Otaku: Nerd; geek or fan boy. A hardcore or cult fan . . . Since the 1980s it's been used, much like the term "geek" in the US, to refer to people who are really into anime, manga, video games, and technology.
- Patrick W. Galbraith
The Otaku Encyclopedia
Ari is a shy, somewhat hesitant twenty-something from South Jersey who hid his love of video games and Japanese anime for much of his teenage years. As a football player in high school, Ari kept his passion a secret from the tough-guy world in which he participated because the stigma of being considered a geek was too strong. "[Being into anime] was kind of a niche thing, something you kept on the down-low," he says of his culture clash between anime and athletics. It wasn't until Ari went to college and discovered his fraternity brothers shared his interest in this unique Japanese subculture that he allowed himself to be open with it. Now he attends as many anime conventions and events as he can, usually sticking to the East Coast as costs can be prohibitive. Last year Ari attended a show in Tampa, the New York Anime Festival, and Otakon, the mecca of otaku culture, in Baltimore. I met Ari at Karaoke Top Tunes, where he was attending the Original Japanese "Maid" Show featuring Japanese cosplay singer Reni Mimura. Ari saw Reni perform at Otakon, and a friend of his suggested he catch her show. Dressed as Ash of Pokemon fame, Ari saw this night as an opportunity to participate in New York's otaku scene.
Maid: A girl in a maid outfit . . . Girls who wear the classic Victorian style tend to role-play as obliging servants and are categorized as "iyashi-kei," or soothing style. All the others are called "moe-kei" and are generally girls with colorful, bubbly personalities who act a little like anime characters.
- Patrick W. Galbraith
The Otaku Encyclopedia
She dresses in a French maid costume and pink bunny ears. She sings original and Japanese pop (J-pop) tunes from celebrated anime programs. She performs onstage with two dancers, also dressed as maids. She is Reni Mimura, a Japanese cosplay singer who relocated to New York from Tokyo last year and has gradually built a fan base among the city's otaku. She performs at Karaoke Top Tunes each month in front of an increasing number of fans, whom she calls her "angels." Although English is her second language, she has formed a special bond with a lot of young people, the majority of whom are Americans. Reni maintains that her maid dress, frilly lace, and satin apron are not meant to be provocative. Instead, she describes her style as being "secret sexy," meaning women don't have to be aggressive and overtly sexual. The message is not in her outfit, but rather in the show itself, which gives fans the opportunity to meet people who share common interests and, more important, have fun.
Cosplay: "Costume" plus "role-play." The act of dressing up as a favorite character from anime, manga, or video games.
- Patrick W. Galbraith
The Otaku Encyclopedia
For Reni, dressing as a maid while onstage is a way for her to have fun with her songs and to make a connection with her fans. For her fans, donning costumes of their favorite characters shows they strongly identify with those characters. "Otaku are very sweet people, but they don't have good communication skills," she says. That's why her shows are interactive, and she works to find ways to incorporate audience participation. At her most recent maid show, more than a dozen costumed fans squeezed onto the tiny stage and introduced themselves one by one. Even Ari, whom I met earlier that evening, was up there with a microphone in his hand. They represented just a few of her more than four thousand Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter fans who have felt a greater sense of community since her arrival in New York.
Wearing costumes and having fun with the socially awkward aside, Reni is actually a legitimate artist. She is a true singer with a lovely voice and two CDs to her credit. Her first was released in Japan in 2006, and her latest, "Sakura," came out last year. The four songs on "Sakura" span a range of genres from a cutesy anime-style tune to blues and R&B to techno. "If you pay attention to it, she sends out a very strong, positive message through these four songs," says her manager, Satoshi Yoshimura (aka "Agent Sato").
In addition to singing, Reni performs dance routines as part of her onstage act. "She's a beautiful dancer," says Easter Crane, director of Ballet Arts, where Reni is a student. Crane and her husband, Jan Kruijt, joined dance instructor Kenny Larson at Karaoke Top Tunes to watch Reni's performance. When asked what she thought of her ballerina onstage clad in a maid outfit and singing anime songs, Crane, who was clutching a mousepad bearing Reni's picture, replied, "I love her." Crane admits she knows nothing about anime culture, but they support Reni because she's a dedicated student who is a lot of fun to teach.
"I don't know much about Akihabara things or anime things, so this is kind of new to me."
- Hiroshi Noguchi
NHK Enterprises America, Inc.
The combination of Reni's onstage persona, singing and dancing abilities, and the way in which she has been able to reach otaku fans caught the attention of Hiroshi Noguchi. Noguchi is the director of the weekly NHK documentary series "New York Wave," which introduces audiences in Japan to young New Yorkers who have unique ideas. His subjects aren't necessarily Japanese, but he deemed Reni's story interesting because she has found success in an obscure genre in a short amount of time. That fact resonates with Noguchi. "I played in a band before, and I know how difficult this field is," he says. Noguchi and his camera crew have been following Reni around New York during the month of January, recording her appearances at Forbidden Planet, Drom, and Kinokuniya, and one of her dance classes at Ballet Arts. Reni's episode of "New York Wave" is scheduled to air in Japan in early March, and there is a chance it could air here on TV Japan, a Japanese cable channel.
So what's next for this self-proclaimed "bunny who doesn't speak English well"? Reni will spend time in February working on a photo book that combines "cute art" from New York and cute fashion from Japan. She will also work on translating lyrics from her first CD to fit her current New York style and create new choreography and communication games to incorporate into her maid shows. Looking further into the future, she was invited to perform at the Sakura Matsuri in Washington, DC, in April, which she considers an honor.
Fun: A source of enjoyment, amusement or pleasure
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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