Author | Louis Bulaong |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Pop Culture Fiction, GameLit, Postmodern Literature |
Publication place | Philippines |
Published in English | 2021 |
Pages | 442 |
ISBN | 979-8-52577-418-6 |
Preceded by | Escapist Dream |
Otaku Girl is a science fiction novel written by Louis Bulaong and published on June 23, 2021. [1] [2] The story was first posted as a webnovel, becoming noted for its postmodern elements and pop culture references, [3] before being published as a book four months later. It is the sequel to Bulaong's debut novel Escapist Dream . [4]
The story takes place in a virtual reality world called the Escapist Dream, a place that allows anyone who visits it to gain superhuman abilities derived from characters in films, comics, anime, video games, and other fictional media. A year before the start of the novel, the virtual reality world suffered a malfunction which trapped its visitors inside. They are then forced to fight for survival against rogue artificial intelligences who have begun attacking them.
The main character of the story is GI, a teenage Japanese otaku, who is forced to fight for her life inside the Escapist Dream. The protagonist of the first novel, Charlie Anderson, also returns to assist the trapped geeks. Both GI and Charlie must fight against powerful AIs who have taken over the different areas of the Escapist Dream, such as Stan City, the place inspired by American comic book and superhero fiction; Otaku Academy, a place inspired by Japanese manga and anime; Gamer's Den, an area inspired by video games and gaming culture; and the Library, an area influenced by classic literature.
Author Louis Bulaong published Otaku Girl in February 2021 in web format through various online publications. [5] [1] [6] The chapters were later compiled and published as a novel through Amazon Kindle in June of the same year. [7]
The story was written as a satire to geek culture combined with GameLit elements. [3] Bulaong intentionally made the writing style and story to be as "wacky as possible" by including informal writing, memes, and tropes. [4] He also wrote it as a commentary to cancel culture. [8]
Journalist Derrick St. Claire described the book in his analysis as a "postmodernist meditation on the serious life of a geek". [5] He also mentioned other issues commented upon by the book, such as escapism, fandoms, and subcultures, as well as its "portrayal of the typical problems faced by teens in general". [5]
The novel was met with positive reception upon its release, [9] [10] with Royal Road giving it 4.55/5 [11] and Scribblehub giving it 5/5. [12] [4] It gained significant praise in the author's native country of the Philippines, becoming one of the best books written by a Filipino in 2021. [13] Eun Yoon from Fugue described the novel as a "delightful and thought-provoking novel that offers a heartfelt look into the life of an otaku." [9]
Literary critic Carl Hannigan from Geeks gave it a 5 out of 5 rating, praising its surrealism while saying, "Otaku Girl is one of the best reflections of modern society that I've read this year. It is relatable, humorous, and sends a message to how we exist in the modern culture. I know I've become a bit too deep with this book, but overall, the humor and the story are amazing." [4]
John Mountain from Substack listed the book at #1 in his "5 Best Pop Culture Fiction", stating, "it's a philosophical book that borders on heavy drama, and a story about geeks trapped inside a corrupted fantasy world mirrored teenagers today and the inescapable torment of social relationships, education, and preparation for the difficulties of their future adult life." [14]
A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices, differentiating fandom-affiliated people from those with only a casual interest.
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.
Philippine literature is literature associated with the Philippines from prehistory, through its colonial legacies, and on to the present.
Densha Otoko is a Japanese movie, television series, manga, novel, and other media, all based on the purportedly true story of a 23-year-old otaku who intervened when a drunk man started to harass several women on a train. The otaku ultimately began dating one of the women.
James Daniel Lowder is an American author, anthologist, and editor, working regularly within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on tabletop role-playing games and critical works exploring popular culture.
Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer specializing in speculative fiction. She has written several novels as well as shorter fiction, published in magazines and on websites, and hosted podcasts; these works cater to both adults and adolescent readers. Her first science fantasy novels, such as All the Birds in the Sky and The City in the Middle of the Night, cover mature topics, received critical acclaim, and won major literary awards like the Nebula Award for Best Novel and Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Her young adult trilogy Unstoppable has been popular among younger audiences. Shorter fiction has been collected into Six Months, Three Days, Five Others and Even Greater.
The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generally pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward". In the 21st century, it was reclaimed and used by many people, especially members of some fandoms, as a positive term.
Boys' love (BL), a genre of male-male homoerotic media originating in Japan that is created primarily by and for women, has a robust global fandom. Individuals in the BL fandom may attend conventions, maintain/post to fansites, create fanfiction/fanart, etc. In the mid-1990s, estimates of the size of the Japanese BL fandom were at 100,000 to 500,000 people. Despite increased knowledge of the genre among the general public, readership remained limited in 2008.
Ethan Gilsdorf is an American writer, performer, critic, and teacher.
Ready Player One is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of American author Ernest Cline. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game, the discovery of which would lead him to inherit the game creator's fortune and the game itself. Cline sold the rights to publish the novel in June 2010, in a bidding war to the Crown Publishing Group. The book was published on August 16, 2011. An audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton was released the same day.Ch. 20 In 2012, the book received an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association and won the 2011 Prometheus Award.
Jessica Marie FreyFRY is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. While she is best known for her debut novel Triptych, Frey's work encompasses poetry, academic and magazine articles, screenplays, and short stories. Frey calls herself a "professional geek".
Peter Tieryas is an American writer. He is the author of Bald New World (2014) and the Mecha Samurai Empire series which consists of United States of Japan (2016), Mecha Samurai Empire (2018), and Cyber Shogun Revolution (2020). He attended the University of California Berkeley. Tieryas worked previously at studios like Sony Pictures Imageworks and Pixar Animation Studios. He has also worked at LucasArts as both a technical artist and technical writer. As of 2023, he is a Narrative Director for Nicalis. Many of his stories involve the American Dream, conflicted identity in dystopian futures, and strange romance amidst culture clash.
Richard Owain Roberts is a Welsh author. He is the author of the novel Hello Friend We Missed You, which has been hailed as "a turning point for Welsh fiction", and the short story collection All The Places We Lived.
LitRPG, short for literary role-playing game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of computer RPGs with science-fiction and fantasy novels. The term was introduced in 2013. In LitRPG, game-like elements form an essential part of the story, and visible RPG statistics are a significant part of the reading experience. This distinguishes the genre from novels that tie in with a game, like those set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons; books that are actual games, such as the choose-your-own-adventure Fighting Fantasy type of publication; or games that are literarily described, like MUDs and interactive fiction. Typically, the main character in a LitRPG novel is consciously interacting with the game or game-like world and attempting to progress within it.
Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles, are fictional creatures that appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories.
Jamila Rowser is an American writer and publisher. She created the blog Girl Gone Geek (2010–2016), which was devoted to "nerd culture" topics like cosplay, video games, and anime. Rowser founded Black Josei Press as a publishing platform for Black and Brown women comic writers. Her graphic novel Wash Day Diaries (2022) won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Graphic Novel/Comics.
Escapist Dream is a science fiction novel written by Louis Bulaong and published on July 26, 2020. The novel is set in a near future where virtual reality has become a norm and where geeks can use it to gain superpowers and extraordinary abilities. It was written by the author as a homage to geek culture from comics, films, anime and video games.
Pop culture fiction is a genre of fiction where stories are written intentionally to be filled with references from other works and media. Stories in this genre are focused solely on using popular culture references.
Jordan Ifueko is a Nigerian American writer of fantasy and young adult fiction. She is best known for her novel Raybearer, which became a New York Times bestseller, and its sequel, Redemptor. Her third novel set in the world of Raybearer, The Maid and the Crocodile, is slated for release August 2024. She also writes short stories, which have been published in Strange Horizons.
Louis Bulaong is a Filipino writer best known for his science fiction novels Escapist Dream and Otaku Girl.