| Otaku Unite! | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Eric Bresler |
| Produced by | Movies of My Dreams Productions |
| Edited by | Eric Bresler |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Otaku Unite! is a 2004 documentary film by Eric Bresler on American fans of Japanese culture, specifically anime and manga, known as otaku . [1]
Otaku Unite! provides a history of otaku-fandom and an introduction to anime conventions, with a focus on the fans themselves. A variety of individuals are featured throughout interviews, including anime voice actors such as Corinne Orr and Peter Fernandez, industry representatives, convention directors and a plethora of "otaku" anime fans. [2]
Initially Bresler had planned to create a short, 15-minute film. Filming turned into a 3+1⁄2-year project, culminating in a near-feature-length film. Extras on the DVD come to 130 minutes. [3]
Otaku Unite! has been shown at a number of anime conventions, as well as film festivals including the 2004 Philadelphia Film Festival. Otaku Unite! has been translated into Japanese and Russian and was featured in the May 2006 issue of the Japanese lifestyle magazine Cyzo . [4]
Anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, anime refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, anime describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Many works of animation with a similar style to Japanese animation are also produced outside Japan. Video games sometimes also feature themes and artstyles that can be considered as "anime".
Neon Genesis Evangelion, also known simply as Evangelion or Eva, is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax, animated by Tatsunoko, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. Evangelion is set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm called the Second Impact, particularly in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3. The protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy recruited by his father Gendo to the mysterious organization Nerv to pilot a giant biomechanical mecha called an Evangelion and fight against beings known as Angels.
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.
Otaku no Video is a 1991 anime OVA spoofing the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax, its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film styles with a more traditional anime storytelling fashion. It is licensed in the United States by AnimEigo. The DAICON III and IV Opening Animations from the early 1980s are also featured in this OVA.
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Genshiken (げんしけん) is a Japanese manga series by Shimoku Kio about a college club for otaku and their lifestyle. The title is a shortening of the club's official name, Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyūkai (現代視覚文化研究会), or "The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture". The series has also been adapted into an anime directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. The manga originally ran in Kodansha's magazine Monthly Afternoon from April 2002 to May 2006, and has been reprinted in nine bound volumes.
Monica Jean Rial is an American voice actress and ADR script writer affiliated with Funimation and Seraphim Digital/Sentai Filmworks. She provides voices for English language versions of Japanese anime films and television series.
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Otaku USA is a bimonthly magazine published by Sovereign Media, which covers various elements of the "otaku" lifestyle from an American perspective. The issues were accompanied by a DVD featuring three anime episodes but as of 2009 the DVD feature was dropped and the double sided poster feature of the Magazine was also dropped starting with the February 2010 issue.
Patrick Macias is an American author and co-author of several titles on pop culture fandom, specifically relating to Japanese culture and otaku culture in America. Macias is also a correspondent for NHK World Television show Tokyo Eye, and is the editor-in-chief of the otaku culture magazine Otaku USA, which debuted on June 5, 2007. In 2014, Macias became the Senior Manager of New Initiatives at Crunchyroll.
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.
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