I, Otaku: Struggle in Akihabara
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese manga
series written by Japanese
author
Jirō Suzuki
. The manga is serialized in the Japanese shōnen
manga magazine Monthly GFantasy. It has been licensed by Los Angeles
-based company Seven Seas Entertainment
for distribution in the English language
.
obsessed with Papico, a fictional anime character created for the manga. He has been in love with Papico since grade school and is an avid collector of everything Papico. He is a closet otaku because of a traumatic incident that happened when he brought a Papico action figure to school as a child. He is more or less able to keep his obsession a secret until he meets and then is forever harangued and followed by Mano Takuro, the crazed owner of an anime collectible shop in Akihabara. Mano attempts to change Sota's life for (as far as he's concerned) the better, by trying to bribe Sota into dumping his girlfriend Eri, a lowly "3-dimensional" and not a perfect 2D character like Sota's beloved Pico. Takuro often follows Sota, at one point dressing up in a giant Papico doll outfit, trying to get him to convert. Sota eventually finds a fellow Papico maniac and dubious ally in his school friend Kenji, who has a passing penchant for cosplaying in Papico's frock, to the point where he wears his Papico outfit under his regular cloths at all times.
Eri:
Kenji:
Mano Takuro:
Doujin:
Nia-chan:
Kanariho Momoe:
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written by Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
author
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
Jirō Suzuki
Jiro Suzuki
is a female Japanese manga artist. She is notable as the artist for the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni manga; only Tatarigoroshi-hen however was done by her. An earlier manga of hers is MAGiMAGi. She will also be doing the manga version of Umineko no Naku Koro ni episode two, Turn of the golden...
. The manga is serialized in the Japanese shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga magazine Monthly GFantasy. It has been licensed by Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based company Seven Seas Entertainment
Seven Seas Entertainment
Seven Seas Entertainment is a publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original manga, but now publishes licensed manga and novels, as well as select webcomics...
for distribution in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Plot
The story follows the seemingly normal high school student Sota, who is popular and even has a girlfriend, but is in fact a closet OtakuOtaku
is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
obsessed with Papico, a fictional anime character created for the manga. He has been in love with Papico since grade school and is an avid collector of everything Papico. He is a closet otaku because of a traumatic incident that happened when he brought a Papico action figure to school as a child. He is more or less able to keep his obsession a secret until he meets and then is forever harangued and followed by Mano Takuro, the crazed owner of an anime collectible shop in Akihabara. Mano attempts to change Sota's life for (as far as he's concerned) the better, by trying to bribe Sota into dumping his girlfriend Eri, a lowly "3-dimensional" and not a perfect 2D character like Sota's beloved Pico. Takuro often follows Sota, at one point dressing up in a giant Papico doll outfit, trying to get him to convert. Sota eventually finds a fellow Papico maniac and dubious ally in his school friend Kenji, who has a passing penchant for cosplaying in Papico's frock, to the point where he wears his Papico outfit under his regular cloths at all times.
Summary
Its a comical look into the world of Otakus, teenagers, and shop owners who are just "creepy."Cast
Main
Enatsu Sota:- A popular, 18-year-old outgoing high school student who is a closet otaku because of a traumatizing experience when he was younger. He has an obsession with the anime "Papico" (a fictional anime within the I Otaku universe) which he attempts to maintain a secret from everyone. He is going out with Eri, another high school student who is trying to understand his obsessive hobby.
Eri:
- She is Sota's girlfriend. She has been Sota's girlfriend for over a year now, yet until a recent event at the Otakudo shop does she finally learn of Souta's obsession with Papico. She tries to cope with Sota and finds herself drawn into this new side of Souta. She is stalked by her underclassman Maniaku Nia, a lolita lesbian.
Kenji:
- Sota's best friend. He is also a closet Otaku who has only recently revealed his obsession with Papico with Sota recently. He is more obsessed with Papico then Sota is, as he is always wearing his premade Papiko cosplay outfit underneath his street clothes.
Mano Takuro:
- The eccentric store owner of Otakudo. He creates a lot of problems for Souta trying to make Sota reveal his otaku obsession. It seems he has great connections for he always seems to have what Souta is looking for. He is a rival of Doujin, manager of MangaCave.
Doujin:
- The manager of the MangaCave and an ex-friend of Mano. He went to college with Mano, but has hated him ever since he turned the girl Doujin had a crush on into a hard BL fan. He is a Mecha otaku.
Nia-chan:
- An underclassman of Sota and Eri. Nia is a freshman girl in love with Eri. She ofter stalkers her, and is very mean to Sota because he stands in her way and she thinks he's an idiot. She is also a masochist.
Kanariho Momoe:
- The editor-in-chief of the magazine Boy's Heaven Monthly and college friend of Doujin and Mano. She is the girl that Doujin had a crush on before Mano converted her. She is a very powerful woman who is not afraid to push people against their will to get what she wants.