The otaku image was dealt a serious blow in 1989, when 26-year-old Tsutomu Miyazaki raped, killed and ate 4 young children. The police found a massive collection of (partly pornographic) anime and manga in his apartment, and the Japanese media went crazy.

In the US, where the pressure to “fit in” is slightly different, the word has been proudly reappropriated by anime enthusiasts.

• Otaku (Wikipedia)
  
• The Politics of Otaku
  (aka: “There’s nothing wrong with being an otaku!”)
  
• ‘I’m alone, but not lonely’
  Japanese Otaku-Kids colonize the Realm of Information and Media
  
• Amateur manga subculture and the otaku panic
  Detailed paper published in the Journal of Japanese Studies (1998)
  
• F*ckin’ Otaku
  

Costumes are often based on popular anime characters, or visual-kei musicians. Usually, this has no sexual focus, but the tight outfits and element of fantasy have made cosplay a significant part of modern Japanese sexuality.

The idea of cosplay was brought to Japan from the US in the 1970s. At an annual Tokyo comic book convention, salesmen dressed up as Kirk and Spock as a gimmick to sell Star Trek magazines.

There are about 50,000 regular cosplayers in Japan. Every weekend, urban Japan sees a bizarre parade of colorful outfits. Tokyo’s Akihabara district has a number of cosplay cafes, where enthusiasts can meet like-minded people, show-off their costumes, and exchange ideas. With waitresses dressed in a variety of provocative outfits, these cafes have created a growing otaku community in the area.

Costumes have always been popular with anime and sci-fi fans in the West, where it’s sometimes referred to as Masquerade. However, the Japanese take it much more seriously, complementing their disguises by throwing themselves deeply into their roles. As long as they look like their hero, their every action, utterance, and thought comes from that character.

While US cosplayers generally only dress up for conventions, Japanese cosplay is a central part of a fan’s private life, filling their spare time and weekends. This dedication is starting to filter into cosplay culture in the US.

Cosplay has a number of subcultures. Cameko (“camera kozo”, or camera boys) are otaku who don’t dress up, but make a hobby of photographing cosplayers. A smaller niche group are “dollers”, who wear masks to fully immerse themselves in role.

• Cosplay.com
  Includes cosplay news, galleries and forums
  
• What is Cosplay?
  Focuses on cosplay in the West
  
• ‘Akihabara becomes geek sex paradise’
  

They often use famous characters from popular anime, manga and computer games, making yaoi similar to “slash fiction” (erotica featuring fictional male characters, i.e. Kirk/Spock) in the West.

Surprisingly, most of the readers and writers are female. The magazines are especially popular among schoolgirls and housewives.

• Yaoi (Wikipedia)
• Anti Yaoi Fans
  A place for people who hate yaoi in anime, video games and manga

This is most popular genre of PC games in Japan, but they are almost unknown in the West, because very few are translated or marketed outside East Asia.

The two main categories are ren’ai games (dating simulators) and H games (“H” standing for hentai, or pervert). The degree of pornography is usually quite mild in ren’ai games, but some H games contain hardcore brutality and fetishism.

The depiction of women in these games is interesting. They are always idealized: with “perfect” bodies, enormous sparkling eyes and crystal-cut features. They tend to be extremely cute and feminine – even when a character initially appears to be confident and powerful, she will eventually be revealed as playful and passive. They are usually aged 14 to 17, appealing to the Lolita complex in Japanese male society.

• Bishoujo Games
• English Language Bishoujo Gaming

The studio has been a massive success, notably producing international hits like ‘Mononoke Hime’ (‘Princess Mononoke’) and ‘Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi’ (‘Spirited Away’).

His work is remarkable for its compelling characters, entertaining stories and intelligent treatment of serious social and environmental issues.

• The Hayao Miyazaki Web

Kusanagi, a robot with a human brain, leads a covert operations team in a hi-tech chase with ‘The Puppet Master’, a master cyber criminal who is hacking into people’s minds.

Breaking new ground, it was one of the first animated films to blend traditional cel animation with CGI.

It’s also another Japanese anime to which ‘The Matrix’ trilogy owes an enormous debt – from directly “borrowed” shots to ideas about “ghost hacking” and the relationship between perception and reality.

• IMDb: Kokaku kidotai (1995)
• Matrix and Ghost in the Shell
  Scene-by-scene comparison between the two films

In a nightmarish future Tokyo, blown apart by a huge WWIII nuclear blast, an aimless motorcycle gang stumble across “Akira” – a terrifying government secret which may destroy everyone.

The characters and emotions of ‘Akira’ are basic, but the film has been a inspiration for more recent movies like ‘The Matrix’, and will remain a cult classic in the future.

• IMDb: Akira (1988)
• Akira: a beginner’s guide

His mission is to make a success of Nobita, a lazy, bullied boy living in a poor Tokyo suburb. Despite Doraemon having a magic pocket, from which he can pull any amazing gadget, Nobita’s incompetence makes this task almost impossible.

Although the stories are simple and the animation is basic, Doraemon’s wistfulness and humanity have caught the imaginations of Japanese people for generations.

The story was never resolved, as Doraemon’s creators broke up in 1987. It has been speculated that Nobita is an autistic boy who has been imagining Doraemon and his other friends all along. Understandably, this suggestion angers many fans.

• TIMEasia: The Cuddliest Hero in Asia
• Doraemon overview