Otaku in japanese is used primarily to describe someone who is obsessed with something to the point of un-healthiness. They lose their grip on reality so to speak. 'Gun-Otaku,' one who is obsessed with guns. 'porn-otaku,' one obsessed with porn. so on and so forth. The american meaning, maybe its used else where to...I dunno. any way, otaku over here is someone who likes anime a wwhhoollee lot, though they normally lead a normal life (unlike jap. otaku). Not really a bad term, though many see it as such.

A life form that dies if it cannot watch anime

Japanese word meaning obsessive fan of anything.Somewhat derogatory meaning that you put your interest above all else. Westerners tend to use it without the derogatory connotations. Rather, an otaku is someone who is a dedicated fan of anime and/or manga.

William Gibson, one of the originators of the 'cyberpunk' science fiction genre, used the term "otaku" in his 1996 novel "Idoru". The meaning given, from a Japanese-translation computer function used by a character, was 'pathological techno-fetishist with social deficit'. The character so described spent much of his time online in a multi-user domain and subsisted on Ramen-type noodles and canned coffee. Although by Japan's rigorous social standards a "loser", the character was well-mannered and good-hearted.

A negative Japanese word meaning 'nerd,' which anime-lovers have embraced and turned into a positive word defining a person who likes anime.

However, anime-lovers sometimes tend to cross the line, falling deeply into otaku characteristics themselves.

A weeaboo in denial.

A fucking weeb who Ioves everything Japanese