コミケッコン[komikekkon]
Needless to say, the hit movie 電車男[Train Man] is one of the major factors that dramatically changed the otaku’s image. The story features a love story between an otaku and a non-otaku young lady. Meanwhile, 腐女子彼女[My fujoshi girlfriend] features a love story(?) between a fujoshi and a non-otaku boy. But what if both of the two are mutually otaku?
You can see such plot in となりの８０１ちゃん[My neighbor Yaoi-chan] which follows a fujoshi and an otaku. The show doesn’t tell us how the two got to know each other (as far as I am aware?), but I would like to mention otakus’ matter of love in the real life[３次元] this time.
When I was a student at university, I had an otaku friend whose girlfriend was also an otaku (not a fujoshi). They got to know each other at the mega doujin event, Comic Market. If you follow Zetsubou-sensei, you can think of Fujiyoshi Harumi. Unfortunately, he was dumped by her though they dated for three years and a half. She was four years his elder, so at that time maybe she should be 26 or so. She seriously wanted to find a steady boyfriend for her upcoming(?) marriage, so they broke up in the end.
If they had succeeded in getting married, their marriage would have been celebrated with this word, コミケッコン[komikekkon]. コミケ[komike] is an abbreviation form of コミックマーケット[Comic Market], and ケッコン[kekkon] means marriage[結婚]. Technically, it should be コミケ結婚[komike kekkon], but it became like this to put it.
Although he didn’t come to pass, there are some otaku people who could succeed since a word like this exists. Comic Market is not a matchmaking spot, but there might be even some otakus who are absorbed in girlhunting. At any rate, コミケッコン means to get married to your partner whom you got to know at the Comic Market. However, it doesn’t have to be the Comic Market but any other doujin events.
If you are a male otaku, would you like to date a female otaku? Would you like an otaku girlfriend? The reason why I am asking this is because I heard a conversation like this in となりの８０１ちゃん[Tonari no Yaoi-chan]. There is a scene where the three fujoshis have a chat at the cafe(腐女子会議, fujoshi meeting).
A: あたし最近、腐女子を隠すのが面倒になっちゃって、最近彼氏と別れちゃったの。[You know, I broke up with my boyfriend a while ago because I got tired of hiding my fujoshi tastes.]
B： じゃあオタクと付き合えば？[So why don’t you date an otaku?]
A： 嫌よ！オタクなんて自分の萌え話ばっかりでこっちの話全然聞かないもん！[No way! Otakus never listen to me, but just talk about their moe stuff!]
In this way, female otakus seem to care about how general people feel about otaku more than male do. Even though fujoshis dwell on the fantasy world, they can actually distinguish 2D and 3D. So I think this is why there is a term 隠れ腐女子[kakure fusjohi] and 隠れオタク[kakure otaku] which means hiding fujoshi and hiding otaku. Unless they go to such otakish spots, they never talk about otaku things. And they good take care of their looking so that other people can’t tell they are actually otaku. I guess they are not willing to get in 痛車[itasha] even if it belongs to her boyfriend…
General people might say otaku are supposed to date otaku, but I don’t think so. Although they are otakus, it’s a man and a woman as a matter of fact. Whether he/she is an otaku is not that important. Thoughts, tastes, and compatibility…these things are eventually important as general couples. To understand each other brings about a long-lasting relationship, I suppose so.
I sure like tsundere girls, but I don’t even necessarily look for such a girlfriend in real life. If my girlfriend happend to be a tsundere, it should be fine, though.^^ Then I don’t care she is an otaku/fujoshi or not. What really matters to me is that she can accept the fact that I am actually an otomen and a cosplayer or not. Even if she is an otaku, this has nothing to do with it. Because I know there are a lot of otakus who don’t like cosplayers or otomens. Also, I am a man, so I want to relax in front of her when I get tired. In such a time, I don’t want her to be in the tsuntsun-mode. See what I mean?
No matter what, if コミケッコン really happens a lot, would there be such a movie in the future? I am kind of looking forward to seeing that.
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 
gordon said,
July 12, 2008 at 5:17 pm
hey bangin, speaking of otaku, windbell and double are featured in one of our country (Singapore)’s chinese news papers. the article is about otaku culture in Singapore.
what’s even more amazing is that u are in the papers as well!
check it out here for pictures. ^^;
http://gordonator.blogspot.com/2008/07/otaku-friends-in-news.html
w said,
July 13, 2008 at 2:07 am
((((;ﾟДﾟ)))ｶﾞｸｶﾞｸﾌﾞﾙﾌﾞﾙ
I was wondering whether they asked bangin (and his friend?) for their right to have their picture appear in the papers but then his name doesn’t come out and he’s listed as a “日本御宅友人” who they’re 交流ing their 感情 with at their 圣地, 秋叶原. And the picture is provided by one of the named people featured in the article so I guess they figured it’s okay… :0
I’d be scared as heck to appear in the papers! Thankfully (??) I have pretty much no real life otaku friends in Singapore…
And as for the subject of this post I think I’d probably get along well with more “general”-type otaku – not necessarily really the sort who love moe (or 腐男子 either), but those who like anime as a whole and Japanese anime culture in general. If it has to be someone who has a niche… probably a sakuga otaku (I hope that didn’t cause any ドン引き)
But I can see why some uncurable otaku would rather have non-otaku/very light otaku as their life partners because they would rather have some balance in their life and know many more things outside of anime.
The Sojourner said,
July 13, 2008 at 3:05 am
Tsunderes in real life are kind tough to handle.
bangin said,
July 13, 2008 at 3:31 am
gordon: Oh no, thank you for telling me this. I don’t know who chose the pictures to post, but I wanted him/her to ask me which one was preferable.
And I want the copy of the newspaper. Why did the three show?
w: Yes, they need to know outside of 2D. オタップル[otaku couple] sometimes are in their own universe, and never come out. I know such people as well.
Thank you for your quick explanation for the article. I don’t understand Chinese, so I was curious how they wrote about me.
The Soujourner: Yes, they are difficult. But even in 3D, tsundere could beat my heart. ^^
double said,
July 13, 2008 at 9:32 am
I’ll give you the newspaper when September comes.
bangin said,
July 13, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Oh thank you very much. ^^
Neohybrid_kai said,
July 14, 2008 at 10:13 am
Wow, that’s quite amazing ^^ btw I’m curious about how many percent of Singaporean that can read Chinese
Regarding the post, though this word is new to me but actually marriage with someone who shared common interest happens quite alot (the most obvious example for this of course is in celebrity’s world) But this is what I like from otaku culture, they always find interesting slang that explain alot in a single word (I think I have to thanks whoever found the term “tsundere” for making me describing what kind of girl I like much easier, lol). The problem is that otaku are too much into their own universe than the other typical hobbyist. And fujoshi too, though just like you write, they’re not as extreme as otaku.
I have few fujoshi friend and I find them more cozy to talk with, probably because my taste in drama and aesthetic things. If there are fujoshi who are not totally closet, open minded with things other and anime/manga/game, I’d rather date her than a normal girl. But when talking about marriage, it is not just sharing interest and enjoyment, but also having compromise and sometimes some things has to be sacrified. So its back to the individual, not about the status of being otaku or fujoshi.
bangin said,
July 15, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I have no idea which they mostly speak Cantonese or Mandarin. Or both?
As far as I am aware, female otakus seem to be more knowledgable than male otakus (in Japan). Male otakus are particularily familiar with their interests, but any other things, they don’t know at all. I have a friend who is a big fan of Negima, and he knows everything about it. But he doesn’t know any other things although everybody else regards him as an otaku. He doesn’t even know Suzumiya Haruhi, Evangelion, Lucky Star, nor Code Geass. My fujoshi friends know such major anime briefly though they don’t follow. If there is a reason why fujoshis are not willing to date otakus, I guess it should be here.
Yes, when it comes to marriage, whether he/she is an otaku really doesn’t matter (to me).
goodyfun said,
November 5, 2008 at 1:44 am
I think it would be a lot of fun to get together with an otaku. But even though I have many favorite things about how people look or act, all the people I have fallen in love with never look anything like my favorites. If I love a person, I love their heart and mind most of all.
Still, if I could bag a nerd that would be oh so swell.
bangin said,
November 6, 2008 at 3:49 pm
The ideal doesn’t meet the reality…that is what life is all about. The person you want to date and the one you might date are eventually different.
子犬 said,
December 7, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I would get in 痛車 if it was the car of someone I date. If it was a Lucky Star 痛車 that would be good! And would talk about Otaku things if I could, but also know when not to. Also tsundere girls are not in tsuntsun-mode when we want to snuggle and it the person we like. ^^
rzncu said,
May 21, 2010 at 7:28 am
コミケッコン seems like it would be fun and interesting, but not something likely to happen in reality, though it won’t be impossible XD I don’t think I’d want to marry an otaku unless we share similar taste and interests. But what matters more is that whoever I like can accept that I am a fujoshi, I don’t like being 隠れ腐女子 unlike some of my friends who work hard at that, so I don’t want to have to completely hide that side of me toward someone I’m suppose to be in a relationship with.
I also agree that the type that people want to date and the type that they might date or are suitable to date are completely different.