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-language phrase "Lolita complex", also refers to desire and affection for such characters, and their fans. Associated mainly with stylized imagery in manga and anime, lolicon in otaku culture is generally understood as distinct from desires for realistic depictions of young girls, or real young girls as such, and is associated with moe, or affection for fictional characters, often bishōjo characters in manga or anime.
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including Sally the Witch, GeGeGe no Kitarō, Mazinger Z, Galaxy Express 999, Cutie Honey, Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, Digimon, One Piece, Toriko, World Trigger, The Transformers, and the Pretty Cure series.
In entertainment, a virtual band is a band or music group whose depicted members are not people, but animated characters or virtual avatars. The music is recorded by real musicians and producers, while any media related to the virtual band, including albums, video clips and the visual component of stage performances, feature the animated line-up; in many cases the virtual band members have been credited as the writers and performers of the songs. Live performances can become rather complex, requiring perfect synchronization between the visual and audio components of the show.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hololive Production is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. In addition to acting as a multi-channel network, Hololive Production also handles licensing, merchandising, music production and concert organization. As of January 2024, the agency manages 86 VTubers in three target languages, totalling over 80 million subscribers, including several of the most subscribed VTubers on YouTube and some of the most watched female streamers in the world.
Rainych Ran, better known mononymously as Rainych, is an Indonesian singer and YouTuber. She is notable for her renditions of city pop, vocaloid, anime, and J-pop songs, such as "Mayonaka no Door" and "Plastic Love". She is also known for her Japanese covers of English songs, such as "Say So" and "Blinding Lights", which have been praised by both their original singers, Doja Cat and The Weeknd respectively.
Tokai On Air is a Japanese YouTuber group based in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture consisting of 6 members: Tetsuya, Ryo, Shibayu, Toshimitsu, Yumemaru, and Mushimegane. The group began posting videos on YouTube in 2013, and belong to multi-channel network UUUM since 2017.
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.
Yoh Kamiyama is a Japanese musician, singer, and composer from Gifu Prefecture who is affiliated with Ignite Management and Sony Music Associated Records. He began his career in 2014 when he started uploading songs created using Vocaloid software on the Japanese video-sharing website Niconico under the name Yukisan (有機酸). In 2017, he started making songs using his own voice. He gained popularity in 2018 with his song "Yellow", which became popular on YouTube and TikTok. He made his major debut under Sony in 2020; his music has been featured in anime series such as Drifting Dragons and Horimiya.
Sex Ed 120% is a Japanese manga series written by Kikiki Tataki and illustrated by Hotomura. It began serialization in Kadokawa's @vitamin web platform in January 2020. ASCII Media Works has collected the series in three tankōbon volumes. The series is licensed by Yen Press in English. The series follows Naoko Tsuji, a teacher who believes the way Japan teaches sex education is so poor that she decides to teach the subject in her own enthusiastic way.
