Anime is a huge part of otaku culture, so it’s only natural that at a certain point anime would start to be about the culture it’s a part of. These series are as varied as otaku themselves: some funny, some somber, some light, and some serious.
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Yet all otaku anime, in one way or another, are celebrations of that culture. The life of an otaku isn’t always easy, and some of these anime are matter-of-fact about the lives of cultural outsiders. What connects and defines otaku is their passion, whether for computers, anime, games, or anything else. Others might not understand the appeal, but otaku will always get it. Some things are just worth obsessing over.
10Genshiken
Some of the best otaku anime is about the isolating aspects of the subculture. Being a rabid fan of something that most others don’t care about can leave one feeling isolated and vulnerable.Genshiken,however, is about the opposite: the way that otaku culture can draw people together,forging new friendships out of nothing more than a shared passion for a piece of fiction.
The series is about a college otaku club, and its well-rounded cast is great. They’re sincere and deep when the situation demands it, but most of the time they’re justfun and interesting,and it’s hard not to get caught up by their enthusiasm.
9Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken
An otaku anime about anime-obsessed otakus,Keep Your Hands Off Eizoukenis about as circular and self-knowing as a piece of media can be.The series stars three high school girls who form their own anime club under the guise of being a film club.It’s without question anunderrated comedy series.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizoukentakes every chance it gets to poke fun at the characters, their shared love, and the endless pursuit of anime excellence. With likable characters, charming art design, and strong pacing, this is one series that knows what it wants to offer fans and delivers at every turn.
8Lucky Star
If through some strange alchemical process,kawaii chibi greatnesscould be distilled into a single anime, that anime would beLucky Star.It doesn’t revolutionize the genre or expand the boundaries of what anime can be. What it does is present, in clear and simple turns,a slice-of-life story so cute and wholesome it’s hard not to feel giddy just talking about it.
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Schoolgirl Konata Izumi is her friend group’s resident otaku, and she is immediately endearing. It’s hard not to root for a kid that’s always falling behind in their studies because there are just too many games to play and anime to watch.
7Oreimo
Oreimoisn’t for kids. Kyosuke, its protagonist, becomes his sister Kirino’s emotional support after discovering her intense interest in certain problematic manga. It would be easy to dismissOreimoas merely lewd and tasteless for the sake of lewdness and tastelessness, but such critiques overlook something important.Oreimois sincere. Foolish and sometimes uncomfortable? Yes.
Yet sincerity reigns throughout.A major theme throughoutthis underrated seriesis the shame associated with being a passionate fan of something that others look down upon, an all-too-common otaku experience.Oreimonever turns its back on that subject.
6Outbreak Company
Outside of one-upping a classmate or dominating at trivia night, having an encyclopedia’s-worth of otaku knowledge is rarely helpful in the real world. Knowing an obscure bit of trivia is satisfying for its own sake, but that’s about it.
That’s what makes the premise ofOutbreak Companyso joyous: an otaku is whisked away on anisekai-style fantasy adventure,andevery useless fandom fact he ever learned is suddenly the key to his survival and that of his new friends.Seeing a character triumphbecause ofrather thanin spite oftheir quirky obsessions is an absolute blast, and that’s what this anime is all about.
5WataMote
WataMote(akaNo Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular!) tackles a real issue within certain segments of otaku culture: the point at which a person loses themselves in the fictional interaction of games because they’re simply safer. Exposing oneself emotionally has consequences in the real world: in video games, heartbreak can be scrubbed away by reverting to an earlier save.
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To best explore this issue,WataMotefocuses on dating sims, a genre of game with which the series protagonist is obsessed. Having established unrealistic expectations from relationships with game characters, the challenge becomes reconnecting with others in the real world, preferably without looking like a complete fool.
4The World God Only Knows
An interesting spin on otaku and isekai tropes,The World God Only Knowsis about a young man who prides himself on his ability to woo girls inanime-style video gamesbut has zero experience with actual relationships.
That could make for a serviceable anime in itself, butThe World God Only Knowsups the ante whenKeima bumbles his way into a demonic contract, forcing him to win-over real girls to capture evil spirits.The premise may be baffling, but the result is hilarity. With solid art and music to back it up,The World God Only Knowscan’t lose.
3Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku
It’s hard to do justice to even a single branch of otaku culture, and so most anime understandably concentrate their efforts in just one place rather than risk spreading themselves too thin.Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otakuis a rare series that tries to do justice to just about everything.
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A man obsessed with video games and a woman obsessed with yaoi collide. A relationship develops, and as it does, the two begin to explore one another’s interests, trying to understand just what’s so fascinating about the other’s hobby.Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otakuhas every opportunity to oversimplify or condescend, and it doesn’t. Instead, it paints a realistic portrait of what it’s like to share, and not share, interests.
2Bakuman
There are plenty ofunderrated, niche titlesthat for one reason or another sneak under the radar, even if their high quality deserves notice. Then there are series likeBakuman,a commercial and critical success that many anime and manga fans have heard of, even if they haven’t personally checked it out.
Bakumandeserves checking out. Following the lives of two manga artist friends determined to make their way in that competitive and challenging field,Bakumanis a love letter to otaku culture itself:the parts of it that beat one down and the parts of it that lift one higher than ever before.
1Welcome To The NHK
Tatsuhiro Satou is a hikikomori, a person with social anxiety so profound that in his 20s he gave up on the outside world and retreated to his apartment. He has little but his own obsessive interests to keep him company until a pushy stranger intrudes on his privacy and throws his life as a recluse into jeopardy.
A reclusive university dropout might seem like an odd choice for an anime protagonist, butTatsuhiro proves to be exactly the right focal point for the series.The series neither glamorizes nor denigrates the particular kind of otaku life he is living. It simply shows it as it is, and then shows that there might be other ways. Deep, sincere, and speculative,Welcome to the NHKis something special.
