Obsessive, and proud of it: The Japan Times reports that the growing numbers of manga and anime fanatics in Japan wear the otaku label as a badge of honor:

"The word otaku means more in Japanese than its English translation of 'obsessive geek' or 'anorak.' A loose meaning refers to enthusiastic hobbyists like jazz otaku or train otaku.

"But the real otaku, at least according to the stereotype, are the socially dysfunctional virtual hermits who eat, sleep and breath nothing but otaku subculture.

"And now, whether by weight of numbers, consumer power or just the fact that they are such an integral part of modern Japanese culture, Japan's otaku have become impossible to ignore."