NEETs/hikki/real otaku

Hardly animekid, people in committees like this just tend to have very casual and passive interests in the these things yet still call themselves 'otaku' because they think it's cool or want that sense of identity that comes with associating themselves with a social group. I wouldn't say it takes much to be a 'real' otaku but it's easier just to pretend to be one for most people. Just look at the anime section of the forum, half the topics are superficially related to anime on a meta level or talk about anime in very broad general terms, and when they do actually talk about anime it's usually older stuff that isn't relative anymore. You wouldn't call yourself a movie buff if you've only seen 10-20 popular movies in your life time from the mid to late 90s and only talk about those movies exclusively would you? So why call yourself an otaku if you've only seen a handful of the most popular anime with most of them being from nearly a decade ago? To answer Assam's question; by real otaku I mean people who have a real interest in this stuff. Not posers who couldn't name a single currently airing series if their life depended on it.

No I am not a real NEET... I don´t think I am even a real nerd. Yes I do have interest in anime and manga but it´s only a hobby to me and I just watch a few episodes 1-2 times á week.

@neet I have noticed many people act hipster with current anime. I consider myself an otaku but who knows. All i know is that aside from money spent on gifts for people or food then virtually every dollar I've spent in my life went towards anime/manga or it was tied to anime/manga in some way. Many of the series I've watched have been older series or shows that have been easier to watch because they were already complete so I didn't have to wait to watch an episode. I've always hungrily watched any free anime I could. The most I've ever watched at one time was when I watched 9 series at once. http://myanimelist.net/profile/animekidforever I recently made an account on myanimelist though it's not finished yet. I'm about halfway through what I need to add so far(minus movies because I never kept track if the movies I've watched nor the manga).

I wish I was a NEET with an otaku room with $10,000 worth of anime merch and a $5,000 multi monitor gaming computer but since I don't come from a rich family, haven't won the lottery or get ssi income for personality disorders or social anxiety that keeps me from working it means I have to work as many hours as possible to barely afford rent and a car and a crap laptop and no anime merch.

Vamp, Adulting is a bitch. If I had the money, I'd have a few series, but I'm no where near obsessed enough to ever truly be an "otaku". Most people use the word playfully since as an adult watching them Japanese cartoons is considered "childish" or some such crap. Otaku, as it's being put forth here, is an unhealthy obsession.

Would love to be a NEET, but it was a choice of NEET, homeless and dumpster diving, or adulting, living life and enjoying my hobbies. NEET, is a very unhealthy state of mind IMHO. Why be content with such a small kingdom when there's a world out there for you to see.

animekid, you're right it does seem like it's been getting some hipster attention lately. It's just like with the folks who claim to be into retro gaming but rather than playing said games they just wear stuff with NES controllers printed on them and leave it at that. Anyways, I don't think appreciating classic stuff in itself is bad, it's just lots of people never try to move past that stuff and become very out of touch with modern anime. loli_vampire, You don't need $5000 for a multi monitor gaming computer. You can get a high end gaming rig for $1000, or even get a nice set up for $500 if you're a careful shopper and willing to compromise in a few places. Also, ssi income pays barely enough to live off of for most people on it. Even on minimum wage you'd almost certainly make more at any job than you'd get off ssi. Besides, $10,000 is pretty extreme. I've got a pretty sizable collection of anime related stuff myself with a room that gets lots of compliments when posted online but still wouldn't say I've spent more than maybe $4000 over the years on the stuff in my room. Buying anime merch does add up but no where near to that extent unless you're completely addicted to online shopping or something like that. Riolis, You can be a NEET and still enjoy life or explore the world if you want. If anything being NEET gives you a lot more time to enjoy those hobbies.

Not many have loaded parent to support their NEET needs though and able to explore the world and all that with someone else's dime. You are considered very lucky to be able to do that.