Summary
Anotakuis typically someone with a deep interest. This is generally something along the lines of manga, anime, video games, or nerd culture. These people tend to let their hobbies consume them, and it becomes part of their identity. The term was coined in Japan in the 80s, but is now used worldwide.
There have been many anime and manga characters who fit this profile, and it is usually interesting to see them in aworld of fantasythat, unlike more grounded characters, isn’t such a thing of suspended disbelief for them. However, visiting these worlds also takes them away from their hobbies, making for a stressful journey.
8Shinichi Kanou (Outbreak Company)
MAL Rating: 7.18
Outbreak Companyis not a typical comedy, but rather a hilarious one with several interesting themes. The protagonist,Shinichi,is an out-and-out otaku, and it is his personality that drives the plot of the series.
He is taken to a new world, theHoly Empire of Erdant, where he is tasked with bringing otaku culture to that world.Outbreak Companyis a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is a great watch for otakus, with several anime references littered across its 12-episode run.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Katarina Claesis a spoiled brat who is mean to everyone, until one day, when she suffers a fall, she bumps her head pretty hard, which then causes her to remember that she is actually an unnamed character from another world that was reborn into the one she currently inhabits.
Katarina also remembers that she is now playing the role of a villainess inan Otome game, and she will end up either dead or banished. So, she starts to do all she can to change her fate. Not only that, but she also prepares for the possibility of being exiled and how she would still be able to make her life work if that were to happen. While not portrayed as an otaku in the current story, it is revealed that she was one before dying, and that her hobby, otome games, had consumed her life.
Log Horizon
Shiroeis the calculating member of the Debauchery Party, one of the top guilds of Elder Tale. When several players find themselves transported into the world of the game, they must figure their way out of a difficult situation.
Shiroe is a great protagonist, a 23-year-old who typically stays indoors and knows all there is to know about the game Elder Tale.Log Horizondid something different, in that it removed the stakes of life and death that are common with such shows, and instead raised other narrative stakes, including getting along with the now-living and breathing NPCs.
Uncle From Another World
There can be no argument that the protagonist ofUncle From Another Worldis Yousuke, the uncle in question who fell into a coma 17 years ago, and spent that time in the world of Gran Bahamal.
Now, with a nephew he never really knew, and powers that make him OP, the uncle must acclimatize to life back on Earth.Uncle From Another Worldconsiders its otaku protagonist seriously, as Yousuke is especially distressed when he realized that his beloved Sega lost the console wars.His social awkwardnessand love for all things gaming shine through in each episode, usually with hilarious, and sometimes disastrous consequences.
Overlord
Trapped in the world of YGGDRASIL,Suzuki, now known as Ainz Ooal Gown, leads his dark forces to more or less take over the world. Viewers of theOverlordanime are only given tidbits of the life Suzuki lived before, and his real name is only revealed in a bonus volume of the light novel.
Suzuki is an otaku who gives his life to YGGDRASIL, and it also shows in some of his tendencies, like programming Albedo to fall in love with him, and how awkward he gets in many situations.Ainz’s slow descenttoward becoming a true Overlord is one of the more interesting aspects of the show, and is what makes Suzuki such a compelling protagonist.
MAL Avg. Rating: 8.06
No Game, No Life
No Game, No Life follows siblings Sora and Shiro, master gamers who are transported to a world where all conflicts are resolved through games.
No Game, No Lifeis one of those shows that everyone has wanted a second season for, yet the show has just never gotten one. It is also one of those shows that hasn’t aged all that well, considering the suggestive relationship betweenSora and Shiro.
That said, as protagonists, they were otakus, and it was their extensive knowledge of games that gave them the power they had in the world of Disboard, where games decide everything.
Kazuma Satouis introduced to viewers as a NEET and otaku, who dies and is transported to another world. Accompanied (not willingly) by the goddess Aqua, Kazuma makes a new life for himself.
What makes Kazuma so fascinating is that he is unlike a lot of other protagonists, who want to become better people due to being in a new world and having a fresh chance. Kazuma, though more extroverted once in the new world, still retains a lot of his anti-social tendencies. This is how the comedy ofKonoSubais achieved. Add to that the antics of Megumi and Darkness and one can see whyKonoSubais one of the funniest isekai anime out there.
Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation
Mushoku Tenseisurprised many people when it came out, as it was an isekai that did things differently from many others while still retaining a lot of essential isekai tropes.
One of the high points is Rudeus, the otaku, NEET protagonist who is reincarnated as a genius in a new world. Rudeus is someone who strives hardto change his lifefor the better after regretting how he lived while on Earth. This has led him to grow in so many ways, and is why he is highly regarded as an isekai protagonist, despite being an otaku.
