Your form of nerd is ok, but another is not?

I happen to be a long time huge manga and anime fan. I’m also into lolita fashion and I’m a fan of Amano-san. It’s frankly icky that some “otaku” are not accepting of others. We’re all nerds here.

And I don’t think we should have to hide our nerdiness. The things presented in this building are art, and not just talking about Amano’s gorgeous work. The manga is art, the jewelry is art, the dresses are art, the films are art. The deserve to be displayed in a beautiful and welcoming way.

My 2 cents.

What wintersweet said is correct. New People looks extremely similar to Marui OIOI Shinjuku which is one of the flagship malls for gothic and lolita fashion. When I walked into New People, I had a wave of nostalgia because it felt so similar to the stores I’d been to in TOKYO.

And this mall must have been a very expensive and difficult undertaking. I don’t think it’s these companies attempt to make a “quick buck” at the expense of fans. More so, it feels like a celebration of japanese popular (and otaku) culture. New People feels like an ambassador.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanchome/2345692002/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drkigawa/3542444693/

Marui stores are a mix of mainstream (regular fashion) and subculture (gothic and lolita), but not exactly otaku, and I think that’s more along the lines of what we have here. They are also, perhaps, more female-oriented, and I think New People is too, which may also explain some of the confusion…The average American male otaku-type is probably not familiar with Marui and stores like it. If there’s a backlash for reasons of “Americanization” or “mainstreaming,” I think it would be woefully misplaced.

Legitimate gripes, like the awful scheduling of the films this weekend, on the other hand…haha. :p

Also see: That Royal/T “maid cafe”. Disgusting.

The marketing of the North American “otaku” ideal is one way for the audience to keep growing. I say, the more people the better, as long as they respect each other. Being “otaku” is cool here…even if you only read one or two comics.

in fancy schmancy boutiques, merchandise and displays change every few weeks. i don’t think that happens as frequently in doujinshi / otaku-oriented stores simply because they have much, much more inventory that is ‘evergreen’/may stay on the shelves for months/years.

there’s a barnes & noble in my neighborhood that has an entire shelf of manga facing the large sunlit reading area — and most of the spines of the older titles are faded. the anal retentive part of me just doesn’t buy those manga from there.

anyhow, thanks for the thoughtful essay and the nice pix too. hope you can come out to see new people for yourself sometime soon! are you coming for APE?

Those transplant stores, the Doir in Japan and New People in SF, are part of larger marketing efforts to build the brand and to encourage conspicuous consumption. No one is going to spend $5,000 on a Doir handbang (do they make hand bags? I’m thinking they only make luggage or something) unless there is a cultural cache to it. That cultural cache comes from these large monuments to the products.

Simillarly, only very strange people – such as those who read and write this blog – would be willing to drop several hundred dollars on a plastic figurine of a person who is best known for being on a cartoon. We’re willing to spend that much money because within our cloistered fan-culture, the possession of rare, hard-to-find products improve our standing. But, that cultural cache or cultural capital only works within a specific sub-culture. That’s why your mom doesn’t really care that you have an original animation cell from Kimagure Orenji R?do.

So, I think Chris is right that New People is an attempt to introduce Japanese pop culture to a larger audience. Maybe they’re going for something like Nintendo is by creating a new market out of people who are vaugely interested in the aesthetic, and who will buy a bit, but much less than the hard core otaku. This of course will create a backlash against Viz by the otaku, but much like the Nintendo fanboys, they’ll have no where else to go as long as Viz keeps on buying up all the licensing rights to everything.