What's so bad about being otaku(s)?

[tsubaki nakajima]

I live in the Philippines, which is one of the countries where anime is really popular. Although I knew some people identifying and classifying people as weebs and otakus here and there, they see otakus in a positive way. However, whenever I watch otakus being potrayed in an anime, show or movies in Japan they depict otakus in a negative way. Most of them either hide being one as if its contagious or they are so open about it a lot of people avoid them for being"weird" or "passionate" over something so trivial. I'm a little bit disappointed because here, I knew a lot of people watch them normally and they talk about animes to their friends. So,how come they hate something thats really normal for us? What's so negative about it?

[Sakurahime]

The thing about "otaku" is, that the term is used completely differently outside Japan than it is inside Japan. It's like "anime": in Japan it means any type of animation from anywhere in the world; outside Japan it means Japanese animation. So, there's a linguistic difference, and that is related to a cultural difference.
Outside Japan, an otaku is a nerd or a fan. Yes, they're passionate and spend time and money on their hobby, but it's still seen (by most people) as a healthy past time. In Japan, a fan and an otaku are completely different things. A fan is what Japanese people think of as a normal person, who happens to like something a lot. They might buy a keychain or talk about it a bit with their friends, but not much more. An otaku has an unhealthy obsession. An otaku will spend all of their time and money on this one thing, they may not go outside very much or socialize, and their room at home will often be a shrine, covered in memorabilia. They may not eat well, and are stereotyped as having a low-status job.
In Japan, people are a lot more private in general, and it seems to be thought of as a bad thing if you're too focused on one thing. It might be because Japan is a group-based society, so people worry that if you're too distracted by your obsession then you won't do what is expected of you as part of the group. Social relationships are very important, and neglecting them is very bad etiquette.

[minervasirius]

At first it was okay, those who are not into animes and such tolerate them. It's only when some of the diehard fans took it to then next level where other people start to feel "cringey" over what they do.

[Louie]

I think that being an otaku is "OK" as long as you will be able to properly balance your lifestyle. I mean there are people who are too engrossed with anime, manga, light novel culture that it gives off a very bad impression. This is probably the reason why otaku's in Japan are looked down upon because of this "excessive and sometimes agressive act" towards these genres. Of course, that is only my opinion and the difference in culture can really play a part on opinions. There are also people called NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and the majority of them are otakus (which also adds to their bad reputation). I think that having a proper balance in everything can make things work. As long as you are able to function in society and enjoy your hobby then everything will be "Daijoubu!"

[minervasirius]

another derogatory term people call them is "weaboo"

[Sakurahime]

I can understand why you might use "weeaboo" as well as otaku, but they are slightly different terms. Some weeaboo are probably otaku, but not all otaku are weeaboo.
You got me interested in the where the word came from, so I looked it up. I couldn't find a 100% reliable source as to where "weeaboo" came from, but it seems to have started on 4chan.
A weeaboo is someone who isn't Japanese and doesn't live in Japan, who idolises certain parts of Japanese culture, and may even think it's better than their own country. Apparently some of them even believe that what happens in anime is real life! It's quite a vague description, but I can understand that some people might want to give a label to this behaviour. I know it annoys me when I hear gratuitous use of Japanese!

[SpaceManatee]

Yeah, my understanding of a weeaboo is someone who only gets a surface level understanding of Japanese culture and language, despite their intense interest. They would be the ones to litter their English with occasional Japanese words like "kawaii" or "baka".

[Thanh Binh]

I think otaku is not really bad as you said,
In my country Vietnam, many people admin themselves are Otaku and they said it's just like a fan of club but they are fans of the culture. In the past, I am the one who does not like Otaku because I have seen some "over" things. Some of Otaku are overreacted or they are obsessed about a character that they forgot about themselves. I hope that the image of Otaku might be more positive.

[adelaide]

A weeaboo is someone who isn't Japanese and doesn't live in Japan, who idolises certain parts of Japanese culture, and may even think it's better than their own country.

Interesting. That's the first time I've heard of this word actually, thanks for the research. So basically they are people who are not Japanese but likes Japan so much.

I know that there are a lot of people in the world now who are really loving the Japanese culture specially their Anime shows. And that's not really bad. I would say it's just the same as being a fan of any celebrities that people would recognize. Just like what Thanh Binh said, they're like a fans club. Nothing more.

Being an Otaku is not really being bad because you're just expressing your love for other things like anime shows and other pop culture idols.

However, there is one definition that I've seen in the internet about them that might be the source of this negativity if you're an Otaku. Generally, an Otaku is an anime hardcore fan. In Japan though, it literally means "house" to indicate that you're someone who just stays inside the house without any social life. Still, so far there's nothing wrong about that.

In Wikipedia though it says "Otaku is a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests, particularly in anime and manga." I couldn't find any other source for this so far but if this is true, then that might be the source of the derogatory term Otaku. Since being obsessed can either be good or bad. And frankly, in my opinion, being obsesses with anything is really bad.

[thatha]

I used to think being "otaku" was a bad thing because of all the bad things that are associated with it in Japan.
I remember about a decade ago, anime was a lot about big boobs and big butts so I thought it was something to attract men that liked that sort of stuff. But today, I really appreciate this culture. Although things can get irrelevant to reality in Japan, it is a way to get people around the world interested in Japanese culture. I think that nowadays, the stories in anime and graphics are so good and it is a type of art that is easy for anyone to relate to and understand.
I also think, since Japanese live in a society full of rules and categorization (people will judge and categorize people like the example of NEET by Louie) without too much freedom, anime is what helps authors and fans of anime to cope with stress and help them imagine a world they would like to live in.
There are extreme cases as well where a Japanese guy married a Japanese character (Hatsune Miku) which is pretty crazy but I guess love is love. I watch his documentary and he was suffering from heavy bulling at work and his family never gave him support so he would turn in to anime or Hastune Miku and fall in love with her because he thought she cared about him the most. Some people are just looking for comfort and find it in anime I guess.
It is pretty crazy what anime can do to you because it can have good and negative effects. That's why being otaku can be controversial. But I think it is at least important to appreciate anime to a certain extent and respect otaksus as human beings.