Suddenly, A Truckload of Self-Insert Characters (And the Idol-Fan Relationship) – K-On!! Episode 7

In perhaps the zaniest (though strangely lowest-budget) episode of K-On!! yet, we are formally introduced to Mio’s fan club – evidently a storyline in the manga that fans have long been hoping would be adapted this season (and which, I note, was the episode that most felt like reading a 4-koma manga to me.) I think it’s pretty obvious that the fan club is a played-straight parody of diehard otaku, and KyoAni being what they are, there is perhaps no one more qualified to write about otaku.

Which is why it’s very interesting to see that this is one of the most respectful portrayals of otaku (maybe the fact that the word is never used could even be considered respectful) that I’ve seen in anime, as well as a refreshing take on the age-old plot of a famous person dealing with fans that are more or less intruding on her life.

Loving Your Fellow Fan – It's All A Rich Tapestry! (Also: I Learn to Truly Understand the Thirst for Akihabara)

It’s quite evident that we of the anime blogosphere have a great love for our fellow fan. After all, we spend a lot of time reading anime blogs (yes, it’s crazy that I post 3 times a day, but you’re also crazy for reading three posts by me a day!) and we allow the views and opinions of others to enhance our fandoms and our lives. It is, however, because I share such a strong bond with anime bloggers that I feel I almost try to ‘do too much with them,’  like a clingy girlfriend. I’m sure that some of you do the same as well, as I feel that the blogosphere moves at a pace and has a livelihood that wouldn’t be possible if we spent most of our time interacting with fans of other groups. However, every so often I remember that anime fans are a vast, vast sea of people, and many of them have a lot to offer us. Just as a sheltered person would never be able to gain enough experience to have worldly knowledge and grow an epic wizard beard, a sheltered anime fan may be disallowing their beard to fully grow. That might not be a problem for everyone, but for a guy like me who strives to be the biggest otaku possible, I find it important to make sure I’m getting the ‘full experience.’

Allow Me To Make The Otaku Elimination Game's Job Much Easier For Them

I haven’t made any posts about the Otaku Elimination Game yet because all of the posts I’ve read about it were completely lame. All the same either butthurt or celebratory commentary – I don’t care about that stuff. Bitching about it is just feeding the troll anyway – however, OEG has proved, I think, that they are not trolls. They are assholes, sure, but not trolls, because they really are strictly adhering to their message of purging the incorrect usage of the word otaku, whether they like the users or not. Because they have shown several times that unlike trolls, they actually read the comments and posts directed at them, I decided to do a post that should make their job somewhat easier, and set in stone whether or not they can be called real practitioners of their cause.

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Twenty: 5-1) FINAL

The twentieth and final post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

oh. my. god.

Well, folks, here we are! “The final post in 100 Characters For 100 Otaku!” It’s been a long and crazy ride, exciting every step of the way, but it’s finally time for the whole thing to end. I hope you’ve enjoyed what I sincerely hope will be remembered as my most epic and experimental post series to date (don’t worry, I’ll top this one day!) That being said, let’s cap it all off, baby! It’s time for the top five!!!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Nineteen: 10-6)

The nineteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

This is it! The top 10! We’re almost at the end of “100 Characters For 100 Otaku!!!” I think it’s pretty funny how the fairly even, if not somewhat male-dominated list took a sudden shift in the top thirty to being most women, hehe. Let’s see if the trend continues as we dive into 10 down through 6! By the way, be sure to check out Mainichi Anime Yume where the author is doing his own 100 character list!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Eighteen: 15-11)

The eighteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

It’s truly down to the wire as we enter the final three posts in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku!” Has your favorite character shown up yet? If not, don’t fret – while it’s true I may have left them out on purpose, there’s a high chance I have never heard of your favorite character or not seen enough of their work. If there is someone you think I should know about, by all means, recommend them to me as convincingly as you can! Meanwhile, let’s see 15 through 11!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Seventeen: 20-16)

The seventeenth post in “100 characters For 100 Otaku.”

I feel like we’ve reached the final stretch of “100 Characters For 100 Otaku” as we enter the top 20! From this point on, the characters gain a very real importance to me. We’ve been on a steady incline of character importance, but now there’s a very steep jump into characters that I truly love. So let’s see what they have to offer! We’re rolling 20 down through 16!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Sixteen: 25-21)

The sixteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

It’s down to the top 25 in the “100 Characters For 100 Otaku” series! Truly, it feels like we are in the final stretch! Incidentally, if you’ve been reading all this time, I’m sure you’ve seen the hints at the bottom of the posts of characters to come. Have you been able to guess them at all? Today, I’m going to make them especially hard, and you have to post your guesses! Now, let’s get started with numbers 25 down through 21!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Fifteen: 30-26)

The fifteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

We’re three-fourths of the way through “100 Characters For 100 Otaku!” Originally, the series was only going to be five posts long, with each containing twenty characters! I quickly realized this was not possible when I started writing the first post in my notebook, and decided to shorten it to ten posts, but once I transferred it to the computer, I knew it would have to be twenty! Today’s quarry are numbers 30 down through 26, so let’s check ’em out!

100 Characters For 100 Otaku (Part Fourteen: 35-31)

The fourteenth post in “100 Characters For 100 Otaku.”

Can you believe it’s been two whole weeks since “100 Characters For 100 Otaku” began? Neither can I! But it’s still a’runnin and heading on towards the finale! We’ve still got a good week more before that, though, so keep on stickin’ around! Today we have numbers 35 down through 31 to play with, so let’s get into it!