Isolation./

Many know of the great mainstream phenomenon that has spread throughout the global entertainment sectors. Anime and Manga are well-known throughout the world, for their quirky characters, fantastical stories and unique ideals. They are watched, read, written about, drawn about and fought over. Chances are that you have heard about Anime and Manga through the internet after browsing around. But I am almost certain that the knowledge of these were spread by people you know. Backed by various members of the fan base spanning millions of people across dozens of countries. This community has raised creative, intuitive and passionate people that heavily support their claim and will intensely defend their ideals to no end. Many people get into being an Otaku as it provides a different take on the animation they’re used to. Like myself, I got used to the Western forms of entertainment, but found that the reality shows, variety game shows and hoo-hah sitcoms got boring, repetitive and were a dime a dozen. You can see why many people chose Anime, as it provided a refreshing form of new media and sometimes, an insight into a whole new culture and world than our very own.

Anime is a style of animation originating if fruitful Japan. Many people watch Anime for their colorfully-depicted art, well-written storylines and invoking themes that wander around through the set piece. But within this form of entertainment has spurned a diversity of drawing styles, labeled as the backbone of the whole animation. Anime artist could consider drawing cute characters to blanched aggressors to dark personas, each art style symbolizes the mindset of the artist working. Mangas, much like their moving counterparts, manga artist also employ the use of these quirky characters, storylines and ideals, but to a much greater extent.

And so within this vast community, there has to be some way to categorize everyone’s ideals? The way I see it, there are about 3 different groups with this Otaku community.

First off are the Mainstreams. These people consist of the fans of Anime and Manga that are well-known to almost anyone on the Internet. A classic example would be, anyone that got into Anime strictly from dubbed versions of Naruto and THEN transitioned into the subbed versions. They are the ones that almost always got into the series that all of their friends know and almost never venture into the unknown. They consider their small selection of Anime and Manga as all they will ever need and will just stop there.

Second are the Hipsters. The Hipsters are the kind of people that got into Anime and Manga into a series that most people may not have known. Like all hipster, they take pride in knowing any series that the common viewers would not ever know. Does anyone here know Umisho? Thought so. They revel in watching and reading the most indie of titles. You could even think of it as their own ‘personal collection’ that no one has discovered yet.

And Third are the Oldies. The Oldies are an interesting bunch because they very much love to stick to the past. Sometimes they call it the golden years. My knowledge doesn’t go that far back, but I do enjoy some retro anime now and then. The Oldies, much like real old people are stubborn. They hate change, especially when it is to their own franchises. Take for example Transformers G1, much loved and highly praised. Take that fan base and look at them during the release of Transformers Animated, much hate and more disgust, even if there wasn’t any problem with the show. The Oldies relish in re-watching their favorites and will take a lot of convincing to watch something else.

To conclude there is no best. Everything is different and everyone is different. You like something different than I do and that’s fine. But just so you know, not even the deliscous designs of One Piece, the heartfelt warmth of ToraDora! or the girth of Mazinkaiser or Getter Robo can compare to the majesty and superior excellence of K-On!