The Otaku How-To [TEST]
- Mar 7, 2015
- 2 min read
Otaku Lingo
Welcome to the Otaku How-to. Here is the place where, every so often, I’ll teach you, not how to become an anime expert but how to deal with being around those who are.
The intention for this article is to discuss Otaku Lingo. If you’ve lived on the planet long enough, you’ll notice that people love to talk about what they know and they love to shove it down your throat that they know so damn much. Here is how to deal with those people.
You’ve probably heard talk of tsunderes. And you may have heard of something being described as a deconstruction of the genre. These are terms used by anime fans to either make themselves seem smart or you to seem dumb. Don’t you worry about that anymore, I'll explain the basics to you.
Archetypes
If you hear a word ending in –dere (pronounced DARE-RAY) the person is describing the archetype a character fits. There are many kinds of “–deres”. Some include:
TSUNDERE: These characters have a harsh exterior, but when you get to know them they’re real softies
YANDERE: At first glance, these characters are sweet little angels. Little did we know they’re closeted psychopaths and sociopaths who will do “anything to be with the ones they love”.
KUUDERE: Most of the time, these characters appear cold and distant. When you develop better relationships with them, they are actually caring and nice on the inside
DEREDERE: These characters can be said to be extremely sweet and energetic. That is all.
Genre Deconstructions
A is the result of a writer taking all the tropes, of a particular genre, boiling it down to just that, an applying it to a realistic setting and tone (well at least as much of the logic of the genre will allow). When executed properly, a deconstruction can change the way we see the genre until the next amazing feat. When done (for want of a better term) half-assedly, we get School Days (we’ll talk about that another time).
That’s all for now. Next time we’ll talk about directors.
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