And this our otaku office of late - photo taken yesterday after shooting for the Worldwide Otaku Report finally due out this May.

The word "Otaku" is interpreted in different ways by different folks. For example terms such as "Wine Otaku" and "Train Otaku" refer to folks who are specialists on these subjects.

The most popular definition of an "Otaku" in Japan however is what the mainstream media portrays - just like what you saw in the feature above.

The issue here is that the masses start to think that we are all the same spending money on anime goodies rather than food. The important thing is to not hide your interests. I know of many people who are into anime, manga, figures or dolls but dont discuss or share their interests because they fear what others around them would think and end up living the life of others.

Not all otaku are like the one featured in that TV slot and its important to let folks know this by sharing your interests with others on and offline - or what would end up happening is that we continue to get labeled as being ronery-rather-buy-anime-goodies-than-eat otaku which continues to make it difficult for some folks to share their passions for anime.