History Main / OccidentalOtaku

Often derisively called a "weeaboo" online, or "weeb" for short, which originated on Website/FourChan when [[FunWithAutocensors "Wapanese" was telephone-gamed into a nonsense word originally from]] ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship''. This has become an AppropriatedAppellation to the point where calling oneself an ''otaku'' is falling out of fashion, and some anime fans now jokingly (or at least self-depricatingly) refer to themselves as weebs more often than not.

* Despite providing the popular Alternate Name for this trope, [[http://pbfcomics.com/71/ "weeaboo"]] as shown in ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'' seems to be some kind of humiliating ritual hazing. The name comes from Website/FourChan wordfiltering "wapanese"[[note]]"White + Japanese" as in white people who try to act Japanese[[/note]] to "weeaboo", and it spread from there.

* The English-language imageboard Website/FourChan was originally designed for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime, as the site was modelled on Japanese imageboards. Despite its later increase in popularity and infamy, much of its content still features otaku, anime and other Japanese cultural influences.

** There's also Para-Medic, who loves everything about Japan, especially cinema. In the mid-1960s, no less. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' it's revealed she even has a Japanese assistant, whose mitochondrial DNA she used to [[spoiler:create Snake and his brothers]].

* In ''WebOriginal/ShadowrunStorytime'', 2D needs a private spot during the Neo-Tokyo job so he can start hacking and settles on a maid cafe. To ensure nobody bothers him, he enters as the absolute ''worst'' incarnation of this trope: Wearing a kimono (with ''nothing'' underneath), with a waifu bodypillow in one arm, a bag of nasty hentai in the other, while speak-screaming in the most broken, weeabo Japanese he can manage. The employees stay as far away from him as possible while the rest of the team mourns the damage 2D has done to America's reputation.

** ''Magazine/{{Animage}}'' began serialization in 1978 and as of current, is one of Japan's [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2018-09-14/japan-oldest-anime-magazine-animage-gets-digital-edition/.136758 top three]] bestselling anime magazines. It is dedicated to fan contributions and commentary on various anime, as well as [[WordOfGod interviews with creators]] and other supplementary material.

-->-- ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship''

In the West, the term refers almost exclusively to some obsessive anime fans, but some ''otaku'' are into other aspects of Japanese culture instead, and early examples of this trope were obsessed with traditional Japanese dress and food, especially if the work took place right after Japan opened itself to the world.

In the West, the term refers almost exclusively to some anime fans, but some ''otaku'' are into other aspects of Japanese culture instead, and early examples of this trope were obsessed with traditional Japanese dress and food, especially if the work took place right after Japan opened itself to the world.

* Sandora from ''Anime/ExcelSaga'': in episode 17 he draws ''Anime/PuniPuniPoemi''. That said, in episode 17 ''everyone'' Excel and Hyatt meet in America seems to have some familiarity with anime -- the hood rats who accost them when they first arrive flip out when animation cels from ''Puni Puni Poemi'' start falling from the sky, and the mafioso they face at the end recognizes ''Manga/SailorMoon'' and thinks it's old hat. This is, oddly, [[ShownTheirWork probably more accurate]] than most depictions in anime; while a lot of more obscure stuff (such as ''Excel Saga'' itself, ironically enough) would probably get you strange looks, ''nearly everybody in America'' is familiar with ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Manga/SailorMoon''.

* Lindy Harlaown from ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', although she's [[HumanAlien more foreign]] than most examples. She drinks green tea ([[FeeFiFauxPas incorrectly]]), has a room on her ship set up to look like a Japanese garden (complete with shishi-odoshi), and is aware of MagicalGirl Anime. The second movie ramps it up when she's shown to own a paper lantern, a tengu mask, a sai, a teapot, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers a log with shuriken embedded in it]]. She even moves to Japan full-time after the events of the second season, although that was mainly so her newly adopted daughter could stay with her friends.

The PhenotypeStereotype-afflicted Westerner with stereotypical {{Otaku}} interests usually centering around anime. Usually--but not always--made fun of in both western and Japanese media, but in different ways. Western portrayals tend to be more straightforward parodies, but Eastern ones, more dualistic: In Japanese media, their obsession is the reason for their AnimeAccentAbsence (they learned the language from anime) and why they came to Japan and are interacting with natives in the first place. So they'll at least be portrayed as more knowledgeable than the average American, just cringey, though they usually mean well.

In the west, the term refers almost exclusively to some anime fans, but some otaku are into other aspects of Japanese culture instead, and early examples of this trope were obsessed with traditional Japanese dress and food, especially if the work took place right after Japan opened itself to the world.

Often derisively called a "weeaboo" online, or "weeb" for short, which originated on Website/FourChan when [[FunWithAutocensors "Wapanese" was telephone-gamed into a nonsense word originally from]] ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship''. This has become an AppropriatedAppellation to the point where calling oneself an otaku is falling out of fashion, and some anime fans now jokingly (or at least self-depricatingly) refer to themselves as weebs more often than not.

** Despite not actually being very fond of Japan itself, Lord El-Melloi II from ''LightNovel/LordElMelloiIICaseFiles'' has a well known preoccupation with Japanese video games, [[spoiler:a quirk he adopted from his former Servant of [[Literature/FateZero the fourth Grail War, Alexander the Great]]]]. He was quite excited to learn that one of the students he was sponsoring was actually Japanese... until he discovered that she knew absolutely nothing about [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara Akihabara]] or otaku culture. [[spoiler:Rin Tohsaka was never that good with tech anyway, let alone otaku culture]].

** Isaac and Miria also speak Japanese... in prohibition-era America. No explanation is ever given, but it's [[CloudCuckooLander Isaac and Miria]]. It should be noted that they later appeared in a {{cameo}} in the ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' anime, implying that they apparently move to/visit Japan at some point... though this doesn't explain how they learned to speak Japanese in the first place.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Unpacking}}'', the protagonist has a massive amount of anime posters and minifigs, manga, and books based on real Japanese novels (alongside general fantasy ones), implying that she's an otaku.

* In the comedic ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'' spin-off manga, one of Laura's German subordinates has enthusiastically studied Japanese culture by way of games, anime, and manga, and regularly gives her advice on fitting in in Japan and pursuing Ichika.

* Pina Sformklan Estor from ''LightNovel/LadiesVersusButlers'', princess of a small Scandinavian country, is possibly among the most absurd. While she occasionally acts shy at first, she's quite willing to lecture people about how underappreciated anime is as a cultural medium, or how ridiculous she finds it that a Japanese school would place old European literature above modern manga. She's in fact in Japan partially for research, as her nation's main entertainment industry is imported anime. She's also a CosplayOtakuGirl who spends most evenings wandering the grounds dressed as a MagicalGirlWarrior with a hammer almost as big as she is.

* ''Manga/TheGeekExHitman'': This trope is basically the entire plot in a nutshell. Title character T.O., an assassin for TheMafia, quits his job and moves to Japan in the first chapter after finding a figurine from a ShowWithinAShow MagicalGirl anime on the desk of one of his targets and falling in love with it. He falls in with two carabinieri who pursue him to Japan and opens a {{doujinshi}} studio with them.

** Nagoriyuki isn't as gratuitous as Chipp, but definitely qualifies. He a Nigeria-born WesternSamurai who decided to become one during his extended stay in Japan, changed his name to a Japanese one, and his TrademarkFavoriteFood is onigiri. Amusingly enough, it's implied his master is UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga which would make him the Guilty Gearverse version of ''Yasuke''.
* Tegiri Kalbur of ''VideoGame/{{Hiveswap}}'' is a parody of this trope, with frequent mention of alien Japanese (err, sorry, ''Eastern Alternian'') culture.

** Nagoriyuki isn't as gratuitous as Chipp, but definitely qualifies. He a Nigeria-born WesternSamurai who decided to become one during his extended stay in Japan, changed his name to a Japanese one, and his TrademarkFavoriteFood is onigiri. Amusingly enough, it's implied his master is ''UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga'' which would make him the Guilty Gearverse version of ''Yasuke''.

** Nagoriyuki isn't as gratuitous as Chipp, but definitely qualifies. He a Nigeria-born WesternSamurai who decided to become one during his extended stay in Japan, changed his name to a Japanese one, and his TrademarkFavoriteFood is onigiri. Amusingly enough, it's implied his master is the same as Chipp's.

* ''Manga/TheGeekExHitman'': This trope is basically the entire plot in a nutshell. Title character T.O., an assassin for the Italian {{mafia}}, quits his job and moves to Japan in the first chapter after finding a figurine from a ShowWithinAShow MagicalGirl anime on the desk of one of his targets and falling in love with it. He falls in with two carabinieri who pursue him to Japan and opens a {{doujinshi}} studio with them.

* Lindy Harlaown from ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', although she's [[HumanAlien more foreign]] than most examples. She drinks green tea ([[FeeFiFauxPas incorrectly]]), has a room on her ship set up to look like a Japanese garden (complete with TheThingThatGoesDoink), and is aware of MagicalGirl Anime. The second movie ramps it up when she's shown to own a paper lantern, a tengu mask, a sai, a teapot, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers a log with shuriken embedded in it]]. She even moves to Japan full-time after the events of the second season, although that was mainly so her newly adopted daughter could stay with her friends.

* The English-language imageboard Website/FourChan was originally designed for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime, as the site was modelled on Japanese imageboards. Despite its later increase in popularity and imfamy, much of its content still features otaku, anime and other Japanese cultural influences.

* Centorea Shianus, the centaur-girl from ''Manga/MonsterMusume'', can be considered this since she has all the [[PhenotypeStereotype visual traits]] associated with Nordic/European foreigners (flowing blonde hair, blue eyes and [[GagBoobs a big bust]]) and yet she's the only one in the house to live in a Japanese-styled room complete with tatami, appears to be knowledgeable about anime tropes like CrashIntoHello, and recognizes slimes as a species from old-style [[EasternRPG JRPGs]].

* In a way (though not nearly as pronounced as Weaboo-ism), this happened ''in reverse'' in Japan with regards to the Portuguese. After two traders landed by accident on the island of Tanegashima in the mid-1540's, a minor fascination with Portugal (and later, other European nations such as the Netherlands and England, prior to the closure of Japan by the Shogunate) developed. While a lot of modern loanwords in Japanese are derived from English, plenty of the more ingrained terms in the language are derived from Portuguese, and a good handful of traditionally Japanese foods (ironically the ones that are so praised by modern Weeaboos!) are decidedly Western in origin, having hailed from the Iberian peninsula, albeit with almost 500 years of adaptations and variations made from them.

* Sandora from ''Anime/ExcelSaga'': in episode 17 he draws ''Anime/PuniPuniPoemi''. That said, in episode 17 ''everyone'' Excel and Hyatt meet in America seems to have some familiarity with anime -- the hood rats who accost them when they first arrive flip out when animation cels from ''Puni Puni Poemi'' start falling from the sky, and the mafioso they face at the end recognizes ''Manga/SailorMoon'' and thinks it's old hat.
** This is, oddly, [[ShownTheirWork probably more accurate]] than most depictions in anime; while a lot of more obscure stuff (such as ''Excel Saga'' itself, ironically enough) would probably get you strange looks, ''nearly everybody in America'' is familiar with ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Manga/SailorMoon''.
* Jeremy Watt from the NASA Aliens in ''Manga/Eyeshield21''. Despite being pretty familiar with the Japanese language, he's laughably (and absurdly) uninformed. For example, he somehow thinks that everyone who plays go is named Hikaru... which means that he would have to be familiar with ''Manga/HikaruNoGo'' in the first place, which would mean he would never come to a conclusion like that. Nobody who had gotten as far as he has in studying Japanese would think {{samurai}} would commit [[{{Seppuku}} ritual suicide]] with chopsticks... though you could blame this on RuleOfFunny.
** This all started when he saw a skilled linebacker from Japan, which somehow led to him thinking "Man, samurai are so cool..."