I'm a hardcore Otaku but I never got bullied because of it. And in one manga/anime I saw Otaku's being hated/disgusted in Japan, is it really true?

I asked one of my classmates why I'm not hated of it, she told me that I have the aura of cuteness (LOL) and the type that you cannot hate.

But seriously, why would they even bully a person who just loves something? Sheesh.

But in my school, Korean fans are often being bashed, good thing I ain't one. :/

I am so grateful that I go to the school I do.
At my school either everyone reads manga or is ignorant to what it is or doesn't care.
When I meet new friends now and they "catch" me reading manga, they first ask what I'm

I read a lot of manga. I'm not open about it but it's not like I'm trying to hide it either. I'm (pretty) sure all of my friends read manga but it's not the topic of our conversation when we hang out. Every once in a while when it does come up, we'll be open about it and not be afraid to talk about it, like the news about the Bleach TV show.

I guess if you're hardcore manga fan then you are bound to have a couple people pick on your based on stereotypes but don't let it get you down. Let them pick on you. Don't let it bother you and they'll move on. It's easier said than done but just think about the context of what they're talking about, like the 2D boyfriend thing. Think about the people who actually do that and laugh along with them.

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Click the Pokemon.

I recieved more bullying at my Junior High School than I ever have in high school. Since everyone was in a lot more contact with each other then (there were only seventy students in the grade), we all knew people's interests and what they talked about. I didn't really care that anyone was making fun of me for it, I had my friends who were (and are still) interested in anime/manga so I was happy.

When I attended a normal high school, I just think nobody cared what I read. Who had the time to check out what I was reading when they had better things to do? Sure, some kids didn't like it and sometimes voiced their distaste toward my particular reading choices, but never to the extent where it turned into bullying. Again, I had friends who were interested in the same things I was, so I was happy.

Now, on a college campus, you can pretty much read anything and nobody will care. Even the people who happen to sit next to you at a table don't care much about it. I've had two instances where someone was talking to me and said they hated manga/anime. The first was a girl who told me that she hated Death Note, which was pretty understandable since at her middle school a girl had written her name in a fake Death Note the other had brought to school. The second instance was when a guy said he didn't like manga because it always tried to be really cute (although he did like Vamprie Hunter D). Other than that, out of sight, out of mind.

They probably like and know anime/manga as much as the op, but I think its because the op called herself an "otaku".

Im a speed reader so i can read about 200 chapter of manga in about an hr or less. My passion 4 manga will never lessen. You should b proud of ur hobby, dont let those bullies get 2 u. Dont be sad b glad

I'd never personally state that I'm an "otaku" but if they asked what society I go to I'd tell them that I go to an Anime and Manga society, of course I'm in University and people are way more understanding here so its not going to be like "ZOMG you like 2D girls." Actually non of them know about anime and manga, when they went to my room there were endless jokes on how the characters in the manga I collected looked like school girls (Azumanga Diaoh and Yotsubato). I don't mind that its perfectly normal to tease your friends I do it all the time about two of them who are constantly arguing about who is better at football.

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Do not feed the trolls

its not true that here in my place,,tokyo japan,,is being bullied because of being an otaku..
in my recent attending school,,when they saw me reading manga,they actually borrow it..
and they seems got to be influence by me ..

my classmates were really kind hearted to me that they praise me having
ahobby of reading ,,because they thought that reading can increase the knowledge
of the person who likes to read..thats what they said to me,,even my homeroom teacher said so..

but i not sure that some places of japan has the same situation as i had..
but here in tokyo ,,my parents buy me what i wanted as long as i have high grades in school..

my classmates is teasing someone who had the same hairstyle as the korean people,,
im feel lucky that my hairstyle is original..hehehhee

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wew,,, ^^

Yo!, I found this topic intresseting and just had to reply.
It's true that you can BE bullied because of being "otaku, anime fanatic, manga fanatic, computer fanatic, nerd fanatic, game fanatic etc etc etc"
Luckily for me that I had friends who were nerds like I was. well not exactly as I am but my bestfriend was into computers as I was. Thou I started with anime when I was 15 or 16. but none that I know have bullied me or something like that sometimes I got teased but not in a bad way that is. (With my personality I found out that I made my friends watch some anime or so) but I got alot of irl friends who watch hentai (Yes Hentai) but didnt like anime but most of my friends are Gamers. (Thou we were once called nerd's in our life.) untill the word "gamer" came (during CS boom) noone openning admited such things (Besides me ofc. I was very open) but if you really are getting bullied it is due to the shock they don't understand what it is and they think Anime is cartoons (I had to explain alot of times that anime isn't anything like normal kids cartoons)

If you don't want to be bullied either change class (usually teachers allows this if the bulling is getting worse, just get your teacher to do this, if you do this try and find some fellow manga/anime fans and ask to be transfered to that class where they are at) also note NEVER EVER call yourself a Otaku even if you are. You will just create missunderstandings. as Otaku is very borderline word and its taken as bad or negatively even by Anime/Manga fans that doesn't read often (I mean by people who just read naruto & bleach since those are millions)
if you want to call yourself something be it either Manga Fan or Anime Fan and tell your friends if they ever want to read/watch something funny you can give tips.

If the school doesnt allow any class transfer incase of bullying that school is bad then I recomend changing the school completely. even if its a extra 30minutes travel time I recomend changing. (1hour travel time isnt alot if the school your going to is a good school) note that I know some schools requires tuition and such but you will still be better off talking with your parents that you want to change school or class because parents power towards a school is HUGE! higher than the teachers (Except for principals and head teachers but you can still overcome it if you parents contact the education board)

the third option is that you just ignore the people who are bullying you and it usually helps. as I was bullied when I was younger and didnt ignore them and fought them it got worse but I got so strong they stopped bullying me (That is for being male and fighting alot. and I wasnt a deliquent if people was thinking this, but I would have been a deliquent if this wasnt in sweden)

Note THIS IS ONLY if the 3 options above dont help at all)
the fourth option is well, what should I say. contact the students parents yourself incase noone wants to help and tell the entire story some parents may helpful but 90% of the parents of the other students arent gonna be willing to help. if this doesnt help just contact the Education board yourself or the police. The Police will step in if the bullying is tooooo harsh that even the teachers will ignore you.

So what's wrong by being an otaku? It's the same as when you like motor bikes or when you like to read magazine or what so ever.
Honestly, your friends are all childish. It's not happen in my school though, I wonder if that's because of different culture?
I don't think that otaku would be bullied, seems like "weak people" who will be bullied, that's my opinion.

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This World May Not What Everyone Thought

Hmm... I talk about manga to my friends about as openly as I talk about any literature that I read; to me, there's not much difference. Sure, my friends lightheartedly tease me about it, but when it all boils down, they couldn't care less. True friends shouldn't be bothered by it, either. If it's something that you really love, they should appreciate that and accept it as a part of you.

I don't try to hide that I read manga at school, either (I'm in high school, for the record). The kids I go to school with are too concerned about themselves to care about what I do. As long as you don't act like it's a big deal or anything to be ashamed of (which it isn't), no one will care. After all, pretty much everyone else is too concerned about seeming like a dork or having zits or whatever themselves to care about you. Really. *nods*

Edit; and yes, I have to agree with what zebaod said. "Weak people" get bullied, not people who are interested in manga. That's the point I was trying to get across, but I couldn't quite articulate. It's not necessarily what you do that will get you bullied, but it's how you act. Just have confidence and make sure you get real friends, and no one will care if you read manga.

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"Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's."

it's fine being otaku, just make sure you don't marry a pillow.

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Gay book discussion thread

I never really told anyone that I was an otaku when I was in school, so no one really bullied me about it, I bet if they knew they probably would have.
The only people I talk to about manga/anime are my friends who also like it. Plus I'm pretty sure no one would pick a fight with me or bully me about it since they don't wanna piss me off and probably because they don't really know what it is XD.


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claire here having some manga loving fun!
whatever that means....

Getting bullied for being an otaku is not really surprising. I mean otaku is pretty much the same thing as being a geek.

I started getting into otaku hobbies around middle school. I used to hide it when I was around that age because I was embarrassed, but in high school, I didn't care anymore. I started to have more like "Yeah, I'm an otaku, so what? If you have a problem go fuck yourself" type of mindset. I don't know, but if someone made fun of me because I was an otaku, I would probably kick their ass lol. And people around me probably knew I would really do something like that, so nobody ever bullied me which is pretty surprising considering how I wasn't really tall or tough looking.

But then again, no one expects me to be an otaku from my outside appearance. Everyone is always surprised when I tell them about my otaku hobbies. Whatever.

Just be who you are. Shouldn't be embarrassed of what you like. If you're friends can't truly accept you for who you are, well it's time to go out and meet new people.

Last edited by Jun Tenkawa at 11:11 am, Mar 28 2010