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Otakus Are Powerless To Resist The Charm Of Their “Princess”? Explore The Phenomenon Of The “Princess In A Otaku Circle”
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Have you come across the “queen” or the “diva” of a certain group, at some point in your life, like at school, college, or workplace? Isn’t it weird when you see a specific girl in a group gets more attention then the others? The “queen bee” issue happen to pretty much any form gathering of people, anywhere, and anytime in the world (at least I see it). Obviously, the popularity issue is always something that we run into as part of growing up and let’s face it, at some level and at some point, we all wanted to be popular or became jealous of the popular others.
In Japan, the popularity issue arose amongst the netizens within these couple of years were brought up and the term,“Otasaa No Hime,” directly translated as “Princess In A Otaku Circle (aka Club)” came up. This has become a set term as the “queen bee” of a Otaku group. There are similarities with the general “queen bee” concept, but there are different and unique aspects from that was driven from the specific “Otasaa No Hime” term and I am here to untangle that.
When And How Did The “Princess” Rise Up To Her Power?
Now an international term for “Japanese geek,” “otaku” is makes the main framework for this term. When you are off to college in Japan, there are many “circles” or extracurricular/recreational clubs where students create their own, out of their own interests and recruit others with that same interest. One of the general situation of “Otaku circles” in a university were depicted in the manga series (later animated), called “Genshiken,” and from that series, “Otaku circle” became known and was soon abbreviated to “Otasaa” in general.
Genshiken (Manga Series)
And since most of the Science based universities/faculties in general, male overpopulates that environment, and having a female is rare situation, especially, when a female college student joins a geeky, “otaku” circle. Because “she” is the important, scarce source as a female, the male members in the club treats “her” like a “princess.”
Book “Otasaa No Hime ~Otaku Jidai No Shokuseigaku~”
Certainly, you never know the intention of “her.” “She” surely could be really interested in that specific “otaku” genre (like Anime, Games, Robotics etc.) which could be the main reason for her to join the club, but many of the experiences that are posted on the internet, the “girl” in that club is depicted as the girl who are spoiled from the male group members because “she” is the only female, not for because she has knowledge and interest in that specific area. Then soon later, “she” becomes drama queen, who ruins the close relationship of the group at the end. She was the “princess (‘Hime’ (姫) in Japanese),” but not so much a happy ending for all of us.
Trying To Find The Set Definition…
Because many of this kind of incident has been reported on internet, netizens found some common features to define who really is “Otasaa No Hime” in order to avoid the whole drama in the future.
Some of these features include:
1. Black, Twin-tail Hair or Hime-Cut Hairstyle to emphasize her natural girly style
2. Always wears frilly outfit with short skirt and to knee-high socks show-off her femininity
(This fashion style is close to the past article about “Clothes that Kills Virgin” Buzz, review with this article!: http://tokyogirlsupdate.com/buzz-female-outfit-20150751193.html)
3. Very thin body, not curvy or sexy style, because she’s “cute” not “sexy”
4. Always likes “kawaii” things like Sanrio goods or Disney characters
5. But this is not because that she likes “kawaii” things, but likes herself who is saying “kawaii.”
6. Very high self-esteem and high maintenance; always thinks that she’s the cutest girl and she deserves all the attention from the guys in the circle
7. Because she’s the “princess,” she easily gets jealous when the other guys who usually spoils her, chats with other females
8. But easily accepts to sleep with her if he is a “good-looking” guy, like shooting fish in a barrel
9. But because she’s very high-maintenance, she becomes insecure with the break-up scene.
10. Always talks like the “cute” anime character, like “Funyu~” “Hanya~” “Ha~wa~”
Remember, this is just a part of the list! Some others include like she isn’t actually pretty, and she doesn’t have that much female friends to hang around. Some of these aspects do overlap with “Burikko” features as well. (Review what “Burikko” means with ZOOMIE’s article!: http://tokyogirlsupdate.com/burikko-wayoflife-girls-20150855458.html)
So here are some other depictions and definitions of “Otasaa No Hime” from Twitter users.
Do you recognize some of these features someone you know? “She” may be that “princess.”
Because she is called as “princess,” the geeks that surrounds or “protect” her are identified as “knights” or “kishi (騎士)” in Japanese, so called, “Otasaa No Hime Kishi (Princess’s Knights).” Because that these surrounding geeks are seeing the “princess” as a sweetheart, they are fooled as he thinks he need to protect her. But for the people looking at that whole situation, the princess is actually “playing sweet” to make the geeks to do some errands. How romantic.
Just A Bitch Or A Heartbreaker?
Most of the reports on the internet is told by the male perspective of how they were fooled by her “cute” and “girly” character, and became the victim of the relationship drama that was caused by “hime.” Too bad to hear about what he had to go through, but the argument back is, like “Burikko,” it’s obviously recognizable that the “princess” is fooling the men; some female say that it’s the type of girl that other girls would hate. Love is blind.
But not just that the netizens are showing anger with the whole “Otasaa No Hime” issue, but since they have already made in to that specific character, there are people who started to fetishize this specific characterization. Some may write erotic fanzines (be careful with the rating), dating game app of her, or wanting to recruit actual “hime” in to their club. Are these true affections or scheming revenge? You never know.
Although, the term “Otasaa No Hime” started out from negative characterization, some of the girls would use it to describe their fashion style or the total look. The females take the term more positively than the males are, that “Otasaa No Hime” is the “cute” or “girly” type of outfit. Now, the term itself has starting to become a joke.
Wrapping Up…
There are many discussions regarding the “Otasaa No Hime” situation, that there are also people who say that they don’t really recognize them in “real life.” Some assume that it could be the illusionary image created from the stories posted on the internet. But the discussion goes on as if that person don’t really understand what actual females do and ruin trust with her excessive self-confidence. I thought this was interesting speculation, but with the females having the natural, strong intention of wanting to be the “queen bee,” maybe all the females are seen dramatic and emotional from the male perspective.
If you come across the “princess,” better watch out, she will cause trouble.
Had the trouble with the “princess”? Report to us!
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Satsuki
Grad student in Tokyo. Born in Tokyo, raised in New York, studied in London. My interests lies in Tokyo's urban street cultures and girls cultures,rock music, fashion and manga. Just livin' it up :)
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