News on Anime fandom in US and Japanese manga creator critic on anime fandom obsession of "moe".

Future of Japanese anime and manga looking bright in US
SOLVEJ SCHOU
Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Japanese anime and manga - animation and comics - are drawing a lot of attention in the United States. And, more than ever before, not just from its traditional male audience.

The art forms, defined by complex story lines and saucer-eyed characters, are also being made and enjoyed by young exuberant women, along with enthusiasts of computer-generated graphics, from both genders.

A record 41,000 visitors, dressed in colorfully wild costumes - from blue-haired heroines to red-eyed vampires - recently attended Anaheim's Anime Expo, the nation's largest trade show of anime and manga, just across the street from Disneyland.

The entire original article can be seen here.

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Self-professed 'real otaku' rips into 'moe' fetish fakers

One of Japan's most prominent woman manga artists has lashed out at the country's burgeoning otaku culture, saying that those now proudly boasting of being geeks are little more than pedophiles, perverts and losers, according to Shukan Bunshun (5/18).

Mimei Sakamoto, a multitalented manga artist whose "Nippon no Mimei" is a must-read for all hip young Japanese, rips into the otaku, whose geek culture has moved into the mainstream courtesy of the business of "moe," a word that literally translates as "gushing" and describes the warm feeling the otaku get when they see something they like.

The entire original article can be seen here.

Definition of moe from Wikipedia.