What he needs is a woman to tend to his penis! Seriously, I’m not opposed to masturbation or mutually consensual sex (I am opposed to porn), but what exactly do you mean by sexually deprived, that he doesn’t have a living breathing depository for bodily fluids? Maybe, women don’t want to have sex with him, just ’cause, and no amount of steady job having or shower taking or culinary expertise or anything else is going to change this situation, and that he’s not having sex, doesn’t make him deprived (or a bad person). Anyways, I keep meaning to get around to seeing this, but never have, I’ve seen some of Genshiken though and think that that’s good.

I had them saved from some reason:

like my dreams are a tent I’m turning inside out
the pattern made of happier times becomes plain and boring again
just like paper rots and turns yellow

knock knock knock
embracing a silent space,
hitting the walls uselessly,
leaving everything unsaid

knock knock knock
embracing the pitch black night sky,
traveling into the boundless universe…
welcome to one all alone
one all alone… one all alone

at the city left at the bottom of the sea
your smile disappears into a green shadow
you speak to me only of regrets
like othello, while breaking up light

knock knock knock
overflowing with the heartbreak of our fantasies
a flood in my mouth and ears and eyes;
the all-pervasive media is soaked up by my brain

knock knock knock
because of the loss of gravity
I realize my empty uselessness…
welcome to one all alone
one all alone… one all alone

Describes Tatsuhiro quite well, even throws in some conspiracy stuff.

@Cameron: If you don’t see being an otaku as a bad thing, at least in Japanese terms (the US definition mainly translates to ‘anime geek’, which isn’t nearly as bad as what we’re seeing here), I do recommend you try watching this. It will open your eyes. There are many different levels of ‘otaku’, but what I saw in this was mostly just an obsession that’s being amplified ten times over in compensation for certain other things that are lacking in that otaku’s life. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the one guy drawing naked girls in his one-man apartment is sexually deprived.

@LWL: Well, I think the difference between this and something like Welcome to the NHK is that Otaku no Video depicts its otaku in live action, as in real, living people. I’d definitely find Welcome to the NHK a lot harder to watch if it was live action, so I guess the anime acts as a kind of safety net that prevents things from getting too depressing. Anyway, if you liked Welcome to the NHK, I’d recommend you take a look at this, because it isn’t all that hard to watch, it’s just that the low points are LOW.

By the way, have you got English lyrics for Youkoso! Hitori Bocchi? I’ve never understood what the song was about, but it has such a melancholly sound.

@j.valdez: Indeed, I suspect those interviews may have been exaggerated, but they are realistic to a point where, like you say, they wouldn’t exactly have a hard time finding real ’specimens’ anyway. Kind of disappointing they didn’t interview a female otaku at all. Also, it would be interesting to see if much would change in Otaku no Video if it was made today rather than 1991.

I agree on the literal here, “there is totally a difference between cartoons and anime.” However, the difference is totally subjective.

Haha, now Youkoso! Hitori Bocchi is depressing. It hit me almost as hard as the entire series. Amazing song, I can only listen to it once or twice per month.

And if you are going to re-watch it, I suggest you take a look at the dub.

As far as it goes, I haven’t really watched any of these type of shows, but I’ve heard a lot about them, mostly good, and one of these days I do plan on getting Genshiken and Welcome to the NHK (right after I finish buying Zipang). But for the most part I’m kind of torn on it. I mean I don’t think being an Otaku is a bad thing (especially not in America), but I also wonder how well that really translates past the culture that created it. But that’s just me.

Also, I’ve got the first three volumes of Mechademia. Haven’t read any of them (yet). May be I’m not yet ready for such esoteric articles about anime? It’s one of those times where I’m wondering whether it’s worth the effort to wrap my head around something that’s supposed to be fun, but feels like a lot of work too.

@Wildcard/Ez: When I was writing this article, I was thinking about Welcome to the NHK but totally forgot to include it (ironically I was worrying whether or not I’d mentioned Genshiken too much, WttNHK would have been perfect.) Thanks for reminding me of that, as Otaku no Video is totally like Welcome to the NHK, right down to how there is this pervasive sense of self-loathing bubbling under the surface of the otaku interviews (that sounds horrible, but I think there’s a lot of value in that kind of self-criticism too). I wouldn’t mind watching WttNHK again, thinking back on it, it was a really great series, especially compared to what we’re dealing with at the moment. *Listens to Youkoso! Hitori Bocchi*