Who is an Otaku? What was Chuunibyou?

The 'Chuunibyou' story so far...

A self-deprecating series delving into Chuunibyou [Final Episode]

Throughout this series, we have talked about 'pain' many times.
Dark history, delusions, setting-obsessives, 'oshi' (faves), the secrets of the world—these may seem like unrelated phenomena, but in reality, they all boil down to one single 'question'.

Who on earth am I?

This question is first thrust upon us during adolescence.
Even as the body tries to become an adult, the heart cannot keep up. We must become part of society, yet we have no place to belong. In that twisted void, we sought salvation in 'stories'. A world where someone understands us, a world where the rules are convenient for us, a world where we can be the 'chosen one'—that was the true nature of the illness called Chuunibyou.

Chuunibyou is a form of self-affirmation for those who cannot adapt to reality.
And Otaku culture is a mechanism that has shared, institutionalized, and narrativized that 'form' as a group.

I want you to remember. The first work you were obsessed with. The character you traced with all your might, the protagonist whose speech patterns you mimicked, that night you spent reading every corner of the setting material collection. What drew you in so much? It was surely because there was a 'self you didn't know yet' within that story.

An Otaku is, essentially, a 'seeker searching for their own story'.

We immerse ourselves in stories created by others, supplement worlds drawn by others, and retell them with our own words and emotions. In doing so, we try to gain the feeling that 'I am here'. At the core of Otaku culture is not information or knowledge, but 'the validation of existence'.

Chuunibyou is embarrassing because it was 'serious'. The memories of dreaming with all your might, weaving words earnestly, and desperately searching for 'your own identity'. We tried to seal away that pain by labeling it 'dark history'. But was it really 'dark'?

Rather, weren't those memories proof of a 'self that wasn't yet afraid of being hurt' before being worn down by society?

Now, the world is overflowing with countless stories. SNS, streaming, fan fiction, AI, novel posting sites, VTubers, the metaverse. In an era where everyone tells their own story, the Otaku sensibility is already becoming the majority. Chuunibyou is no longer a special illness, but a 'path everyone walks'.

That is precisely why we need to look at this culture once again.

An Otaku is not measured by the amount of knowledge they have. Chuunibyou is not something you graduate from by age. They were languages, structures, and the one and only place to belong to survive the story of yourself.

As the critic Michiaki Asaba saw, Otaku culture is 'a genealogy of introversion and emotion that modern society has excluded'. It was another 'form of community' built by those with quiet voices.

And there, we finally found a place for the 'self that was nothing'.

Even if the day comes when this culture ends, it will likely never disappear. Because it was 'the power to find stories in the world', 'the voice that didn't become someone's voice', and 'a banner for a self that is no one'.

I have one last thing to say.

Let's keep living as Chuunibyou.
Even if it's painful, even if it's embarrassing, because that was 'me' and 'you'.

Thank you for reading.
Chuunibyou... I kept asking myself why I started writing about this forbidden theme. I kept writing while my mouth went dry from indescribable emotions and while writhing in embarrassment💦
To those who read this, and those who encouraged me by pushing the ♡ button.
Thank you so much.
May you encounter a 'pain worth telling' somewhere again.

I would appreciate it if you could give me one more push of support for this memorial of emotions.