Filipino otakuness: profile of anime fans in the Philippines: the case of UPV Genguken members

Abstract

Anime is a popular media in the Philippines that gathers a big following among the youth. It greatly affects the animation industry of the country because it already is an established foreign medium. The Filipino anime fans are undoubtedly influenced by anime, thus, certain traits and behaviors which are new and often considered as “weird” by other people had been manifested. With this, the researchers conducted an analysis of the characteristics and behavior of UPV Genguken members and how these traits prevail over time as they also deal with non-anime fans in their everyday life. It is designed to find out what qualities are common among these anime fans and what factors led them to adopt the Japanese anime subculture. The descriptive research design is employed in conducting this study. The study finds out that exposure to television is the main factor that caused the respondents to become anime fans. Another factor is that their parents left them alone to watch anime as long as they behaved well. For respondents who have siblings, the reason stated is that the latter also influenced them to watch anime. The anime fans’ shared qualities are the preference for subtitled videos and the constant desire for anime. They are also knowledgeable in the Japanese culture and even have a grasp of the Japanese language. In terms of personality, anime fans prefer to be alone but like to interact with fellow fans who are on the same level as they are, alone but not lonely, and are mostly silent. They want to see Filipino values, cultures, practices, and history in Filipino animation. The most popular genre among the respondents are horror and fantasy. For future researches, the differences in Japanese and Filipino communication styles should be studied to understand why so many of the youth are attracted to anime. It is also recommended to have further studies on the various concepts of an otaku from points of view of Filipino anime fans. Anime has a great impact on the Filipino anime fans in terms of their ways of living, language, appearances, and even attitudes. With that, the researchers recommend the Filipino animators to develop a style in animation that is distinct and easily recognizable as Filipino. This is to attract not just the Filipino anime fans but as well as all Filipinos to watch and patronize Filipino-produced animations.