Incel, or involuntary celibate, was coined in 1993 by a Canadian woman named Alana who used it to describe her experiences as a college-aged virgin. Ironically, the term now labels a section of the Men’s Rights Movement who ostracize women. An involuntary celibate is someone who wants to have sex but has been unable to…
Category: Otaku Culture
Read Unless You Want to be Dumb and Antisocial
Fiction lays the foundation of the human soul. A grandiose statement from an anime and J-pop blogger eh? Fiction of all types encourages us to develop empathy. In fact, you can’t lose yourself in a fictional story without changing. Empathy and compassion sit at the base of a proper human. It’s such a basic part…
My Pirate Crew Blog Tag
Chris over at Anime Science 101 nominated me for the My Pirate Crew Blog Tag. Boy, this sort of chain post brings me back! When blogging blossomed, these sort of tagging posts were a nice way to discover other blogs. Sadly, I don’t follow that many anime blogs anymore. Most writers I used to follow…
What Does Tsundere Mean?
Anime has its own vocabulary that’s confusing for beginners. Tsundere is one such word. The word describes a type of character common to anime. When we meet these characters, they are initially harsh and even violent. Other times they are just cold and aloof on the outside, but either type eventually warms to be…
Is Being an Otaku Cultural Appropriation?
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate borrowing from another culture. Usually, it happens with a culture that has been oppressed in some way. Think about the Native American cultures in North America as an example. But cultural appropriation has a soft line. It’s hard to know when the line of admiration and appropriation is crossed…
The Problem with Today’s Hype and Spoiler Culture
I’m an old school gamer, the type that grew up making maps for myself. The habit stays with me today. I prefer to go into anime, movies, and video games blind. But it’s terribly hard to do that now. The Internet has made hype and spoilers almost unavoidable. As many of you know, I’m a…