Ask John: Who’s The New American Otaking?
Question:
Former Gainax Prez Toshio Okada bestowed the title of Otaking to the late Steve Pearl, but with his passing who is Otaking now?
Answer:
Toshio Okada was a co-founder of anime studio Gainax, has taught anime studies at the prestigious University of Tokyo, and was bestowed the nickname “Otaking” by his peers in the anime community. Given Okada’s background, the title seems to recognize his passion for anime, his personal devotion to the hobby, and his tremendous contributions to the popularization of the medium. Okada nominated Steve Pearl as the American Otaking in 1995. Pearl founded some of America’s first anime fan clubs, launched numerous anime fanzines, contributed to numerous early American anime magazines including Protoculture Addicts, Animeco, and Animerica, and may be most fondly remembered for moderating and frequently posting on Usenet’s rec.arts.anime.misc newsgroup. I never met Steve Pearl in person, but I do recall reading his newsgroup posts in my own early days as a hardcore anime fan. If any Americans have ever deserved the title of “Otaking,” Steve Pearl was certainly among that small number.
The inherent implication of the title “Otaking,” or “King of Otaku,” suggests that the title should always be attached to someone. As long as anime fans exist, one of them will be the most devoted and most prominent. However, the spirit of the title seems to refer to more than just prominent devotion. If the title “Otaking” denotes significant contribution to the advancement of anime and otaku culture in addition to just personal obsession, I must wonder not only whether any current day American fan is worthy of the title, but also whether the title is even still viable for attribution in America. Steve Pearl made tremendous contributions to the establishment of anime fandom in America. That fandom is now established. No one else can claim credit for helping launch the American anime fan community. Mr. Fred Patten may be the only peer of Steve Pearl who deserves “Otaking” status for his pivotal contributions to the appreciation of Japanese anime culture (note that I’m specifically referring to anime – not manga) in America. In fact, Fred Patten is probably more deserving of the title than even Steve Pearl was. However, with onsetting age and health concerns, Mr. Patten has not been especially prominent in the contemporary digital age of anime. While Patten did publish his book Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews in 2004, he’s not been an outspoken authority on contemporary anime like Suzumiya Haruhi, K-On, Code Geass, Death Note, and emerging talents like Mamoru Hosoda, Kenji Kamiyama, and Masaaki Yuasa. I don’t wish to demean Mr. Patten’s tremendous contributions to America’s anime community at all, but should the title of “Otaking” be granted now, it should be granted to someone who’s greatest relevance and contribution has been contemporary.
I’ve always been reluctant to even refer to myself as an “otaku,” much less “Otaking” since I’ve long believed that the depth of my devotion and obsession with anime is still shallow when compared to that of Japan’s most obsessive fans. (And whether that’s a good or bad status, I won’t begin to consider.) Furthermore, I recoil at the thought of anyone claiming the title. “Otaking” is a facetious, dubious honor that absolutely must be acknowledged and granted by peers. Applying the title to oneself is egomaniacal and almost certainly not valid. Mike Toole has been a prominent, outspoken, and well-versed American anime fan for about the same duration I have been. Toole has a greater knowledge of English dubbed anime, including obscure dubs, than I do while I suspect that I have slightly more first-hand experience watching a larger variety of Japanese language anime shows. However, I’m not convinced that either of our contributions to the advancement of America’s anime fan culture have rivaled the respective contributions made by Toshio Okada, Steve Pearl, or Fred Patten. Justin Sevakis has made significant contributions to the advancement of of America’s fan community. However, if the attributes of “Otaking” include noticeable prominence in the fan community and comprehensive, obsessive devotion to all types and genres of anime, than I’m not convinced that Sevakis fully qualifies for the title, either. Chris Beveridge has undeniably made tremendous contributions to the evolution of the American fan community, and if anyone in America deserves the most recognition for both being a devoted fan and an influential proponent of anime, it may be Beveridge. However, the scope of Beveridge’s knowledge of anime and experience watching anime – particularly vintage, obscure, and import-only anime – may cast doubt on his candidacy for the title of “Otaking.”
I intend no disrespect to myself, Chris Beveridge, Mike Toole, or Justin Sevakis. Rather, I’m uncertain of whether it’s possible for any contemporary American anime fan to comprehensively combine the attributes of being obsessively fascinated with the art of Japanese animation, prominent in the fan community, and instrumental in the advancement of anime culture. Mike Toole, Justin Sevakis, and I represent certain aspects of those attributes, but I’m not convinced that any of us encapsulate all of them. In fact, I’m uncertain of how any American individual can, these days, single-handedly make a landmark contribution to the establishment or advancement of anime fan culture in America. Perhaps an American anime otaku launching a Japanese-style anime production house in America and introducing a new brand of genuine American “anime” would qualify, but that hasn’t happened yet. The spread of the internet and the ease of availability of anime and anime information has created countless Americans who are very devoted and very knowledgeable about anime. The “Otaking” stood head and shoulders above his peers, but in today’s American anime community I perceive only industry professionals who aren’t obsessively devoted otaku, contributors to American otaku culture who aren’t well recognized as tremendous, experienced fans, and hundreds of thousands of ordinary otaku, some of whom are just a bit more outspoken or recognized than others. I don’t see an obvious nominee for “Otaking” in today’s American anime community, in part, perhaps because the American anime community itself has leveled out to an extent that there’s little possibility for any individual to earn noted respect in a variety of simultaneous efforts all related to anime fandom. I’m sure that such singularity is still possible, but I don’t see any single American right now that is widely recognized and respected as a comprehensive anime fan who has made significant contributions to the broadening or evolution of America’s fan community.
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In my humble opinion, I doubt there would be another that could deserve the title. Mainly, it would be because with the internet coming of its own since the early days of modern anime fandom, there is more than one voice championing anime here on this side of the Pacific and as we move forward, there will be even more. It has become not so much of a kingdom with one king over all like it was portrayed when Pearl was picked, but many smaller republics with their own leaders picked out by their peers.
We all know it’s Daryl Surat. 😉
“Perhaps an American anime otaku launching a Japanese-style anime production house in America and introducing a new brand of genuine American ‘anime’ would qualify, but that hasn’t happened yet.”
I had the same thought. It’s obvious to celebrate those who pushed anime and its fandom to its current level of prominence in the US, but it’s hard to know where to go from here now that we are established as _consumers_ of anime. One could imagine founding an American Gainax, but it’s hard to imagine what kind of content they would produce (how would it relate to Japan’s animation tradition?), and how they will make a profit in an environment where small companies find it hard enough to sell preexisting anime to consumers at rock-bottom prices, or even via ad-supported web streaming. There are (I imagine) significant cultural barriers in convincing a large enough quantity of teenagers & 20-somethings to watch animation geared for their demographic, as opposed to the firmly established “comics culture” in Japan.
I’m not trying to be eternally pessimistic, because someone very creative could very well figure out how to make a young-adult-oriented animation scene in the US, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the anime fandom we have now is roughly in its final state in terms of us being consumers and not producers or drivers of any creative industry. That would mean, of course, no more American Otakings. At least it makes sense that there aren’t any that come to mind for this point in time.
I have to go with Carl Gustav Horn. I have always been impressed with his insight and knowledge Japanese pop culture, from his essays on Evangelion published in each volume of Viz’s release of the manga, to his “liner notes” currently features in Dark Horse’s release of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.