NEETs/hikki/real otaku

Being an otaku simply means to devote yourself slavishly to any one thing; usually to the point that it has a negative effect on your interpersonal relationships and financial situation. Very few people, even in Japan, are real otaku. The term carries a highly negative stigma, and I have no idea why people like to identify themselves that way. To give you a really good example, I was dating a girl in Japan and sometime around December I got it in my head to go to Jump Festa. I had asked her beforehand if she'd like to go with me and she said she was up for it, but when we got to the event hall, she saw the people dressed up in line and immediately got a disgusted look on her face. She told me she was going to a nearby coffee shop to wait on me instead and I was just left there, feeling stunned. Naturally, I eventually broke up with her because of her judgemental streak, but she's not an exception when it comes to the way geek culture is percieved in Japan. In the US, the term has come to simply mean, "anime nerd" for whatever reason, and thats fine, I suppose; I just never like to refer to myself that way or call other people otaku. NEET / Hikkikomori are surprisingly not always otaku either. I knew a guy whose son was a hikkikomori, and he said that all he did was sit in his room watching variety shows on TV, smoking, and looking at magazines. It was basically just a textbook case of agoraphobia.

^That's very true. I'm not knocking it. It just feels weird to me as I've developed a knee-jerk negative reaction to it. Even when I first saw the site name I let out a bit of an irritated sigh. Then again, the term has lost some of its stigma lately even in Japan too, so maybe I'm just too hung up on it.

Well that's understandable since you've had an up close and personal as well as distasteful experience with it firsthand. It's also easier to happily call oneself an otaku with pride if they haven't been exposed to such disgust and distain (myself included). It's easier to wear it as a badge of honor when you've never had to suffer any slings and arrows for it.

Nerd, geek, dork...etc.... Not exactly the same insults they once were thanks to popular culture. However, the "true lifestyle" that lead to those insults is still not looked highly upon even so. That's why I don't get why anyone would actually seek to be a "true" NEET/Hiki/otaku. Yup, I wanna be known as the leach that still lives at home sucking on mommy and daddy's tits while I just jerk off and watch anime or the guy who spends thousands on what amounts to junk that only exists to take one away from reality without any sense of moderation or maturity...(Sarcasm implied) I'd just call that being a loser, buuuut...we can't judge now a days, lest someone's precious feelings get hurt. But, what do I know?

@neet-one, I was going a little overboard with the computer. I've priced building my own for about $1300-1700. Though I was actually underestimating the cost of anime merch I want. Just to get all the related Bakemonogatari Blu-rays I want is around $1000 and for the Good Smile series of related figures is over $1500 so that's over $2500 just for one anime series out of over 100 I've seen and liked.

Riolis, you don't necessarily have to leach off your parents to be a NEET. I've know some who just work for a while to save up money then quit and live off their savings, There's also aid from disability as previously mentioned. There's also working only part time jobs to make the mare minimum of what one needs to get by with. Then there's also those who are simply self employed. Besides, if you're smart with your money you can stretch the few dollars you have pretty far. Mainly by suppressing shallow materialistic desires and avoiding unnecessary luxury items or wasteful spending. shawnji, all very true. loli_vampire, I'm sure you could cut those costs down a fair bit if you shop around and try to keep things a bit reasonable. Like buying stuff used or looking around for sales and stuff like that. Besides, you don't NEED to get everything related to a series you like, right? I guess 1300 for a new pc is fair though if you're also taking into account new monitors keyboard and mice.

@neet-one does it count as being a neet if you're working a part time job or self-employed? If I remember right, most countries' definition of not employed means being inactive economically (homemakers and such) or those currently looking for employment

My bad, its just a normal thing to associate NEET to leeching of parents (since the NEET part actually means not in edu, employment of any sort, and training, and Japan don't have unemployment benefits, so after a while you will end up leeching your relative). Its what generally accepted as that term, so its not really a good term to be attached to over here or in Japan. Those who work part time or self employed to make ends meet are usually called freeter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeter Hikki fits the bill of what you are saying but NEET in my mind is more of those who just give up on life and just leech of their parents without any reasonable excuse to it. If you are living off your wit and hard earn money or disabilities/benefits, sure, more power to you. If you are just lazy and given up on life and just leech off you parents, I just find those people, ughh. I had one of those when I was studying in Japan, he was a effing good artist, but quit school (which is expensive af that is payed by his parents) just to be engrossed with some bloody game. Waste of talent and life. And there I had to work part time every bloody night after school to pay for my school fees. /endrant

xueli, as Riolis pointed out Freeter may be more appropriate. Interesting stuff Riolis, and yeah it's understandable why one would have that image as it's the most common type of NEET by far.