Otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in Manga Burikko.
In Japanese popular culture, lolicon is a genre of fictional media which focuses on young girl characters, particularly in a sexually suggestive or erotic manner. The term, a portmanteau of the English words "Lolita" and "complex", also refers to desire and affection for such characters, and fans of such characters and works. Associated with unrealistic and stylized imagery within manga, anime, and video games, lolicon in otaku culture is generally understood as distinct from desires for realistic depictions of girls, or real girls as such, and is associated with the concept of moe, or feelings of affection and love for fictional characters as such.
Hatsune Miku, officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise twintails. Miku's personification has been marketed as a virtual idol, and has performed at live virtual concerts onstage as an animated projection.
The anime and manga fandom is a worldwide community of fans of anime and manga. Anime includes animated series, films and videos, while manga includes manga, graphic novels, drawings, and related artworks. The anime and manga fandom traces back to the 1970s, with numerous countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, China, and Malaysia participating in it.
A butler café is a subcategory of cosplay restaurant that originated in Japan. In these cafés, waiters dress as butlers and serve patrons in the manner of domestic servants attending to aristocracy. Butler cafés proliferated in reaction to the popularity of maid cafés and serve as an alternative category of cosplay restaurant intended to appeal to female otaku.
Kamisama Dolls is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Yamamura. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Monthly Sunday Gene-X from December 2006 to February 2013, with its chapters collected in twelve tankōbon volumes. An anime adaptation aired from July to September 2011.
Silver Spoon is a Japanese coming-of-age manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from April 2011 to November 2019. The story is set in the fictional Ooezo Agricultural High School in Hokkaido, and depicts the daily life of Yuugo Hachiken, a high school student from Sapporo who enrolled at Ooezo Agricultural High School fleeing from the demands of his strict father. However, he soon learns that life on an agricultural school is not as easy as he initially believed. Unlike his new classmates, he has no intention of following an agricultural career after graduating, although he envies them for already having set goals for their lives and the pursuit of their dreams.
Yuka Ōtsubo is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Chiba Prefecture affiliated with Early Wing. In 2014, she started her career as a singer by joining the band SmileY inc. with Vocaloid musician Yuuyu-P. She also did the voice of Vocaloid character Azuki Masaoka for V4.
The Promised Neverland is a Japanese manga series written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from August 2016 to June 2020, with its chapters collected in 20 tankōbon volumes. In North America, Viz Media licensed the manga for English release and serialized it on their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The series follows a group of orphaned children in their plan to escape from their orphanage, after learning the dark truth behind their existence and the purpose of the orphanage.
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by Fujita. It was first posted on Pixiv in April 2014. It began serialization in Comic Pool, a joint web manga publication project by Ichijinsha and Pixiv, in November 2015. Ichijinsha began publishing the manga in print in April 2015 and 11 tankōbon volumes were published. An anime television series adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures aired from April to June 2018 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block, while a live-action film adaptation premiered in February 2020.
Kizuna AI is a Japanese virtual YouTuber (VTuber) currently part of Kizuna AI Inc., a subsidiary of digital entertainment company Activ8. From her debut in 2016 until 2021, she was the most subscribed VTuber on YouTube, with more than 4 million subscribers across three YouTube channels, 1 million subscribers on Chinese video platform Bilibili. Kizuna AI posted her first YouTube video on her "A.I.Channel" on 29 November 2016. A second channel, "A.I.Games", was opened in March 2017 for gaming content, and a third, "A.I.Channel China", opened in June 2019 for a Chinese audience. After a live concert held on 24 February 2022, she went on indefinite hiatus.
Joseph Tetsuro Bizinger, known online as The Anime Man, as well as his stage name Ikurru Kamijou, is an Australian YouTuber, voice actor, songwriter, and podcaster. His video work focuses on Japanese popular culture, which consists of anime and manga reviews, and vlogs on Japanese culture and society. Bizinger is also known for his interviews with people in the Japanese entertainment industry, such as light novel authors, manga artists, and voice actors in anime.
Kaho Shibuya is a Japanese media personality and former AV idol.
K-Books is a chain of used goods stores in Japan. It specializes in otaku- and hobbyist-related items, including anime goods, manga, dōjinshi, and voice actor and idol goods.
Eve, formerly known as Keitora (けいとら) and Kurowa (クロわ), is a Japanese singer-songwriter and Vocaloid producer. He entered the music industry by singing covers of popular music on Niconico.
Kano is a Japanese musician and virtual YouTuber who is signed to Imperial Records. She began her artist activities as a doujin artist, uploading songs on the video-sharing website Nicovideo, before making her major debut in 2015 with the release of her single "Stella-rium". Her songs have been featured in anime series such as Wish Upon the Pleiades, Heavy Object, Azur Lane, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!.
Trash Taste is a weekly audio and video podcast hosted by Joey Bizinger, Garnt Maneetapho, and Connor Colquhoun – three Tokyo-based content creators primarily focusing on anime and Japanese pop culture. The podcast generally discusses Japanese culture and life in Japan.
Connor Marc Colquhoun, known online as CDawgVA, is a Welsh Twitch streamer, YouTuber, voice actor, and podcaster based in Tokyo. He is affiliated with the Kadokawa-backed agency GeeXPlus.
Garnt Maneetapho, better known as Gigguk, is a Thai-British YouTuber and podcaster who is known for his comedic rants and reviews on anime and otaku culture. He is affiliated with the Kadokawa-backed agency GeeXPlus.
Otaku Elf is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akihiko Higuchi. It began serialization in Kodansha's Shōnen Magazine Edge in June 2019. After the magazine ended publication, the series was moved to the Comic Days website in December 2023. Its chapters have been collected into eight tankōbon volumes as of March 2023. An anime television series adaptation by C2C aired from April to June 2023.
