There is a term relevant to my interests, certainly including Pokémon, that I've actually thrown around, inadvertently as that may be. It involves a certain group of people (or fans) as well as their relation to things that hail from the Land of the Rising Sun, which is sure to involve Pokémon. It also may have specific connotations that may or may not be wanted, and that means I have to straighten things out, particularly for my case. As can be discerned from the title, that term is "weeaboo" - first appearing in this blog in relation to a controversial festival event - and it's something those people and I have to come to terms with.
Everything starts out by defining the term, as expected. According to its common definitions, the word may be taken to represent people in two ways: negatively, as hyper-obsessed and antisocial people with regard to interests in facets of Japanese (pop) culture, and positively, as plainly obsessed and amicable people with regard to those same interests. As such, the word is adjacent to the word "otaku", which I've already discussed in association with a derived term containing specificity to Pokémon. It should be noted that the negative connotation appeared first, with the word being used to insult certain people, and the positive connotation appeared later to represent similar people.
Based on those common definitions, the term has power in representing people with certain rational passions of Japanese (pop) culture, understandably with Pokémon in the mix. Yet it also has power in representing the more rabidly - and radically - passionate among them, possibly including those who might demand things to be "Japanese for the sake of being Japanese" when other people can enjoy those same things without being rabid and/or radical about them. It doesn't help that the negative sense of the term is already conflated within its usage to represent fans like me.
As for myself, I'm not in favor of using the term to represent myself, even as the term is or has been thrown around. I prefer using the adjacent and derived terms as above to represent myself, and even then rather occasionally; at times, even just stating that I am a fan is sufficient. I like things of Japanese origin (including Pokémon), but I don't demand for them to be completely in Japanese - and in fact would prefer them to be accessible without necessarily being in Japanese (language), if an earlier "treatise" is of any indication.
With all of that having been said, the term "weeaboo" is an enigmatic one in its usage and representation, particularly for Pokémon fans such as yours truly. It denotes people who take interest in things that come from Japan, but it has either moderately positive or excessively negative connotations. The latter is something to avoid, while the former is something to appreciate. Nevertheless, I'm not particularly fond of using the term for my interests, though others may use it, hopefully positively rather than negatively. It's a "bendable" term - and yet my Pokémon interests are unbending.
One year ago: New Pokémon Fossil Watches
Two years ago: Let's Talk About Good Drinks and Good Friends
Three years ago: The Firefighters of Pokémon
Four years ago: Pokémon Cable Bite Accessory - Pikachu
Five years ago: An End to Jumps
Six years ago: Pokémon Suits in Cosplay?
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