The Characteristics of an Otaku and a Fujoshi in Kiss Him, Not Me
In Japan, there are many people who would consider themselves avid fans of anime and manga. The term used for such people in Japanese is otaku. Amongst fan culture, another term used is fujoshi which translates into “rotten girl” (Tanka and Ishida 77) and is used to describe females who are interested in yaoi, also known as Boys’ Love (BL) which revolves around male on male relationships in a romantic or erotic form. In this paper, the anime series Kiss Him, Not Me (also known as Watashi ga Motete Dōsunda in Japanese) will be used to explore two features which characterize an otaku and a fujoshi. These two features are secrecy and devotion. They will be used to demonstrate …show more content…
As an otaku, Kae’s devotion to Shion is first shown when she shuts herself in her room when Shion dies in the anime. During the entire week, she does not eat or respond to her text messages from Amane. An extreme example of her devotion to Shion is shown in the second episode when Kae shows the boys the alter she has created for Shion. At first, the boys are shocked and somewhat distributed but the boys later decide to offer their condolences. In the fourth episode, the four boys decide to join Kae in attending Comiket. Comiket is a comic market that is held twice a year in Tokyo, where non-professional sell self-published works called dōjinshi. This is the first time the boys are attending Comiket and the anime gives a realistic depiction of the environment and the atmosphere of what Comiket is like. For example, a massive influx of people are shown on the train and on the platoform three hours prior to opening. Kae’s devotion as a fujoshi is shown by attending Comiket twice a year to buy as many of the new issues of BL as she can. Many of the artists who sell their BL work are fujoshi themselves. Tanaka and Ishida state that “[f]ujoshi as amateur artists feel positively challenged in producing their own works.” (Tanaka and Ishida 82). This leads to the discussion of a concept developed by Csikszentmihalyi called “flow” in which a person is fully absorbed into an activity and enjoys doing this activity for fun (Tanaka and Ishida 80). Tanaka and Ishida mention that the informants discuss how they feel a sense of accomplishment with their work, but they recognize the importance retaining their original motivation and not becoming fixated on external factors such as money. When external factors come into play, the activity is no longer done for leisure and the flow disappears. One informant mentions that when you are forced to produce, it becomes a job and not a leisurely activity (Tanaka and Ishida 82). The
In Japan, there are many people who would consider themselves avid fans of anime and manga. The term used for such people in Japanese is otaku. Amongst fan culture, another term used is fujoshi which translates into “rotten girl” (Tanka and Ishida 77) and is used to describe females who are interested in yaoi, also known as Boys’ Love (BL) which revolves around male on male relationships in a romantic or erotic form. In this paper, the anime series Kiss Him, Not Me (also known as Watashi ga Motete Dōsunda in Japanese) will be used to explore two features which characterize an otaku and a fujoshi. These two features are secrecy and devotion. They will be used to demonstrate …show more content…
As an otaku, Kae’s devotion to Shion is first shown when she shuts herself in her room when Shion dies in the anime. During the entire week, she does not eat or respond to her text messages from Amane. An extreme example of her devotion to Shion is shown in the second episode when Kae shows the boys the alter she has created for Shion. At first, the boys are shocked and somewhat distributed but the boys later decide to offer their condolences. In the fourth episode, the four boys decide to join Kae in attending Comiket. Comiket is a comic market that is held twice a year in Tokyo, where non-professional sell self-published works called dōjinshi. This is the first time the boys are attending Comiket and the anime gives a realistic depiction of the environment and the atmosphere of what Comiket is like. For example, a massive influx of people are shown on the train and on the platoform three hours prior to opening. Kae’s devotion as a fujoshi is shown by attending Comiket twice a year to buy as many of the new issues of BL as she can. Many of the artists who sell their BL work are fujoshi themselves. Tanaka and Ishida state that “[f]ujoshi as amateur artists feel positively challenged in producing their own works.” (Tanaka and Ishida 82). This leads to the discussion of a concept developed by Csikszentmihalyi called “flow” in which a person is fully absorbed into an activity and enjoys doing this activity for fun (Tanaka and Ishida 80). Tanaka and Ishida mention that the informants discuss how they feel a sense of accomplishment with their work, but they recognize the importance retaining their original motivation and not becoming fixated on external factors such as money. When external factors come into play, the activity is no longer done for leisure and the flow disappears. One informant mentions that when you are forced to produce, it becomes a job and not a leisurely activity (Tanaka and Ishida 82). The