Otaku Sexuality

To me, otaku is the people who delve themselves into the world of anime and manga in such a way that it is just another part of their life.  They have a sense of reality, sure, but the most important thing to them in their life is the certain character or characters that have taken up their attention.

There are two types: otaku (men) and yaoi (women).  Otaku men have a strong desire for anime/manga that include younger girl warriors with a lot of “sexual intimacies”.  Yaoi is a term depicted of anime/manga that has BL or “Boys Love” that women have found deeply interesting and are attracted to that type of anime.

For both sides, they are trying to replace something that has passes them by or is missing from their lives.  For otaku, it is the motherly side of things: the comfort, the compassion, and the love.  For yaoi, it is the male side of things: the lack of a, well to put it bluntly, a penis.

Although many otaku are considered pedophiles for their “obsession” of their favorite character, none have any such tendencies.  Even the yaoi loving women are not excluded.  They are looked down upon because in Japan, women are not to have any such rousing sexual desires.

Among both sides, these people have dedicated so much time to their yaoi/otaku that they have come up with side stories for these characters that mean so much to them.  Many, if not all of them, go to Commicon, a gathering of individuals interested in the many different animes out there.  Several go to such an extent as to dress up as their favorite character and portray them so that others can take pictures of them.  Others sell their side stories to the other avid fans of the anime/manga.  If they sell well, then they might become professionals.

So there has to be distinguishing qualities between these to types of people.  Starting with the yaoi group, the females of this group look for the different “phases” between the characters that they have chosen to assimilate themselves with.  (Like first base, second base types of things.)  For the otaku group, the males have to distinguish what their “position” is in with the character.  For example, what makes the character that they are fond of likeable or what “turns them on” about that character.

But both of these groups have a need to “possess the work.”  Possessing the work comes about in the aforementioned ways, but the discussions between members of the same group would be different.  The yaoi group discusses the “active” or “passive” roles of the characters in the anime, whereas the otaku group will discuss the interpretation of some of the text.

The differences between the two animes when concerning sexual matters are quite different.  In yaoi, it is abstractly portrayed and is left as an ending or climax of emotions, whereas in otaku, it is portrayed vividly to make the viewer understand what has happened.

Similarities and differences bring the two together in another form of anime, but that’s for a different discussion.