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Development of Otaku

The Booming Animation Production (late 1970s - mid 1980s)

The animations of this time not only defined by the traditional animations for children but also include a huge amount of animations targeting on adolescents in middle school and high school. For example, the broadcasting of animations like Space Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, Lupin the Third, Gundam on TV channels and theaters bring animations into public view and their popularities promoted the development of the industry of anime. During this time period, people who are interesting in anime are called anime fan without any bias or favor.

Bubble Economy Period (late 1980s - early 1990s)

Since the period of Japanese asset price bubble, in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated and people were getting wealthier, more and more people got very strong interest in animations that have a high quality in both pictures and actions. Due to the economic growth, the purchasing power of individuals was also increasing. People were willing to pay for the expensive electronic device and audio and video equipment. It is the time when OTAKU identified themselves in the society and was known by the public as a social phenomenon. The most famous OTAKU at that time is Okada Toshio, the CEO of Gainax (a animation production), also known as "OTAKing" (King of OTAKU). Gainax also produced two episodes of semi-biography called 'OTAKU no Video'(OTAKU's video), introducing OTAKU and described the environment of ACG of Japan in the video at that time.

In 1989, the case of Tsutomu Miyazaki led to a narrow and negative definition of OTAKU by the public. It is also a shock to the rapid developing animation industry and resulted the emergence of bias and blame on the group of OTAKU. Since then, the public forms a general impression of OTAKU -- Adults who are crazy about animations are abnormal and childish.

Appearence of EVA and Prevalence of Video games (late 1990s)

The play of EVA is considered as a huge event in the animation industry. Under the social and economic instability, more and more adolescents started to be filled with concerns about uncertainty of their future and lack confidence in society. EVA raises the attentions of adolescents by its impact content. It is even studied as a social phenomena by experts.

Moreover, the prevalence of TV game and video game and also the prosperous of game industry motivated a lot of famous game productions.

After the showing of EVA, Okada Toshio published a book called Otakugaku nyumon(Introduction to Otakuology) on May, 1996 claiming that OTAKU is the orthodox heir of Japanese culture. The book itself is also considered as 'bible of OTAKU'.

Popularization and Inundation of Anime marketing (early 2000s)

By the production of more and more animations into the market, the marketing of animation to be universal and prevalent. The video tape which was worth of 10000 yen was replaced by relative cheaper softwares and DVDs. The works used to target on the maniac of animations are accepted by the general public. By the widespread use of computers and game devices, the marketing aiming at OTAKU is focused the government and general market. Its potential revenue is also evaluated by Nomura Research Institute (NRI) as high as two trillion and three hundred billion yen.

Overall assessment

Due to the maniac of subculture, most OTAKU do not have very strong social skill and are not active in the social events. Therefore, the general impression on OTAKU tends to be negative.

However, there are a lot famous stars and politicians in Japan claiming their identities as OTAKU. For example, idol group SMAP sometimes attends OTAKU events and some programs related to subculture. In the 2007 International MANGA award, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Tarō Asō stated that 'Even the Minister for Foreign Affairs is a fan of Anime' in cantonese during his speech.

Social events

The Akihabara massacre took place on Sunday, 8 June 2008, in the Akihabara shopping mall. The reaction of social media to this incident reveals the problem existing in communication between OTAKU and Society. Ming Pao, a Hong Kong newpaper, stated that because of the isolation of OTAKU by the society, OTAKU find it hard to integrate into society. However, it is clarified by Takuro Morinaga that people should be focus on the reason of murderer's disappointment to society by his unstable work enviroment instead of finding whether he is an OTAKU or not.

OTAKU and Nobel Prize

In a new reporting of JoongAng Ilbo on 15 Oct, 2014, many professor were interviewed and asked about the reason why Japan has so many winners of Nobel Prize. One of the professor said that 'Noble Prize favor those people who like OTAKU, consistently studying on projects they are crazy about.'

In fact, the winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002, Masatoshi Koshiba, did claim himself a fan crazy about video games and also call himself 'the oldest video game player in the world'. The Final Fantasy series is his favorite video game.

Appraisement by Barack Obama

Former President of United States Barack Obama highly appreciates the OTAKU culture during Japansese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visit to United States. He said that 'Today is also a chance for Americans, especially our young people, to say thank you for all the things we love from Japan. Like karate and karaoke. Manga and anime. And, of course, emojis.'