Tales of Real Otaku: OtakuDante

Hi! My name is OtakuDante, and I’m going to share with you the story of how I became an Otaku, why I consider myself one, and my gaming/anime interests …

As a child of five years old I enjoyed my first gaming system, the Atari 2600. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I spent hours playing ‘Yars Revenge’, which was basically a space shooter made up of tiny dots. I think back now about how pitiful it really looked … Anyways, What really got me interested in the video game world was the ‘NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), which I got in 1985. I remember playing ‘Super Mario Bros.’ for the first time. My mind couldn’t grasp the concept of getting Mario over the first ditch. In fact I think I fell in that ditch over 1oo times before I made it to the next area, lol. It was kind of like walking on the moon, I guess … a sort of gravity issue? Once I conquered the controls of Super Mario Bros. I was in Nintendo Heaven!!

I couldn’t stop getting games. In time I amassed over 100 NES games, all of which I beat all by myself! In short, from that moment forward I was always seeking the next videogame, and video game system. I fell in love, so-to-speak, with some of the popular video game corporations/creators that are still around today including Konami, Capcom, Square Enix.  Some of the gaming franchise I have enjoyed are ‘The Legend of Zelda’, ‘Castlevania’, ‘Final Fantasy’, ‘Street Fighter’, ‘Tekken’, and ‘Soul Calibur’ … Over the 25 years I’ve been enjoying the video game world I’ve owned, and played about every gaming console, minus two … The Sega Dreamcast, and NEO GEO Gold. I even frequented the local arcades when I was younger, often playing fighting games. Today I own a 250GB PS3 Slim, which I give a great amount of attention. If you’re ever online, and playing ‘CoD: Modern Warfare 2’ you are likely to find me there. I also play ‘Super Street Fighter IV’, ‘TEKKEN 6’, and ‘BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger’ on occasions. I’m an all around video game addict, I just can’t have enough!! My favorite genres include RPGs,  Fighting Games, and First Person Shooters. I also enjoy the occassional action/adventure genre as well. I’ve even had the pleasure to play some Japanese import games!

When It comes to the anime side of my origin story, I started off watching the Transformers cartoon, and collecting the Transformer action figures. As I grew up I started collecting comic books, and one day a the local comic book shop I purchased my first manga issue … I believe it was ‘RANMA 1/2’. That relly got my interest peaked, that and the anime specials on the SciFi Channel. The first anime I really recall is ‘Robot Carnival’, which was a collection of anime stories told with music, and different art styles. I also watched ‘Vampire Hunter D’, and ‘Lensman’ which are two classics some of you might know. From there  on I sought out all the anime I could get, and all the anime related merchandise as well. I’ve collected Dragon Ball figures, anime capsule figures, Manga, and Anime. Some of my favorite Anime series include ‘Hellsing’, ‘Claymore’, ‘The Devil Lady’, ‘Battle Angel Alita’, ‘Hell Girl’, ‘Trinity Blood’, ‘Golden Boy’ … I could actually keep on listing titles for a good while, lol!!  I’ve come to learn of  the various anime genres over the years, a well as the categories. I absolutely love comedy anime, and horror anime. I also enjoy the samurai oriented anime as well. Anime has shaped my view in the entertainment industry. As an artist I appreciate the hard work that goes into making an anime series come to life, how the creator makes the characters so relatable to us.

Now here’s the prequel, what you’ve been waiting to hear … How am I an Otaku? …

I consider myself an Otaku because of my absolute love/desire of all things anime, my vast knowledge of anime, and the Japanese entertainment culture which includes the video games/systems we have all come to know and cherish today. It’s as simple as that, and still so complex at the same time. As A reviewer of RealOtakuGamer.com I hope to share with you the knowledge you need to know, about the things in anime, and gaming that mean the most to you. Keep watching that anime, and playing those games!!