The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan

The more I read about Japanese pop culture, the less I understand it! Idoru, maid cafes, Lolitas, boy love, yikes! It's so female-oriented and female-objectifying. Japanese culture can be very subtle so I'm sure I'm missing something here. Still, a handy resource to peruse if you're curious about Japan's pop culture, and even if you're already an aficionado you might discover something new.

I only partially read this book. It was good, but I had other books that I needed/wanted to read that ended up taking priority.

Baically, you can look up a term that you would like to know in manga or anime or other otaku pursuits and read an entry about it. Just getting through the B's I learned quite a bit. There are also interviews with various artists and directors about the otaku culture.

Otaku - basically a type of geek or nerd. It's someone who likes video games and the internet and manga and anime and collecting action figures. Someone you might think of as living at home with their parents and not dating because of a shyness with the opposite sex. There's also been a connotation of being creepy associated with this term and I show more think Japan has been trying to dispel the negative aspects of otaku and focus on the more fun, positive things.

I'll eventually check this out again from the library and continue my cultural reading. Considering the amount of manga I've been reading I think I've read more from Japanese authors than from other foreign authors and have been amazed at the differences and the similarities. I haven't been to Japan, though. Maybe someday. show less

Very helpful, included a lot of things I'd never heard of at all

Very helpful, included a lot of things I'd never heard of at all