Fandom unbound : otaku culture in a connected world / edited by Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe, Izumi Tsuji.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Why study train oaku? A social history of imagination / Izumi Isuji -- Database animals / Hiroki Azuma -- Japan's cynical nationalism / Akihiro Kitada -- Strategies of engagement : discovering, defining, and describing otaku culture in the United States / Lawrence Eng -- Comic market as space for self-expression in otaku culture / Hiroaki Tamagawa -- Otaku and the city : the rebirth of Akihabara / Kaichiro Morikawa -- Anime and Manga fandom as networked culture / Lawrence Eng -- Contributors versus leechers ; fansubbing ethics and a hybrid public culture / Mizuko Ito -- Making fujoshi identity visible and invisible / Daisuke Okabe and Kimi Ishida -- Cosplay, learning, and cultural practice / Daisuke Okabe -- The fighting gamer otaku community : what are they "fighting" about? / Yoshimasa Kijima -- "As long as it's not Linkin Park Z" : popularity, distinction, and status in the AMV subculture / Mizuko Ito.

"In recent years, otaku culture has emerged as one of Japan's major cultural exports and as a genuinely transnational phenomenon. This timely volume investigates how this once marginalized popular culture has come to play a major role in Japan's identity at home and abroad. In the American context, the word otaku is best translated as 'geek'--an ardent fan with highly specialized knowledge and interests. But it is associated especially with fans of specific Japan-based cultural genres, including anime, manga, and video games. Most important of all, as this collection shows, is the way otaku culture represents a newly participatory fan culture in which fans not only organize around niche interests but produce and distribute their own media content. In this collection of essays, Japanese and American scholars offer richly detailed descriptions of how this once stigmatized Japanese youth culture created its own alternative markets and cultural products such as fan fiction, comics, costumes, and remixes, becoming a major international force that can challenge the dominance of commercial media. By exploring the rich variety of otaku culture from multiple perspectives, this groundbreaking collection provides fascinating insights into the present and future of cultural production and distribution in the digital age."--Jacket.