[Self-Introduction] How a bullied kid met Ghibli and had their life saved

Nice to meet you all.
My name is Yui Ota!

I have a question for you right off the bat.

Do you have an "oshi" (favorite character/person)?

(( "I'll give you three minutes!" ))

I work as an actor, and...
as for my main appearances,

and so on.
I'd be happy if there are people watching.

I've been fortunate enough to appear in
some fairly well-known works, but

I have a secret...

Um...
It's embarrassing, so please don't tell anyone, okay? 🙃

Actually...

I have a hobby that I love just as much as my acting work...

I love my "oshi" too much

I run an otaku-themed YouTube channel.

I loved my oshi so much I started a YouTube channel,
I loved my oshi so much I traveled all over the country,
I loved my oshi so much I even crossed national borders.

And today, I loved my oshi so much I created a note.

My love is definitely going "Balse" right now.

I'm sure there are some of you who already know me,
but since I've settled into a new place, please let me introduce myself.

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Self-Introduction
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Once again, I am Yui Ota.

I work as an actor/creator,
and I share videos of myself enjoying my hobbies on YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms.

In order to "share what I love" on YouTube,
I record my otaku life and do everything from filming to editing by myself,
and as of February 2025, I have about 150,000 subscribers.
Total views have exceeded 80 million.

Five years have passed since the start, and now many people are
enjoying fandom activities with me.
I am truly happy about that.

Oh, I forgot to mention.
If you're wondering what kind of "love" that is...

"Studio Ghibli works"

it is!!!

That's right,

I am a Ghibli otaku.

For my first article, I would like to talk about
Ghibli otaku Yui Ota.

I want to talk about my dark ages, which I haven't wanted to talk about until now.

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Dark Ages
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When I was in my second year of junior high school, I became unable to go to school.

The vague anger and frustration held by immature 14-year-olds turned their fangs toward me over something trivial, and
as an immature person myself, I didn't know how to handle it and came to hate school.

I didn't understand people, and I hadn't grasped my own heart either.

I hadn't really had any worries before, and
I thought I had lived a lively and active life, but

before I knew it,
I hated people, felt sadness, wanted to hit back,
my heart was full of such emotions every day,
and I remember vaguely thinking that I had such dark, muddy emotions inside me too.

There was no way I could control myself like that,
my heart shut down,
and before I knew it, I couldn't leave the house.

Help me.

My 14-year-old heart was in tatters.


Then one day,

I happened to watch Nausicaä on a laserdisc that was just lying around the house.
I thought, 'I guess I'll watch this for old times' sake,' with no real expectations.
The moment I pressed the play button,

Even though I must have watched it many times before,
it entered my heart with a strength many times greater than anything I had ever felt before.

The world of Nausicaä is full of unreasonable things.

A strange enemy country suddenly attacks,

and even her only family member is killed.

Everyone is only thinking about themselves.

You feel despair knowing that you are the same kind of human as those ugly people.

Even so, Nausicaä keeps looking for a way forward.

When I finished watching it, the hazy feelings I had been carrying suddenly vanished,
and I couldn't stop the tears from overflowing.

I had been so preoccupied with thoughts like,
'I'll definitely get them back next time,' or 'I wonder if they're talking bad about me right now.'

Maybe they're saying bad things because something unpleasant happened to them.

If that makes them feel better,
then they can talk bad about me as much as they want.

I'll take on that role for them.

I want to be strong like Nausicaä.

When I thought that, I felt like color had returned to my heart.

That was the beginning of my life as a Ghibli otaku.

This is something I still feel more and more every year,
but the way you perceive Ghibli films changes depending on your situation and age at the time.

Like being moved by Nausicaä even though I'd seen it so many times,
or getting excited by the romance between Shizuku and Seiji.
Even with Arren from Tales from Earthsea, my perception was as different as heaven and earth.

When you change yourself, the way things affect you changes too.

Ghibli characters all carry their own struggles,
yet they still face them and keep on living.

These wonderful lines didn't mean much to me a few years ago, but
they resonate with me now.

Surely, my experiences have taught me their meaning.

I have fallen in love from the bottom of my heart
with the world that Ghibli creates.

From there, once I was able to earn my own money, I started buying Ghibli books and collecting merchandise.

As I did that, I fell deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole,
and with the desire to share this joy with others, I started YouTube,

and even though I had no friends when I was 14,
now I have 150,000 friends.

Life is a mysterious thing, isn't it...

"Passion" expands your world.

This is the thing I have felt most strongly while being an otaku.

Passion was the driving force that helped me meet 150,000 friends,
and passion was the driving force that took me to places I had never been before.

Like, "I want to make Ghibli food, so let's go camping!" (laughs)

Because there are people who support me,
there have been developments I never could have imagined.

What kind of developments, you ask?
I became an ambassador for the "Aichi with Ghibli Park" project, and collaborated with JTB to make bento boxes.


I wish I could tell the 14-year-old Yui Ota.

The future is bright.
Keep going.

The scenery I saw with everyone and the worlds I had never touched
are all deeply memorable,
and I'm sure if I hadn't loved Ghibli, I would still be unaware of them.

Ghibli, as something I'm a fan of, has broadened my world.

"Loving" something enriches life,
and adds color to one's existence.

The energy that comes from loving something is amazing.

To love something
is very fun and wonderful.

To everyone I've met through Ghibli.
To everyone who has met actor Yui Ota.
From Fishing Vision,
from camping videos,
from Solitary Female Gourmet,
from the radio....


And to everyone reading this article now.

I want to create a future where everyone can keep doing what they love.



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I want to create a first step toward "what you love"
======================

Through my YouTube,
and through this note that is about to begin,
if I can be the spark that helps someone's "love" sprout or accelerate, I would be very happy.

In comments and such,
I get things like, "I watched your video and rewatched Ghibli for the first time in a while and got hooked,"
or "I watched your video and went to XX too,"
and it makes me very happy.

Because I'm sure that from there,
new encounters will begin.

"I'd like to go to a place like that," or
"Maybe I'll try that on my next day off,"
I want to create content on note that can be that kind of spark.

I created this magazine
with those thoughts in mind.

I am planning to post
a total of about 10 articles in this magazine.
I would appreciate it if you could subscribe and wait for them!

This has been long, but
to summarize

I, who was a bullied child,
thanks to the "feelings" Ghibli taught me,
now live happily, surrounded by "things I love."

And,

I am now living as an actor.

Just as Ghibli was for me,
I want to move someone's heart,

and give them the courage to face forward.

Because I know that a mere two hours of entertainment
can save a life.

I know that compared to Ghibli,
I am like a tiny person.

Even so,

I want to be able to deliver what I can do
to even more people.

I will work harder than anyone else and make it happen.
So,

please support my weak heart.
Please lend me your strength!

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for reading until the end.

If you follow me, you will receive a notification when I update my note, so
please consider registering if you'd like.

It would also encourage me if you could press the heart button below!

See you in the next post!

~The End~