1) Louis- interviewed by Jee-Eun
Our first interviewee was Louis who is a college student majoring in film. We talked mostly about what she liked, normal person cosplay, and being a Dong-in.
Being an Otaku
She is what you’d call a history and film nerd. Her favorite movie is the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and she loves the director Steve McQueen. Being a history nerd, she also likes history TV shows like Samgukji or Jung Do-Jeon. Currently, she said she is invested in the Game of Thrones, Tyrion being her favorite character. She used to watch animes when she was in middle school, but she doesn’t anymore. She said that being an Otaku is tough sometimes, not necessarily because others have negative feelings against Otakus, but because she likes the genre so much that it hurts.
Other than that, she said that she liked being an Otaku, because being a fan of something is really fun.
Social Life and Normal Person Cosplay
She said that sometimes it is hard maintaining a social relationship because she is an Otaku. She doesn’t have any other hobbies, so it’s hard to connect to other people and make friends. Because she thinks that the way Koreans view Otakus is not exactly friendly, the subculture itself is hidden, and she feels like there’s a line between Otakus and non-Otakus. Also, she mentioned that there’s a difference between telling others that she likes certain movies, and telling others that she is a dong-in. We asked further questions about dong-in later in this interview.
She said that she did normal person cosplay because she didn’t want others to see her as a “weirdo”. She mentioned that it seemed like Otakus are better at respecting others’ hobbies and that she would like “normal” people to just simply respect her hobbies without trying to judge her. she also felt like Americans or Japanese are more accepting of Otakus, if you put the Dong-in stuff apart.
Because it is hard to make friends with non-Otakus, she uses twitter and other SNS to communicate with other Otakus. She also mentioned that there are offline gatherings called only events, but she didn’t like talking about it much.
Being a Dong-in
Throughout the whole interview, she seemed very reluctant to talk freely about dong-in. When we asked her why, she said that it is a much hidden aspect, and she doesn't want to unveil it much because the only thing that they will get by unveiling it will be harsh comments. She said that the most common stereotype about dong-in is that it is a group of perverted females who just love gay couplings. She denied it by saying that there are male dong-in as well, and that there are lots of people who ship heterosexual couplings or female couplings. She also mentioned that her friend likes universe crossovers with no romantic feelings involved. She thought of dong-in activities as wanting to make her favorite characters happy.
2) Dean- interviewed by Jee-Eun
Our second interviewee was Dean, and she is an SNU student. She has a very broad range of interests, and we mostly talked about why she enjoys being an Otaku, and what may be some difficulties of being one.
Being an Otaku
Dean has been an Otaku for a long time, and she has very broad interests. First, as for game, she loved FIFA and Jinsamguk. She said she liked FIFA because she could make her own team, complete with the hottest soccer players. She enjoys soccer in real life as well, Real Madrid being her favorite team. She likes so many movies so it’s hard to name them all, but she mainly enjoys action movies, like Batman and Marvel movies. Currently, she is invested in the TV show Supernatural, because she likes the bromance in it. As for anime, she likes Full Metal Alchemist, and though she thinks of it as a dark history now, she used to like Katekyo Hitman Reborn when she was in middle school.
Throughout the interview, we could see that Dean enjoyed being an Otaku. Talking about her genres clearly made her happy and lively. She said that she doesn’t care much about what other people think of her, and that almost everyone around her know about her being an Otaku. However, even for her, hiding that she shipped male couplings was like the final boundary. She said she hided it because she thought that most Koreans will be shocked.
Social Hardness
Although Dean seemed more open about being an Otaku than Louis, she also mentioned that it was hard maintaining a relationship with other people. The reason, however, was quite different from Louis’. She said that she didn’t have much time to make friends, because she was busy; she watched at least one movie every week, one episode of TV show every day, and listen to new albums, et cetera. She also mentioned that it is usually hard finding an Otaku real life, she often used Internet to communicate with other Otakus. She especially likes Internet communities, because it feels like her home-ground.
Dong-in Activities
Dean was a little reluctant to tell us, but she admitted that she is a dong-in, and that she especially like male couplings. Some examples of the couplings were Destiel, Wincest, ThorxLoki, and Starbucks. She said she drew and wrote about those couplings, and she described it as a positive hobby, where she can express her desires in a healthy way. When we asked her why she liked “male” couplings, she told us that it was because she liked men, and male characters.
3) Ahmed, the healthy “Otaku” in Korea by Dongryung
Though it sounds weird, we couldn't sense the atmosphere of “Otakuness” from Ahmed, our first interviewee. However, soon after we started talking about his subculture, he showed very passionate attitude. Ahmed is an ordinary freshman who studies in different university. After we finished our dinner, we went into café to hear his testimony on his subculture.
The interview was initiated by narrowing down into a specific genre in which he has the greatest interest because “Otaku” is actually a very broad and vague term. He introduced that he enjoys mostly Japanese anime (animation) and manga (comic book), but he also likes Korean Webtoon (Web Cartoon) and animation.
Ahmed was quite confident with his belonging to “Otaku” subculture; he didn't have any special emotion to his being Otaku. He even showed nonchalant attitude toward the title – though it sometimes accompany negative connotation - given to him. Soon, he explained that he can be so assured with his subculture because he wants to become a Webtoonist and his experience in Otaku subculture will be resourceful nutrition from which he can create great works. Thus, Otaku subculture means more than a hobby to him; it is connected to his dream and vision.
Ahmed surely connects with other Otakus. He uses Kakao to contact close friends who like anime. He has also been to Korea University’s anime club room which was full of comics, games, figures, posters, costumes.
Although Ahmed himself didn't have problem with the label “Otaku”, he was well aware of the unreasonable ignominy it carries in Korean society. He first of all blamed the TV show Martian Virus which mainly distorted the image of Otaku in Korea. Ahmed explicated that Otaku originally means “house” in Japanese and signifies manias; nonetheless, the TV show fallaciously presented one extreme case of Otaku – so extreme that even Otaku community blamed him – who claimed to be married with a character. Because of such false image of Otaku, he said he didn't outspokenly tell others that he’s Otaku and some of his friend seldom talk about anime. In fact, this is what he believed the Normal Person Cosplay was. Ahmed commented that People arbitrarily categorize those who watch anime the public don’t know Otakus; however, only watching anime doesn't make you Otaku. He insisted that there must be craving for anime and that people shouldn't feel bad about their own hobby. He continued that this is serious discrimination saying, “If you crave for something else, people call it a healthy hobby, but if you crave for anime, people doesn't accept it.” In conclusion, he said that true Otakus are healthy people like a soccer fan.
For Doujin, which is another subculture within Otaku subculture, he didn't know much because he is part of it, but he was pretty neutral and accepting about this group. Finally, he ended his interview with one organized statement; “Don’t carelessly title others Otaku (because he cares about the social context). Negative context of Otakus have to be changed. Don’t freaked about the term Otaku.”
4) Susan, the energetic but hidden “Otaku” in Korea- interviewed by Sohyun.
When I saw her at first, I thought that Susan is just a smart and diligent student. After we finished the interview, I had different views about her. We went to the café that we can talk even a secret subject.
At first, I questioned about her favorite genre. She is mostly interested into 2.5D. For example, she likes marvel movies like the Avengers, with Hawkeye being her favorite thing, and other TV shows like BBC Sherlock, Queer as Folk, and not anymore but Glee. She is also interested in 2D. She’s also into American Comics, and animes like Digimon and Pokemon.
I was sorry that I have to speak direct questions. But she understands me. I want to know about her belonging to Otaku subculture. Also, I want to know most people’s idea about Otaku culture than just her genre.
Her thoughts about the word Otaku and Otakus.
Though she doesn’t like the word Otaku, she doesn’t really care that she’s an Otaku. She didn’t think about it much. She thinks that Otakus are very enthusiastic and also very able in Otaku culture. But she thinks that they are sometimes wasting their talents. They can make beautiful gifs and draw very well, but they use the abilities for Otaku things, which is just a kind of hobby. However, they can achieve many things. For example, the fandom that she is a part of it, they raise money for charity to get the scripts for the TV shows.
Korean’s views about Otaku and the reason why she hides she is Otaku.
She thinks that Koreans’ view about Otaku is very negative than her. She said that most people think Otaku is a person to make fun of them. The word Otaku is usually used as a derogatory term. She thinks that among Otakus, people who are into 2D have the worst impression. She told that one of the most common misconceptions is that all Otakus are perverted. “It can be true, because many people use Otaku things for expressing their desire. There are few extreme cases but those few cases, but they surely are representative of all. It’s all about how you manage it.”
She added that some people who like alcohols or cigarettes are valued as good people if they are good at their studies or have many abilities. But Otakus are just as otakus. Most people think that they have same character.
Most people around her don’t know about the fact that she is Otaku. She even hides it from her parents. Only her best friends know about it, because, as she said earlier. She doesn’t want to tell them because the subculture isn’t accepted well. The Otaku subculture looks weird and is out of the main culture. She doesn’t want to be labeled, as it will be the only impression of her.
She felt difficulties when she tried to make friends or talk to other people. When she is talking with other people, she always checks other people’s reactions and reminds herself that there’s a line that she shouldn’t cross. Especially when she is talking about her favorite movies, anime, TV shows, she has to keep watching herself and make sure that she doesn’t say anything too deep.
Her communications with other Otakus and Dong-in activities
Because she doesn’t talk with other people a lot, she communicates with other Otakus. Mostly she communicates with other people through internet. There are internet communities. Then they (community’s people) have to sign in and they can work on it. And they share words there. Also she uses twitter, tumblr. Those kinds of SNS are really great for Otakus because they can get immediate feedback. It’s like having a conversation with people and it’s really great. Also she meets them off-line. The members on the same genre, they gather, share their words, and talk about it. She likes the atmosphere of it.
She’s a part of Dong-in. She mostly ships Klaine, Clint/all, but she also like Microft/John and Bravid. There are actually events for Dongin-ji. In only events, there are two kinds of people- buyers and booth-keepers. Most of the times She’s a buyer. But she’d actually been to an event as a booth-keeper when she was senior in high school. Actually, she wasn’t supposed to reveal these things. Dong-in culture is very secretive. She tries not to rise above the surface.
The things that she want to say at last
She added that a common stereotype is that female who is Dong-in only likes male to male relationships. “That’s only thing that they think about it. But it’s all about understanding the character, and wanting my favorite character to be happy. If they think that he would be happy in a homosexual relationship, than they ship it.” She emphasized that unlike popular beliefs, there are no perverted feelings behind it.
She likes children anime. It doesn’t mean that she is childish. The biggest positive side of it is that good always triumph over evil, not like our societies.
She thinks that Otakus are just a person. They just like their genre. They have some different views about their environments (When she saw a yellow necktie, she came up with a character she likes).
