Otakuism

Recently, I’ve found myself fascinated by the Wii commercials, mainly because, for commercials aimed at selling a product in the american market, they seem incredibly Japanese to me. They’re nothing like the commercials of yore, filled with mind-blowing graphics and violence that us americans love. Instead, it’s two guys, I like to call them Hiro and Ando, in salaryman business suits, driving around in their incredibly small hybrid car, to a distinctly traditional japanese soundtrack. When they approach potential users, they politely bow and ask them to play. And it’s never solely college guys their asking to play. It’s your mom, your uncle, your grandma, it’s the entire family. Gone our the solitary days of old, where it was just a man and his game. And, boy, are these guys everywhere. Their in the suburbs, the cities, hispanic neighborhoods, the heartland! They get hugged by burly macho men and fed nachos. Their the guests everyone loves, maybe because they bring high-priced electronics.

Now, clearly there’s a lot of smart marketing behind this. The Wii is meant for everyone, so you show people of all ages enjoying it. Still, could not the same thing be done by american businessmen? Would Americans not trust people of their own country into their homes? Is the wii so foreign to the consumer, that only two Japanese men and their environmentally friendly car, another foreign thing in America, can represent it? I’m probably reading too much into this, and you can rebuke me if I am, but the whole family coming together, playing together, reminds me of how group-oriented japanese culture is. Looked at this way, the Wii is more than a radically new gaming machine. It’s an export of uniquely japanese values of togetherness, humility, and eco-friendlyness. And I wouldn’t mind seeing more of those values these days. Geez, listen to me. I’m starting to sound like a certain scottish guy.

TIME’s editor: They have butlers?! In cafe’s?! Sauce now!

As I was perusing my most recent volume of TIME, the magazine, not the 4th dimension, there was a rather interesting article on Butler Cafe’s in Japan. My first thought was ” Why the hell is there an article on japanese fetish cafe’s next to predictions on the ‘08 election? “, but I read on. The article is on the Swallowtail cafe, apparently the first and most successful butler cafe, and it’s many female customers who follow anime/manga and are called Otome, and so on and so on. I love it when western media tries to describe this stuff. Even the most simple explanation would be confusing to any normal people. The article also describes goth-lolita cosplayers, who’s costumes apparently come from medieval times, not victorian, and maid cafe’s. If you don’t know what a butler cafe is, why would you know what a maid one is?

Anyways, the articled goes on to explain that the reason the cafe is so popular is because those hard-working corporate women of Japan need a place to relax and get their lazy asses served by members of the opposite sex. Maybe I’m wrong, but I disagree with that entirely. One, I hardly believe the clientele of butler cafe’s would be the corporate women of society. Instead, it’s those Otome who love bishounen and yaoi buttsechs, and have enough expendable income to go to a cafe everyday. I doubt they’d be any different from those same otaku who visit meido cafe’s day after day because they love moe. It has nothing to do with Japanese sexism, which apparently every western reporter believes Japan’s problems boils down to. It’s just another escapist niche that Japan happens to serve perfectly.

Of course, I’ve never met any self-proclaimed Otome, or seen much research about them. For all the talk of FYG, their japanese sisters seem to be neglected, at least in the english realm. Here’s the article if your interested, or just want to mock it. Interesting to note, it was written by a guy. I wonder if the perspective would be any different from a woman? Also, check out the article ” Yep, They’re Gay “. It’s about gay rams and is hilariously stupid. Only in America.