowledge and interests. But it is associated especially with fans of specific Japan-based cultural genres, including anime, manga, and video games. Most important of all, as this collection shows, is the way otaku culture represents a newly participatory fan culture in which fans not only organize around niche interests but produce and distribute their own media content. In this collection of essays, Japanese and American scholars offer richly detailed descriptions of how this once stigmatized Japanese youth culture created its own alternative markets and cultural products such as fan fiction, comics, costumes, and remixes, becoming a major international force that can challenge the dominance of commercial media. By exploring the rich variety of otaku culture from multiple perspectives, this groundbreaking collection provides fascinating insights into the present and future of cultural production and distribution in the digital age.
eBook
Fandom unbound : otaku culture in a connected world
\"In recent years, otaku culture has emerged as one of Japan's major cultural exports and as a genuinely transnational phenomenon. This timely volume investigates how this once marginalized popular culture has come to play a major role in Japan's identity at home and abroad. In the American context, the word otaku is best translated as 'geek'--an ardent fan with highly specialized knowledge and interests. But it is associated especially with fans of specific Japan-based cultural genres, including anime, manga, and video games. Most important of all, as this collection shows, is the way otaku culture represents a newly participatory fan culture in which fans not only organize around niche interests but produce and distribute their own media content. In this collection of essays, Japanese and American scholars offer richly detailed descriptions of how this once stigmatized Japanese youth culture created its own alternative markets and cultural products such as fan fiction, comics, costumes, and remixes, becoming a major international force that can challenge the dominance of commercial media. By exploring the rich variety of otaku culture from multiple perspectives, this groundbreaking collection provides fascinating insights into the present and future of cultural production and distribution in the digital age.\"--Book jacket.
Book
Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption
South Korean masculinities have enjoyed dramatically greater influence in recent years in many realms of pan-Asian popular culture, which travels freely in part because of its hybrid trans-nationalistic appeal. This book investigates transcultural consumption of three iconic figures — the middle-aged Japanese female fandom of actor Bae Yong-Joon, the Western online cult fandom of the thriller film Oldboy, and the Singaporean fandom of the pop-star Rain. Through these three specific but hybrid contexts, the author develops the concepts of soft masculinity, as well as global and postmodern variants of masculine cultural impacts. In the concluding chapter, the author also discusses recently emerging versatile masculinity within the transcultural pop production paradigm represented by K-pop idol boy bands.
eBook
