random watashi: December 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013

What is an otaku?

Otaku (おたく/オタク) is a Japanese term that refers to people with obsessive interests, commonly the anime and manga fandom. In modern Japanese slang, the term otaku is mostly equivalent to "geek" or "nerd". However, it can relate to any fan of any particular theme, topic, hobby or form of entertainment. When these people are referred to as otaku, they are judged for their behaviors - and people suddenly see an “otaku” as a person unable to relate to reality".

The word entered English as a loanword from the Japanese language. It is typically used to refer to a fan of anime/manga but can also refer to Japanese video games or Japanese culture in general.

source: wikipedia

Japanese Word of the Day #237

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Anime Recommendation: Tweeny Witches

The protagonist of the story is Arusu, who mysteriously enters the world of the witches. She is marked as a troublemaker when she releases all the sprites the witches have captured for use as the source of magic spells. Later in the series, the witches interact with the world of the wizards as both try to save their worlds from destruction.

Though the name Tweeny Witches, known in Japan as Magical Girl Squad Arusu (魔法少女隊アルス Mahō Shōjotai Arusu) is a catchy and appropriate adaptation of the original Japanese title, it may discourage some anime fans from checking the series out since it strongly implies a kid-oriented magical girl show. To an extent it is still that, but only the technicality that the series features preteen girls flying around on brooms and using magic classifies it as a magical girl series, as otherwise it falls far from the norms for the genre. It is not overwhelmingly cute, does not feature sugary-sweet content, has a dramatically different artistic style, and most significantly, it lacks transformation scenes. In fact, it more resembles a work of Western animation than any Japanese magical girl series.

Source: wikipedia; animenewsnetwork.com