Otaku is the honorific word of Taku (home) in Japanese. The word otaku is extremely negative in meaning as it is used to refer to someone who stays at home all the time and doesn't have a life (no social life, no love life, etc). Usually an otaku person has nothing better to do with their life so they pass the time by watching anime, playing videogames, surfing the internet (otaku is also used to refer to a nerd/hacker/programmer). The word took on sinister overtones when Miyazaki Tsutomu went on a toddler murdering spree in the 80's, video taping the young girls he had murdered from an obsession with lolicon.
In the Western culture, people confuse otaku to be something positive like "Guru". If you think about it, it's not really good to be called a guru if it means you are a total loser who can't socialize with other people except through the Internet. Other Japanese words which have been confused by Westerners also include but not limited to: Anime, Manga, Ramen, Sushi etc
otaku no jinsei ha yabai na! (it sucks to live the life of an otaku!)
Now then...
I have been reading the series Neon Genesis Evangelion now for about 8 years, and all due to the fact that Sadamoto has taken so long to write it despite the entire anime being complete with two films at 2000.
One thing I have noticed is how divergent the anime is from the manga. Shinji displays a passive helplessness in the anime which shows him as relatively weak, but in the manga he is quite a bit more active but still incredibly negative.
Most noticable is Kaworu. Although he only appears for 13 mins of screen time in the anime, he almost appears as a confused person. In the manga, Shinji actually objects to him invading his personal space. Also, the manga is again quite a bit darker. Kaworu displays no consideration for anything in the manga and this is no more obvious than his first meeting with Shinji when he kills a kitten (though this is justified by it being "kinder" than letting it go to starve.
Book 10 is still quite a long way off. We are now at the same point as Japan, all still waiting for the next installment. Viz Comics actually aren't to blame for once.
PS: The best places in Sydney to look for comics are as follows
Kings Comics - Pitt St behind the cinemas
Phantom Zone - Parramatta Horwood Place and Chatswood opposite Westfields
Kinokuniya - Opposite Town Hall
don't bother with Comic Kingdom on Liverpool St as it's pants
No comments:
Post a Comment