REEXAMINING AND REEVALUATING OTAKU CONSUMPTION: A POSTSTRUCTURALIST APPROACH TO SLICE-OF-LIFE ANIME

Abstract

By adopting a media studies and cultural studies approach, this thesis seeks to reexamine otaku consumption, showing how the current theories of otaku consumption are insufficient in accounting for numerous aspects of otaku behavior today. Analyzing the genre of slice-of-life anime illustrates how narratives have not become subordinate to the database. Instead, narratives are created by the otaku by linking together various narrative elements extracted from anime series using the narrative database. It is these fan-created narratives that are responsible for imbuing the fictional worlds of anime with a sense of reality. Far from being individuals who cannot discern between fiction and reality, the otaku embrace these fictional realities in order to compensate for a failure to adhere to traditional notions of masculinity. By engaging in liminal 2.5D experiences, the otaku further narrow the gap between fiction and reality, increasing the intimacy that they experience with fictional female characters.