Despite what most people here might think, not everyone in Japan’s a manga fan. Or at least they’re not fans to the extent that somepeople are fans—it’s a little like the difference between a casual TV watcher and a die-hard Star Trek fan here in the U.S.. Manga (along with anime, and their associated interests) may be big business; but to the average Japanese, otaku have a built-in dorkiness that’s hard for them to shake.

This ostracism isn’t something that isn’t always conveyed in manga or anime itself. It’s fun when it’s done right, though. Genshiken nailed this kind of thing perfectly; for anyone who’s a fan or feels like they’ve been a fan for too long, it was hilarious and dead-on. But there’s been a slew of other stories in the same vein: Cosplay Koromo-chan, for instance, a series of four-panel gag comics about a girl who has managed to turn cosplay into a way of life; or Maniac Road, about three sisters who turn a failed electronics store into a thriving “otaku paradise.”