In Korean society, manga and anime otaku are still perceived in a negative light. This is due to Japanese events and media distortions, as well as social obsession with hobbies that are considered inappropriate for their age.

What does otaku mean in South Korea?

In South Korea, it takes a lot of courage to say that your hobby is watching manga or anime. This is because such a self-description is interpreted to mean that the person is an otaku who is obsessed with Japanese manga or anime. Otaku is a Japanese word that originally referred to a person who is passionate about a particular field or hobby, but in Korea, it has been used in a distorted sense. In particular, manga and anime otaku have a much more negative image than other fields. Let’s take a look at how this image came to be in Korea and why manga and anime otaku are perceived more negatively than other fields.

Negative connotations of otaku

When you think of otaku, there’s a certain image that comes to mind. Despite being an adult, they’re obsessed with fictional characters from manga and anime, they’re fat, wear glasses, and have tons of pimples. However, the etymology and original meaning of otaku is a bit different. The word otaku originally means “home” in Japanese, and is used as an honorific to refer to a house. If a fan is someone who is enthusiastic about a hobby or preference, an enthusiast is someone who is both enthusiastic and able to articulate their own clear criteria, and an otaku is someone who takes it a step further and has an expert level of discernment. This raises a question. Otaku is a word that can be applied to any field, but the question arises as to why it is currently used primarily to describe people who enjoy manga and anime as a hobby.
To understand this prejudice that the public has, we need to look at its origins. First, in Japan, the country of origin, when otaku were first introduced to the public, media distortions emphasized only the sensational and unorthodox aspects. In 1989, there was a case of the murder of four girls, and the arrested killer, Tsutomu Miyazaki, was the typical otaku that many people now associate with the term. During the broadcast, reporters showed his room to the public, and this is how otaku became known to the world. Tsutomu’s room was piled high with over 6000 videotapes, and the floor was littered with manga magazines that clearly showed Tsutomu Miyazaki’s sexual orientation. After this incident, otaku became synonymous with potential perverted killers who would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.
And it’s not just in Japan that otaku have been negatively stereotyped. With the bursting of Japan’s economic bubble in the 1990s and beyond, along with a societal emphasis on efficiency, productivity, and conformity to social norms, otaku culture was seen as an “abnormal hobby” that deviated from these social norms. Japanese society began to perceive otaku as irresponsible people who did not contribute to society. This, in turn, led to the perception that adults who were obsessed with manga and anime were not fulfilling their social roles, further reinforcing the negative image of otaku.
In South Korea, otaku were introduced in a similar way. The deregulation of the broadcasting law in 2008 led to a surge in the number of cable channels, and broadcasters needed more stimulating content to survive the fierce competition. For cable channels that wanted to attract the public’s attention, the still-unknown existence of otaku was very appealing. Eventually, they were first introduced to the public through an exaggerated and distorted broadcast by a cable channel. The protagonist of the show went on a date with a pillow with his favorite manga character on it, attempted a wedding photo shoot, and did other things that would be incomprehensible to the general public and even to otaku who share the same hobby. Of course, the show made a big splash and had a huge impact, with otaku appearing in the search rankings of every major search engine. The show focused on the main character’s excessive hobbies and inability to distinguish between reality and fiction, which naturally led to misunderstandings among the public, who were exposed to otaku for the first time.
After the cable channel incident, manga and anime otaku were seen as social misfits and objects of scorn. Despite the fact that Tsutomu Miyazaki and the cable channel’s protagonist are very rare and extreme examples of otaku, the public perceived them as representative of the entire group. Because of these sensationalized incidents, the term otaku still carries a negative connotation, and many people assume that otaku refers to anyone who likes Japanese manga or anime.

Age-appropriate hobbies and Korean obsessions

Of course, the meaning of otaku has changed over time. It’s now used in a much wider range of fields than it used to be, and it’s often used in a friendly way. However, when it’s used in other fields, such as “classical music otaku” or “baseball otaku,” it’s used in a positive way, with connotations of admiration and respect, while it’s still used negatively in reference to anime and manga. Why is it that while the word otaku has become positive, the negative perception of manga and anime otaku has not disappeared?
In a generation that has benefited from mass media, there are very few people who grew up without watching manga and anime as a child. Even today, many children love anime like Pororo, and teenagers are the main audience for webtoons, which are the mainstay of the Korean comics market. If the public’s aversion to manga and anime otaku was simply due to human wariness of unfamiliar cultures, this generation would be less prejudiced against them. But that’s not actually the case. On the contrary, people between the ages of 10 and 30 are the ones who first encountered the word otaku, used it most actively, and are the ones who have built in the current prejudices. So the idea that they have negative perceptions of manga and anime otaku because it’s unfamiliar to them is not convincing.
Intuitively, it is hard to understand why otaku in manga and anime, a hobby they have had and once enjoyed, would be perceived more negatively than otaku in many other fields in which they have no experience or knowledge. However, it is understandable when you consider the obsession with a set life course that exists in Korean society. In Korean society, there are certain milestones that must be completed by age in order to live a successful life. Koreans live a life where they always have to “do something” to stay on track. They have to go to English kindergarten, go to hagwons, and prepare well for college entrance exams to get into a good university. After graduation, they need to get a good job, get married, have children, and so on, and many people feel compelled to follow a set sequence of steps to succeed in life. Failure to complete even one of these steps can make Koreans feel like they’ve failed at life, and seeing someone around them who has failed even one of these steps can make them feel superior and relieved. In Korea, the negative view of manga otaku is similar to the view of a loser who has failed to complete a certain step and is therefore left behind. This is because watching manga and anime as an adult is seen as a hobby that is not appropriate for your age.