A Hikkikomori StopGap

6 Jun 2010

First off, even if we’re both Filipinoes, I don’t know who this blogger is nor can I confirm whether he is a Hikikomori or merely an Otaku.

That said, his post got through Google Alerts so it must be notable someway.

Here’s the condensed version of his posts below.

Table of Contents/Landing Page:

Individual Links + Excerpts…

Part 1:

I spent roughly half a year doing nothing but reading manga and watching anime. I hardly left our house

I wasn’t contributing to society; I only contributed to the forums at Animesuki.

Last month, I had the scary experience of finally buying an article of clothing on my own. I needed to buy a new set of socks as well a new set of underwear. It was hell, since there were just too many choices.

I recalled Madarame of Genshiken. I was in the same position as him. I felt the pain he was going through… And I decided to adopt his method. When I buy manga volumes, I just choose what I want, regardless of the price. So I bought myself a pair of jeans that cost me 800 pesos.

But it was too much. When I tried to look for shoes next, I was overwhelmed by the variety and PRICE of men’s shoes. At that point, I had it, so I finally escaped from the mall.

Part 2:

there I was, in the midst of a crossroad of my life. In order to fulfill my otaku-ness, I actually had to go out of my shelled life. So in the spirit of recovering from my hikikomori-ness, and also for the love of these geeky things, I went to Fully Booked. Two of them to boot.

it was interesting to see several people like me who came alone. Then I started to pity ourselves… Are we such losers that we can only manage to go out alone? Don’t we have friends who share our interests in these things? Are we that socially awkward?

…in order to save myself from over-thinking and causing myself more psychological trauma, I quickly took my free copy, bought the stuff I wanted, and left that place. Concentrating on driving helps me from thinking about these stuff.

Part 3:

http://www.otakuako.com/about/the-staff/tzia_ns-page/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori-3/

Year 2009 marked a big step towards my recovering from a hikikomori, largely thanks to the few conventions I was able to attend. One might say that conventions aren’t exactly the best way to cure oneself from social withdrawal, given that one surrounds oneself with quite a number of socially awkward people as well. Then those who aren’t socially awkward tend to just be weird for the most part. But hey, baby steps, baby steps.

Part 4:

http://www.otakuako.com/about/the-staff/tzia_ns-page/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori-4/

During the recently concluded Ozine Fest 2010, a few interesting things happened to me. I’d like to share them in the hopes of either entertaining you or letting you get a glimpse at how the Hikikomori mind works.

Part 5:

http://www.otakuako.com/about/the-staff/tzia_ns-page/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori-5/

Due to certain familial obligations (I have a complicated extended family), I am taking a vacation in Taipei, Taiwan as of this moment. Thus, I am blogging this internationally in a way. But being your regular (recovering) hikikomori, you can pretty much guess that there’s really not much I’m looking forward to do here. And so, research had to be done…

I chanced upon this blog article which discussed otaku hot spots in Taipei. And so an idea dawned on me to try experiencing the otaku culture here in Taipei. They say that Taiwan is still heavily influenced by the Japanese culture, so experiencing the local culture of Taiwanese otaku should be interesting, right?

Part 6:

http://www.otakuako.com/about/the-staff/tzia_ns-page/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori/tales-of-a-recovering-hikikomori-6/

Attending the Animax press con the other day gave me a rare opportunity to socialize. Gasp! Socialize? Yes, socialize. It’s about time I start making friends, right? It’s all part of the recovery, so I should do something. Plus I need contacts for this blog, so win-win.

But it’s never easy. And that’s where haoson’s role came in. I only need to go along with him and I’m bound to meet new people. He knows a good number of those people there, so with some luck, I’ll get to meet a few. And indeed he introduced me to some. Good ‘ol haoson, I know I can count on him.

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